West Douglas wild horse emergency gather suspended

Cross-posted from Glenwood Springs Post Independent

WRITTEN BY AMY HARDEN MARSH

Captured West Douglas herd mustangs and a foal were lured to BLM’s Yellow Creek Corrals in July with tanks of water placed in the parched landscape of Texas Mountain. But after the first week, no more horses came to the water trap, and BLM suspended the emergency gathering procedure on July 23. BLM image by Christopher B. Joyner.

RANGELY, Colorado — On July 30, the Bureau of Land Management suspended an emergency gather of wild horses south of Rangely. Operations had begun in mid-July with the goal of removing up to 50 mustangs from the West Douglas Herd Area.

Officials with the White River Field Office in Meeker determined that, due to drought conditions, available water and forage could not support horses near Texas Mountain.

Springs on the southeast side of the mountain had slowed considerably, said Chris Joyner, BLM public affairs specialist.

“The horses were drinking out of hoof prints in the mud,” he said.

In late June, the BLM closed a portion of the herd area and began providing water to the Texas Mountain horses from two tanks on a hillside 2,000 feet above the springs. Hoses carried water downhill to the natural watering area.

“We hauled 1,000 gallons of water every three or four days,” said Jerome Fox, BLM wild horse specialist for northwest Colorado.

Grand Junction resident Toni Moore, an advocate for the West Douglas mustangs for over 20 years, traveled into the herd area with BLM officials in June.

She believes the BLM could use this opportunity to eventually remove all mustangs from the area.

“We’re going to see if BLM plans to use their purported drought to remove the West Douglas horses without the data to substantiate it,” she said.

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