Wild horses near Steens Mountain in southeastern Oregon. File photo by Vince Patton / Oregon Public Broadcasting

Please sign RTF’s anti-roundup petition here. To contribute to RTF’s Wild Horse Defense Fund, please click here.

The Bureau of Land Management was set to begin bait/water trapping of 100 horses from the South Steens Herd Management Area, south of Frenchglen, OR, as early as Monday.

This is the second roundup in South Steens in recent months. Another 100 wild horses were captured there in August.

BLM’s Appropriate Management Level for South Steens is 159 to 304 horses. More than 400 will remain after the November roundup, according to the agency.

“Heavy to severe wild horse grazing jeopardizes the health of rangelands, wetlands, wildlife habitats, and ultimately animal health and condition,” BLM spokesperson Tara Thissell said in a press release (PDF).

“Although the South Steens gather will not immediately return the herd to within AML, it will reduce resource impacts and briefly cut reproduction rates.”

Animals selected for removal from the range will be trucked to Oregon’s Wild Horse Corral Facility in Hines
to be prepared for adoption. The public may visit the facility from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Exact start and end dates will be determined by contractor availability, according to BLM.

The supporting planning documents for the South Steens bait/water trap gather are available online here.

For a recent look at the BLM’s use of “Appropriate Management Level,” please click here.