(Lander, WY) — The Bureau of Land Management Lander Field Office has released a decision record that approves future wild horse gather, removal and fertility control operations in the North Lander Wild Horse Complex.
The North Lander Complex is in southeast Fremont County and is made up of the Conant Creek, Dishpan Butte, Muskrat Basin and Rock Creek Mountain herd management areas. The Complex’s appropriate management level—the point at which the wild horse population is consistent with the land’s capacity to support it and other mandated uses of those lands—is 320-536 horses. The BLM estimates that there are more than 2,000 horses in the complex.
A gather in the North Lander Complex is not currently on the BLM’s national gather schedule, but it’s possible a gather could be scheduled for later this year.
The decision approves a plan to achieve and maintain the appropriate management level in the Complex by using a combination of gathers, selective removals and fertility control over a 10-year period. The decision approves the implementation of population growth suppression methods including gelding or vasectomizing stallions; reducing the reproducing population through adjusted sex ratios; using flexible intrauterine devices (IUDs) on mares; and using the fertility control vaccine GonaCon-Equine.
The environmental assessment was made available to the public Jan. 20, 2022, and more than 600 comments were received from individuals, organizations and agencies during the public review period. Public comments have been addressed and incorporated into the EA and decision record.
The environmental assessment, finding of no significant impact and decision record are available by visiting the BLM’s ePlanning website at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2014081/510. The decision is subject to administrative review through the appeal process, which is outlined in the decision record.
For more information, contact BLM Wild Horse and Burro Specialist Clay Stott at (307) 332-8400.