Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The Bureau of Land Management is more than halfway through its helicopter-assisted wild horse round-up operation in the Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Areas west of Meeker.
“We strive to do very safe, humane operations and the safety of the horses and people is the number one priority,” said Tyrell Turner, the northwest district wild horse and burro specialist for the BLM.
As of August 17, the BLM has gathered more than 700 wild horses, inching closer to the organization's goal of gathering 1,025 wild horses. Five horses died during the gathering process; one horse died from an injury during trailer transport, and the BLM euthanized the other four horses because of “pre-existing conditions” that they deemed “unable to maintain or improve”, the BLM said.
The BLM says that the current wild horse population on the Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Areas are about 345% above the “appropriate management level,” which impacts the quality of the ecological landscape, according to the BLM’s August wild horse gather report.
Wild horse populations — located primarily in the American West — can grow by up to 25% each year, according to a Colorado State University Extension report. Current wild horse populations on public lands in the US far exceed the land's “carrying capacity”, the report added.
Read the complete story at rmpbs.org/news
Reporting by Chelsea Casabona
The Bureau of Land Management is more than halfway through its helicopter-assisted wild horse round-up operation in the Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Areas west of Meeker.
“We strive to do very safe, humane operations and the safety of the horses and people is the number one priority,” said Tyrell Turner, the northwest district wild horse and burro specialist for the BLM.
As of August 17, the BLM has gathered more than 700 wild horses, inching closer to the organization's goal of gathering 1,025 wild horses. Five horses died during the gathering process; one horse died from an injury during trailer transport, and the BLM euthanized the other four horses because of “pre-existing conditions” that they deemed “unable to maintain or improve”, the BLM said.
The BLM says that the current wild horse population on the Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Areas are about 345% above the “appropriate management level,” which impacts the quality of the ecological landscape, according to the BLM’s August wild horse gather report.
Wild horse populations — located primarily in the American West — can grow by up to 25% each year, according to a Colorado State University Extension report. Current wild horse populations on public lands in the US far exceed the land's “carrying capacity”, the report added.
Read the complete story at rmpbs.org/news
Reporting by Chelsea Casabona
