The JMA has a current estimated population of 212 wild horses, as of March 1, while the appropriate management level has been established at 40-60 wild horses. | Photo: iStock

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Utah’s Cedar City Field Office and the U.S. Forest Service’s (USFS) Dixie National Forest Service Pine Valley Ranger District are seeking public comment on an environmental assessment (EA) analyzing a proposed herd management area plan (HMAP) including wild horse gathers and removals in the North Hills Joint Management Area (JMA).

The North Hills JMA is located in Iron and Washington Counties, about 2 miles northwest of Enterprise, Utah. It consists of approximately 84,600 acres and is managed cooperatively by the BLM’s Cedar City Field Office and USFS Pine Valley Ranger District. It contains about 50,127 BLM acres and about 24,006 Forest Service acres with approximately 10,511 acres of private and state lands. The JMA has a current estimated population of 212 wild horses, as of March 1, while the appropriate management level has been established at 40-60 wild horses.

The EA analyzes a proposed wild horse HMAP along with a proposal to gather and remove excess wild horses in response to several issues currently occurring in the JMA. This includes, but is not limited to, emergency stabilization and restoration of wildfire-affected land, reduction of impacts due to wild horse overpopulation, and vegetation treatment interactions. The actions to comply with Utah Rangeland Health and Standards