The BLM plans to gather and remove approximately 652 wild horses and initiate research on the effects of spaying wild horse mares and returning them to the range. | Photo: Bureau of Land Management Oregon and Washington/Flickr Creative Commons

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Oregon’s Burns District announced plans to conduct a helicopter gather of wild horses within the Warm Springs Herd Management Area (HMA) beginning in early October 2018.

The gather is being conducted to remove approximately 652 excess wild horses and to initiate research on the effects of spaying wild horse mares and returning them to the range, the BLM said.

The Wild-Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 gives BLM the direction to protect and oversee wild horses and burros on public lands. In managing these animals, the BLM works to maintain a thriving ecological balance that supports healthy horses on healthy rangelands