The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Salt Lake Field Office will soon begin gather operations to remove excess wild horses from within and outside the Cedar Mountain Wild Horse herd management area (HMA) in western Utah.

The BLM will gather approximately 600-700 horses. Of those gathered, the BLM will remove approximately 200-300 adoptable aged horses, and approximately 400 horses will be returned to the HMA. Of the mares released back to the HMA, roughly 200 will be treated with the fertility control vaccine porcine zona pellucida-22 (PZP-22).

The Cedar Mountain HMA is located in Tooele County, Utah, approximately 50 miles west of Tooele. The HMA encompasses approximately 197,275 acres, with a current estimated population at 960 wild horses. The BLM says the appropriate management level (AML) for the HMA is 190-390 wild horses.

Helicopter drive-trapping operations is tentatively scheduled to begin on Saturday, Feb. 11, pending inclement weather and road conditions. Members of the public are welcome to view the daily gather operations, provided the safety of the animals, staff, and observers are not jeopardized and operations are not disrupted