The Little Bookcliffs HMA covers more than 36,000 acres, and the BLM manages the area for an appropriate management level of between 90 and 150 wild horses. | Photo: iStock

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Colorado’s Grand Junction Field Office is seeking public input on an environmental assessment evaluating bait-trapping wild horses in the Little Bookcliffs Herd Management Area (HMA), northeast of Grand Junction.

“Throughout the year, we work closely with Friends of the Mustangs to ensure a healthy wild horse population roams on healthy rangelands in the Little Bookcliffs,” said Katie Stevens, BLM Grand Junction Field Manager. “While we have been successful at reducing birth rates and extending the time between gathers to an average of five years, periodic gathers are still necessary in order to keep the range healthy enough to support the herd long-term.”

The Little Bookcliffs HMA covers more than 36,000 acres, and the BLM manages the area for an appropriate management level of between 90 and 150 wild horses. Currently, the population estimate in the HMA is over 175 wild horses