BLM plans helicopter-aided gather of 760 wild horses in South Steens in August; activist critical of techniques, motives

(Update: adding video, comments by BLM, wild horse advocate)

HINES, Ore. (KTVZ) – The Bureau of Land Management plans next month to gather 760 wild horses in the South Steens Herd Management Area in southeast Oregon, with use of a helicopter. But some wild horse advocates are upset and critical of the process and questioning why they are done in this manner.

"We really want to focus on is sustainability and the health of the landscape and the animal populations," said BLM Public Affairs Officer Tara Thissell said Monday.

The BLM reports 956 wild horses live in the South Steens Management Area. Typically, every two years, about 760 are removed within 7-10 days.

"If they go unchecked in their population and breeding and reproduction, then that's just a detriment on the landscape for the number of animals out there to be able to be in balance with everything else," Thissell said.

Oregon has 18 areas where the BLM manages wild horses. Each has a range of animals deemed suitable. For South Steens, its 159 to 304.

"A person might say, 'Well, that herd management area is 100,000 acres, why can't it support more horses? It seems like such a low number that you're allowing out there.' The main reason for that is likely the forage and water availability," Thissell said.

Animal rights activists have been critical of the BLM for their gathering efforts, accusing the agency of prioritizing the interests of the commercial livestock industry.

Scott Beckstead, a Willamette University law professor and advocate for wild horses, said Monday, "According to the Bureau of Land Management's own rangeland health data, 89% of the wild horse herd management area is overgrazed due to livestock."

"What we see is after the horses are removed, the BLM allows thousands of cattle and sheep to go into those areas and graze," Beckstead said.

He's also critical of the helicopter technique used to gather wild horses.      

"We see the Bureau of Land Management chasing heavily pregnant mares, tiny baby foals, elderly horses for miles through the desert with helicopters in triple-digit heat," Beckstead said.

Speaking to the gathers' safety, Thisell said, "There's all kinds of protections in place to make sure that we're doing the very best we can for those animals on the landscape. And in general, the mortality rate for these operations is less than one third of 1%."

Last Tuesday's announcement said tThe helicopter gather would begin around August 15, and BLM officials propose to remove approximately 760 excess wild horses.

These roundups often draw criticism, such as views shared with NewsChannel 21 last week by Beckstead, a Sutherlin resident.

 He said many people question the BLM's real motives behind the roundups and the statements it makes to justify the operation, citing "the views of American citizens who strongly oppose the inhumane helicopter roundups and who support wild horses on our western public lands."

 Beckstead noted "the livestock grazing in this area and the fact that they vastly outnumber the wild horses, and that livestock producers, who graze their stock on our public lands at taxpayer expense, are the only ones benefiting from this inhumane and costly helicopter roundup operation."

"In the past three years, the BLM has engaged in an aggressive campaign to round up and remove tens of thousands of federally protected wild horses and burros from their designated habitat under the pretext that the animals are 'overpopulated' and pose an imagined threat to the rangeland," Beckstead told NewsChannel 21.

"The BLM never mentions how many livestock graze on the wild horse Herd Management Areas (the livestock outnumber horses by upwards of 35 to 1), while its own grazing data clearly shows that livestock, not wild horses, are the primary cause of degradation of western ranges."

The BLM announcement continues in full below:

The Wild-Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 gives BLM the direction for protecting and overseeing 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.

The South Steens HMA can sustainably support 159 to 304 horses, the agency said, while allowing for other animals and resource uses. The current population estimate is 781 adults and 165 foals. 

“This gather would be a critical part of our effort to promote animal welfare on the range,” said Don Rotell, BLM Andrews/Steens Field Office Manager.

The gather would also reduce degradation of public lands by the over-sized herd, BLM said.

Animals gathered from the range would be transported to Oregon’s Wild Horse Corral Facility in Hines. At the corral, about 70 horses would be selected for return to the range, up to 35 of which would be mares treated with PZP or PZP-22 contraceptive. The remaining horses would be prepared for adoption or sale into private care.

The South Steens HMA is about 70 miles southwest of Burns and 10 miles south of Frenchglen, along Highway 205 and the Steens Mountain south loop road. 

Supporting National Environmental Policy Act documents for this gather are available at https://tinyurl.com/3zz48hd4. A Determination of NEPA Adequacy is currently in progress and will determine gather execution. The public is welcome to observe the gather. Details on viewing opportunities are available at the same location. 

The gather would last approximately 10 days, though exact start and end dates will be determined by the contractor’s availability. For more information, contact Tara Thissell at tthissell@blm.gov or (541) 573-4519.

-BLM-

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM's mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. In Fiscal Year 2015, the BLM generated $4.1 billion in receipts from activities occurring on public lands.