Officials with the Challis Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management have decided to cancel a wild horse roundup that was scheduled to take place in the northern Boulder Mountains later this summer in August.
The roundup was to have occurred in the Challis Herd Management Area, which is bordered on the north by the Salmon River, on the west by the East Fork of the Salmon River and on the south by the ridgeline between Herd Creek and Road Creek. On its eastern boundary the wild horse area is bordered by U.S. Highway 93 and the watershed boundary between the Salmon River and the Big Lost River drainages.
In most years, the Challis field office conducts wild horse roundups in an effort to keep the herd there at 185 animals, a level established as part of the Challis herd management area plan. The area generally maintains a herd of about 185 to 253 horses between gatherings, with a 17 percent annual rate of increase, online information provided by the BLM states.
Officials from the BLM's national office in Washington D.C. decided to cancel this year's Challis roundup for budgetary reasons, said Kevin Lloyd, Wild Horse Specialist for the BLM's Challis Field Office. He said last year's drought and massive wildfires in the state of Nevada pushed roundups in that region to the top of the BLM's list of priorities.
This summer, the BLM will focus more on rounding up wild horses in those areas of Nevada impacted by drought and wildfires, Lloyd said.
"Ours has just been put on hold," he said. "We're going to try again next year."
He said the decision to cancel the roundup didn't have anything to do with controversy over the local wild horse captures. In years past, the Challis wild horse roundup has been a source of controversy for some fans of the Challis herd.
For now, the Challis wild horse herd is estimated to number about 330 animals, Lloyd said.
According to the BLM, Idaho's wild horses are descendants of domestic horses that escaped to or were turned out on the public lands prior to passage of the federal Horse and Burro Act in 1971. During the Great Depression in the 1930s, many farmers and ranchers released their animals onto public lands because they couldn't afford to feed them.
Wild horses have few natural predators and herd populations can double every five to six years, according to the BLM. Increasing herd sizes can place a strain on the natural environment, which is why the BLM works to manage the herds at sustainable numbers.
The Challis office typically holds the roundups in August because of weather concerns, Lloyd said.
"We have a narrow window because of the weather and the geography (of the management area)," he said.
The BLM periodically gathers and removes wild horses in areas throughout the country to maintain herd levels mandated as part of its individual management plans. Captured animals are made available to the public through the National Adopt-A-Horse and Burro Program.
