BURNS, Ore. — An emergency operation intended to rescue wild horses threatened by severe shortages of food and water in Eastern Oregon has been postponed because of a temporary restraining order connected to ongoing litigation.
The Bureau of Land Management had planned to begin gathering horses from the Riddle Mountain Herd Management Area on September 9. However, the court order has temporarily halted the operation at a time when federal land managers say the health of the herd is in immediate danger.
According to the BLM, a record-dry winter reduced available water and forage before wildfires burned approximately 70 percent of the herd management area. The combination has left the horses with limited access to the resources they need to survive.
“It’s our responsibility to manage and protect these herds,” Burns District Manager Don Rotell said. “When fire and severe drought shrinks water sources and reduces forage, it’s the horses and other plants and animals that pay a price.”
The agency says timing is critical because crews may have only a limited opportunity to reach the area before seasonal weather makes the roads unusable.
“We want healthy horses on healthy rangelands,” Rotell said. “Unfortunately, the practical implication of this delay is that it may not be possible to round up these horses before late fall storms make roads in the area impassable.”
The planned removal was intended both to protect the horses and to help the fire-damaged landscape recover.
Severe wildfires can destroy vegetation and alter the structure of the soil. Without stabilization and rehabilitation work, winter storms may wash away topsoil, invasive weeds can spread and damage to the land can continue for decades.
Temporarily resting the affected land would give native vegetation an opportunity to return while reducing pressure on the area’s limited forage and water. Cattle grazing will also be suspended on the burned lands during the recovery period.
The Riddle Mountain horses are part of the wild horse populations managed by the BLM across Western public lands. The agency says its goal is to maintain healthy wild horse herds while also protecting the condition of the rangelands that support horses, wildlife and other authorized uses.
If the gathering operation is allowed to proceed, the BLM says it will follow standards established under its Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program. Those requirements are intended to protect the health and well-being of the horses during drive-trap gathering and removal operations.
Public safety and animal welfare remain the agency’s top priorities, according to the BLM.
The agency has not announced a new date for the Riddle Mountain operation. Additional information will be released as the litigation continues and the status of the temporary restraining order becomes clearer.
VIDEO: BLM video of the herd traveling through the scorched rangeland is available here.
