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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Challis Field Office (CFO) is seeking public comment on a proposed wild horse gather in the Challis Herd Management Area (HMA) tentatively scheduled for October 2012. The CFO is preparing a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis analyzing the gathering and removal of excess horses to maintain the Appropriate Management Level (AML) of 185 horses to restore a “thriving natural ecological balance” as mandated in Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act (WFRHBA) of 1971.

On February 23, 2012, the CFO will host a public open house from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at 1151 Blue Mountain Road, Challis, Idaho, to answer questions regarding the gather and to collect public input. “This open house provides the public an excellent opportunity to talk one on one with staff about the gather,” said Todd Kuck, Challis field manager. “We will be able to answer individual questions regarding the proposed wild horse gather and other resource issues.”

The Challis HMA includes Jerry Peak and Corral-Horse Basin Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs) and six livestock grazing allotments. About 47 percent of the HMA is in the WSAs. The CFO is considering a variety of alternatives such as gathering by helicopter, deferring the gather to a later date and varying degrees of population growth suppression.

Comments received during the public review period will be analyzed and considered as part of the field office’s decision-making process. Comments may be sent to the CFO by email with the subject line containing “proposed wild horse gather comments” at: BLM_ID_ChallisOffice@blm.gov or by mail at the following address: Challis Field Office, 1151 Blue Mountain Road, Challis, Idaho 83226, Attention: Kevin Lloyd. Comments must be postmarked by March 5, 2012.

For more information on the public meeting or the proposed gather, please call Kevin Lloyd at 208-879-6200 or email at klloyd@blm.gov.