August 23, 2010 – Fertility Control Program Scoping Notice

The Bureau of Land Management’s Billings Field Office has put out the following press release:

Release Date: 08/18/10

Contacts:
Mary Apple 406-896-5258
Greg Albright 406-896-5260

Public Invited to Provide Input on Wild Horse Fertility Control Program

BILLINGS – The public is invited to provide input as the Bureau of Land Management begins updating its fertility control program for wild horses on the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range.

Fertility control would help limit herd growth so the wild horse population could be maintained at the appropriate management level more easily, thus limiting or reducing the need for gathers and helping to prevent deterioration of the range associated with overpopulation.

The new program would begin in the upcoming fiscal year and could last up to five years. Fertility control, in the form of a Porca Zona Pellucida (PZP) vaccine, has been used on select mares in the Pryors since 2001.
Written comments on the scope of this environmental assessment should be sent to: Jim Sparks, BLM Billings Field Office, 5001 Southgate Dr., Billings, Mont. 59101, by September 16. Written comments, including the names and addresses of commenters, will be available for public review. Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment, including your personal identifying information, may be publicly available at any time. While you can ask in your comment that your personal identifying information be withheld from public review, BLM cannot guarantee that it will be able to do so.

For more information, contact BLM’s wild horse specialist, Jared Bybee, at 896-5223.

The BLM manages more land – more than 245 million acres – than any other Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The Bureau, with a budget of about $1 billion, also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM’s multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.

–BLM–
Billings Field Office 5001 Southgate Drive Billings, MT 59101

The scoping notice can be read by clicking here.

Also, I thought it would be good to post a link to the latest version of the PZP Q&A. This can be downloaded by clicking here. This is a great source of information. The questions answered within the document are all based on actual scientific studies done, and there is a very useful annotated bibliography to go along with this content as well.

I’d invite everyone to read this scoping notice, read over the PZP Q&A, and even go look over my PZP blog series here. After this, the BLM would appreciate any comments that you might have to help them in this planning process. Again, comments should be submitted by September 16.

August 17, 2010 – Changes

A few weeks ago, a visitor asked me why the dun mare with White Cloud didn’t seem too happy to be with him. I didn’t know how to answer this – I had just been on the mountain a couple days prior to this, and there was no dun mare in that harem. A few days later, on August 4, I headed up on the mountain. When I found White Cloud’s harem, there certainly was a dun mare there. I recognized her right away as Topper Too, one of Chino’s mares. Also, there did seem to be a bit of tension within the harem due to her presence.

August 9, 2010 – North Boundary Fence, Part 2

In better understanding the origins of the proposed north boundary fence, I think it is important to first understand the bigger picture of East Pryor Mountain. East Pryor Mountain, home of the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, is covered by different uses and designations. These different uses and designations determine what can happen in different parts of East Pryor Mountain. In today’s post, we will be looking at different maps to better understand this. To view a larger version of each of these maps, please feel free to click on them.