|
Print Page | ||
| Challis Field Office | |||
Wild Horses
The Challis Herd Management Area Plan (HMAP) states that the herd will be managed to maintain 185 animals, with gatherings every other year to reduce the population to that level. The area generally maintains a herd of 185-253 horses between gatherings with a 17 percent annual rate of increase. Recreational use of the Challis Field Office creates greater interaction between the wild horses and the public and can result in direct harassment, indirect disturbances and stress on the horses. If you visit an area where wild horses are present, give them their space and enjoy these beautiful animals from a safe distance. Herds are also threatened by off-road vehicle (OHV) users, disease, severe winter weather and fire. 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 Horse and Burro Act in 1971. During the Great Depression in the 1930's, 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. BLM studies each HMA to determine how many wild horses the area can support while providing for other land uses and resource values. The overall capacity of the HMA to support wild horses is called its Appropriate Management Level (AML). BLM periodically gathers and removes excess wild horses to maintain each herd at its AML. Excess animals are made available to the public through the National Adopt-A-Horse and Burro Program. Idaho BLM regularly holds horse adoptions across the state to find good homes for animals gathered from Idaho's rangelands. BLM also conducts satellite adoptions in Idaho to help place wild horses gathered from herd areas in other western states.
Challis Field Office | 1151 Blue Mountain Road | Challis, ID 83226
|
|||
>
The Challis Herd Management Area (HMA) is bordered on the north by the Salmon River, on the west by the East Fork Salmon River, on the south by the ridgeline between Herd Creek and Road Creek, and on the east by U.S. Highway 93 and the watershed boundary between the Salmon River drainage and the Lost River Drainage. Within this HMA, Malm Gulch/Germer Basin and Sand Hollow are closed to wild horse and livestock use due to fragile soils.