Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva and 64 of his colleagues have asked Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Director Bob Abbey to abandon a plan to create nonproducing wild horse herds in Wyoming.

In June, some wild horse advocates criticized the BLM when the agency announced that it would gather animals from the White Mountain and Little Colorado Herd Management Areas in Wyoming, and spay mares and castrate stallions to reach designated appropriate management levels (205-300 for the former and 69-100 for the latter). Sterile herds would reside on both ranges.

The BLM later revised its plan to exclude the spaying of mares. Under a revised plan the BLM would begin gathering approximately 873 animals from the ranges on Aug. 16. Following the gather, approximately 177 geldings would be returned to the ranges. No mares would be returned to the range. BLM Spokesperson Tom Gorey said the gather’s goal is to create a minimally reproducing herd containing 177 geldings and 97 breeding horses.

"For now, what the BLM can say is that no mares will be spayed in connection with the BLM’s gather of horses from the White Mountain/Little Colorado HMAs," Gorey said