8 I The Lovell Chronicle I July 19, 2012
HORSE GATHER continued from page l
and seemed very calm" con-
sidering their ordeal.
"It looked like they were
adapting well. They weren't
running around or going cra-
zy or anything," said Gra-
ham.
Graham and other horse
advocates plan to visit the
horses several times a week
until they are adopted. They
have also offered to help the
BLM staff "gentle" the hors-
es.
During the bait trap
gather, which is expected
to last most of the summer,
Britton Springs Corrals
will be open to the public to
view the wild horses that
have been removed from the
range. Public viewing from
bleachers near the corrals is
from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on
Monday, Tuesday, Thurs-
day, Friday and Saturday.
Corral tours on Tuesday and
Saturday at 10 a.m. allow a
closer view of the horses.
"It's our understanding
that they (the BLM) will try
to gentle them somewhat be-
fore they are adopted," said
Graham. "They are not used
to people and they are not
used to being touched or any-
thing like that. It will take
them a while to adjust to be-
ing around people."
According to a recent
BLM census, 150 adult hors-
es live on the range, which
exceeds the ideal number
or AML (Appropriate Man-
agement Level) to support
both a healthy range and a
healthy herd on the 38,000
acre range, which is fenced.
The census does not include
foals, which are estimat-
ed currently to be about 21.
Based on previous research
conducted by the BLM, the
range can support approxi-
mately 90-120 adult horses,
excluding the foals.
The BLM proposed the
gather earlier this year to
reduce the size of the herd.
Several comment periods al-
lowed the public to provide
input into the metbods the
BLM plans to use to gather
the horses. The BLM con-
cluded that bait trapping,
water trapping, herding or
a combination of these tech-
niques to capture and re-
move the excess number of
horses from the herd is the
best method to use to remove
horses from this particular
herd.
A list of the horses gath-
ered and removed (with their
given names as identified in
the Environmental Assess-
ment) is available on the
BLM website, along with in-
formation about how to adopt
the horses at http://www.
blm.gov/mt/st/en/fo/billings_
field_office/wildhorses.html.
The list is updated every
Friday and includes notes
about the condition of the
horses as they are gathered.
As the gather progresses, a
daily update is also available
with other details about the
gather at the website.
"Bait trapping is a long-
term gathering method, so
though it appears to be a
slow moving process as far as
numbers gathered each day,
we are hoping that at this
pace we will gather as many
as 40 horses by the time the
summer months end," ex-
plained Kristen Lenhardt,
spokesperson for BLM Mon-
tana/Dakotas.
"I think that the gath-
er is going well right now,"
said wild mustang advocate
Matthew Dillon. "They (the
BLM) are just taking their
time so that they can safely
and properly gather the hors-
es that were identified for re-
moval. Bait trapping is slow-
er than a helicopter gather.
During the 2009 gather,
57 horses were removed in
about a week. However, I
do think bait trapping is a
much better method of gath-
ering on the Pryor Mountain
Wild Horse Range, and I am
PIONEER DAY
p.m. at the park, followed by
the dance featuring the mu-
sic of the Cowley Boys from
9 to 11 p.m., also in the park.
"Cherish yesterday, live
today, dream tomorrow" is
the theme of the 2012 cele-
bration, and Simmons not-
ed the mission statement of
the Pioneer Day Committee:
"The Pioneer Day Commit-
tee is established to promote
faith in God, pioneer and
family heritage, and patrio-
tism. The annual celebra-
tion and activities we spon-
sor will encourage these
values."
THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, July 19:
Pioneer Day Trap
Shoot, 6 p.m., Lovell Shoot-
ing Range. Contact Suzanne
Wilson for information, 272-
1953.
Friday, July 20:
Pioneer Day Golf Tour-
nament, Foster Gulch Golf
Course, 9 a.m. check-in.
Three-person teams. Call
548-7039 for information.
Mustangs American Le-
gion baseball vs. Cody, Se-
nior League Baseball field in
Cowley, 3:30 and 5:30 p.m.
Ice Cream Social at the
continued from page 1
park, 7-9 p.m.
Adult Dance and Min-
gle at the park, 9-11 p.m.,
Cowley Boys.
Saturday, July 21:
Pioneer Day Fun Run
and Bike Races, register at
6:30 a.m., racing at 7, Main
Street. One-mile and 5K
runs, 5K+ Cannery Road
bike race. Wheelchairs wel-
come. Helmets required for
bicycle racers. Call Schuyler
Hinckley for more informa-
tion, 548-2823.
Kiddie Parade, 9:30 a.m.
Line up at town hall, 9:15.
No motorized vehicles al-
lowed.
Pioneer Day Parade, 10
a.m. Line up at 9 a.m. at the
city shops at the west edge of
town. Call Janeen Blackburn
for information, 548-6186.
There will be a drawing
for a free bicycle during the
parade for kids 8 to 12, spon-
sored by the Pioneer Mu-
seum. Enter at the Cowley
Mercantile.
Pioneer Heritage Pro-
gram, 11 a.m., LDS Church.
Everybody invited. Speaker
will be John Bennion.
Barbecue lunch and kids
games in the park, noon. Bar-
becue or hot dog lunch spon-
sored by the Senior League
Baseball Program.
Classic Car Show, north
of the park, all afternoon.
Call Keith or Carol Rasmus-
sen for information, 548-
7588.
Volleyball tournament
in the park, noon. Call LaRae
Dobbs for information, 548-
6030.
Mustangs American Le-
gion baseball vs. Riverton,
Senior League baseball field
in Cowley, 1 and 3 p.m.
Big Horn Academy his-
torical plaque presentation,
1:30, by the Daughters of
Utah Pioneers.
Pioneer Day Rodeo, 2
p.m., Cowley Rodeo Grounds.
Horseshoe pitching at
the park, 6 p.m. Call Keith
Berry for information, 272-
0550.
Variety Show, 7 p.m.,
Log Gym. Call Sylvia Gams
at 548-7111 or Lynne Strom
at 548-7531 for information.
Simmons noted that the gym
is newly air conditioned.
Ultimate Teen Night,
9 p.m. to midnight, Senior
Baseball Field, sponsored
by the Cowley Recreation
District and the Big Horn
County Health Coalition.
very happy that this is how it
is being done this year."
The BLM will continue
to work the Layout and Bad
Pass trap sites at the lower
elevations this week. Gath-
ered horses are being trans-
ported on the same day to
Britton Springs, where BLM
staff is monitoring the site,
said Lenhardt. Trap sites the
horses are not heavily utiliz-
ing will remain open for the
horses to pass in and out.
"We are pleased with
the activity we are seeing of
horses using the trap sites,"
said Lenhardt. "If the BLM
is not actively gathering at
a trap site, the horses con-
tinue to be free to move in
and out of the site. Since we
are being selective about
which horses are gathered
and removed according to
the horses we have identi-
fied in the Environmental
Assessment, it sometimes
takes a bit longer to gather
the desired horses. Numer-
ous horses may come in the
trap, but that does not nec-
essarily mean they are the
ones that will be removed."
The PMWMC and oth-
er horse advocates provid-
ed information about which
horses would be the least
detrimental to remove from
the gene pool. The BLM is
using this information plus
information from its own re-
search to determine which
horses will be removed and
which horse will stay on the
range.
Graham hopes that the
fertility control program
that is currently in place
will reduce the need to
gather and remove horses
in the future.
"We know that this is
something that has to be
done, as long as they're
fenced," said Graham.
"You can't just put ani-
mals in an enclosed area
and let them breed and for-
get about them until all of
the food and water is gone.
We'd rather not see them go
through this, but we know
it has to be done and this is
probably the most humane
way to do it."
We are celebrating our
100th Blrthdayl
FREE BBQ
& Fun
Big Brothers,
Sisters office
hours in Lovell
Big Brothers
Big Sisters of North-
west Wyoming will
be holding set office
hours in Lovell from
1 to 6 p.m. on the
first and third Mon-
day of every month.
The office is lo-
cated in the class-
room next to the
Lovell Recreation of-
rice, which is located
upstairs in the Lovell
High School gymna-
sium.
Community
members are encour-
aged to stop by and
learn more about Big
Brothers Big Sisters
of Northwest Wyo-
ming programs. For
more information call
1-800-294-9700 ext.
105 or visit www.
bbbsnwwy.com.
Effective Leadership
Elaine worked with Bentonite
producers to help them find win/
win solutions when Governor
Freudenthat issued an executive
order regarding the Sage Grouse
habitat. "Somehow she got those
agency heads out from behind
their desks and showed them how
Big Horn County's bentonite mine
operations work in a continuum
cycle of mining and reclamation.
They saw the reality of our efforts
to enhance Sage Grouse habitat.
Without Elaine's intervention, I'm
not sure we'd still be here at full
capacity."
- Rick Magstadt, WYO-BEN
'Like' me on Facebookt ReElect Elaine Harvey
Harvey00@tctwest.net Phone 307-548-7866
Paid for by Elaine Harvey for House District 26 committee
9 E. Main, Lovell, WY
SATURDAY & SUNDAY
July 2", & 22
Buy an 8-piece box of Chicken or
larger and get 1 lb. regular Potato
or Macaroni salad FREE
MONDAY, July 2 3
Barbecue chunks
TUESDAY, July 24
Hamburger'2 79 Cheeseburger'299
WEDNESDAY, July 25
Breast/Drum combo meal
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