BLM-WO, Adobe Town HMA Wild Horse GPS Collar Study Support

BACKGROUND: Wild Horse and Burro populations are known to move across jurisdictional lines, such as across State lines and onto privately-owned lands. In the Adobe Town herd management area (HMA) of Wyoming, it is particularly important for the BLM and other land owners to have an improved understanding of horse movements and habitat use patterns relative to the Colorado state line and to the area's "checkerboard" lands of mixed Federal and other ownership. Seasonal wild horse movements in and out of this HMA also affect the accuracy of aerial surveys conducted every spring. The BLM is seeking to support collaborative assistance with the capture, placement, and tracking of GPS radio collars to record wild horse movements in the Adobe Town HMA of Wyoming. Partners would not be required, but are encouraged, to bring a substantial (1:2, BLM:Partner) cost-sharing commitment to the project. Offered cost-sharing commitments will be evaluated during the award selection process. The BLM has been in discussions with University of Wyoming and the Wyoming Department of Agriculture about financially assisting with such a project. All applicant proposals from any qualifying entity will be considered, however if the selected applicant is a Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit (CESU) partner, any resulting award will include their master CESU agreement's terms and conditions. OBJECTIVES: The BLM seeks to support a study to conduct GPS-collar based inquiry into the movement patterns and habitat use of wild horses on the Adobe Town HMA of Wyoming. The study should include analyses of seasonal movement patterns relative to State boundaries, HMA boundaries, and land ownership patterns, and analyses of seasonal habitat use with respect to, at the least, water sources and riparian habitats. PUBLIC BENEFIT: In and around a large number of herd management areas where wild horses live, there are excess wild horses, relative to the appropriate management levels determined to be optimal with respect to the Bureau of Land Management's multiple-use mission. Many aspects of public use of BLM lands can be affected by excess wild horses and their associated habitat use, including: threatened, endangered, and sensitive species habitat; highway safety; rangeland health; and livestock grazing interests. The Adobe Town HMA is one area where high wild horse populations are periodically reduced by horse removals. It is not known, though, how often and at what times after gathers horses move from the solid block of BLM lands within the Adobe Town HMA onto the checkerboard of public and private lands in the HMA. It is also not clear how wild horses in this HMA use the mix of habitats on public and private lands. Having an improved understanding of wild horse movements and habitat use on the Adobe Town HMA could improve both public and private rangeland management.