BOZEMAN —   Placing 1,500 wild horses on an Ennis-area ranch would hurt resident elk populations and threaten plant life, wetlands and soil, an environmental assessment of the proposal found.

 

  The findings are contained in an assessment released Tuesday by the Bureau of Land Management on a bid by the Spanish Q Ranch to offer a long-term holding pasture for up to 1,500 geldings rounded up from federal land in the west.

 

  "The amount of forage and habitat available for use by wildlife would be expected to sharply decline as a result of heavy to severe (grazing), trampling and trailing damage by wild horses," the BLM found. "Elk winter range would be negatively impacted, forcing elk to move to surrounding areas."

 

  The environmental assessment found that holding fewer horses — 800 to 1,000 — in a 15,000-acre fenced pasture at the ranch would not hurt the amount of forage and quality of wildlife habitat.

 

  The condition of wetland and riparian areas "would be expected to be maintained or improved slightly over the existing situation as wild horses tend to spend less time near water than cattle," the assessment said.

 

  Nearly 37,000 wild horses and burros live on BLM-managed land in 10 Western states, according to the agency's Web site. That is about 10,000 more than the agency considers healthy for the federal grazing land where wild horses are allowed. To control the numbers, the BLM gathers thousands of wild horses every year and puts them up for sale or adoption.

 

  Horses that are not adopted are placed in long-term holding pastures like the one proposed near Ennis. The BLM has long-term holding pastures in Oklahoma, Kansas and South Dakota, but none in the Rocky Mountains.

 

  Comments on the environmental assessment will be taken through Dec. 18. Susie Stokke, with the BLM's wild horses and burros program, said a decision will be made by Dec. 26. If the BLM decides to use the pasture, horses would likely being arriving in January.

 

  Comments can be mailed to Stokke's attention at the BLM National Wild Horse and Burro Program, P.O. Box 12000, Reno, NV 89520-0006 or e-mailed to sstokke@blm.gov

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