Stop Wild Horse Round-Ups Coalition protests at BLM office in Grand Junction

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) - The Stop Wild Horse Round-Ups Coalition held a protest on Monday at the Bureau of Land Management headquarters in Grand Junction. Those in attendance sought to voice their opposition to current BLM policy regarding wild horse populations and their habitats.

According to Pamela True, the protesting group’s founder, “The BLM is managing our wild horses to extinction. Period.”

2021 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the passage of the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971. Protesters, in organizing the event, were seeking to highlight that legislation and increase awareness for wild horse conservation.

Craig Downer, Ph.D., a wildlife ecologist, expressed his view that the BLM is caving to pressure from interest groups including oil and gas, livestock, and big-game hunting. He says that current habitat policy isn’t viable for the health of wild horse populations.

Becky Peacock, who attended the event, said that “this is about stopping the eradication of American wild horses and protecting their natural habitat that they have lived on for years.”

True and those protesting are calling for a moratorium on round-ups and an investigation into the BLM.

The BLM did not respond to a request for comment on the protest.