Federal Agency Proposes Major Wild Horse Roundups Across 750,000 Acres of Wyoming’s Red Desert
Why It Matters
Thousands of wild horses roaming Wyoming’s Red Desert could soon be captured and removed to long-term holding facilities under new federal land management proposals. The plan affects roughly 753,000 acres of mostly public land north of Interstate 80, and would have lasting consequences for ranchers, wildlife managers, and the ecological health of one of Wyoming’s most expansive open landscapes.
Overgrazing by overpopulated horse herds has been linked to riparian degradation and declining juvenile sage grouse survival rates — a concern that touches ranching livelihoods, wildlife habitat, and Wyoming’s broader land management challenges.
What Happened
The Bureau of Land Management is currently in the early “scoping” phase of a proposal to significantly reduce wild horse populations across five herds in what is collectively known as the “Red Desert complex.” The herds — Green Mountain, Stewart Creek, Antelope Hills, Crooks Mountain, and Lost Creek — occupy a vast stretch of federal land in south-central Wyoming.
Rather than eliminating the herds outright, BLM says it intends to bring horse populations down to an “appropriate management level” designed to balance the needs of wildlife, livestock, recreation, and long-term rangeland health, according to an agency spokesperson who communicated with WyoFile via email. BLM personnel declined a verbal interview for the story.
The agency’s public notice states that herd evaluations are more than 30 years old and need to be revised, and that BLM’s Lander and Rawlins field offices “intend to gather excess wild horses” from the herds. The public comment period runs through May 4, with comments accepted at eplanning.blm.gov under docket number DOI-BLM-WY-R050-2026-0012-EA.
By the Numbers
- 753,000 acres — total land area occupied by the five Red Desert complex herds
- 1,970 horses — estimated current population as of early March 2026, expected to reach approximately 2,300 by fall
- 480 to 724 animals — the target “appropriate management level” established in the early 1990s
- 1,576 to 1,820 horses — the estimated number that could be removed to bring herds into compliance
- 20% annually — the approximate growth rate of free-roaming horse herds, enabling populations to double roughly every five years
- 15,000+ — the total number of wild horses BLM plans to gather nationwide this fiscal year
Ecological Pressure on the Range
BLM documents accompanying the proposal contend that the nonnative free-roaming horses have taken a measurable toll on the Red Desert’s ecological health. The evaluation report for the Stewart and Lost Creek herds states that “rangeland resources within the complex have experienced adverse effects as a result of wild horse overpopulation,” citing historical riparian degradation tied to excessive horse populations.
University of Wyoming-led research covering three of the herds — Crooks Mountain, Green Mountain, and Stewart Creek — found that overpopulated horses are correlated with declining juvenile sage grouse survival rates, adding urgency to the federal review. Wyoming mule deer hunters have also faced ongoing habitat management debates in the region, underscoring the complexity of balancing competing land uses across the state.
Previous roundups in 2018 and 2020 reduced populations in three of the herds to roughly 900 animals by 2021, but without sustained intervention, projections show that number more than doubling again by 2027.
Zoom Out
Wild horse management has become an increasingly contentious front in federal land policy across the Mountain West. Free-roaming horses are protected under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, which prohibits their intentional killing. As a result, gathered animals are transported to private and government-run pastures and holding facilities, a system that carries significant long-term costs for taxpayers.
The Red Desert complex situation is separate from — though related to — BLM’s ongoing effort to completely eliminate three other herds in the so-called “checkerboard” portion of the Red Desert, a plan currently tied up in litigation and on hold until at least October. Federal water management pressures in the broader region add further strain to Wyoming’s public land resources.
Wild horse advocates, including Carol Walker of the Wild Hoofbeats blog, are urging the public to submit comments and are calling on BLM to consider restoring a former herd management area called Arapahoe Creek — currently managed for zero horses — which sits at the center of the five existing herds.
What’s Next
BLM will review public comments submitted through May 4 before advancing its environmental assessment. Updated herd plans are expected to address appropriate management levels, rangeland health, population suppression methods, genetic diversity, and sage grouse habitat. No final roundup dates or specific removal targets have been officially announced as the agency completes its scoping process.
About the Author
