To comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the BLM is preparing an environmental assessment for the proposed HMAP update and gather of excess wild horses. The EA will serve several purposes: it will provide the public and governmental agencies with information about the potential environmental consequences of the project and alternatives; identify measures to avoid or minimize environmental harm from the proposed action and alternatives; and provide the responsible officials with information upon which to make an informed decision regarding the project and whether to prepare a finding of no significant impact or environmental impact statement. The EA will be prepared by an interdisciplinary team of BLM resource specialists. 

Public involvement is important to the NEPA process, and scoping activities are initiated early in the process to identify reasonable alternatives to be evaluated in the EA, identify environmental issues of concern related to the proposal, determine the depth of analysis for issues address in the environmental document, and identify potential mitigation.

In accordance with BLM Handbook H-4700-1, management evaluations for the HMAs have been prepared and are being made available for scoping. Please see the attached scoping notice for more information. Comments should be submitted by May 4, 2026, through this site.