APPENDIX 4:        SPECIFIC OPERATING PROCEDURES for the  
2003 PMWHR GATHER and REMOVAL

A.  GENERAL:  The work will consist of the capture of wild horses from the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range (HMA) within southern Montana and northern Wyoming (Carbon and Bighorn counties respectively), care of those animals, and transportation to the Britton Springs Administrative Site at the base of the Pryor Mountains in Bighorn County, Wyoming. The Bureau of Land Management will contract with a private party (helicopter contract) for this operation, and unless otherwise stated, the Contractor and Billings Field Office (BiFO) shall furnish all labor, supplies and equipment necessary to accomplish the work.  Agency personnel will also be directly involved in the operation of the project and the same procedures for gathering and handling wild horses apply to either contractor or agency personnel.

The methods employed during this capture operation will be herding horses with a helicopter to a temporary trap of portable panels, or ropers, or directly to the Britton Springs Administrative Site.  Roping and/or bait trapping will be used as a last resort, if all other practical methods fail, and will only be used after consultation with the Field Office Manager, Billings Field Office. The work shall be accomplished in a safe and humane manner and be in accordance with the provisions of 43 CFR Part 4700 and the following specifications and provisions.

B.  SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS OF GATHER:  The specific work to be performed shall include the following parameters:

a.	Capture Method:

	(1)	Helicopter-Drive Trapping

(2)	Helicopter-Assisted Roping

		(3)	Bait (water, food) Trapping

	This effort will require the flexibility to potentially draw from all three forms of capture methods. The preferred method will be Helicopter-Drive Trapping, but as this method has been tried twice, albeit successfully, in the PMWHR, flexibility may be needed to revert to Roping from horseback or Baiting methods, if the former proves to be too high-risk for personnel or horses or both.
	
	A serious injury rate for wild horses subjected to helicopter gathers, using national livestock contractors, have been documented at a minimal (<5% of total animals gathered) level.  Minor injuries, however, such as cuts and scraps, are generally unavoidable on horses gathered over rugged terrain. Major problems, such as broken limbs and/or fatalities, can be avoided if care is taken to allow the animals to pick both the path of direction and rate of speed of movement over the terrain. It is also critical that the helicopter pilot recognize when animals are being pushed too severely and immediately withdraw to allow the horses to stabilize. At the conclusion of each day of gather effort, injury rate and other aspects of the gather operation will be evaluated. If it is determined that the risk associated with injuries is significantly greater than either expected (see above) or previously experienced with traditional wrangler efforts (maximum of 2 deaths per 150 horses gathered), other methods of capture will be considered. Any final decision to alter capture method will lie with the Field Manager, Billings Field Office.  

b.	Description of the work area, maps, and time frame of effort:

	This gather will be restricted to the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range only.  Social groups of horses occupy 3 fairly distinct geographic areas of this range including Burnt Timber Ridge  (BT), Sykes Ridge  (SR), and the Dryhead  (DH-National Park Service land), and as such, gather efforts may focus on one subpopulation of the range at a time. If the majority of horses within the Burnt Timber and Sykes Ridge subpopulations are still intermingled within the sub-alpine meadows at the top of the range, then these groups will be handled together. It is estimated that use of the helicopter will facilitate the timeliness of the gather process, such that a maximum of 5 days will be necessary to complete helicopter trapping. This effort, will of course, be weather dependent. Contractor availability and initiation of the gather effort is not expected prior to early September 2003. As such, culmination of the gather effort, with an organized adoption, is tentatively scheduled for late September 2003.  

c.  	Responsibility and lines of communication:
		
	The Contracting Officer's Representative, Ron Hall and Project Inspector, Linda Coates-Markle, or other individuals selected at the time of preparation of the task orders, have the direct responsibility to ensure the Contractor's compliance with the contract stipulations. However, the Billings Field Manager will take an active role to ensure that appropriate lines of communication are established between the Field Office and State Office. All employees involved in the gathering operations will keep the best interests of the animals at the forefront at all times.

	All publicity, formal public contact and inquires will be handled through External Affairs, State Office. The Field Manager will be the primary contact to coordinate with the COR/PI to ensure animals are being captured, handled and removed in a safe and humane manner.

	The contract specifications require humane treatment and care of animals during removal operations. These specifications are designed to minimize the risk of injury and death during and after capture of the animals. The specifications will be vigorously enforced. Should the Contractor show negligence and not perform according to contract stipulations, they 
will be issued written instructions, stop work orders, or defaulted.
	
d.	Presence or absence of wilderness areas: 

	Three BLM wilderness study areas, containing approximately 23,000 acres, exist within the boundaries of the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range including Pryor Mountain, Burnt Timber Canyon and Bighorn Tack-On.  In addition, sections of Lost Water Canyon (USFS) and Bighorn Canyon (NPS) are contained within horse range boundaries. Certain activities are restricted within these wilderness study areas including off-road vehicle use. Maps and information will be provided to the contractor that clearly demarks wilderness boundaries and operative restrictions.

e.	A description of specific gather area(s) and numbers of animals within general contract area(s) as animal concentration, terrain, physical barriers and weather conditions dictate:

	The timing of the gather will be critical in terms of general position and migratory activity of the horses within the range. Generally, inclement weather conditions influence horse activity on the ridges such that animals are leaving the high altitudes of the range (~8000 feet) by late September. In addition, for the past two years, the majority of social groups have left the Dryhead by mid summer and migrated to the Hidden Canyon area on middle Sykes Ridge for at least portions of the fall and winter. Due to the level of monitoring activity, reasonably accurate information on the location of individual social groups will be available just prior to the gather.

	The contractor will be required to fly and evaluate the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, in terms of terrain, topography, physical barriers, road conditions, current climatic conditions and potential hazards, just prior to initiation of the gather effort. They will also be supplied with maps depicting natural and manmade barriers that currently exist on the range.  This pre-capture evaluation will also determine whether the level of activity is likely to cause undue stress to the animals, and whether such stress would be at an acceptable level or necessitate a delay in the planned capture activity. All gather activities may be subjected to disruption and/or rescheduling due to inclement weather conditions.
			
f.	Estimated number of animals to be held for preparation activity, logistics and approximate duration of holding:
	
	Horses will be herded by helicopter into temporary capture trap sites within the upper elevations of the range as well as pre-selected areas in the middle and lower elevations. Excessed animals will be transported to Britton Springs by truck and trailer. Preparation activity of animals will commence as soon as gather efforts are completed. It is anticipated that all gather efforts will be completed within a one-week period. Horses designated for release onto the range will be sorted out and released as soon as feasible after capture. All captured animals may be subjected to blood draws for both genetic and health studies. Horses designated to be removed from the range will be subjected to preparation activity involving freeze-branding, vaccinations, de-worming programs and blood draws for continuing genetic viability and health studies. BLM personnel, APHIS veterinarians, and/or a contracted local veterinarian may handle these efforts. The government will provide a restraining (squeeze) chute, to be used for the purpose of restraining animals. A contracted veterinarian will be present during any days in which horses are actually gathered off the range, brought into the corral facility, and during any preparation activity.

g.   Transportation destination point:

	All gather efforts will result in excessed animals being transported (or herded) to the Britton Springs Corral facility at the base of the Pryors. This is where the scheduled adoption will be held for these animals.  Horses removed from middle and lower reaches of the range may be herded and/or transported from temporary traps to the Britton Springs facility. Permission will be obtained from the Custer National Forest and National Park Service in order to set up temporary traps or perform any gather-related activity within their areas. Any and all off-road activities will be minimized to the extent possible.

	h.   Public relations plan pertaining to gather activity:
	
	In an effort to ensure the safety and welfare of all participants and observers for this gather, including the horses, management intends to apply rotating closures affecting areas of the range which the helicopter is working. As such, for a 1day period in which the helicopter is working within the range, these specific areas, including road access, will be individually closed.  Only one area will be affected at a time. Gather efforts along the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area "Dryhead" will be coordinated through the National Park Service. This area will not be closed but some traffic control will be in effect during actual days of helicopter activity. It will also be necessary to coordinate with "livestock trailing" ranchers who may be using the Dryhead area during the same time period.
	
	Efforts will be made to avoid time periods, such as weekends, of heavier anticipated public use of the range. However, the helicopter contractors are available to work on weekends, and this may be necessary as dictated by temporary weather shutdown or other unforeseen circumstances.  Scheduling of the gather in September should mitigate, if not eliminate, most conflicts with mule deer and bighorn sheep hunters on the PMWHR. It should be stressed, however, that area and road closures will be of limited duration and only on days the helicopter is actually working a particular area. 

	Also, in an effort to facilitate anticipated media and public interest and attention towards the gather activity, management would hold "public and media notification" periods at Britton Springs Administrative Site, at the base of the PMWHR. These would provide opportunities for information sharing as well as co-ordinating possible field viewing of gather activities. Information on the timing of these activities would be made available by calling the Billings Field Office.