CONEJOS — Some horses near the Conejos-Costilla county line are not wild horses, but stray animals, Melissa Garcia of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) told the Conejos Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) at their Sept. 5 meeting.
Only about 34 percent of Conejos County is privately owned and the other 66 percent is public land overseen by the National Forest Service, BLM and Colorado State lands.
The horses are not managed by the BLM, Garcia said, and dealing with stray animals hasn’t been very successful. “Take a horse home,” she suggested.
However, Costilla County residents are proud of the herds and the BLM isn’t busy in that area.
Garcia didn’t mention Wild Horse Mesa, also known as San Pedro Mesa, which covers about 75 square miles, a few miles south of San Luis.
The mesa area is home to about 150 wild horses generally known as mustangs, broken into nine bands, roaming on private lands. 

They are believed to be descendants of horses used by Spanish conquistadores and brought to the area in the 1500’s.  Spaniards began bringing horses and cattle to North America starting in 1493, after Columbus landed in 1492.
This history hasn’t escaped the BLM, which works to preserve certified groups. Over a 500-year period, these horses (and burros) have adapted successfully to the Western range.  Regardless of the debate over whether these animals are native or non-native, the BLM manages horses and burros on public lands according to the provisions of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, which describes the animals as “wild” rather than feral.
In its online information, the BLM reportedly oversees 26.9 million acres of land used by wild horses, wild burros and other species. Unchecked herds are believed to double in size every four years, due to a lack of natural predators and a rapid growth rate. To prevent overpopulation and overgrazing, the BLM gathers excess animals and offers them for adoption or sale to a good home.
That’s not the only item on the BLM’s plate locally, according to Garcia. Activities are still taking place in connection with the Rio Grande Hills National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process, she told the commissioners.
In its official information, the agency reportedly manages more than 245 million acres of America’s public lands and roughly 700 million acres of its subsurface mineral estate for the benefit of current and future generations.
Overall, Conejos County has 4,408 records of mining claims on public land managed by the BLM and 75 records of mines listed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The western part of the county is a gradual progression from rolling hills to towering mountains that reach altitudes of 13, 000 feet.
Active claims include turquoise mines owned by William P. King, Jr. and 157 active general exploration claims owned by Larry R. Moyer Exploration LLC. There also are 175 records of oil and gas leases on public land managed by the BLM.


The San Luis Valley Field Office manages more than 500,000 acres of public land in Colorado’s Rio Grande Basin. This includes eight areas of critical environmental concern, four special recreation management areas, over more miles of designated routes, and countless opportunities to enjoy public lands.
Resource management planning is an essential way the BLM evaluates and communicates how it manages public lands. The BLM creates plans to maximize resource values on public lands for present and future generations based on the principles of multiple use and sustained yield. These plans take about three years to complete and involve continuous opportunities for public involvement during their development and implementation.
Agency employees believe partnerships and inclusion are vital to managing sustainable, working public lands.  This means respecting the ties that communities have to public lands, and welcoming and valuing diverse views.  Garcia said she is proud of our strong record of taking local voice into account.
To guide these efforts, Resource Management Plans (RMPs) are developed to serve as blueprints to keep public landscapes healthy and productive.  Public input is encouraged and meetings are regularly held.