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Photos: Northwestern Colorado horse gather rounds up symbols of the wild West

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John F. Russell
  

Vehicles line up in the parking lot of Rio Blanco Lake State Wildlife Area before dawn on July 19, 2022. The line of cars included representives from the Bureau of Land Management as well as horse advocates who travel to gatherings to observe what is happening.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
Eric Coulter, Bureau of Land Management public affairs specialist, talks with horse advocate Ginger Fedak with In Defense of Animals near a trap located in the Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Area July 19, 2022.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
Mustangs escape the heat as they hide under trees in the Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Area on July 19, 2022.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
A mustang checks out its surroundings while grazing just outside the Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Area on July 10, 2022.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
A mare and a foal make their way across the open range of the Piceance-East Douglas Horse Mangement Area on July 10, 2022, just before the Bureau of Land Management began the helicopter portion of a gather with a goal of rounding up 1050 horses and reducing the herd by 750 horses.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
A band of horses, including a couple of foals, makes its way up a steep pitch in the Piceance-East Douglas Horse Management Area on July 19, 2022. The Bureau of Land Management has rounded up 733 horses since beginning a bait and water trap portion June 16. The majority of horses have been captured after the BLM shifted to a drive-trap method using a helicopter, which began on July 15. As of Wednesday, July 27, 733 horses have been rounded up.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
The Piceance-East Douglas gather

Read the full story on the latest BLM wild horse roundup here.

Mustangs graze in the sage inside the Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Area. The Bureau of Land Management has been gathering wild horses in the area for more than a month.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
A helicopter lands near a horse trap on July 19, 2022, after the contractor elected to change drive-trap locations during the Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Area wild horse gather.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
A helicopter chases horses on July 19, 2022, as it works to get the horses into a nearby trap during the Piceance-East Douglas Horse gather. These horses had entered the jute, but turned before being trapped.
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A helicopter chases horses on July 19, 2022, as it works to get the horses into a nearby trap during the Piceance-East Douglas Horse gather. These horses had entered the jute, but turned before being trapped.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
A mustang races across the open range on July 19, 2022, in the Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Area. The Bureau of Land Management ran a horse gather in the area that began with bait and water trap operations on June 16 and shifted to a drive-trap gather operations using a helicopter July 15. As of Wednesday, July 27, the BLM had rounded up 733 horses including 271 stallions, 326 mares and 136 foals.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
A helicopter heads out to find more horses on July 19, 2022 ,during the Piceance-East Douglas Horse gather.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
A pickup truck pulling a trailer moves horses from a trap in the Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Area on July 19, 2022, to a temporary holding facility, which was located on private property.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today

John F. Russell is the business reporter at the Steamboat Pilot & Today. To reach him, call 970-871-4209, email jrussell@SteamboatPilot.com or follow him on Twitter @Framp1966.

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