GRAND JUNCTION – Federal land managers are hoping to conduct roundups to remove hundreds of wild horses in Western Colorado this year.

The Daily Sentinel reports that the Bureau of Land Management is asking for public comment on a plan to use water and bait to corral wild horses in the Little Book Cliffs Herd Management Area near Grand Junction and remove 60.

The agency also is proposing to use bait and helicopters to gather and remove 374 horses in the Piceance (PEE’-ants)-East Douglas Herd Management Area near Meeker. It also wants to remove about 514 wild horses from the Sand Wash Basin Herd Management Area and areas near Maybell.

Grand Junction field manager Katie Stevens says the agency has made progress reducing horse birth rates but says periodic roundups are still necessary.