Green River, WY – Wild Horses, Sand Dunes, and Petroglyphs

Today we had a whole host of guides and drivers including; Kevin Lloyd (BLM Wild Horse Specialist), Ron Giles (BLM Administrative Officer), Alisha Giles (BLM Range Clerk), Chris Durham (Wildlife Biologist), Janet Hartford (Executive Director for the Green River Chamber), Bob Nelson (Rock Springs Historical Museum Director – who we had met Friday night AND had opened the museum up late that night just for the group to visit), Bernie Weynand, (BLM Resource Specialist), and of course John Henderson (BLM Zone Fisheries Biologist) who is watching over us during our stay along the Green River. During the morning we drove the Wild Horse Trail and saw a number of bands of the White Mountain Herd. Currently the area has about 600 wild horses. To protect the range and the condition of the wild horses the BLM would like through its adoption program to reduce the herd to about 250 animals. There are no burros with the White Mountain Herd area. Within Wyoming there are about 3,000 wild horses within 17 Herd Management Areas (HMAs). The horses within the White Mountain HMA are originated primarily from historic ranch stock that was run loose and only gathered when needed for ranch work or to sell to the United States Calvary. Bloodlines are commonly a combination of Morgan, Saddlebred, and Rocky Mt. Horse.

About noon we drove out to the Greater Sand Dune Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC). The Dunes, also known as the Killpecker Dunes, are 38,650 acres in size. The eastern third of the dunes are a designated off-highway vehicle (OHV) recreation area. The western two-thirds are two Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs). The ACEC is a calving area for the only Desert Elk herd that moves between the Dunes ACEC and the adjacent Steamboat Mountain ACEC.

Waiting at the Dunes for us were eight ATVs, four courtesy of the BLM and four courtesy of Wayne Moses, owner of Rock Springs Honda-Toyota. Thanks to the ATVs provided by Wayne members of the Support Team AND Dave, in addition to the Trek Team, had an afternoon to explore the Dunes and test their ability at dune jumping. Everybody had pretty big grins on their faces and the day was kind of summed up by Bob Ashley riding up to me and saying, “Nobodies having more fun than me today!”

It took some time to round all up, herd back to the trailers, and then head out for the White Mountains Petroglyph ACEC. This ACEC is only about 80 acres in size and just encompasses one large sandstone bluff with petroglyphs (etching in the stone) dating from the 1700s to early 1900s. To me one of the neatest petroglyphs was one depicting a pregnant elk with a little elk placed right in the middle of a big elk.

Back at camp we were treated to a great steak sandwich dinner (with incredibly delicious, light French fries – I had seconds) by C-Store Catering in their BIG red truck. And following dinner Terry Del Bene (BLM Archeologist and Historian) in period dress took us back to traveling by riverboat in the late 1800s with shared toothbrushes, carpets soaked with tobacco juice, ladies sleeping rooms, and treatment for cholera. Thank goodness, draping Michelle (our Medic) in layer after layer of muslin and wool cloaks, hat, socks, and gloves as treatment was then (though certainly not today) worked. However, no one wanted to try the “common toothbrush” that Terry offered to share. From the Journey, dana