BLM releases 26 wild horses in Idaho following 2015 fire

The Bureau of Land Management has released 26 wild horses into the Sands Basin Herd Management Area in southwestern Idaho.

The Idaho Press reported Wednesday that this marks the first time BLM-managed wild horses will roam in the area in three years following a 2015 wildfire.

The BLM says nearly all the Sands Basin Herd Management Area was burned by the fire that swept through southeast Oregon and southwest Idaho.

Idaho’s Wild Horse and Burro team spokeswoman Heather Tiel-Nelson says Sands Basin is the first of three herd management areas affected by the wildfire to have wild horses return.

Managers say the land has recovered enough to allow the horses’ return.

Tiel-Nelson says horses are non-native animals and have no natural predator, so their numbers can double within four years.