Plane Flies Near Chopper In Wild Horse Roundup
CORTEZ, Colo. (AP) - A small plane flew dangerously close to a helicopter that was rounding up wild horses in southwest Colorado, prompting a one-day postponement of the effort, federal officials said.
The incident occurred Friday in Disappointment Valley about 75 miles south of Grand Junction, the Cortez Journal reported.
It wasn't clear how close the aircraft were. No injuries were reported.
"We've never before seen anything like this. It was truly a danger to the pilot, the horses and the public," said Wayne Werkmeister of the Bureau of Land Management's Grand Junction office.
"It was completely inappropriate behavior," he told the newspaper.
The name of the plane's pilot and the plane's registration number weren't available.
A regional Federal Aviation Administration official who declined to give her full name said Saturday the incident wasn't reported to the agency.
BLM officials didn't immediately return messages left by The Associated Press on Saturday.
Disappointment Valley is part of the 34-square-mile Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area. BLM policy calls for keeping the area's wild horse herd to between 35 and 65 animals. It currently has about 90.
The BLM planned to gather about 60 horses and offer 25 to 30 for adoption in Cortez on Sept. 24.
Opponents of the roundup filed a lawsuit in federal court on Wednesday seeking to block the roundup. The lawsuit argued that the BLM failed to comply with public notice requirements and didn't adequately justify the roundup.
It wasn't clear when a judge would rule on the request for an injunction.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
