A helicopter operated by a contractor was in the air early Sunday as the Bureau of Land Management gathered 96 wild horses as part of a drive-trap operation aimed at reducing the population in the Piceance Basin. The goal of the operation, which will continue throughout August, is to gather 1,025 wild horses from the Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Area and the West Douglas Herd Area, both southwest of Meeker. The BLM plans to remove 1,011 horses from the range, with 14 horses returned to the Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Area — 10 of those horses will receive fertility control treatment to help slow future population growth. A second gather is scheduled to begin Sept. 10 in the Sand Wash Basin with the goal of gathering 300 horses. “The Piceance-East Douglas herd is currently well above the number of horses the habitat can sustainably support.