SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — At the urging of officials in three southern Utah counties, the Utah Wildlife Board is pressing federal land managers to deal with an overpopulation of wild horses on the range. Board members, at a meeting in Salt Lake City on Thursday, agreed to send a letter to Interior Secretary Sally and U.S. Bureau of Land Management state director Juan Palma urging a reduction in the number of horses on the range. Officials in Iron, Beaver and Sanpete counties have expressed concern over the issue of rangeland degradation and the risks it poses to both livestock and wildlife. Livestock and hunting group representatives also backed the request. According to the BLM, Utah is home to 3,245 wild horses and burros, well above the "appropriate management level" of 1,956.

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