Feral Horses in Miller Creek

I understand all the concerns people are raising about health and safety. However they are no bigger than a moose or a bear. They have been here longer than most of us. I for one enjoy catching a glimpse of them around the neighborhood

Feral / Free-Roaming Horses on Western Rangeland –
Unlike pampered pasture horses back east, feral horses live on arid, low-productivity rangeland.
That land grows very little forage compared to irrigated pasture.
Because of that…
Typical stocking rates on Western rangeland:
• 20–40 acres per horse is common
• 30–50 acres per horse is not unusual in dry or overgrazed areas
• In very poor range conditions → 60+ acres per horse may be needed
So yes…
👉 35 acres per horse is absolutely a realistic figure for feral horses in Montana-type terrain.

How has the population of the bands living in Miller Creek changed over the decades? From what I am told they have been there Ince the 1950's--so say the old timers living up there. There seems to be around 12 to 15 there now. Your statement says the numbers would double every 4 to 5 years. Is there any historical evidence of this?

I have heard that horses have been removed in the last decade, perhaps by residents.

Removed by moderator.

Removed by moderator.

Who is on the advisory board? How were they selected?

I am a professional wildlife biologist and a resident of the Miller Creek area. I recognize that horses can, under certain conditions, have negative impacts on land and native species. However, I believe the concern surrounding this very small band of horses is misplaced and disproportionate to their likely ecological effect.

A group of approximately six horses is unlikely to cause meaningful or measurable impacts to vegetation, soils, or native wildlife in a mixed-use, human-dominated landscape. Ecological impacts from grazing animals scale strongly with abundance and concentration, neither of which is present here. If horse numbers were ever to increase substantially, there are humane management tools available, such as fertility control, that could be considered. At present, removal or restriction is not justified.

By contrast, there are issues in the Miller Creek area that warrant far greater attention. Overabundant resident white-tailed deer, distinct from the migratory mule deer that seasonally move through the area, already exert chronic pressure on vegetation and increase human–wildlife conflict. The growing threat of chronic wasting disease (CWD) poses a serious and well-documented risk to deer populations and broader ecosystem health and should be a higher management priority than a handful of horses.

In addition, vehicle speeding on neighborhood roads represents an immediate and ongoing safety concern for residents, pets, and wildlife alike. Addressing traffic speeds would yield clear and tangible benefits for both community safety and wildlife conservation.

Beyond these considerations, the horses themselves bring real value to the community. They provide joy and a sense of connection to the landscape for many residents, myself included, and represent something increasingly rare: a reminder of wildness and Montana’s natural and cultural legacy. It is also worth noting that horses evolved in North America and were only lost at the end of the last Ice Age, giving their presence here an ecological and historical context often overlooked.

I encourage the City and County to take a proportionate, evidence-based approach that prioritizes genuine ecological risks and public safety concerns while allowing this small band of horses to remain free.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment.

Please leave these wonderful horses alone! You have no business destroying this gift !

Leave the small herd alone and do herd management!!!!! The deer need to be dealt with. Quit letting spoiled rich people ruin nature.

I live in lower Miller Creek and, as someone who walks along Miller Creek Road regularly to access the closest bus stop, I can attest that the speeds at which people drive and the carelessness of car culture in general do pose a threat to these horses. However, human car culture and carelessness should not result in the enclosure of horses, if that is against their best interest. It is we, humans, who must change. Also, if members of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes state that these horses are descendants of earlier generations that Tribal Members cared for, then they must be part of the decision-making process, abiding by FPIC (Free, Prior, and Informed Consent). I'm not sure what Tribal Representatives have shared on this topic, but I read in an online article that "Others believe they're descendants of horses from the Salish Kootenai Tribe." Thank you for considering my comment.

I am a parent of students who attend Jeanette Rankin Elementary. I would like the city to look into ways the feral horses could be deterred from school property. Investment in infrastructure for the school could also help with other wildlife issues that may come up at the school site.

To whom it may concern,

Like many other residents in Missoula, I propose the feral equine bands of Miller Creek have as little federal involvement due to the public generally appreciating them and to keep federal spending as low as possible. Granted, I believe it’s important to take proper and educated advancements on how people should coincide with the horses; as Montanans it’s our duty to protect our wildlife responsibly. Because Missoula and Missoula County is known to possess a particularly environmentally-focused culture, I think it’s more than fitting we take a conscious, cheaper and less invasive approach on our horses than other regions of the West, regardless if this is a registered herd management area or not.

Personally, I have spent the last half decade advocating for our wild horses across the west as I believe that the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management have failed the Wild Horses and Burros Act of 1971 with how their current regime stands; in summation, the equine management program has taken drastic, costly and deadly measures against maintaining a safe relationship with the mustangs. I myself spent a month this autumn of the year twenty twenty-five, partaking in the in-residence volunteering program at Return to Freedom in California. Established in 1998, the nonprofit specializes in rescuing separated herds from holding pens and reuniting them under a holistic and calculated approach, which strongly applies to how I view we should manage the wild horses of Miller Creek and beyond.

However, it is important we maintain our duty to be respectful yet responsible with how we handle the growing relationship and population in Miller Creek between horse and human souls. While I myself simply want minimal budgeting and involvement with the horses with just “Wild Horse X-ing” signs across the Miller Creek District to prevent any further vehicular collisions, I understand that there should be more calculated measures taken into consideration. While I’ve heard stories of locals smoking marijuana alongside the horses and feeding them (separate situations, I certainly wouldn’t condone either, especially combined!) I think it’s imperative to offer safety courses for both housing residents and students at Jeanette Rankin Elementary. I myself would even offer my time to volunteer in educating people regarding this matter, as horses are just as powerful as they are beautiful. There’s plenty of stories of domestic horses hurting, if not killing people with ease, so a wild horse is significantly more unpredictable and dangerous. In my opinion, keeping people in the know on how to live alongside these magnificent beasts without anyone getting hurt is paramount.

Speaking of population control, we aren’t focusing enough on how to treat our numbers of deer which not only live but crawl deep within our city, why are we suddenly more concerned with our equine friends? Both are equally Missoula’s responsibility, but the deer interfere far more in locals lives for far longer, and have been known to attack dogs as well as attempt attacking children. I joke often about how they have adapted to use the crosswalk better than pedestrians in recent years, of which many laugh and agree. If Helena is taking a stronger approach on our deer, why aren’t we? I digress on the topic at hand, but it’s still most confusing for many of us locals.

Furthermore, it’s been said that the horses came from ranching stock some 60-70 years ago with likely very minimal addition to genetic diversity in that time. Based on the conformation of some of the horses, particularly stallions, it’s safe to hypothesize the genealogy of the horses is not strong and may come with effects of inbreeding. There are two options on how to rectify this issue from taking field assessments and notes on both stallions and mares; it’s a decision based on whether we ask professionals to safely round up on horseback and (likely) castrate the stallions after doing genetic testing. The other option is we treat the mares with fertility control, being GonaCon which requires a regimented routine treatment. Both will cost the county money, but it may be ultimately cheaper and significantly less time consuming to test and treat the stallions based on genetic diversity, considering treating mares with birth control requires constant darting on mares that will sap taxpayers dollars over the years. I am not by any means a certified professional, but I’m a local native and horse enthusiast. This is my best assessment on what further treatment could be done to address the horses, which to many were a myth, if not a mystery until recently. I believe it’s important to live in harmony with these ponies bred from ranching stock as they keep our environment clean and protected with their multiple benefits of rewilding. They also add a mystic whimsy to our beautiful and quickly growing Miller Creek district as horses are undeniably phenomenal and graceful animals. That being said, it’s also just as imperative to take responsibility as humans to maintain their numbers and our relationship with them in a safe and symbiotic manner.

I hope you take these bullet points into consideration as I may find myself talking about this issue in person with future public board meetings.

Godspeed,
Madeline Stevenson

Please find here, a petition asking the County Commissioners to see the over 1100 signatures we have gathered for protection of the horses in Miller Creek

https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/preserve-the-freedom-of-feral-wild-horses-in-miller-creek?source=facebook&fbclid=IwY2xjawOrmXhleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAwzNTA2ODU1MzE3MjgAAR4j6gzOPx5xQXetOrpJv7LsCclOtm0M6D49QnrcbFauFHzqVTZsXg9XSIob3Q_aem_iVqNjNbSYAkpigJO8nHB-A

Please find here, a petition asking the County Commissioners to see the over 1100 signatues we have gathered for protection of the horses in Miller Creek

https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/preserve-the-freedom-of-feral-wild-horses-in-miller-creek?source=facebook&fbclid=IwY2xjawOrmXhleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAwzNTA2ODU1MzE3MjgAAR4j6gzOPx5xQXetOrpJv7LsCclOtm0M6D49QnrcbFauFHzqVTZsXg9XSIob3Q_aem_iVqNjNbSYAkpigJO8nHB-A

Save the horses

I live on Lower Miller Creek Rd. Otherwise known as the Missoula autobahn for those without mufflers and otherwise exceedingly obnoxious vehicles and drivers. I’ve lived next to freeways that were safer than this. Sidewalk is just for looks, folks. It won’t save you from the dudes in trucks down here. Apparently the road is just a suggestion. You’d think the deer would keep them in check but they seem content pooping literally everywhere instead. I digress, the horses are great but they come too far down now. It’s not safe for them or the people that live here. Just letting them be isn’t realistic or a viable solution. I’d love it if people all had vehicles that didn’t break the noise limit, didn’t slam into the sidewalk at 3am and then race off before getting caught and didn’t luge down the road here at 60mph like they’re speed racer but it’s an imperfect world. People haven’t figured out that honking at our aggressive vermin like deer population on this road doesn’t work. I highly doubt they are going to learn to use their brains now because of the horses. I’m amazed that parents of kids at JRE haven’t spoken up. The horses are there constantly and it’s easy to tell. Piles everywhere, kids not allowed outside because the horses are on the property. It’s going to hit a breaking point soon if nothing is done. Someone will get hurt and then a solution will be much more drastic. I don’t know the fix but “just letting them be” isn’t it.

I have lived in Miller creek for 23 years, and the horses have never been an issue. If people don't want them in their yard, they fence it off. But, people keep moving here, Missoula continues to add homes and apts to accommodate them, so the horses are competing for the area they once roamed. For instance, Jeff drive. The increase in traffic and people not understanding there are deer, elk, and horses is now putting them at risk. As you are aware, two have been hit.
I am hoping a small group of people will come forward to help when another horse is hit, and needs to be put out of it's misery. This is a problem, and an animal should not suffer. But I do not see any issues that require your assistance. Perhaps stop building everywhere, because, as you should be aware by now, it causes problems. We need open space. You are pushing locals out, and animals. Please prioritize what needs to be addressed. This is not the horses.

WHILE I AM NOT IN FAVOR OF REMOVING THE HORSES, I DO FEEL THEY NEED TO BE CONTROLLED IN THEIR NUMBERS. SO, I AM IN FAVOR OF GELDING THE STALLIONS.

WHILE I AM NOT IN FAVOR OF REMOVING THE HORSES, I DO FEEL THEIR NUMBERS NEED TO BE KEPT IN CHECK. I WOULD WHOLEHEARTEDLY SUPPORT GELDING THE STALLIONS.
THANK YOU FOR CREATING THIS SITE FOR INPUT.
JACK CHAMBERS

As someone who lives on Miller Creek Rd.
Miller Creek horses has always been A treasured part of this area. This is Montana.
I always love the Wildness part of it. I have been seeing less of it because of over building this area with homes.
I found the traffic increase.
The 35 miles a hour is creating alot of problems being a neighborhood of many homes. 35 miles a hour means to people 55 miles an hour.
It has beome
A freeway.
I can not cross the road to get my mail without worrying i will. Be
struck down by traffic.
Residents have to walk fast or run Across the road.
It's time to slow down the speed.
Slowing down helps people to pay more attention .
And at this point this area has become to dense of overwhelming growth.
It needs to be slowed down with the speed of traffic.
Please for the sake of people and the wildlife slow down on destroying.Missoula Montana.