Ely, Nevada (BLM) – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has determined there is not adequate time to safely conduct the proposed Eagle Herd Management Area (HMA) gather prior to the beginning of foaling season, and therefore, will defer issuing a decision on the proposed gather until later this year after the foaling season.
BLM will conduct further environmental analysis at that time and will extend additional opportunities for public comment prior to issuing a decision to address removal of excess wild horses from the Eagle HMA. On December 28, 2009, the BLM issued a preliminary environmental assessment (EA) proposing to gather excess wild horses from the Eagle HMA during the month of February 2010. More than 9,000 public comments were submitted following a 30-day comment period.
The preliminary EA also included a proposal to gather approximately 50 wild horses that have moved outside of the Eagle and Silver King Herd Management Areas (HMA) and that are threatening the safety of motorists along U.S. Highway 93 near Pioche, Nev. The BLM is aware of at least three animals that have been hit by vehicles during the past year.
BLM is currently considering options for gathering these horses outside HMA boundaries. BLM anticipates issuing a decision in the next week addressing removal of wild horses along the highway to address the potential risks to the public and to the horses.
For more information, contact Chris Hanefeld, BLM Ely District public affairs specialist, at (775) 289-1842 or chris_hanefeld@blm.gov.
The BLM manages more land - 253 million acres - than any other Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The Bureau, with a budget of about $1 billion, also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.
BLM Hiding Death Reports in Emerging Scandal - Refuses to Release Vet Records on Fatalities in "Gather" - Kathrens
COLORADO SPRINGS, (The Cloud Foundation) - The Bureau of Land Management has pulled the plug on the massive roundup of wild horses in the Calico Complex. This remote and starkly beautiful area in northwestern Nevada was home to one of the largest wild, free-roaming herds of wild horses in the United States. 39 horses are reported dead as a result of the winter roundup. This does not include the 25-30 mares that have aborted their late term foals in the feedlot style facility outside Fallon, Nevada. The death toll is expected to rise as BLM begins preparing and processing the horses next week (freeze-branding, gelding of stallions, etc.). However, the public may not know what happens from here on out, as BLM has decided not to provide veterinary reports on the cause of death in the new Fallon facility.
Despite a public statement by program chief Don Glenn (December 7 at the National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board Meeting in Reno) in which he said that the public is welcome to view the roundups at any time (hence no need for a humane observer), the public was allowed only limited access to watch the Calico roundup. Viewing was limited to three days a week by appointment only. Only 10 observers were allowed on any one day. Even on the days the public was allowed to attend, viewers were required to leave between 1 and 2 in the afternoon, even though the Cattoor contract crew and helicopters continued to round up wild horses. Close access was denied for the last two weeks of the operation and injuries could not be detected or documented. BLM has referred to the visitors as �anti-gather advocates�. The contractors admitted that 30 wild horses captured on January 31 were left overnight in a crowded capture corral without water due to muddy conditions which prevented trucks from accessing the capture sight.
Now BLM sights are set on the wild horses of the Eagle Complex in the mountains of eastern Nevada. The area is larger than the state of Rhode Island, yet the number of mustangs allowable according to BLM is 100. At the same time, the number of privately-owned welfare cattle allowed is over 2,700. Despite a public statement by program chief Don Glenn (December 7 at the National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board Meeting in Reno) in which he said that the public is welcome to view the roundups at any time (hence no need for a humane observer), the public was allowed only limited access to watch the Calico roundup. Viewing was limited to three days a week by appointment only. Only 10 observers were allowed on any one day. Even on the days the public was allowed to attend, viewers were required to leave between 1 and 2 in the afternoon, even though the Cattoor contract crew and helicopters continued to round up wild horses. Close access was denied for the last two weeks of the operation and injuries could not be detected or documented. BLM has referred to the visitors as �anti-gather advocates�. The contractors admitted that 30 wild horses captured on January 31 were left overnight in a crowded capture corral without water due to muddy conditions which prevented trucks from accessing the capture sight.
Please keep up the call to stop the destruction of our wild herds.
Happy Trails,
Ginger Kathrens
Volunteer Executive Director
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