BLM Ely, Nevada, district to roundup native wild horses

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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Ely District is scheduled in early November to begin rounding up and removing approximately 120 alleged excess wild horses from in and around the Triple B and Silver King herd management areas (HMAs) in eastern Nevada.

Details will be posted on the district website as they become available. The roundups are allegedly necessary to prevent further damage to private property and provide for public and animal safety.

The district will remove about 70 alleged excess wild horses from the Triple B HMA, located about 30 miles northwest of Ely, that are allegedly damaging private property, and allegedly harassing and breeding domestic stock resulting in landowner complaints. Appropriate Management Level (AML) for the Triple B HMA is 215-250 wild horses. The current population is 1,311 wild horses.

The district will remove up to 50 excess wild horses from in and around the Silver King HMA. The horses to be gathered are located about 120 miles south of Ely. They are an alleged safety concern on U.S. Highway 93 and are damaging private property, resulting in property owner complaints. The AML for the Silver King HMA is 60-128 wild horses. The current population is 452 wild horses.

The BLM claims attempts to keep wild horses away from private property and the highway, including trapping and relocating animals to other portions of the HMAs, have been unsuccessful.

The BLM will utilize the services of roundup contractor Cattoor Livestock Roundup, Inc., of Nephi, Utah, which uses a helicopter to locate and stampede wild horses toward a set of corrals to be trapped and who has already been paid millions of tax dollars, year after year. The pilot is assisted by a ground crew and a domesticated horse, known as a Judas horse who is trained to lead wild horses into the corral.

Wild horses removed from the range will be transported to the National Wild Horse and Burro Center at Palomino Valley, in Reno, Nevada, where they will be offered for adoption to qualified individuals. Wild horses for which BLM is unable to adopt out will be placed in long-term pastures where they will be allegedly humanely cared for and retain their “wild” status and protection under the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act.

A Wild Horse Gather Information Line has been established at 775/861-6700. A recorded message will provide information on daily gather activities and schedules. The BLM will also post daily gather information on its website.

Public lands within the HMAs will be open to the public during gather operations, subject to necessary safety restrictions, and the BLM will make every effort to allow for public viewing opportunities. The BLM has established protocols for visitors to ensure the safety of the wild horses, the public, and BLM and contract staff. The protocols are available at http://on.doi.gov/1lGnDYC under “Observation Opportunities.”

Roundups in and outside the Triple B HMA were analyzed in the Triple B, Maverick-Medicine, and Antelope Valley HMA Gather Plan and Environmental Assessment (EA), signed in May 2011 and available at http://on.doi.gov/1tgdHc6. Gather activities in and around the Silver King HMA were analyzed in the Ely District Public Safety and Nuisance Gather EA signed in August 2014 and available at http://on.doi.gov/1lx856K.

For more information, contact Chris Hanefeld, BLM Ely District public affairs specialist, at 775/289-1842 or chanefel@blm.gov.

Comments needed by February 10th against removing wild horses to frack northeastern Nevada

Note from the team at Protect Mustangs:

The Antelope Valley, Maverick Medicine and Goshute herd management areas (HMAs) will be ruined if 73 parcels proposed for lease, totaling approximately 125,000 acres, are taken away from native wild horses.The proposed action will push wild horses off their legal range. BLM will chase them with helicopters–removing them forever from their families and ripping away their freedom.

Follow the instructions in the BLM press release below to email your individual comments to BLM by midnight February 10th.

Request BLM halt the lease sale of areas within the wild horse HMAs slated for oil and gas development. Mention it will cause water, air and soil pollution and increase global warming, lower the water table as well as hurt wild horse territory.

Request a moratorium on roundups for scientific research on wild horse population dynamics and to ensure wild horses will be protected and preserved in freedom.

Use your own words to make your comments count. According to BLM, click and send comments don’t count beyond being one form comment. Email your comments today. Short and sweet is fine as long as you use your own words.

Some residents in northeastern Nevada have forgotten they have been blessed to use public land at subsidy pricing for generations. Now we are witnessing a worrisome trend with the Nevada Farm Bureau and the Nevada Association of Counties wanting to push America’s wild horses and burros off public land to control the water, forage and industrialization. They appear to be requesting BLM kill wild horses in holding to make room for more roundup victims.

It’s time for science to guide policy and for cooperative agreements to foster healthy rangeland and prevent native species wipe outs.

Thank you for sending your comments in today to protect the American public’s wild horses!

Photo credit: dgrinbergs / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

Photo credit: dgrinbergs / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

 

 

BLM Press Release:ELKO, Nev. – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Elko District is making available for public review an Environmental Assessment (EA) for parcels of public land nominated for lease within the Elko District in the 2014 Competitive Oil & Gas Lease Sale. These parcels have the potential for future oil and gas exploration and development. The 30-day public review period concludes Feb. 10, 2014.The BLM received nominations for 214 parcels of public land to offer for leasing, totaling more than 435,880 acres. The BLM deferred several of the nominated parcels to protect sage grouse habitat. Other parcels were removed because of cultural and Native American concerns. A detailed listing of deferred parcels is available in the EA and online. The remaining 73 parcels (125,220 acres) have been analyzed for potential impacts in the EA, in accordance with the Oil & Gas Leasing Reform mandated in 2010. Lease stipulations identified in the Elko (1987) and Wells (1985) Resource Management Plans are attached to all parcels to help protect resources. The EA is available for public review at: http://www.blm.gov/rv5c.The Competitive Oil and Gas Lease Sale will be conducted on June 24, 2014. Additional information about the sale is available at http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/prog/energy.html.If you have issues or concerns or need more information, contact Allen Mariluch, Project Lead at the BLM Elko District, at (775) 753-0200 or email at amariluc@blm.gov.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM’s mission is to manage and conserve the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations under our mandate of multiple-use and sustained yield. In Fiscal Year 2013, the BLM generated $4.7 billion in receipts from public lands.
–BLM–