Public Comments Must Be Received by 5 pm PST on Thursday, June 28, 2012.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is again proposing to remove wild horses from the range under the guise of "drought," yet continuing to allow privately-owned livestock to graze the same public lands areas from which federally-protected horses are being removed. The latest situation is in the Triple B Complex, which just last year was the location of a brutal and massive BLM roundup, which removed 1,269 wild horses from this 1.7-million acre public lands area in northeast Nevada.
This time the agency is proposing to remove up to 613 horses -- via bait/water trapping -- from the Triple B Complex, leaving just 472 wild horses behind. The BLM estimates that just 1,085 horses currently reside in the complex, meaning that the area is fewer than 200 horses over the "Allowable Management Level" set by the BLM.
Meanwhile, nine times more privately-owned livestock than wild horses are authorized to graze the public lands in the Triple B Complex. Although the agency is publicizing alleged drought conditions for horses in the HMA, it has said nothing about reducing livestock grazing in the area. A major permitee in the area is rancher Pete Goicoechea, the Minority Leader of Nevada's State Assembly.
The BLM is accepting public comments for this proposed removal - this is our chance to tell the agency what issues should be addressed and what alternatives should be considered when developing an Environmental Assessment on the capture and removal plan.
Please voice your opinion by personalizing the sample letter below and clicking the "send your message" button to submit your comments. Please submit your comments by 5 p.m. PST on June 28, 2012.
Thank you for continuing to take action to protect wild horses and burros.
Comments concerning this project can be sent via email, electronically, or fax to the BLM Surprise Field Office at the addresses noted below. Comments must be received no later than 5 p.m. (PST) on Thursday, June 28, 2012.
ATTN: Wells Field Office Manager
BLM Wells Field Office
3900 Idaho Street
Elko, Nevada 89801
Email: BLM_NV_ELDO_TripleBMaverickMedicine@blm.gov
Fax: 775-753-0255
For more information, please contact Bruce Thompson at 775-753-0200.
The Bureau of Land Management's (BLM's) scoping notice and press release are available online. The BLM press release states that the agency recently began to haul water to the Triple B Complex -- yet the number of times water was hauled or the number of different locations to which water has been hauled is not disclosed. Recently the BLM conducted token water hauling just prior to the inhumane and avoidable Jackson Mountains roundup.
The BLM has set an artificially low Appropriate Management Level (AML) of just 472-889 wild horses for this 1.7 million-acre Triple B Complex, yet authorizes up to nine times that number of livestock to graze the same area.
Below are the BLM Herd Management Areas (HMAs) and Forest Service Wild Horse Territory (WHT) in the Triple B Complex.
The BLM documents from the 2011 Triple B Complex roundup are available online by clicking here. Information from the Forest Service on Cherry Springs WHT is available by clicking here.