Oppose BLM Plan to Eradicate Burros in Southern California Desert


Public Comment Deadline: September 28, 2012.
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Once again, we need to urge the BLM to protect and preserve the burros in the Piute Mountain Herd Area (HA) in the southern California desert.
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Earlier this year we asked you to oppose the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM's) proposal to remove all burros from this historic Herd Area where burros have lived for more than a century. You responded in force, and the agency received thousands of comments opposing the proposed burro wipe out. After that, the BLM did not move forward with the Piute Mountain burro removal.
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Now the BLM has revived its plan to eradicate burros from their federally-protected home in Piute Mountain via a helicopter stampede.
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Already, the BLM has started to remove approximately 60 burros, via bait trapping, from the nearby Chemehuevi Indian Reservation, which is adjacent to the Chemehuevi Herd Management Area (HMA) and HA. As of September 20, 2012, the BLM reports capturing 8 burros. While the BLM may be legally mandated to remove these burros from the Reservation (due to the Tribe's request for the removal), the agency should relocate these burros to the HMA/HA where they are legally permitted and protected to live..

Please take easy action below to urge the BLM to cancel its burro roundup and removal plans and restore zeroed-out acreage as burro habitat in the Piute Mountain.

When you click the "Send Your Message" button below an individual email with your comments will be sent to the BLM.

This action is no longer active. To view the current list of our active campaigns click here

Below is contact information where you can submit your comments which must be received no later than September 28, 2012.

Raymond (Rusty) Lee, BLM Needles Field Office Manager
Alex Neibergs, Wild Horse and Burro Specialist
BLM Needles Field Office
1303 South U.S. Highway 95
Needles, California 92363
Fax: 760-384-5767
Alex Neibergs' telephone: 760-384-5796
Email: aneiberg@blm.gov
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Background Information and Documents

The Interested Party Letter regarding these proposed actions is available here.

The Public Comment Extension Letter is available here.

The Environmental Assessment for the proposed actions is available here.

The previous (early 2012) Piute Mountain HA Decision Record and additional information is available here.

BLM California "Zeroed-Out" Areas: Nearly half of California's wild horse and burro areas have been “zeroed-out” since the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act was passed in 1971. Of the original 4.38-million acres designated for wild horse and burro use in California only 2.53-million areas remain available for their use.  In other words, over the past 40 years, the BLM has systematically "zeroed-out" (completely eliminated) wild horses and burros from approximately 2 million of the 4.38 million acres originally designated in California.

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The Piute Mountain Herd Area
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Original Area: 37,333 BLM acres (which is equivalent to just over 58 square miles) located in the East Mojave Desert in southeastern California, approximately 25 miles west of the town of Needles in San Bernardino County.
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Cattle Grazing In Piute Herd Area (HA): While the BLM allows no burros to live in the Piute HA, the agency continues to permit the Lazy Daisy allotment to have year-round grazing of 266 cattle in the same area. In addition, the BLM may increase the number of cows to graze on the allotment to a maximum of 480 cows year-round. The Lazy Daisy allotment incorporates the entire Piute Mountains HA and is comprised completely of public lands managed by the BLM. The allotment is 10 times larger than the 58-square-mile Piute HA. For additional information on the Lazy Daisy allotment please click here..
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The map to the right shows the Piute HA (in pink) and Lazy Daisy allotment which is marked by the green lines.

56 Burros Die From Dehydration in 2010: The BLM has failed to conduct minimal range maintenance, such as preserving water sources, for burros in the Piute Mountain HA. This failure was tragically evident in the August 2010 disaster when 56 burros in the HA died from dehydration because the only water source in the HA, Fenner Spring, became clogged. The burros were found piled upon one another after desperately trying-- to no avail -- to drink from the spring, which had become non-functional. Instead of taking action to protect the springhead and maintain this vital water source for burros and other wildlife in the area, the BLM is using the limited water supply as justification for removing the last remaining burros from this historic burro territory.

Conclusion: The BLM could easily accommodate the current burro population living in the HA by properly maintaining the range and making reductions in commercial livestock grazing, pursuant to 43 C.F.R. 4710.5(a). This regulation allows the BLM to temporarily or permanently close a public land area to livestock grazing "If necessary to provide habitat for wild horses or burros, to implement herd management actions, or to protect wild horses or burros, or to protect wild horses or burros from disease, harassment or injury, the authorized officer may close appropriate areas of the public lands to grazing use by all or a particular kind of livestock."

Chemehuevi Herd Management Area/Herd Area

The map below shows the proximity of the Chemehuevi Indian Reservation to the Chemehuevi HMA/HA. Note that the BLM has eliminated two-thirds (2/3) of the original habitat designated for wild burros in the Chemenuevi Herd Area. Originally 377,572 acres (590 square miles), today the BLM allows burros on only 128,861 acres (201 square miles) of the original land.

The map below shows the proximity of the Chemehuevi HMA/HA and the Piute Mountain HA.