Stop Fed Plan to Remove Over 1,600 Wild Horses from Nevada

Wild horses being stampeded in a BLM helicopter roundup in the Owyhee Complex, Nevada

Public Comment Deadline: October 9, 2012

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is accepting public comments on a proposal to remove over two-thirds of the wild horses in the Owyhee Complex, which encompasses the Little Humboldt, Little Owyhee, Owyhee, Rock Creek and Snowstorm Mountains Herd Management Areas (HMAs) in the Winnemucca (Humboldt River Field Office) and Elko (Tuscarora Field Office) Districts of the Nevada BLM this November. The more than 1 million-acre Owyhee Complex is located approximately 60 miles north of Battle Mountain, Nevada. This BLM helicopter roundup would leave only 621-999 of the approximately 2,252 wild horses that currently roam free on over 2 million acres of land within and surrounding the Complex. 

Since 2009, livestock use of the public lands grazing allotment in the Owyhee Complex has increased dramatically, yet BLM proposes to reduce the harm to the range caused from overgrazing by sheep and cattle by gathering wild horses while making no effort to reduce the negative impact of livestock grazing. 

Please contact the BLM and submit a comment expressing your support for wild horses in northern Nevada and opposing their capture and removal from our public lands.

Just personalize and sign the sample letter below and push the "Send Your Message" button to submit your comments today. An individual email will be sent from you to the BLM.

Thank you!

Photo: Owyhee horses living free on the range.

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If you prefer, you can also submit your comments directly, prior to 4:30 pm (MST) on October 9, 2012 as follows:
by regular mail or fax to:

BLM Winnemucca District Office
Attention: Bonnie Million, Project Coordinator
5100 E. Winnemucca Blvd.
Winnemucca, NV 89445 
fax: (775) 623-1503

or to: 

BLM Elko District Office
Attn: Tuscarora Field Manager 
3900 E. Idaho St. 
Elko, NV 89801 
fax: (775) 753-0255 

or, by email to:
OwyheeComplexEA@blm.gov
Background/Additional Information
The wild herds of this area are believed to be descended in part from cavalry remounts and are primarily bay, black, roan, gray, and brown.

HMAs v. Grazing Allotments in The Owyhee Complex
Little Humboldt HMA- 17,151 acres; entire HMA lies within the Little Humboldt Allotment which allots over 8,000 AUMs (Annual Unit Months - the amount of forage required by a cow and calf for one month) to livestock annually whereas wild horses are allotted just over 300 AUMs.

Little Owyhee HMA - 460,227 acres; HMA overlaps with the Little Owyhee grazing allotment. Private livestock are allotted just under 28,000 AUMs while just over 14,000 AUMs are allotted to wild horses.

Owyhee HMA - 339,103 acres; entire HMA lies within Owyhee Livestock grazing allotment of which 29,903 AUMs of forage are annually allotted to private livestock. 2,166 AUMs of forage are allotted wild horses.

Rock Creek HMA - 121,433 acres; 90% of the HMA lies within the Spanish Ranch grazing allotment and 10% of the HMA lies within the Squaw Valley grazing allotment of which combined nearly 50,000 AUMs of forage are annually allotted to private sheep and cattle whereas just over 4,000 AUMS of forage are allotted to wild horses. 

Snowstorm Mountains HMA - 117, 109 acres; Overlaps the Bullhead grazing allotment. Over 12,000 AUMs are allotted to private livestock on the Bullhead allotment whereas 6,000 AUMs are allotted wild horses.  

Previous Roundups in the Owyhee Complex Area

In 2010, the Tuscarora Field Office gathered 1,224 wild horses, removing 1,065 from the range of which 28 died as a result of the gather.

In 2006, the Humboldt River Field Office gathered 43 wild horses from the Snowstorms Mountains HMA of which 24 were permanently removed and four died as a result of the gather  
In 2004, 465 wild horses were taken from the Little Owyhee HMA.                   

Proposed Owyhee Complex Roundup.
Preliminary Environmental Assessment on the BLM Owyhee Complex Roundup
            .
The Owyhee Complex consists of approximately 1,055,023 total acres, but the gather area consists of approximately 2,047,281 acres: