Take Action to Oppose Massive Removal of Wild Horses on the California-Nevada Border

BLM-California Proposes Removing 1,094 Wild Horses from the High Rock Complex in October 2011


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Comments Are Due by July 15, 2011 - Take Easy Action Below

The Interior Department Bureau of Land Management's (BLM's) Surprise Field Office in California is proposing to roundup and permanently remove more than 1,000 horses from the High Rock Complex on the northern California-Nevada border in the Fall of 2011. The action is Phase 1 of a larger effort by the BLM to remove a total of 2,000 mustags from a tri-state area that also includes Oregon.

The High Rock Complex includes five Herd Management Areas (HMAs) that span 584 square-miles. Incredibly, the BLM claims that this vast public lands area can sustain just 258 to 451 wild horses - that's more than two square miles for each horse! Meanwhile, the agency authorizes the equivalent of 1,776 cattle to graze in the same area.

This proposed action will add over 1,000 more mustangs to BLM holding facilities, which already warehouse more than 42,000 wild horses at a cost to taxpayers of nearly $40 million annually. 

After receiving nearly 2,000 public comments during the scoping period for this roundup, the BLM responded by including Alternative C in the Environmental Assessment (EA). Alternative C would return all horses to the range after treating females with a reversible, non-hormonal fertility control vaccine. Unfortunately,  the BLM is declining to proceed with this option.

Now is the time to generate thousands of letters demanding that the BLM implement Alternative C to return all horses to the range instead of proceeding with the costly and cruel mass removal plan!

See the EA & Related Documents Here.

Please Submit Your Comments by July 15, 2011: Take Easy Action Below

                          Photo credit: Linda Hay

This action is no longer active.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

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Alternatively, you can mail your comments to the following address:
BLM - Surprise Field Office
Attention: Allen Bollschweiler
602 Cressler Street
PO Box 460
Cedarville, CA 96104
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Additional Information on the High Rock Complex and Proposed Roundup

The High Rock Complex is comprised of five Herd Management Areas (HMAs): Bitner, Fox Hog, High Rock, Nut Mountain, and Wall Canyon. Below is information on each HMA. The EA states, "The proposed High Rock Complex gather is currently scheduled just prior to the Calico Complex gather." The BLM is scheduling back-to-back roundups in a large geographic area in order to capture mustangs that leave one HMA and cross into another during the roundup operation.  In the past, such horses have been able to escape capture, but now the BLM will be able to round them up in concurrent capture operations scheduled for adjacent areas.

High Rock Complex includes:

Bitner Herd Management Area
LOCATION: The Bitner Herd Management Area lies in the northern Washoe County, NV approximately 40 miles east of Cedarville, CA.
ACREAGE: 50,500 acres are managed for wild horses.
ELEVATION: 5,600 feet to 6,900 feet
WILDLIFE: Wildlife consists of pronghorn, mule deer and sage grouse.
HERD SIZE: 15 to 25 head
 
Fox Hog Herd Management Area
LOCATION: The Fox Hog Herd Management Area is located approximately 45 miles southwest of Cedarville, CA in Washoe County, NV.
ACREAGE: 119,000 acres are managed for wild horses
WILDLIFE: Pronghorn, chukar and sage grouse are the major wildlife species. Bighorn sheep also occur at the north end of the HMA.
HERD SIZE: 120 to 220 head
 
High Rock Herd Management Area
LOCATION: The High Rock Herd Management Area is located approximately 45 miles north of Gerlach, NV and 45 miles south east of Cedarville, CA. The area is entirely in Washoe County, NV. The area is managed as two separate home ranges each having an appropriate management level.
ACREAGE: 115,000 acres are managed for wild horses
WILDLIFE: Pronghorn, bighorn sheep, chukar, sage grouse and mule deer are common in the area.
 HERD SIZE: 30 to 40 head for the East Canyon Home Range
                    48 to 80 head for the Little High Rock Home Range
 
Nut Mountain Herd Management Area
LOCATION: The Nut Mountain Herd Management Area is located 40 miles east of Cedarville, CA in Washoe County, NV.
ACREAGE: 40,500 acres are managed for wild horses
WILDLIFE: Dominant wildlife species include pronghorn, mule deer and sage grouse.
HERD SIZE: 30 to 55 head

Wall Canyon Herd Management Area
LOCATION: The Wall Canyon Herd Management Area is located 46 miles east of Cedarville, CA. The area lies in both Washoe and Humboldt Counties of Nevada.
ACREAGE: 49,000 acres are managed for wild horses
WILDLIFE: Mule deer, pronghorn antelope and sage grouse are the dominant wildlife species in the area.
HERD SIZE: 15 to 25 head