Nevadans Please Act Today: Urge Public Lands Committee to Protect Wild Horses & Burros!

On January 27, 2012, the Nevada legislature's Committee on Public Lands will meet to consider legislative recommendations. On the agenda is a bill -- pushed by a small group of cattlemen and big game hunters -- that would cut off wild horses and burros from their right to access water across the entire state. These ranchers and hunters view mustangs and burros as competition for cheap livestock grazing and big game hunting on our public lands.

In 2011, this legislation -- Assembly Bill 329 (AB329) -- was passed by the Nevada Assembly, and sent by the Senate onto the Committee on Public Lands for further review.

The bill would specifically exclude wild horses and burros from the definition of "wildlife" within the context of Nevada water resource allocation law, thereby depriving them of their right to access this indispensable, life-sustaining resource. Meanwhile, every other free-living animal, whether native or non-native, from mammals to mollusks, would continue to be considered wildlife for the purposes of water planning in Nevada.

As a Nevadan, your voice is critical to counter the cattlemen and big game hunters who want to drive wild horses off the Nevada range once and for all!

Mustang dies of dehydration after being fenced off from water due to livestock grazing.

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What You Can Do

1. Attend the meeting in Carson City, or via video conference in Las Vegas and Elko!

WHEN: Friday, January 27, 2012 at 9 A.M.

(Arrive by 9 a.m.; the wild horse legislation is one of the first items on the agenda.)

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WHERE: Carson City: Nevada Legislative Bldg., 401 S. Carson Street, Room 3138.

Las Vegas: Grant Sawyer State Office Bldg., Room 4401, 555 East Washington Ave.

Elko: Great Basin College, High Tech Center, Room 123, 1500 College Parkway.

Public comments will be taken at all three locations -- let's have a good showing for the mustangs and burros!

If you cannot attend the meeting, listen or view it live at http://www.leg.state.nv.us - click on “Live Meetings – Listen or View.”

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2. Send a message to the members of the Committee on Public Lands and your Assemblyperson and Senator.

It's easy - simply personalize (especially the subject line and introduction to the letter) and send the message below.

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Please Be a Voice for Nevada's Mustangs Today! Thank you for your support.

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

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MORE INFORMATION

WHY IS AB329 DANGEROUS? By removing wild horses and burros from the definition of wildlife, opponents of wild horses are trying to impede or possibly prevent mustangs and burros from receiving water rights.  The state of Nevada manages all water throughout the state, even on private and federal lands, and requires that water use be for "beneficial" purposes. Wildlife meets the "beneficial use" requirement. However, if as AB329 proposes, wild horses and burros are excluded from the definition of "wildlife," they will no longer meet the state's requirement of "beneficial use," and their right to access water in the state could be denied.

BACKGROUND
According to Assemblyman Pete Goicoechea, the bill's sponsor, the request to write this bill came from the Nevada Cattlemen's Association and Nevada sportsmen - a fact that has not been publicized. Conversation with Nevada's Deputy Water Engineer has confirmed that there are very few existing water rights for wild horse and burro use. If AB329 becomes law, it would prevent the allocation of water rights for wild horses and burros.

The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign and the ASPCA have teamed up to fight this bill which, if it becomes law, could have catastrophic consequences for wild horses and burros in Nevada, where more than half of the nation's mustangs and burros reside. Read the Reno Gazette story on our joint efforts here.

For more information on the Committee on Public Lands click here.