BLM ran a roundup machine nonstop for years and removed large numbers of wild horses from the range and called it “management.” Regardless of how many times they were informed they were increasing reproduction rates they did not listen until the NAS review of 2013. Will BLM change direction to create sanity? A way to engage that conversation is through the multiple public boards, RACs and the National Advisory Board. 

In the world of wild horse and burro management there are multiple events and pressing issues that effect the wild ones directly and indirectly.

Over the last few weeks there have been multiple Resource Advisory Council (RAC) meetings across the West including Nevada’s statewide meeting of the TriRAC (or all three RAC boards) and the Northern California RAC. There are 29 RAC’s west wide that deal with all aspects of public land management in a local, or “regional,” fashion. You can track the RAC’s at this link: http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/info/resource_advisory.html

Wild Horse Education (WHE) attended the TriRAC and engaged multiple stakeholders in conversation and gave comment. WHE is currently focused on gaining movement in NV on multiple escalating issues. We are working directly, and indirectly, with the Bureau of Land Management toward creating new tools and gaining traction in creating proactive, not reactive, management strategies. (Of note, the TriRAC meeting was not broadcast this year on the internet and there were no protestors. We are hopeful that respectful dialogue, as was demonstrated at this years RAC, can become the norm).

Midweek the BLM National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board will meet in Redmond Oregon. The meeting will welcome three new panel members to the board. This meeting is always “Live streamed” and can be viewed at http://www.blm.gov/live April 13, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and Thursday, April 14, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can access agendas, videos and other aspects of past meetings at this link: http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/whbprogram/Advisory_Board/advisory_board_minutes.html

If you are unable to attend you may submit a written comment letter to: National Wild Horse and Burro Program, WO-260, Attention: Ramona DeLorme, 1340 Financial Boulevard, Reno, Nevada, 89502-7147. Comments may also be e-mailed to the BLM (at whbadvisoryboard@blm.gov); please include “Advisory Board Comment” in the subject line of the e-mail.

WHE will send a representative to submit comments and will publish comments on our website once submitted. We are getting multiple emails and inquiries asking if our President will be onsite in Redmond, she will not be there. WHE has begun our onsite work with NV BLM.

We apologize and understand that a number of people want to meet and ask questions of WHE. We will do another QnA video next week and any questions for Laura Leigh can be sent to WHEQnA@gmail.com, past videos can be viewed by clicking HERE.

It is important to note that the Advisory Board has no legal authority. The BLM is required to have a board and is required to utilize that board to listen to public input and for the board to create a series of recommendations based on that input, but BLM is not required to adopt those recommendations. Sometimes the board is “pointed” to as a mechanism where a long standing “public” sentiment originates as BLM begins to implement a concept (such as spaying). However those concepts were long standing before reaching the public venue of the board.

If you have time to watch part, or all, of the meeting we urge you to do so. You can create comments while you watch and send them in as  the meeting concludes. We have found these meetings to be very useful in creating a public venue that informs the public to multiple underlying conversation because it is live streamed.

We do know that the public is extremely outraged by the BLM plans to “spay” wild mares. We expect the public to be there in larger than normal numbers to express that outrage. We also expect BLM will receive more than a normal amount of comments through the board.

Many times we see people writing comments to a BLM assessment prior to a removal (EA) that are broad and not appropriate at that juncture to process. Comments to this board can be as broad as you like. They can include adoptions, lack of data as outlined in the National academy of Sciences Review, management levels for wild horses, allocation of forage for wild horses and burros, holding facilities, anything you want to suggest.

Now is your time to write.

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We will update you on field work as we can. Land use planning processes are changing and we have been engaged in the “2.0” public outreach. Over the next week much of those processes will have reached a level where we can begin to guide you in how to engage.

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