Wild horse, northern NV
Wild Horse Education volunteer Marie Milliman is covering the Fox Lake Range roundup in Nevada. Scroll down for latests updates and action item.
Day 1, Fox Lake and Range
Operation details from BLM website:
The gather will take place on private land and public land administered by the BLM, about 20 miles south of Gerlach. The gather method will consist of helicopter drive trapping. The BLM will gather approximately 200 wild horses during the gather event. All wild horses will be the primary target for removal. The destination holding facility is Indian Lakes Contract Facility in Fallon, Nevada.
200 wild horses are being removed from an area where wildfire was started by lightening earlier this year. The Tohakum 2 fire generated headlines like “The Desert is Burning Near Burning Man” this summer. Nearly 95,000 acres burned.
BLM states that the Tohakum 2 Fire Post-Fire Recovery Plan would be jeopardized by horses in the area. Post operation population estimate will be 330 wild horses (not including 2017 foals). BLM sets a management level maximum of 204 wild horses.
Wild horses are being transported directly to Broken Arrow (Indian Lakes) in Fallon Nv with no opportunity to assess wild horses post capture. A request to observe wild horses in the facility has been made according to the 2014 agreement with BLM National Office signed during Ninth Circuit court ordered mediation.
Fox Lake and Range, Day One
Day One
Aprox 96 wild horses were captured. The last run of the day the BLM COR failed to capture a single youngster (possibly a yearling) and the COR determined not to pursue capture. Note: Observation of the actual trap during capture was not facilitated.
Rain and potentially high winds expected tomorrow.
Day Two:
Marie was the only observer today at the trap site. Arriving at 6 am operations were called off around 11 due to weather.
Today Wild Horse Education followed up on the request made yesterday to BLM to observe wild horses; during capture and in holding.
Day three, Fox Range and Lake
Day Three:
56 wild horses were captured (we will update after review) from the range today. Total captured at the operation so far: 152 (52 Studs, 67 Mares, and 33 Foals)
BLM worked to facilitate observation of capture. Today BLM also agreed to open the Broken Arrow facility for a public tour so that wild horses from this operation can be viewed and/or adopted. You can view info here: https://wildhorseeducation.org/2017/11/17/blm-to-announce-facility-tour-the-first-amendment-has-no-expiration-date/
Day four:
Aprox 28 wild horses captured. Day began at about 30 degrees. BLM has notified that the operation has ended. Total for operation: 189 (76 Studs, 78 Mares, and 35 Foals)
CAWP report to be submitted by WHE for after action review.
This little guy has been maned “Hero” by Marie. He (or she) came in at the end of operations. A tattered and healed ear points to something in his past. He will be available for adoption after processing and should be really easy to find!
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The current budget debate in Congress for fiscal year 2018 could see tens of thousands of wild horses killed. Take a few moments from your day and make a call or send a free FAX!
Free FAX; click HERE for Senate, click HERE for House. Phone numbers for your representatives can be found at, please call tomorrow: govtrack.us
Updated 11/20: Templates for what you can say below.
House: “I do not want any federal funds used to kill healthy wild horses. I want restrictions to the BLM “sale program” to be maintained. Killing any healthy wild horse, or facilitating such actions through sales, is not acceptable. The Department of Interior budget has multiple options to save a few million dollars. Not one subsidy to livestock is addressed in the budget and the federal grazing program is out of control. The wild horses should not be shot or sent to slaughter to continue the broken grazing program. As an American I find it unacceptable, completely unacceptable.”
House: “Please support Raul Grijalva’s efforts to get a full hearing into the House subcommittee into infractions in public land management that include intimidation of federal workers, safety issues to the public and illegal activities that forward independent and private agendas. Nevada State Director of the BLM, John Ruhs, must be held accountable.” (please note Grjalva’s office has all of the information and has been working on this issue for years. You can tell your representative to contact Grijalva for the details).
Senate: “As an American I am asking that the Senate create a full investigation into illegal activities occurring in public land management that includes intimidation of employees by superiors, threats from private interests, creates a clear and present public safety issue and forwards personal political agenda. Nevada State Director of the BLM, John Ruhs, must be held accountable.” (You can tell your Senator to contact Raul Grijalva in the House for details)
Main website: http://WildHorseEducation.org
An article by Marie that looks back at Mustanging (before the Act was passed to protect them) and the future for our wild horses: https://wildhorseeducation.org/2017/08/22/the-misfits-a-history-of-killing-wild-horses-that-never-really-ended/
Kids can help wild horses! https://wildhorseeducation.org/2017/10/25/4-leg-brigade-kids-can-help-wild-horses/
Pamphlet and overview report spring 2017 https://wildhorseeducation.org/2017/04/06/handouts-and-pamphlet-wild-horses/
To learn more about the trouble our wild horses are in a series of articles on the public land seizure movement (what it is and how it traps wild horses) can be found here: https://wildhorseeducation.org/wild-wild-horses-and-the-public-land-seizure-movement/
Categories: Wild Horse Education
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