Blue Wing wild horses in temporary holding corrals at Blue Wing (Shawave). These are the exact same temporary corrals BLM refused to allow any observation of burros in 2022.

As we battle out the Blue Wing case in the courts, BLM made what appears to be a purely strategic move and announced an extremely short window for a Scoping period for a Herd Management Area Plan (HMAP) for the complex.

On May 2, BLM began a 30-day scoping period for a Herd Management Area Plan (HMAP) for the Blue Wing Complex.

NOTE: The state of Nevada only has one active HMAP. That HMAP is for the Pine Nut HMA. It is significant to note that BLM is NOT doing scoping for Blue Wing in the same way they did Pine Nut (or other recent scoping periods). There is NO public meeting, NO question and answer session, or any of the other scoping interface opportunities BLM provided for Pine Nut. BLM has simply opened a 30-day comment window (with no prior notification they were doing so to the general public. We do not know if BLM notified state or permittees prior to announcing scoping to the public). 

The federal district court case filed in 2022, is coming into the last round of briefing. BLM has a brief due on May 10th. Our lawsuit includes an “undue delay claim” against BLM for failure to craft the HMAP for the Blue Wing Complex.

Last month, the court ruled in another case that BLM, in fact, did violate law and there was an undue delay in creating a management plan for the Pancake Complex.In that case, the judge also found that BLM failed to analyze impacts of the action of removing wild horses on wild fire fuel remanding the Gather-EA back to BLM (in layman’s terms, the roundup plan was voided).

At Blue Wing, the underlying Gather-EA has the same significant failures of analysis as the Pancake Gather-EA did. We are working with our attorneys preparing to receive the BLM response on May 10th and then file our brief (and other potential avenues to demonstrate these deficits).

In addition, BLM Nevada has not released a Determination of NEPA Adequacy (DNA) for the Blue Wing Complex prior to placing Blue Wing back on the roundup schedule. A DNA is a document required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to show that existing approved planning documents have provided sufficient analysis to carry out an action, particularly if the existing document is over a couple of years old. A DNA is not new NEPA. It is a document showing BLM reasoning and data that shows why they believe they do not need new NEPA. (We hope that helps you understand.)

The approved Gather-EA (roundup plan for the Blue Wing Complex was approved in 2017.. Many of you saw Wyoming issue a DNA for public comment that tiers to a 2021 Gather-EA for White Mountain.  The Blue Wing roundup plan is much older and BLM must release a DNA to actually prove the old document is even close to being adequate and provide opportunity for public input as intended under NEPA.

Blue Wing wild horses in temporary holding corrals at Blue Wing (Shawave). BLm did not allow access to these same corrals after they captured burros.

Our court case also deals with significant First Amendment issues. 

Blue Wing is home to one of the most unique burro herds in the country.

BLM did not allow any opportunity to clearly assess the condition of burros. During capture there was no real opportunity. BLM closed temporary corrals to viewing. BLM would not even allow observers to move to a road to view burros on a trailer. Then, BLM shipped burros to an off-limits to public view facility in Utah where 5% of captive burros died in the first couple of months from “capture stress” (hyperlipidemia).

The Blue Wing Complex lawsuit is the only case in the nation to include a significant stand for wild burros. Burros are not horses. That might seem like an obvious statement, but it is not accounted for in any planning documents BLM has used for Blue Wing (beyond their assertion that there is no “foaling season” for burros and they can use helicopters all year without providing any proof).

The is no HMAP to address management needs specific to burros. There is no distinct feeding and handling requirements outlined for burros during and after capture in the roundup plan. (Learn more in “Burros are not horses”)

Blue Wing stallion at a stud pile

As the court case winds through the system to conclusion, we now have an opportunity to comment on a management plan for the Blue Wing Complex.

A formal public scoping process is used to identify planning issues that should be considered in the management plan. The BLM is supposed to provide a full analysis of these issues, provide a scoping report and then use them to develop a range of alternative management strategies prior to issuing a draft plan for further comment and review by the public. Once this process is completed, BLM would issue a final decision record that approves a plan.

We will break down the material BLM has provided for the scoping process and give you sample comments shortly. Our team has just provided materials to the attorney on this case and others. We will have the article out soon so you can participate. 

Blue Wing Jack.

Everything you have been told is “not appropriate” for comment on a Gather-EA is appropriate in the HMAP scoping, everything. From how AML is set and what triggers would be used to revise it, evaluation of Herd Areas within the complex for formal repatriation, fire fuels, foaling season identification, critical habitat identification, all the way to when would livestock be removed to protect habitat for wild horses and burros, is “appropriate” now. The key word in scoping is “significant.” We will explain as we walk you through how to comment soon. 

The Blue Wing Complex encompasses five Herd Management Areas (HMAs), four Herd Areas (HAs), and non-HMA areas where wild horses and burros (WH&Bs) migrate back and forth (BLM failed to recognize these areas where horses and burros were “presently found” as the 1971 Act decreed and simply denotes the movement to justify low population numbers without inbreeding). The HMAs consist of: Kamma Mountains, Seven Troughs Range, Lava Beds, Blue Wing Mountains, and Shawave. Antelope Range, Selenite Range, Trinity Range, and Truckee Range (not managed or “zeroed out” primarily due to checkerboard and other industry conflicts). The Blue Wing Complex is located in western Pershing County, approximately 65 miles northeast of Reno, Nevada.

Blue Wing encompasses 2,283,300 acres. BLM says the 2 million acre area can sustain a range of 333-553 wild horses and 55-90 wild burros. BLM set AML without ever providing a data-based breakdown in how they set those numbers. An HMAP must disclose that information and address AML. 

Please remember, litigation has always been one of the most powerful tools of advocacy for anything. We are moving the needle. That needle has been stuck a very long time and we have work to do.

We will have an article out soon to address the Scoping period and sample comments. If you would like to begin reviewing the preliminary materials that represent current data and assumptions the BLm has presented you can go to the BLM ePlanning website HERE.

You can show your support for the fight against abuse by wearing a team t-shirt. Shirts are available to order for only 2 more days! (Click HERE)

We were offered a match! If you added a contribution to your shirt purchase, that amount will also be matched! All contributions to help us stop abuses will be matched for the Month of May by a generous supporter up to $5,000.

We need your help to continue to document, expose, work toward reform with lawmakers and litigate. Our wild ones deserve to live free on the range and free from abuse.

Thank you for keeping WHE on the frontline in the fight to protect and preserve our treasured wild ones.