The last round of comments are due before BLM finalizes the Bald Mountain Mine (Juniper Project) expansion. You can find documents HERE.
Publication of the Notice of Availability by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the Federal Register initiates a 30-day public review period, during which comments may be submitted electronically to blm_nv_eydo_juniper_eis@blm.gov or by mail to the BLM Bristlecone Field Office BMM EIS Project, 702 North Industrial Way, Ely, Nevada 89301, ATTN: Robbie McAboy.
Comments are due June 22.
Before the roundup in 2022 he led a band of 19. Today, there is only 1 other adult in his family left with him on the range. The mine will eat up his entire home range.
Since 2018, BLM has already removed 4,481 wild horses from the area. They have left nothing but fragments in the area of the mine. We covered nearly 2/3 of this HMA in the last few weeks… and the range has a lot of cows, big mining trucks running fast down battered roads… and so few wild horses.
In September BLM will go back and take nearly every horse left on the 1,608,530 acre complex. In this area, they will sweep it clean before the expansion. In other areas, they will clear the path for livestock and more mining.
The only reason we can even fathom they are going back is simply the inconvenience that a horse might be on an outback gravel road as mine trucks race through the desert and be a “hazard” as they get mowed down.
The massive Bald Mountain mine already takes a huge chunk out of the territory designated for management of wild horses called the Triple B Complex. The expansion will gut nearly another 33,508 acres out of the HMA.
The total “analysis” of this impact to wild horses provided by BLM basically simply says “because we said it is ok.” No data on horses in the area. No critical habitat designations. No critical forage or water details. No seasonal movement info. Nothing except to say “we can.”
There is other mining activity including exploration for more mining in the area. New fences for livestock and water improvements for livestock have been done.
In the Final plan for the mine, some small mitigation of damages has been done for sage grouse, mule deer, etc. Approval for killing Golden Eagles has gone through.
Critical habitat loss for any species is tragic. For wild horses it is even more egregious because they, by law, cannot simply move out of the area to find new places to live.
Below: When BLM adds a map to a mining EIS, they usually do not add HMA boundary lines. We were able to at least get them to include a map. But these maps DO NOT show other mines and exploration OR fence lines for cattle. Triple B has turned into a maze of private profiteers and will cease to be a wild place in the near future. (The Blue lines are the expansion area)
But, repeatedly, no matter how many mines impact an HMA, BLM just says “there is grass elsewhere.” How many times can they say that without actually analyzing the quality of habitat, what is critical for the herd and comprehending that there is such a thing as “cumulative impact” from mining to wild horses?
Slideshow Below: Red lines are original Herd Area boundaries, blue Herd Management Area boundary. Maps show areas taken away can be given back and fences can be removed to allow access.
No mitigation was done for wild horses. No water improvements to ensure the water draw down does not dry up critical springs. No mandatory speed limit reductions to stop collisions (that trigger roundups. No contemplation of returning lost Herd Area (HMA) acreage that is a legal and viable option to replace some of the lost territory. Zip, nada, nothing.
Below: These were once canyons that contained sage grouse, deer, wild horses and forage and springs. They are now filled with mining tailings taken from the “big hole” mines create.
Since before scoping began we started talking to the district about mitigation for horses. Since scoping began, we pointed out specific analysis needed to be done to determine impacts to critical wild horse habitat in Triple B (this is some of the best habitat they have left in the entire HMA). This type of identification of the needs of wild horses in the area have not been done by BLM in any Land Use Plan, Herd Management Area Plan or Gather EA. Therefore, they needed to do that type of analysis in the EIS for the mine. They did that kind of analysis for every other species out there.
We notified you of earlier comment periods. If you commented before, you can send a follow-up. If you have not commented yet but you would like to say something about the Final EIS for the mine:
The last round of comments are due before BLM finalizes the Bald Mountain Mine (Juniper Project) expansion. You can find documents HERE.
Publication of the Notice of Availability by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the Federal Register initiates a 30-day public review period, during which comments may be submitted electronically to blm_nv_eydo_juniper_eis@blm.gov or by mail to the BLM Bristlecone Field Office BMM EIS Project, 702 North Industrial Way, Ely, Nevada 89301, ATTN: Robbie McAboy.
Comments are due June 22.
This mare and her foal are in the target zone this year. The single mare was once part of beautiful band led by an amazing wild stallion that was shattered in 2022. In 2024, she will lose her home to a mine and her freedom to a helicopter.
There are already numerous fences and private interests profiting off the public land at Triple B. More is moving in fast. BLM does not consider the cumulative impact to wild horses at all, anywhere, at any time. Habitat loss and fragmentation is the number one driver of removal of wild horses and burros that cannot legally leave the land “designated for their use… but not protected for their use.
A couple of other projects in the planning stage that will hit Triple B:
Greenlinks North:
One proposed route goes through the south end. Alternative route cuts right through the HMA from highway 50 north to highway 80.
Click HERE to learn more on the BLM ePlanning page.
The Limo Butte Mining exploration:
This new mining exploration will lead to a new mine on the eastern side of Triple B.
Click HERE to learn more on BLMs ePlanning page.
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 us on the frontline in the fight to preserve and protect our treasured wild horses and burros.
Categories: Wild Horse Education
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