Wild Horse Education has filed a Protest of the Greenlinks North transmission linewhich would destroy thousands of acres of wild horse habitat in central Nevada. The transmission line will significantly impact seven Herd Management Areas (HMAs) along the “Loneliest Road in America” (the Highway 50 corridor). In addition to impacting wild horses, this scenic and largely undisturbed stretch of highway is home to numerous wild species including sage grouse.

Our protest was filed Monday. Our team is juggling numerous projects and deadlines and we have finally been able to find time to let you know. 

From the very first scoping meetings on this project it was clear that BLM was not going to address the significant impact to wild horse herds in any way. In fact, they have done their very best throughout this process to avoid even saying “wild horses.” In the first meetings, HMAs were not even on the project map until our team members pointed it out.

Seven HMAs will be impacted and zero mitigation for (or even any look at) damages to Horse Mountain, Clan Alpine, Desatoya, New Pass- Ravenswood, Hickison, Fish Creek, and Triple B was done; no actual analysis, no alternatives proposed for wild horses. The cumulative impacts from this project and numerous others being approved in many of the impacted HMAs is significant and not looked at in one single project plan.

Wild horses are omitted except a mention, two times, that basically says: no harm, no foul. BLM bent over backwards to approve numerous “mitigation of damages” projects for livestock including even more fencing inside the HMAs creating even more obstacles for wild horses. 

BLM has hit every herd from Clan Alpine to Fish Creek to Triple B with massive removals during the approval process for this pipeline.

From the filed Protest:

“The Nevada BLM failed to adequately respond to/address our provided scoping (x2) and Draft EIS/RMPA comments and concerns, regarding BLM’s failure to take a “hard look” at the cumulative impacts to the wild horses and/or burros (WHBs) and their habitat on each of the seven herd management areas (HMAs) impacted by this extensive project EIS/RMPA. (See Attachment I: Submitted Comments -July 11, 2022, April 10, 2024, and October 9, 2024).”

 “As this GLNP DEIS/RMPA stands, the WHBs’ shall lose 8,300+ acres of range and resources, while NevE gains 8,300+ acres of federal public land.”

Our team repeatedly engaged through every step of this process attempting to gain fair and reasonable recognition on par with all other stakeholders. It never happened. Not only did this process shortchange wild horses, it treated wild horse advocates with a dismissive posture. 

During this process it was very clear that wild horses were “second class” and BLM intended to ignore them completely. 

“Numerous mitigation measures that include miles of new fences and water improvements have been proposed for livestock,” said Tammi Adams, WHE NEPA team lead. “Not only will our wild horses suffer from the impacts of the pipeline, but the needs of our wild ones will be further damages because BLM gifted more to livestock. I engaged every meeting. BLM simply ignored every single attempt to address the needs of wild horses.” 

The approval Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Greenlinks North (that will cost NV Energy customers an estimated $2 billion on their bills) does nothing to offset or mitigate damages to wild horse habitat. 

“Wild horses and burros are losing territory hand-over-fist and being forced into smaller and smaller areas,” stated Laura Leigh, President of Wild Horse Education. “For any given herd the paperwork will indicate a certain number of acres available for wild horses inside the HMAs, but the truth is vast acreage will be fenced off or gutted without any mention or mitigation of that loss. Instead, like at Triple B, BLM will scream ‘overpopulated’ or ‘dying of thirst’ after BLM created crisis after crisis by failing to ever address, or even recognize, the absolute inhumane loss of critical resources. BLM refused to even address even one water repair where horses will be even more dependent on a source that has needed repair for over 20 years. This inequity needs to stop, now.”

Not one water improvement, fence removal, exchange of acreage (opening up areas designated Herd Areas where lands designated for use but not managed for use, could replace lost habitat) is ever done. BLM only takes from wild horses and burros and never gives anything back.

BLM simply ignores wild horses and burros as much as possible in every planning process involving their habitat. Instead, BLM simply removes wild horses and burros to suit private profiteers. That statement is not rhetoric. Our team will continue to seek justice.

WHE will update you on the Protest as information becomes available. 

RELATED ACTIVE BLM PLANNING

Land use planning is a series of overlapping and interlocking management plans. The lack of HMAPs, that )in part) would identify critical habitat, have been illegally withheld (noted in our court wins in 2024).

During Scoping for the Herd Management Area Plan (HMAP) for Triple B and Antelope, BLM would not even recognize comments that note that absolutely no analysis or even simple recognition of habitat impacts by projects like this pipeline are noted. The HMAP must address identification of critical habitat.

Triple B has also been hit with the expansion of the Bald Mountain Mine (that now impacts 30% of the HMA) and the Limo mine. (Our team is also engaged in litigation involving the Bald Mountain mine expansion and we will write more soon.)

 You can comment on the draft HMAP for Triple B and Antelope HERE, comments due June 29th. 

All of our work is only possible with your support. 

Your support keeps our teams in the field, our investigations running and our litigation alive. Together, we will take a strong stand to defend our precious wild ones.