Above: Clips from the first week at the Antelope Complex in 2021 where we see a wild horse collide with barbed wire at a trap where there is a maze of wire that BLM continued to use in 2023, a baby trampled and the helicopter does not stop the run and continues to drive horses back and forth, a helicopter comes dangerously close (or hits a horse), etc,
Below: Barbed wire trap at livestock infrastructure in 2023, same trap as 2021.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has released what they are calling a “response” to the Motorized Vehicle Use Hearing on May 6, 2025.
Apparently, BLM believes that using AI to summarize spoken comments and writing a “blog” post titled “Myths and Facts” is a response to the analysis requirement for the use of Motorized Vehicles as required by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) of 1976 noted in gather Environmental Assessments (EAs). (BLM themselves call it a “blog post.”)
We are presenting a series of articles that address the lack of actual analysis of the impact of “gathering” on the “gathered.” The articles are inspired by the response from BLM.
The articles will also address the culture of the BLM that is loathe to change, denies there is ever anything wrong and seems intent of diminishing populations of wild horses and burros to levels far below what Congress found “fast disappearing” at the time of the passage of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act.
Above: Mare breaks her neck on panels in trap we told BLM was “too small” for horses to feel safe and an accident was more likely… and it sure was.
Each article in this series will begin with a reaction from an observer to the way BLM responded.
Observer, Marie Milliman: Somehow, the BLM is still using the worn-out title of “Myths and Facts” in the pathetic 2025 Motorized Vehicle hearing blog post “response” to the Public. Yes, that’s right, a blog post, that’s it! I still can’t wrap my head around BLM thinking this is an analysis response, a formal response, to a formal non discretionary hearing required under law. As an eight-year seasoned Wild Horse Education CAWP team member, I am enraged. Heck, you don’t even have to be a seasoned observer, or an in-person observer, to know that this is wrong. The authentic documentation is well seen and read by wild horse and burro advocates. The BLM wants to wash their hands of yet another complete failure to respond to this hearing legitimately. I could nearly hear their desk drawers slamming shut as the information provided by the Public was concluded during the “hearing” and just forgetting any of it existed. Did they even hear/read, or consider ours, or your spoken, or extensive written comments?
I have a few “Myths and Facts” myself.
FACT: I have seen with my own eyes (and so has BLM) and camera lenses what are not myths, like trailer doors negligently not being secured, rush ‘em in, and rush ‘em out. The routine exhaustive/multiple pursuit and roping of solo horses and burros, the majority of which are stallions/jacks, who the BLM inhumanely treated as if they exterminating pests. The foals and slowest/compromised animals that lag far behind the group, at times collapsing, because why in the wide, wide world would they ever take their time? Horses arriving at temp holding with facial, leg, and other body/fresh injuries that obviously occurred in the trap, or in transport with the National CAWP team in attendance, and no mention in their published report? I could extensively expand my list of inhumane documentation, but you get the picture… these are facts, not myths.
FACT: My closing statement for my three-minute spoken comment: “Thank you for the opportunity to speak today, I strongly request that my time and efforts not be in vain on behalf of our treasured resource.” At least I tried.
MYTH: That this is an acceptable response to the Public.
Below: Helicopter pushes horse with skids and BLM simply denied it ever happened, even though everyone could see that it did. This incident, among many others, led to the court shutting down the Triple B roundup in 2011 and Judge Howard J. McKibben providing the first court order that began the real journey toward obtaining the first concise and enforceable welfare policy since the passage of the Act. We have gained a draft version (that BLM just typed “permanent” on without review or public comments). We are more than halfway there and the fight continues.
Response to Public Comments, Motorized Vehicle Hearing
WHE team lead (Leigh) response article, part 1
BLM is required by law (FLPMA) to hold a Motorized Vehicle Hearing “in the area where motorized vehicles will be used to capture wild horses or burros.” The original 1971 Wild Horses and Burros Act forbade the use of motorized vehicles due to the brutal nature of their use in “mustanging.” In 1976, the FLMPA allowed the use of motorized vehicles, but added a mandatory hearing to require BLM to listen to public testimony, do a review and address issues.
Since the first hearing BLM has basically taken public comments and, according to someone working for the BLM, “shoves them in a drawer and calls the hearings complete.” BLM no longer does these hearings site-by-site or state-by-state. They do one virtual hearing where each year numerous people sign up, fill up all the slots so not everyone can speak. Then around half the people who signed up don’t show up and they have no mechanism to allow for those refused a slot to participate. BLM allots you a whopping 2-minutes.
In 2022, WHE started informing you that BLM has never responded to these hearings in any way. In 2022, they started publishing the “Summary of Spoken Comments.” They certainly have never provided any responsive document equal to a response to any other hearing (responses are required to non discretionary hearings in the same way they respond to an EA or EIS under NEPA). Every single “gather-EA” cites these mandatory hearings as fulfilling the NEPA requirement to analyze the act of “gathering” so that the actual gather-EA does not have to respond to public comment and can label any such comments as “outside the scope” and point to these hearings and the CAWP (non enforceable and unformalized) guidelines.
The paragraphs above are important to note prior to looking at how BLM responded. This is a formal process required under law, not a public affairs exercise.
Let’s look at how BLM responded to the May 6th hearing on the use of motorized vehicles.
They responded by publishing basically an automated transcript of spoken comments and releasing what they called a “blog post” that reads like the public affairs department wrote it and not a serious attempt to address public comments. This would have been a great opportunity for BLM to pull in their CAWP team (tax payers are paying for) and have them tell the public what they are actually getting paid to do… as it appears they do not do much.
Let’s break it down.
BLM begins their “blog” with: “Public involvement is a cornerstone of the Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse and Burro Program. The BLM regularly invites members of the public to share their perspectives on how the agency manages wild horses and burros on public lands, including through environmental analysis processes, at public hearings, and at public meetings of the Advisory Board. The BLM takes public input seriously, using it to inform decision-making and improve transparency around complex management issues.” BLM notes the May 6th hearing and states: “The hearing drew strong public interest, with many participants registering to share comments on how the BLM uses motorized vehicles in wild horse and burro management, such as using helicopters (and other vehicles) during gathers. In addition to the oral comments the BLM heard at the hearing, the BLM also received thousands of written comments.”
You would expect a serious and respectful process to follow that lead-in. Instead of addressing the comments thoroughly, BLM picks only three (3) comments (out of the thousands they received) and then finds a way to dismiss the actual concern in the comment.
The three comments BLM “responded to” are below.
Comment #1: “BLM does not listen to the public’s feedback or recognize any public comments made during previous motor vehicle use hearings.”
First, we know they don’t respond. We have been commenting for nearly 20 years and only after we told the public there is no response in 2022 did BLM even publish the oral comment transcript.
BLM answer: “The hearing is not part of the BLM’s analysis of any single, site-specific action.”
They continue: “In addition to the annual hearing on motorized vehicle use, there are many ways the public can provide constructive feedback to the BLM. For example, the BLM routinely accepts public comments for environmental assessments through the National Environmental Policy Act process…”
WHE Response: So does that mean these Motorized Vehicle Hearings DO NOT fulfill the analysis requirement in Gather Environmental Assessments (EA) as we have been told again and again? This must mean that site-specific gather plan EAs must analyze and respond to concerns in gather plans. So according to this response from BLMl, we should expect a response to our comments on gather plans referencing motorized vehicle use in roundups that do not just note these hearings and CAWP where we are not allowed to comment or get answers to our questions? We will probably have to file in court again to find that answer.
Comment #2: “It is illegal for the BLM to use helicopters in wild horse management. The BLM’s use of helicopters to gather animals is inhumane, and the BLM routinely violates its own animal welfare standards. For example, the health of pregnant mares and foals is not considered during helicopter gathers.”
BLM starts by claiming “most advocates” do not know that helicopter use was permitted by FLPMA, the same law that created these hearings. A few newer advocates might not know this, but most do.
BLM answers by claiming they “hold themselves” to standards in CAWP: “For example, the Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program requires that a group of animals may not be moved faster than appropriate for the slowest animals in the group – such as a foal or pregnant mare.”
WHE Response:
Below: There are so many instances of foals falling so far behind they disappear that we could not show you all the video in under 4 hours.One example from the Antelope Complex directly below. Below that is a foal that dropped behind and disappeared behind a mountain and BLM did not even know the baby was separated until observers told them (Swasey).
First off, most people do not say it is “illegal” to use helicopters. Most people know that the hearing itself is tied to the 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) that approved the use of helicopters and other motorized vehicles and mandated these hearings.
By citing a 2010 AAEP report you used for the first hearing when the helicopter hit the horse at Triple B and the BLM gathered a Temporary Restraining Order and later a Preliminary Injunction… does not address the concern the public has RIGHT NOW.
Citing another report that only analyzes wild horses that drop dead in the trap from 2019 and giving that “mortality rate” does not address the concern with foals you note in the “comment you are supposed to be addressing” in this section. You also fail to address the fact that the morality rate is actually 1 in 9 (on average, 12%) from capture and holding within the first 6 months and that rate can rise to as high as 22%.
Hey, BLM! An appropriate response would be to tell the public what you are doing to STOP foals lagging behind AND that you WILL identify actual foaling season using data so that the prohibition against helicopter use during foaling season will actually align with site-specific foaling seasons. Not whatever run on public relations bait-and-switch you tried to do here.
Below: First half of fiscal year 2023: Broken legs, broken necks, foals lag behind, injuries during transport, barbed wire, on and on…
Below, Fall/Winter 2024: Injuries during transport, foals lag behind, helicopter almost collides with power pole, wild horses driven through draws where pesticide is being sprayed from fixed wing at the same time in the same draw, BLM allows mining equipment to be offloaded almost on top of trap, horses driven through smoke with an Air Quality Index over 250, a baby dragged by the tail, on and on…
The third and final comment (out of thousands) BLM chooses to respond to is actually outside the scope of how motorized vehicle use is done.
Comment #3: “Gathers are unnecessary. The BLM should prioritize fertility control over helicopter-assisted gathers.”
BLM answers by talking about how much they care, are fair and data-driven, and just need to get those horses and burros off. Fertility control is being used after they get to AML; that magic number that represents a number lower than at the time the 1971 Act passed.
WHE Response: None of this has anything to do with HOW motorized vehicles are used and is “outside the scope” of the analysis required here.
BLM has no Heat Index parameters or Air Quality Index parameters for helicopter use. Fire blowing into NV created that “dark purple” for air quality and the roundup pushed forward because “the pilot could see” and did not stop even though severe and long lasting respiratory issues could result in horses. This is smoke you are looking through mixed with dust as BLM is remise on dust control as well.
It is very clear that BLM did not take the hearing seriously.
The vast majority of deaths and injuries are preventable if BLM only made changes. Deaths from injury and illnesses from capture can happen immediately (the only ones BLM counts) or can happen months later (Capture Myopathy). But BLM is an agency loathe to change.
It appears we will continue to see unbelievably abusive roundups where animals are dropping dead during transport and dying from heat as BLM continues relentless pursuits during events like wildfire smoke without ever answering concerns about things like Heat Index or Air Quality Index (standard veterinary practice none of BLMs paid partners considered in their assessment a decade ago of BLM conduct).
And it should be noted that BLM did not mention one word about burros. Data clearly shows that helicopter roundups should NEVER be part of any burro management plan. Burros are highly susceptible to death from capture stress and death rates can go as high as 1 in 5.
We will continue to see BLM give roundups like Blue Wing an “Excellent Rating.”
We will continue to push back in the courts.
How did BLM become an entity that refuses to create an enforceable welfare policy and allow actual public input? How did they become an agency that, with a straight face, says they are carrying out the intention of the 1971 Act as they work to bring numbers down to nearly a third less than were found in 1971? How can BLM be so respectful and accommodating to livestock, mining, hunters, off-road racing and be so dismissive of advocates for habitat preservation and for the welfare of wild horses and burros?
In future articles we are going to take a “hard look” at the BLM and the culture that perpetuates archaic practices and a mindset that is rooted in disrespect of wild horses and burros and those that advocate for their welfare. We will have a spotlight on burros and more observer reactions. Coming soon.
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Categories: Wild Horse Education
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