On January 26, BLM will begin a roundup at of 182 wild horses in the Snowstorm and Little Humbolt Herd Management Areas (HMA) in the Owyhee Complex. Captives will be sent to the off-limits to the public facility in Winnemucca. BLM said that the area was impacted by the Jakes Fire (that engulfed the Snowstorm fire as it moved north) and that there is not enough forage to sustain horses existing in the area. They plan no release.

BLM has not created any Herd Management Area Plan (HMAP) for the HMAs in the Owyhee Complex or for the Complex. The last “Gather Plan” Decision Record approved for these herds was finalized in 2012.

BLM did complete a Determination of NEPA Adequacy (DNA) for the operation and documents can be found on the BLM website. Please be aware that BLM has changed their site and you can no longer read documents online and there is an auto download feature if you click on a document. We downloaded and you can read it HERE. The 2025 Jakes Fire Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation Plan (DOI-BLM-NV-E020- 2026-0005-DNA) includes removal of horses if there is no forage and BLM is relying on that to make up for the lack of a current (actual) approved “gather plan EA” or HMAP.

During the last roundup in this complex 27 wild horses died during capture and another 38 died in the first 6 months post capture. Our team published a 3 part series including noting the abysmal record keeping skills of BLM.

This area was the site of one of the significant court orders that drove the creation of the Comprehensive Welfare Program (CAWP) of today.

However, the agency hid the fact that they never reviewed welfare standards and was aware that they skipped the “public review and comments” piece necessary to actually formalize welfare standards. Our Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and another court case uncovered the disturbing truth. 

Run in sub-freezing temperatures (Leigh). That is not dust, it is steam.

Our team will be onsite to cover this roundup.

We will post updates on our website and social media platforms.

To those of you that signed onto our letter to Secretary Burgum (requesting he take steps to actually comply with what was promised to the public and the courts and actually formalize welfare standards) we want to let you know the letter was sent earlier this month. Burgun can take the steps needed to fix this without Congressional interference or additional litigation.

We will keep you posted on the next steps.

Every mile we travel to cover roundups or assess a herd, every court case we bring, every win, every action we take is only possible because of your support. Thank you for standing with us as we strive for justice, mercy and freedom.

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