Sweat drenched Rock Creek wild horses, day 1
On January 26, BLM began what they call an emergency roundup saying the wild horses are in poor condition as their is no food for them after the Jakes fire in the Snowstorm and Little Humbolt Herd Management Areas (HMAs) in the Owyhee Complex in Nevada.
The Winnemucca District Office issued a Determination of NEPA Adequacy (DNA) stating 182 wild horses needed to be removed from Little Humbolt and Snowstorm.
The last gather plan completed in this Complex is from 2012. Relying on that 14-year-old plan would not be sufficient NEPA so they did the DNA and tiered it to a Winnemucca fire rehab plan.
Below: BLM map from the DNA showing the two HMAs hit by the Jakes fire where they said they needed to remove horses.
The map shows you where the first trap is set, miles from the herds noted in the paperwork. If BLM was going to remove Rock Creek horses why did they not include it in the DNA? Probably because it is in another district (Elko) that has not completed an adequate site-specific analysis as it was not directly impacted by the fire and it would not pass muster in the DNA? There are a lot of politically connected permittees with grazing allotments in the area… could that be the reason BLM hit Rock Creek?
When things deviate from what is clearly spelled out in the NEPA documents… all you are left with are questions and suspicion as history has taught us not to trust these districts.
We contacted BLM to ask why Rock Creek is not in the DNA.
We contacted BLM to find out why the temporary holding corrals are located in Elko (on the permittees land whose allotment overlaps part of the Rock Creek HMA), not Winnemucca, when the horses are being transported to the off-limits to the public facility in Winnemucca.
We contacted BLM to find out why access to those corrals is being denied when historically the public has been allowed at those same corrals in Elko as the road is public and access is historically on the easement on the side of the road.
BLM has not answered. (Since publishing this update BLM has responded to our email. They are insisting the horses are Little Humbolt. It seems both the trap location and temporary holding were chosen by Cattoor (the contractor). BLM is still insisting the permittee whose private land (in the Elko district) where the corrals are placed won’t let public in. In the past we all just sat on the easement of the public road (for the last 14 years holding is on that road in one of two locations). So I asked BLM why they were not letting us onto the public road. We will let you know what they say.). It all creates questions of an inappropriate relationship (permittee/contractor/BLM) of how this operation is being run benefitting the permittee in more than one way, again. If this was a straightforward removal in the area of the fire with temporary corrals somewhere between capture and the holding facility the horses are going to be sent to (not one in the opposite direction), with public access, we would have none of these questions.
If in fact this is an emergency removal due to a burned area… why is the public being denied access to view sorting at the temporary corrals to see that BLM is truly doing this operation out of concern for welfare? Why is it starting with so many games? The Owhee Complex has always seemed to bring out the absurd in BLM… like chasing us around in the desert refusing to provide viewing while we held a court order stating they needed to. More than a decade of games instead of transparent action.
It is important to note that the last finalized EA in the complex has an attached court order regarding welfare. This area was the site of one of the significant court orders that drove the creation of the Comprehensive Welfare Program (CAWP) of today.
Day 1 below. Ongoing daily reports can be found here.
01-26-26
Day 1 of the roundup included the death of this foal, probably 4-5 months old. BLM blamed the death on a degenerative pre-existing condition and calling it a yearling.
BLM set the trap in Rock Creek. The horses coming in are in good condition and exhibit traditional markings of Rock Creek horses we know.
BLM said they were driving horses to this trap from Little Humbolt (miles away) because “there was no road.” (Not true.)
We do know this baby would be alive today if there were no roundup. He was driven too far (if BLM is insisting he is not a Rock Creek horse) or BLM had no authority to catch him in the first place (because they did not establish the authority in their paperwork).
All of the wild horses that came in looked good for this time of year. The wild horses all came in wet.
It might not seem important to some of you that the BLM Winnemucca district put out an official NEPA document to establish the authority to roundup horses in 2 specific HMAs… and then goes to an HMA not in the paperwork, in another district, and even sets up the temporary corrals in that other district. This essentially changes everything… and words do not match actions.
Is it really that hard to simply do complete paperwork and provide actual access (particularly historic access that is guaranteed by law)? Or does everything, no matter how easy to accomplish in the first place, become a BLM created source of contention?
BLM is back at the same Rock Creek trap today. Our team member remains onsite.
NOTE: This trap has been used again and again to trap Rock Creek wild horses. The last time in 2021.
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. We cannot do this without you.