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NEVADA DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE SIGNS PRECEDENT-SETTING AGREEMENT WITH ADVOCATES TO PROTECT HISTORIC VIRGINIA RANGE HORSES
Agreement finalizes plan to humanely manage the state’s wild horses
(Carson City, Nev.) March 17, 2015 – Today, Return to Freedom, the founding organization of the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign (AWHPC), signed a cooperative agreement with the Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDA) to humanely manage more than 1,500 horses in the Virginia Range, which encompasses more than 280,000 acres. This precedent-setting agreement launches the largest ever private-public partnership to manage wild horses while at the same time improving public safety and benefiting Nevada taxpayers.
AWHPC coalition partner the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) has generously provided much-needed resources to launch the management agreement. The grant funding will be used to implement management actions to prevent horses from entering neighborhoods or roadways–the primary reasons cited by the NDA for the removal of Virginia Range horses from the wild. Local Nevada organizations working with Return to Freedom/AWHPC to implement the management program include Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund, Virginia Range Wildlife Protection Association, and Wild Horse Preservation League.
“Return to Freedom has been honored to umbrella this precedent setting project and looks forward to working with the State, local horse organizations and the ASPCA to humanely manage these beloved horses in the wild and prevent removing them from their family bands and homes on the range,” said Neda DeMayo founder and CEO of Return to Freedom. “The cornerstone of this historic effort is the tireless, day-in-and-day-out work by local Nevadans to keep these horses wild and out of harm’s way. We encourage anyone who loves the Virginia Range horses to get involved by contacting these local groups.”
“We are proud to support this exciting and historic partnership between the community and the government to protect the wild horses of the Virginia Range Horse herd,” said Kevin O’Neill, senior director of ASPCA Government Relations for the Western region. “The ASPCA believes in supporting locally-based programs that move the bar forward for animal protection, and this project promises to create an innovative model for humane wild horse management that will be applicable throughout the West.”
In June 2013 Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval held a signing ceremony for Assembly Bill 264 (AB264), which allows the NDA to resume cooperative agreements between the state and non-profit organizations to humanely oversee the wild horses in the Virginia Range near Reno. In March 2013, Return to Freedom signed the first cooperative agreement with the NDA that provides for first option to purchase any Virginia Range horses captured by the NDA. However, over the last two years, the Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund and other groups have rescued more than 200 horses captured and removed from the Virginia Range by the NDA.
“This agreement has been two years in the making, and we are very pleased that it has been signed,” said AWHPC’s Deniz Bolbol, who negotiated the agreement with the state. “We’re ready to roll up our sleeves and get to work to keep the cherished Virginia Range wild horses wild and free on the range.”
The State has jurisdiction over the historic Virginia Range horses, who have roamed the northern Nevada mountain range for more than a century. Because they make their home on state, local and private land, instead of federal land, they are not protected under the federal Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act, and are classified as “estray livestock” byE the NDA.EAS
Please donate to support our efforts.
Return to Freedom is dedicated to preserving the freedom, diversity and habitat of America’s wild horses through sanctuary, education and conservation, Return to Freedom provides a safe haven to over 370 wild horses and burros at its sanctuaries in California and advocates for the redirection of funds from costly and traumatic roundups -to- viable solutions to manage wild horses and burros on their ranges.
The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, founded in 2004 by Return to Freedom, is a coalition of more than 50 horse advocacy, public interest, and conservation organizations dedicated to preserving the American wild horse in viable, free-roaming herds for generations to come.
Founded in 1866, the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) is the first animal welfare organization in North America and serves as the nation’s leading voice for animals. More than two million supporters strong, the ASPCA’s mission is to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States. As a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation, the ASPCA is a national leader in the areas of anti-cruelty, community outreach and animal health services. For more information, please visitwww.ASPCA.org, and be sure to follow the ASPCA on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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OPPOSE FOREST SERVICE PLAN TO ROUND UP HORSES FOR SLAUGHTER!
Public Comment Due by March 23, 2015.
The U.S. Forest Service (FS) is seeking public scoping comments on a massive helicopter roundup of 1,200 wild horses from public and tribal lands in and around the Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Reservation in northern Nevada. The FS intends to capture the horses, which it considers “estray livestock” originating from the reservation, and deliver them to the tribe to be sold for slaughter!
The move comes less than two years after the FS withdrew, amidst intense public scrutiny and outcry, from participating in a similar roundup of Fort McDermitt horses. The tribe proceeded with the roundup without FS assistance, and 149 of the unbranded horses captured were rescued after legal action by AWHPC and our coalition partners blocked their sale at the slaughter auction.
The FS claims that no wild horses are present in the capture area, even though it is adjacent to the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Owyhee Herd Management Area (HMA). The plan lacks credible provisions for preventing the capture of federally protected wild horses who may have wandered outside the Owyhee HMA.
Please weigh in today against this plan to use our tax dollars to roundup and deliver horses — possibly including federally protected mustangs — to a tribe that will sell them for slaughter!
Santa Rosa Ranger District
Attn: Joe Garrotto
1200 E Winnemucca Blvd.
Winnemucca, NV 89445
Via email: Comments-intermtn-humboldt-toiyabe-santarosa@fs.fed.us
Constituents outside the United States are not eligible to send an email using our web form above. International comments must be mailed or emailed to the addresses above.
Izzy, one of Ft. McDermitt horses rescued from slaughter auction in August 2013.
Additional Information
FS Info on “2015 Fort McDermitt Cooperatie Domestic Horse Removal”
Info on 2013 Fort McDermitt Roundup and Sale of Horses at Slaughter Auction
KEY POINTS ON 2015 ROUNDUP PLAN:
- Proposed Action: “The Santa Rosa Ranger District of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest is proposing to remove all unauthorized domestic tribal horses from portions of South and East Forks of Quinn River, Eight-mile Creek, and North Fork Little Humboldt River watersheds of the Santa Rosa Ranger District, adjoining Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Tribal lands, and associated public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management. The project area is located in Humboldt County, 75 miles north of Winnemucca, Nevada off Highway 95. The project area includes approximately 760,000 acres of lands administered by the US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Tribe (Figure 1). It is currently estimated there are around 1,200 or more domestic tribal horses in the proposed gather area. This project would be conducted in partnership with the Fort McDermitt Paiute Shoshone Tribe (tribe) as set forth in the 2015 Challenge Cost Share Agreement Between the Fort McDermitt Tribal Council and the USDA Forest Service Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest (in process). The gather would consist of a helicopter operation over several intermittent 4-8 day periods in which domestic horses would be herded off the public and tribal rangelands to designated trap sites located on tribal lands. The use of roping from horseback may also be used when approved by the Contracting Officer Representative..”
- There are four BLM Herd Management Areas (HMAs) within 100 miles of the project area. Tule Springs HMA in Oregon is approximately 35 miles northwest of the project area; Jackie’s Butte HMA in Oregon is approximately 35 miles north of the project area; Jackson Mountains HMA in Nevada is approximately 80 miles southwest of the project; and Little Owyhee HMA adjoins the project’s west boundary.
- As can be seen clearly from the maps provided by the FS and the BLM, the FS capture area overlaps the BLM’s “gather area” for the Owyhee HMA, meaning there is a distinct possibility that federally-protected wild horses will be snared in this roundup action.
- The Forest Plan identified 12 cattle grazing allotments and one closed allotment (Eight Mile) within the management area. The FS says that the horses are using forage intended for livestock grazing. The tribe holds many of the grazing permits in this area.
- Although the FS claims that no federall protected wild horses are present in the capture area and that no wild horses wander outside the adjacent Owyhee HMA, the agency also states that impacts of the roundup could cause “disturbance to individual wild horses that roam outside of the Little Owyhee HMA or in close proximity to the HMA’s northwest boundary.”
FS Map of Ft. McDermitt Roundup Capture Area
BLM Map of Owyhee HMA Wild Horse “Gather” Area
