BLM cancels roundup of Nevada’s Pine Nut Herd following court injunction
Following a February court decision to grant a motion for a preliminary injunction to stop the proposed roundup of more than 300 wild horses in the Nevada Pine Nut Herd Management Area, the Bureau of Land Management Sierra Front Field Office announced this week that it has canceled the roundup with a date to be determined.
Horse advocates said the decision to cancel the roundup is a victory.
“BLM’s mismanagement of wild horses has been exposed by Friends of Animals with this victory,” said Priscilla Feral, president of Friends of Animals. “We had our boots on the ground in Nevada in February and spent an entire day out in the Pine Nut Range looking for the beloved wild horses who live there. We were lucky if we saw 20 horses. FoA is committed to challenging any future BLM data collection in all Herd Management Areas. In Nevada, we have already commissioned a wildlife ecologist to conduct field research in the Pine Nut Range. This is just the beginning.”
Here is the BLM news release on the plan, which has been suspended.
The Bureau of Land Management, Carson City District, Sierra Front Field Office will gather approximately 332 wild horses and remove approximately 200 excess wild horses within and outside the Pine Nut Herd Management Area (HMA) beginning late February 2015. As many as 132 wild horses will be released back to the range following the gather.
A population inventory completed in August 2014 documented 332 wild horses within the HMA. The Appropriate Management Level (AML) for the HMA is 119-179 wild horses. Based on the inventory, and monitoring data showing impacts from an over-population of the HMA, BLM has determined that removal of the excess wild horses is necessary to achieve a thriving natural ecological balance.
Excessive grazing from wild horses has not only degraded the sage-grouse habitat, but has also removed and reduced the number of native grass plants in areas of the HMA, which impacts the overall availability of forage grasses within the HMA and has reduced the number of wild horses that can be supported by current range conditions.
Of the approximate 132 wild horses released back to the range, an estimated 66 mares will receive a 22-month Porcine Zona Pellucida (PZP-22) immunocontraceptive vaccine treatment prior to release. This vaccine will extend the time between gathers, and reduce the number of excess wild horses that would need to be removed in the future. The sex ratio of the released animals will be dependent on the sex ratio of the gathered wild horses.
Friends of Animals’ attorney Jennifer Barnes said the "BLM relied upon a stale Environmental Assessment from 2010 and did not meet its duty to fully inform the public about the impacts associated with its roundup plans, which included dosing dozens of mares with the fertility drug PZP.
“Because of new research, there are rising concerns about drugging wild horses with PZP. This case highlights some of the deficiencies with BLM’s current management of wild horses, and I hope that in the future BLM considers its obligations to involve the public on decisions that affect our public lands," said Barnes.
Before the roundup was scheduled to begin, FoA and Protect Mustangs filed a case in the District Court of Nevada, arguing that BLM violated its duties under the National Environmental Policy Act by relying upon a Environmental Assessment from 2010 and a preliminary injunction was necessary to stop the roundup. U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks agreed. Hicks decided on Feb. 11 to grant FoA’s request to postpone the roundup.
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