Elko Daily Free Press 10-7-2010

BLM gathers horses near Tonopah, Ely

ELKO — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management rounded up 345 wild horses and 25 burros during the recent gatherings in three herd management areas in the Tonopah area, according to Battle Mountain BLM District spokeswoman Schirete Zick.

The animals are currently at the BLM's holding facility at Ridgecrest, Calif., in preparation for adoption, and they are doing well, Zick said Wednesday.

The gatherings were handled out the Battle Mountain district's Tonopah Field Office and covered the Reveille, Montezuma Peak and Paymaster herd management areas.

"We didn't gather a lot of horses but these areas are really not suited for horses. They are very, very arid," Zick said.

"Montezuma Peak and Paymaster are very arid HMAs, located at the northern edge of the Mojave Desert. The rangelands there do not provide suitable habitat for large numbers of wild horses and burros," said Tonopah Field Office Manager Tom Seley in the BLM announcement on the gatherings.

"These areas have a history of poor animal health and emergency gathers due to lack of adequate forage and water, particularly during drought years," he said.

The BLM gathered 222 wild horses from the Reveille HMA and 123 horses and 25 burros from the Montezuma Peak and Paymaster HMAs during September. One burro died during the gatherings, and Zick said an autopsy showed the burro had chronic pulmonary disease "exacerbated by the gather."

The BLM also euthanized two mares with several club foot conditions, and four young foals with club foot were sent to the California facility for treatment. Zick said club feet can sometimes be corrected in young foals.

"I am pleased with how the gathers went," Seley said. "We were able to finish the gathers without any serious injuries to personnel or wild horses and burros, which is a primary objective when doing our gathers. Also, we were able to accommodate 12 people who observed and saw for themselves how we operate gathers."

Zick said observes included people from the media, wild horse advocates and the general public.

The BLM contends the agency needed to remove excess animals from the HMAs to reduce the herds to appropriate management levels established to ensure healthy wild horse populations.

All the gathered wild horses and burros were transported to the Ridgecrest facility in preparation for adoption or sale.

"We've got some really nice babies up for adoption," Zick said.

People interested in adopting a wild horse or burro from the Tonopah area gathering may call the Ridgecrest Regional Holding Facility, 800-951-8720, or visit the BLM wild horse adoption website at www.blm.gov/adoptahorse.

Silver King Gather

Meanwhile, the Silver King Wild Horse Gather is under way out of the Ely BLM district, and more than 300 horses had been rounded up by Sunday, the last daily report on the Ely BLM website.

Plans call for roughly 546 excess wild horses to be gathered and removed from in and around the Silver King HMA in Lincoln County, about 90 miles south of Ely, according to the BLM.

Activist Laura Leigh filed a motion in U.S. District Court earlier this month seeking a temporary restraining order against the gathering, but Judge Larry Hicks denied the motion.

Leigh then filed an amended motion this week arguing the case is about First Amendment rights and contends access was unduly restricted when she went to the Silver King gathering, the Grass Roots Horse organization reported.

"The biggest problem is the mockery made of access and observation. Everything is being done to hide potential problems," Leigh said Wednesday. "I've been out here about a week."

She said the BLM restricts her access so she can't seek horses going into the trap, and she argues the public has a right to know what is happening with the wild horses gathering on public land.

The BLM's Ely office recently announced there won't be any closure of the public lands, so the Silver King HMA will be open to the public during the gather operations, subject to necessary safety restrictions.

Leigh said the BLM changed its decision on land closures after her lawsuit.

She also filed against the BLM's closure of public land access during the Owyhee wild horse gathering in July that drew national attention when horses died from a lack of water in the northwestern Elko County herd area.

The horses from the Ely gathering are going to the Indian Lakes Road Facility at Fallon, according to the BLM.

The BLM has photos of the gathers posted on the Reveille and Montezuma Peak/Paymaster gather pages accessed from the Battle Mountain home page at: www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/battle_mountain_field.html.