Elko Daily Free Press 7-22-10

BLM moves gathering to new area

ELKO - The U.S. Bureau of Land Management plans to resume gathering wild horses today in another herd management area after ending the emergency Tuscarora roundup Tuesday.

"We will be gathering in the Rock Creek area tomorrow," BLM spokeswoman JoLynn Worley said late Wednesday afternoon.

The BLM called the Tuscarora gathering an emergency action after horses died of dehydration, and the agency mounted a watering campaign to reach horses on the range, Worley said.

"The water we hauled saved the lives of hundreds of the wild horses we rescued," said Ron Wenker, BLM Nevada state director.

The BLM hauled more than 46,000 gallons of water for the horses, but the water effort ended with completion of the Owyhee roundup, according to Worley.

The BLM gathered 636 horses during the Tuscarora portion of the planned roundup, which included the Owyhee, Rock Creek and Little Humboldt Herd Management Areas.

The 636 includes the 21 horses that were gathered but died after they were rounded up, Worley said. Helicopter overflights last week also spotted 19 dead horses that likely died because they ran out of water.

The BLM hasn't spotted a dehydration problem in the Rock Creek Herd Management Area, so the agency and contractor plan to remove 60 of the 225 wild horses in that HMA.

The agency also will round up all 425 wild horses that wandered off the herd management area and are on nearby public lands, Worley said.

Although the plan is to remove 60 from the Rock Creek HMA itself, the BLM expects to gather more horses and treat mares with a fertility drug.

"We will adjust the ratio to 60 males to 40 females, but some may be released again," Worley said.

The final gathering will be at Little Humboldt, and the BLM plans to remove 26 horses there out of 73, she said.

The Rock Creek HMA range level should be 150 to 250 horses.

Meanwhile, the BLM is planning a limited public viewing of the roundup Friday and Saturday at the Rock Creek area, where the corrals are on public land.

"We've filled Friday, with 10, but there is some space on Saturday," Worley said.

Those who go on the public tour will meet at 7 a.m. Friday or Saturday at the town of Midas in northwestern Elko County and go by caravan to the gathering site, where they will stay until 1 p.m. or 2 p.m., according to the BLM.

U.S. District Court Judge Larry Hicks, who approved resumption of the gathering late last week, also ruled the BLM can't close any public lands during the gathering, but private landowners can still say no, Worley said.

The Tuscarora gather corrals were on private land.

Wild horse activist Laura Leigh had asked the court to stop the gathering and also protested BLM's plans to close areas of public land while the gathering was under way.

The Rock Creek HMA gathering operations will be on public land, Worley said.

The BLM initiated gather operations within the Owyhee HMA on July 10, and gathered 228 excess wild horses, but suspended operations on July 11.

National BLM Director Bob Abbey called the halt after the agency discovered the wild horses were suffering from water starvation and dying.

The emergency water operations began after that weekend, and the BLM reported it coordinated with local ranchers who own the water rights to allow the BLM to use their reservoirs and wells to provide water to the horses.

The agency reported many of the wild horses rounded up after the gathering resumed were in better condition than expected, indicating they had been drinking from the water the BLM had provided.

"The success of this rescue also clearly reflects the care, skill and compassion the BLM and the gather contractor used to humanely gather and save these wild horses," Wenker said in a statement Wednesday.