By Jim Barbee
SPARKS - As readers may be aware from news reports, the number of automobile accidents involving estray/feral horses from the Virginia Range herd area has dramatically increased in recent weeks. Since July, the Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDA) has tracked over 30 horses that have been hit by automobiles. Many drivers were injured; all the horses had to be euthanized. To preserve public safety and manage the horses in a humane way, the NDA is collecting estray/feral horses near Alternate Highway 95 and Highway 50.
In 1971 Congress passed the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act which provided federal protection and management for free-roaming horses and burros on public land. However, most of the land on the Virginia Range is privately owned and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has determined that there was no basis to designate this range as a herd management area. After running a capture program for two years, BLM declared the Virginia Range "wild horse-free."
The remaining horses on the Virginia Range rest under the jurisdiction of the NDA by the estray/feral livestock provisions of Nevada law (N.R.S. Chapter 569). In 1997, NDA started the Virginia Range Estray Horse Management Program. The mission of the program focuses on three major areas of concern: (1) public safety and animal welfare; (2) maintenance of a healthy and sustainable estray/feral horse population on the Virginia Range; and (3) establishment of cooperative agreements with non-profit groups to facilitate the adoption and proper care of the horses removed from the Virginia Range.
Given Nevada's budget situation, there is no funding for gathers, contraception or effective management of these horses. According to studies done by BLM and the Natural Resource Conservation Service the Virginia Range can support only 500 - 600 head of horses. It is estimated that 2,000 horses currently live on the range. As a result, problems are starting to surface in our own backyards and roadways.
In autumn and winter, as the forage and water diminish, these horses are coming down off the range and moving in search of food and water. NDA needs to take proactive steps to address this issue before more horses and members of the public are impacted. I came to this department in February from the Nevada Department of Education. I have a background in agriculture education and livestock production. I found in this department dedicated staff working hard to do more with less, just as all citizens of the great State of Nevada are doing in these challenging times.
Over the last few weeks surveillance has concluded that even though it's still early, there are many horses within one mile of one of the four highways surrounding the range. In an effort to reduce the probability of vehicular interaction with drivers and horses on the four highways that border the Virginia Range, NDA will be conducting an ongoing collection of estray horse over the next month. This is not an organized gather of horses like those conducted by the BLM but rather a trapping of horses that are approaching the Highway 50 - 95 areas. Horses collected will be taken care of in accordance to Nevada law and under the guidance provided by the Nevada Attorney General per Opinion #82-9. Horses will be advertised for adoption and safely transported.
Despite what some have said, I can assure the public that NDA continues to engage in outreach and collaborative discussions with horse advocacy groups. These groups have an opportunity to acquire the horses for the cost of feed and processing as previously done through cooperative agreements. If the advocacy groups choose not to accept the horses, they will be sold at public livestock auction in Fallon.
At this point public safety must be our priority as it relates to the Virginia Range estray/feral horses and we would ask that citizens be alert to this danger, especially at night. Everyone at NDA appreciates stakeholders' understanding and cooperation while we support our mission of promoting sustainable agriculture and natural resources which work to protect food, fiber, human health and safety, and environment through effective service, regulatory action and agricultural literacy.
Jim Barbee is the director of the Nevada Department of Agriculture.
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