Nevada isn't the only state with wild horses and burros but two state groups are the first to sue the U.S. Department of the Interior over management of the animals.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in Reno in December by the Nevada Association of Counties and the Nevada Farm Bureau Federation seeks a court order to require the Interior Department to comply with the requirements of the Wild Horse and Burro Act.
Eureka County Commissioner J.J. Goicoechea said there are good reasons why this fight has to be fought in Nevada.
"We have more herd management areas with more horses in them than the entire number of wild horses in all the other western states," he said. "In Nevada, we have as many horses outside the HMAs as we do inside them.
"We need to seize the spotlight on this and force action; this will have to be fought from Nevada."
The Wild Horse and Burro Act has provisions to handle the issues of overpopulation but lawsuits filed by animal advocates have stopped many of the overpopulated-area gathers and stopped the unrestricted sales of gathered animals. Advocates have said gather methods are sometimes inhumane and unrestricted sales open the door to slaughter of wild horses and burros.
Goicoechea, a past president of the Nevada Cattlemen's Association, said ranchers agreed to a deal to support management efforts.
"As an industry, we agreed to many concessions with the promise (written into law) that the (Bureau of Land Management) would manage wild horses and burros," he said. "We signed in good faith and it isn't worth the paper it's written on."
Degraded range land and drought have left many of the animals suffering from lack of water and adequate food.
Ranchers are matched in their frustration by BLM officials.
Several months ago, Winnemucca District Manager Gene Seidlitz said many ranchers in Humboldt and Pershing counties have voluntarily reduced the number of cattle they put out on their grazing allotments and they've also cut the length of time the cattle remain on the range.
BLM's Battle Mountain District Manager Doug Fortado said they've come to agreement with permittees in his district to further limit grazing - in numbers of cattle and time on the range. If agreement can't be reached, he said BLM has no choice but to issue "decisions" that either close or temporarily limit livestock grazing.
While some ranchers have reduced the effect their cattle have on public land, the wild horses and burros have not been so cooperative, reproducing at a rate reportedly as high as 20 percent a year.
"It's unfortunate that we are unable to effectively address the wild horse populations at the same time," said Fortado. "I understand people's frustration; it's certainly not fair, but our hands are tied."
Both district managers agreed in late fall additional adjustments to grazing permits may have to be made this spring. Grazing starts in March.
Seidlitz said there is no money in the BLM's budget for gathers and nowhere to put horses or burros if they were gathered.
The pool of prospective adopters also appears to be nearly tapped out. The long-term holding facilities are all full and although numerous contracts have been offered for short- or long-term holding, there have been no takers.
"It's fair to say we've crossed the line of ecological balance and something suffers, not just the forage and water supplies, but all wildlife and livestock," Seidlitz said. "There are fewer deer, chukkar and sage grouse."[[In-content Ad]]
