Tag: history

Bearing Witness

As winter rapidly approaches the high deserts of the Great Basin, the Bureau of Land Management has the thankless task of gathering overpopulated wild horses off our drought stricken and fire ravaged western ranges. The activists against responsible management have stepped up their game of protesting these gathers by taking legal action and stopping some of the emergency gathers. One of the tools in their toolbox is attending gathers, photographing them and sensationalizing any mishaps that inevitably occur in handling wild, unhandled animals. Yesterday a group of conservationists, myself included attended a gather north of the city. We had several large wildfires this summer and there is little forage left for any of the animals that live there.

The BLM’s 2026 North Complex wild horse gather will begin October 17, 2026, targeting about 320 horses to bring the population down to the 101–157 “appropriate management level” (AML)

Attending these gathers takes some commitment. You must notify the BLM of your intent. You then wait for a phone call the night before a gather operation. You are told where to meet the BLM officials conducting the gather early in the morning the day of. You are met by BLM wild horse and burro specialists, BLM law enforcement and other civilians who have been approved to attend. Then you convoy out to the gather site. The observers are usually placed about a half mile from the trap site, and this was true in our case. While you have a clear view of the helicopter bringing the horses to the corral it does not make for great photos. Too far, and 80-degree weather ruined my pictures with the heat haze that plagues long distance photography in the desert. You then are committed to staying at the observation site until the operation concludes for the day and the BLM escorts you out of the area.

A cowboy holds the prada horse, or judas horse. A horse released to lead the horses into the trap.

Access to the trap site used to be better. You could be pretty close and really see what was going on. Activists ruined that for everyone by behaving like lunatics, running out in front of the horses entering the trap and threatening BLM employees and contractors running the gathers. In one case they caused a horse death and an injury to a contractor.

Helicopter turning the horses into the trap

We observed a smooth operation, professionals doing their job professionally. Some of us are committing to attending more of these operations to counter the narrative of activists who claim the BLM is cruel and helicopter gathers are inhumane. I am planning to attend several this winter across the state to bear witness to the need for these gathers and to counter the drama that is being pushed by people who don’t want or understand the need for management. Some horses are going to starve in areas that legal injunctions have halted gathers. These areas have burned and forage is gone as we go into winter. Part of my plan is to document those horses suffering as well. It isn’t my dream to see and photograph this type of situation but the reality has not been adequately shared. Looking forward to long freezing days in America’s outback.

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Pronghorn hanging out near the trap site. They were unbothered by the operation.

Wild Horses and the Battle to Save our Public Land Ecosystems

I have been involved with conservation organizations in Nevada for a long time. I love our public lands, and Nevada, with 48 million acres designated as public, has the vast majority of public land in the United States. I choose to live in Nevada primarily because of access to huge areas that were set aside for public use. It is rare for me to come across a no trespassing sign which can be all too common in states that don’t have a large amount of public land. The BLM, the Bureau of Land Management is responsible for managing these lands for multi-use purposes.

I wrote this article for a sportsman’s publication, and it was published this fall. It isn’t an in depth look at the wild horse issue but was designed to be informative on a basic level. There were a few graphs and tables which I am not including. I am going to write a series of essays on the topic which will look at some of the problems with wild horse populations exploding on our public lands. If you are an anti-management “advocate” of wild horses and drinking the Kool aid that animal rights extremists are serving, feel free to unfollow me and move along. With all the changes coming to the Department of the Interior, the BLM and new appointments to key positions, I want to put down my thoughts as we move forward in uncertain times.

The horse in the feature image is a healthy horse on a properly managed range.

Wildhorse Management for Healthy Rangelands and Wildlife 

Nevada is the driest state in the United States. It’s vast stretches of sagebrush steppe are some of the largest undisturbed swaths of Sage Grouse habitat left in the West. Many big game animals and unique bird, fish and amphibian species make the mountains and basins of Nevada home. As a state mostly made up of high desert, water and forage are the limiting factors for the viability of all living things on the landscape. All animals, plants and birds depend on and share the often, scarce resources. 

Wild horses and burros also have their place out in the wide-open spaces on our State’s public lands and are legally protected by the passage of the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 (WFRHBA). Familiarity with the law regarding wild horses and burros is a great starting point for those who would like to educate themselves about wild horse management and is available to read online.  

Horses and burro numbers managed to the original (AML)s, appropriate management levels, would be ideal and solve many of the problems we are seeing with degradation of habitat and critical riparian areas that are essential for all wildlife. Nevada has the privilege and burden of having the largest populations of wild horses and burros in the U. S. There are 177 (HMA)s, Herd Management areas, and Nevada has 77 of them. When the (WFRHBA) was passed, the carrying capacity or number of wild horses in Nevada was set at 12800. While this number fluctuates with gathers and foaling, the current number of horses in Nevada is approximately 40,000 horses and 4685 burros. Obviously, the number is far above the original number set which has contributed to degradation of rangelands and negative impacts to our native wildlife.  

If the BLM were allowed to gather the horses and get the number of wild horses and burros down to AML in every HMA, the ability to use fertility control instead of gathers would be a real possibility. With numbers far above AML this is not a practical or workable solution. Fertility control can help to stabilize populations but is not effective in reducing them.  

What can we do as sportsmen and women to ensure that balance is maintained on our public lands? We must be a strong voice for responsible management of the horses and burros along with all wildlife on the lands managed by the BLM. Balance must be achieved and then maintained to protect the health of our rangelands, wildlife and yes, even the horses themselves. There are many opportunities to engage in positive action: 

  • Write your Legislative Representatives asking for responsible Wild Horse and Burro Mangement. Ask that priority is made in budgets for management. 
  • Respond to Public Comment requests from the BLM on planning for Herd Management Areas asking for responsible management. 
  • Attend public meetings such as the Wildlife Commission meetings and make public comments.  
  • Educate yourselves and others on Wild Horse and Burro management issues. 
  • Make observations when in the field and report any issues you are seeing to appropriate partes, BLM and NDOW for example. 
  • Engage with and support efforts by the sportsmen organizations that are striving for balanced management of our resources and wildlife. 
  • If you are able, and need a new ranch, pack, or hunting horse consider adopting a horse from the BLM adoption program. They are sturdy and sure footed and could fill that spot in your string.  

End of article.

More to come on the cruelty of mismanagement by advocacy groups.

This horse is in bad shape due to an over population of horses on the Virginia Range. Many of the horses in the Virgina range are healthy but they are rapidly headed for a population crash. The fertility control is not effective. I will write more about this management debacle later.

This Virginia Range horse is one of many displaying a painful skin condition. Because these horses are wild this kind of condition is almost impossible to treat. The condition may be the result of overpopulation and poor feed. The BLM does not manage the Virginia Range horses, Advocacy groups and the Nevada Department of Agriculture have a cooperative agreement. I alerted the group that manages these horses about this situation, and nothing has been done to help this horse.

Old Stage Stop in Central Nevada

I’ve been spending a lot of time this summer in the center of the state as I have a cow elk tag and a mule deer buck tag in units that are in that area. I have been combining scouting with site seeing and have ticked off some places I have wanted to visit and explore for a long time.

One of those places is an old stage stop located in a remote canyon down a very dusty road. At times I had to four wheel drive it to get through the powdery dust that was as deep and treacherous as a snowfall.

Stage Stop Cabin

So this had to have been built before the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869. It has to be at least 155 years old. It is still in great condition due to the solid rock construction. It sports a dirt floor and elaborate chimney. It would be pretty tight quarters. I rode in one of those authentic stagecoaches up in Virginia City a few summers ago. Very uncomfortable ride! I can’t imagine bumping along all day in one of those and then “resting” here!

There was an old stone corral as well but it was hard to photograph. I also took photos of some wild horses, golden eagle and a cooperative Western Meadowlark.

Western Meadowlark
Wild Grullo Mare and Foal
Golden Eagle