State to sue BLM over funds for wild horses

Jennifer Knight

Friday, Feb. 6, 2004 | 11:23 a.m.

The Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners voted unanimously this morning to sue the federal government for a larger share of money to manage Nevada's wild horse and burro population.

Nevada currently manages half of the nation's wild horses, yet the Bureau of Land Management in the state, which runs the program to handle wild horses, receives only 14 percent of federal funds available to keep the population under control.

The horses and burros are federally protected, and the BLM rounds up and adopts out heads of horses when the ranges where they live become overcrowded.

BLM officials in Nevada, however, have stopped Nevada's adoption program because it claims it has no more money to manage it.

"I think it's just a travesty, the inhumane way the horses are being treated based on the negligence of the federal government," Chairman Tommy Ford said. "I've raised horses, and that's not how they should be treated."

The last roundup of horses in the state was last month at Lahonton in Lyon County. The BLM program only gathered 250 horses. Nevada's program removes about 5,500 horses and burros every year to reach a government-mandated level.

Nationwide the cost of running the Wild Horse and Burro program in 2002 reached $39.7 million, but Nevada's portion was only $5.4 million.

"I've seen first-hand the devastation to those lands, and we were worried about ATVs," Commissioner Clint Bentley said. "The horses are causing more devastation than ATVs. It's time to fish or cut bait."

The commissioners directed the state's Attorney General office to file the lawsuit and argue that the government is not complying with a federal act to protect wild horses.

"When we take our case to the federal government, I think we are going to see positive results for the state and for this program, and that's what I want to see happen," Commissioner John Moran said.

Susan Gray, of the Attorney General's office, said there is precedent already in this matter. Wyoming successfully sued the federal government for a larger share of money to manage its wild horse population. But the federal government settled the case before it went to court.

"The basis of a lawsuit would be to seek injunctive relief from the court to make BLM comply with the Wild Horse and Burro Program," Gray said.

Without additional funding, it is estimated that by 2005, Nevada's wild horse and burro population will increase to 24,000, which is close to the population of horses when the program started in 2000.

An official for the State Habitat Bureau said that's worrisome because it could cause environmental problems.

"If the overpopulation exceeds the amount of available forage and water, this has impacts on other wildlife throughout the area," Doug Hunt, chief of wildlife department's habitat bureau, said.

On Wednesday a spokesman for Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., confirmed that the federal government has dropped a proposal to divert BLM money from public land auctions to the wild horse and burro management program. The auction proceeds are primarily devoted to buying environmentally sensitive lands.