The horse advocacy group Friends of Animals has filed suit against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), claiming the agency broke the law when it made plans to gather and corral up to 4,000 feral horses and burros in Nevada.
In its suit, Friends of Animals alleges BLM hastily awarded a contract to an independent contractor to gather and contain horses and burros in corrals in Winnemucca, NV. The group claims BLM rushed into the proposal and did not consider the impacts of the facility on the animals, community or on the clay soil.
The corral would consist of 40 pens on 100 acres of private land. The land is currently alfalfa fields, but the area will be graded to facilitate construction of the corrals.
“By awarding JS Livestock this contact without further analysis, Defendants have (exceeded) their statutory authority, failed to comply with their mandatory duties to protect wild horses under the (Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act),” the suit read.
“They also violated (the National Environmental Policy Act) by failing to conduct an Environmental Impact Statement, failing to disclose or analyze impacts of the Winnemucca (off-range corral) on the environment, and failing to consider reasonable alternatives,” the group said.
In the fall of 2020, BLM published notice that it was seeking contractors to provide off-range corral (ORC) space for feral horses and burros that were rounded up in the West. The agency said it would award contracts to facilities in Idaho, Nevada and Utah that had a capacity of 500-10,000 animals.
The lawsuit alleges the winner of the Winnemucca ORC, JS Livestock, did not own the property at the time the company submitted its proposal on Nov. 30. The group claims the proposal had a purchase agreement on the offered property, signed Nov. 24. The purchase agreement was contingent on receiving a BLM ORC contract, with a closing date of Nov. 1, 2021.
“JS Livestock does not have any experience in the containment, feeding, and care for wild horses and burros or background in holding and caring for wild horses and burros,” the lawsuit alleged.
The group claims BLM did not have enough time or resources to properly consider the impacts of the Winnemucca ORC’s impacts, and they did not conduct any scoping for an environmental assessment.
During the comment period, concerns included dust, odors, animal waste management, dead animal disposal, groundwater containment, disease transmission and public access to the facility, among others.
The group further contends that the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act does not authorize the holding of 4,000 wild horses and burros at a private facility.
The lawsuit also makes note of the potential cost of the facility, even though the environmental assessment does not disclose financial information. The group estimates that BLM typically pays operators $4-5 per day per animal and claims the minimum cost to operate the facility would be $866,875 and could reach upwards of $7 million for one year.
“This reckless decision means more wild horses and burros will be removed from their homes and families in the wild to live in crowded, unsanitary and dangerous conditions at the public expense,” said Jennifer Best, director of Friends of Animals’ Wildlife Law Program.
The most current estimate of wild horses and burros on public lands is 82,384 animals as of March 1. In fiscal year 2021, a total of 13,666 head were removed,, with 8,637 head placed into private care.
“BLM thinks it’s above the law and rushed through the approval process, dismissing the harms that the unprecedented facility will inflict on wild horses and burros and the environment,” Best concluded. — Anna Miller, WLJ managing editor
