BLM Winter 2015 Roundup Season Underway

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) winter2014/2015 roundup seasonis underway. Between November 2014 and March 2015, the agency will capture and remove nearly 1,000 wild horses and burros fromBLMlands in five states. These captured animals will be added to the more than 48,000 currently stockpiled in holding facilities. Notably, the removals are below previous years, and the agency appears to be increasing the use of the PZP fertility control vaccine. These small steps forward are based largely onBLM's inability to remove more horses due to lack of holding space. However, these developments open the door to increasing the use of humane fertility control as an alternative to removing massive numbers of wild horses from the range.

Roundup Updates

Sulphur HMA, Utah (Cedar City BLM): Scheduled to begin February 1, 2015

100 horses are scheduled to be removed. Jim Schnepel of the Wild Horses of America Foundation is onsite -read his updates from the field here.

Fish Creek HMA, Nevada (Battle Mountain BLM): Scheduled to begin February 13, 2015

500 horses are scheduled to be captured with 200 to be removed and 150 will be treated withPZP. Laura Leigh of Wild Horse Education is onsite -read her updates from the field here.

Little Fish Lake HMA (Battle Mountain BLM): Scheduled to begin February 8, 2015

Approximately 150 wild horses will be rounded up from the Little Fish Lake Herd Management Area on February 8. Approximately 100 horses will be removed, and the remainder will be returned to the HMA to achieve a post-roundup population of approximately 100 wild horses.Fertility controlwill be applied to all mares released back into the HMA. Laura Leigh of Wild Horse Education was onsite -Read updates from the field here.

Pine Nut HMA, Nevada (Carson City BLM): Scheduled to begin January 31, 2015 -DELAYED DUE TO LAWSUIT

300 horses are set to be captured, with 160 to be removed and 72 will be treated with PZP. U.S. District Court Judge Larry R. Hicks issued a Preliminary Injunction to delay this roundup, finding thatBLMhad failed to conduct an updated environmental analysis of the proposed action, relying instead on a 2010 Environmental Assessment. Although Judge Hicks' decision did not mention anything about the PZPfertility controlvaccine, the lawsuit is being used by its proponents to criticize the humane population control measure and vilify those who support it. Unfortunately, the lawsuit will likely mean that the window of opportunity for vaccinating mares before the next breeding season will be lost. The net result will be that even more horses will suffer the trauma and loss associated with capture and removal from their homes on the range.

Photo above byJohn T. Humphrey

Humboldt Roundup, NV (Winnemucca BLM): Begins January 30, 2015

180 wild horses will be permanently removed.Update, January 30, 2015:TheBLMHumboldt helicopter roundup begins this morning in a public land area that has been "zeroed out" for wild horses and turned over to ranching interests. Mike Lorden and Laura Leigh of Wild Horse Education were on site and report hundreds of cows, many with newly born calves, but few wild horses.BLMhelicopters will scour the landscape to roundup and remove the final 180 wild horses living on these lands, where wild horses were supposed to be protected by federal law as "an integral part of the natural system of thepublic lands."Read daily reports on the Humboldt roundup here.

Photo by Mike Lorden

These pics below by photographerMike Lordencapture the final days of freedom for the beautiful wild horses of the Humboldt Herd Area. This unique population of wildmustangswill be wiped out by theBLMat the insistence of private ranch owners in the area. We will post updates as they become available.

Centennial Roundup, CA (Ridgecrest BLM): January 16-20, 2015

Public observation of this roundup, which took place on the grounds of the Naval Air Weapons Station (NWAS) at China Lake, California, was prohibited without a security clearance. Public notification about the roundup precluded observation, due to lack of time to pursue a security clearance.

In an email from Tom Campbell, Program Coordinator for the NAWS removal: