One of the BLM’s key responsibilities
under the 1971 law is to determine the “appropriate
management level” (AML) of wild horses and burros on the
public rangelands. These animals have virtually no
natural predators and their herd sizes can double about
every four years. As a result, about 31,000 wild horses
and burros roam BLM-managed lands in 10 Western states, a
population that exceeds by about 3,500 the number that can
exist in balance with other public rangeland resources and
uses.
To help restore the balance, the BLM gathers some wild
horses and burros and offers them for
adoption or
sale to those individuals and groups willing and able to
provide humane, long-term care.
"Under the 1971 Wild and Free-Roaming
Horses and Burros Act, BLM is required to manage horses and
burros only in those areas (Herd Areas) where they were
found in 1971. Through land use planning, BLM evaluates each
herd area to determine if it has adequate food, water,
cover and space to sustain healthy and diverse wild horse
and burro populations over the long term. The areas which
meet these criteria are then designated as Herd Management
Areas (HMAs).
Today, nearly half of the Nation's wild
horses and burros live on Nevada rangelands managed by the
Bureau of Land Management. The current population is about
13,665 wild horses and 998 burros. These Living Legends move
with the seasons within 102 Herd Management Areas comprising
nearly 16 million acres of public land."
As of spring 2008,
The BLM says unless Congress
gives them some more money they can not do any gathers this
year unless it is an emergency because they are spending all
of their money just feeding the 30,000 plus horses in the
short and long term facilities. Costing them over $50,000 a
day.
 2. What is the History of Wild
Horses in North America?The BLM says, "Although horses evolved in North America, there are
many different opinions as to why no horses or burros existed on
this continent at the time of European exploration. Spanish
explorers reintroduced horses to North America beginning in the late
fifteenth century and Native Americans helped spread horses
throughout the Great Plains and the West. Until as recently as the
mid-twentieth century, horses continued to be released onto public
lands by the U.S. cavalry, farmers, ranchers, and miners."
Some people believe that, at one
time, there were millions of wild horses in the west. If that had
been true when the white man came west, wouldn't the Indians have
been riding horses? We challenge anyone interested in the facts to
check the history of the wild horses or burros in each HMA (herd
management area). They will find the herds most often came from the
ranchers that homesteaded or settled the land. When the
1971 law was passed, only a small percent of the millions of acres
of BLM-managed land had wild horses or burros. These areas were the
areas that were later made into herd management areas.
The BLM Web site explains, "Under
the 1971 Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, BLM is required to
manage horses and burros only in those areas (Herd Areas) where they
were found in 1971. Through land use planning, BLM evaluates each herd
area to determine if it has adequate food, water, cover and space to
sustain healthy and diverse wild horse and burro populations over the
long term. The areas which meet these criteria are then designated as
Herd Management Areas (HMAs)."
When the west was settled, was common
practice for ranchers to pasture their cattle and horses on the open
range. The United States Cavalry used horses for mounts until
1942. They supplied the ranchers across the west with
thoroughbred studs to run with the ranchers' bands of mares in order
to raise horses for the army. Introducing well-bred stallions
into the herds helped prevent inbreeding and improved the herds. Neither the ranchers or the
cavalry routinely used mares as riding stock, so the mares ran in
"stud bands" on the open range. These bands consisted of
perhaps up to 20 mares led by a dominant mare and herded and bred by
a stallion. Young male horses are pushed out of a band by the
herd stallion. The young males try to capture some mares of
their own or challenge an older stallion for his band.
Ranchers gathered the horses they
needed for their own use and that of the army. During this time, the horse herds increased.
According to the BLM, horse populations on the open range will
increase 15 to 20 percent a year. After the army was no longer using horses
and travel became mechanized, the
ranchers still gathered the best of the range horses for their own use,
but since there was less demand for the horses, the herds increased
and many more became wild. In most places, the
wild horse and burro herds have kept increasing since the wild horse and
burro law was passed in 1971 because the ranchers were no longer
allowed to gather and use the horses and because horses and burros have few natural
predators.
 2A.
What is the History
of Wild Burros in North America?
The Spanish brought donkeys,
called "burros" in Spanish, to North America beginning beginning in
1495. They were prized for their hardiness in arid country and
became the preferred beast of burden of early miners and gold
prospectors during the 1800s in the Southwest United States.
They were used for carrying tools, supplies, and ore. Their sociable
disposition and fondness for human companionship often allowed the
miners to lead their donkeys without ropes. They simply followed
behind their master. With the introduction of the steam train to the
west, these donkeys lost their jobs and many were turned loose into
the American deserts. The wild burros on the western
rangelands descend from animals that ran away, were abandoned, or
were freed. BLM estimates about 2800 burros range on their
management areas today. 3. What makes a successful
humane wild horse roundup?
First, a trap site must be selected.
Preliminary scouting is done to find the natural routes horses
travel. The capture site needs to be close to the animals and somewhere that they would naturally go,
so they do not have to be forced but will travel there more or less
on their own. Proper pens and wings must be built that are
constructed of materials and in a manner that will not harm the
horses and that will make gathering, handling, and sorting easy for
animals and workers alike.Second, the
helicopter pilot must be experienced and understand
livestock. He needs to know how they will travel and when to
speed up and when to slow down. He must also be very skilled
and very patient. Then the wranglers
must work quietly together. They also must be very patient,
understand and care
about the animals.
4. Is the BLM, because of
pressure from the ranchers, trying to remove all of the wild horses
and burros from the range?
Absolutely not. First of all
the ranchers are not asking to have all the wild horses or burros
removed. The ranchers love to see healthy wild horses and burros out
on the range just like you and I do. They are just asking that the BLM be able to manage the herds at the numbers set at
“appropriate management level,”
AML. This is
the number of wild horses and burros the BLM has - after studying
and monitoring the range - determined can survive along with the
optimum determined numbers of livestock and wildlife so that there is plenty
of food and water for everything. We just finished a wild horse
roundup and the area permittee came and watched and would point out
horses that were descendents of ones they use to ride. He also had
favorite ones that he watched out on the range. This is typical of
all of the ranchers in the west.
Today, nearly half of the Nation's
wild horses and burros live on Nevada rangelands managed by the
Bureau of Land Management. The current Nevada population is
about 13,665 wild horses and 998 burros. Nevada's 102 Herd Management Areas comprise
nearly 16 million acres of public land.
5.
Do you run the wild horses with the helicopter?
Our pilots do not run the wild horses or burros during a wild horse
roundup. The animals are gathered and then herded much like you
would herd cattle. Horses travel naturally from place to place at a
trot or faster gait. On the public lands where we typically gather,
horses routinely travel long distances to water every day.
After the trap is completed the pilot or pilots begin herding the
animals to the capture site. When the pilot first locates a group of
wild horses or burros he stays as far away as possible to give the
animals time to think and get used to the presence of the
helicopter. Once they have gotten used to the sound and presence of
the helicopter the pilot will start them moving in the direction of
the gather site. Again, he will stay as far away as possible. By
doing this the wild horses or burros will start off at a slow trot
and will stay all together. Because the animals have had time to
think and get used to the presence of the helicopter, the pilot will
be able to turn them both ways, staying ¼ to ½ mile away from them
The animals travel at their own speed to the trap. If they start to
move too fast, the pilot will back away from them and give them more
time to think and to slow down. If the animals in the front get too
far ahead, the helicopter will get in front of these lead animals to
slow them down until the others can catch up. Again the pilot will
keep a good distance away from the animals. As the herd gets close
to the wings of the trap and can sense the presence of people the
pilot must get closer and put more pressure on the wild horses or
burros. However, because the pilot has been very patient, and given
the animals time to learn and respect the helicopter they are no
longer afraid of the helicopter. The pilot has been “reading” the
animals while driving them to the trap. This means he knows when to
drop down and put more pressure on the wild horses and how close he
must get to assure they will follow the domestic "pilot horse" into
the trap and will not turn around in the wings of the trap. This is
very important for the safety of the wranglers who follow the
animals into the trap to shut the gate. It is also much more
stressful for the animals if they do turn back or go through the
wings and the pilot has to bring them back around and into the trap
a second time. Most pictures taken of wild horse roundups are taken
right at the trap so it appears that the helicopter runs the
animals. That is not the case.
6. Why are helicopters used
to gather wild horses and burros instead of just driving them
with saddle horses or corral-trapping them using water or food?
Helicopter roundups are the most
efficient way to gather wild horses and burros. But more
importantly they are the most humane way to gather. We can say
this because we have gathered wild horses and burros using both
methods. In the fifties and sixties and even after the law was
passed until the use of helicopters was allowed, we captured wild
horses using only saddle horses. When you gather wild horses
and burros horseback you locate the animals and run
them and hope to maybe get them to a trap. With a helicopter
you can start your drive and then back off and let the animals
travel at their own speed. You can not do this horseback
because you have to stay close to be able to handle or turn
then. Therefore, the animals will run and often the mares will
run off and leave the foals behind, especially if they are
small. This is what had happened before the helicopter gather
that was done on the Sheldon in June of 2006. A contractor had
been gathering horseback as we arrived to do the helicopter
gather. After we were finished, there were, I believe, three
foals found that were not with their mothers. We went back with
the helicopter to locate and rescue the foals. Because of
their weakened condition, it was obvious they had been bummed by
the earlier horseback operation and not by the helicopter operation.
When doing a helicopter gather, you
can turn the front of the herd back so the rest can catch up and
you can easily cut off a mare and a small foal to leave, if
necessary. You can keep track of any animal that should get
tired and drop behind until the wranglers can reach it. The
pilot will back way off and let the wild horses or burros travel
at their own speed to the trap. This is the same technique
used on many large cattle ranches to herd cattle.
When doing horseback gathers,
often the animals have to be run and are
followed until they are sore footed and tired enough to go where
you want them to. You cause lots and lots of extra stress by
chasing, instead of driving the animals. And
this method is very hard on saddle horses also since they have
to carry the extra weight of their rider. You will have
more injuries to the wild horses and you will have injuries to
the saddle horses. We have used a helicopter to drive wild
horses and burros to a trap in all kinds of terrain and very
seldom is there ever even a minor injury. We do not have very
many injuries but almost all occur after the animals are in the
trap or in the holding facilities. Anyone who would say or even
think that a horseback gather of wild horses or burros is more
humane than a helicopter gather with a qualified animal herding
pilot has obviously never watched or been involved in either
one.
In a few isolated areas bait or
water trapping can be successful. This would be in an area
where there is say only one water source or where the animals
aren't very wild. But the animals and the area must be
carefully studied. Because sometimes when a water source is
disturbed with a trap the animals will try to go somewhere else
or just stay away from water until they are so dehydrated that,
when they do finally come in the trap, they will drink and they
collapse and can die. Because there are so very few places
where this will work, the numbers could never be managed this
way.
7. Things that we do to assure
the welfare of foals.
Several horse interest groups in their
zealous attempts to stop helicopter wild horse roundups have made it
appear like our organization, CLR, has no regard for what happens to
foals during a wild horse roundup. Nothing could be further from
the truth. Our concern starts with the pilot when he first spots a
band of wild horses or burros that he will herd to the trap. The
pilot will follow the herd and allow even very tiny foals to travel
with the herd. Under certain circumstances, such as a mare with a
very young foal, the pilot will cut the mare and colt off from the
others and leave them out on the range. If the pilot sees the foal
or even a weak or old animal is getting tired, he radios the
wranglers at the trap and they go out with saddle horses and a horse
trailer and load and transport the foal or other animal to the
trap. We have even on occasion put a young foal in the helicopter
and brought it in to the trap.
 Once the animals are captured, the gates
are shut. When it is safe for the wranglers, they start to remove any
small or weak animals from the others in order to prevent any injuries. We
have an alley with gates and carefully sort the foals into a
separate pen. The foals and any weak or very old animals are always
hauled separately. Once at the holding facility, the wet mares and
foals are marked and put into the same pen. We closely monitor this
pen and make sure the mares and foals are paired up. We always have
Foalac (milk supplement) available and will separate and hand feed a foal that maybe
has a young mother with no milk or one that has already lost it's
mother out on the range before the gather or on a very rare occasion
a mare will be so wild she won't settle down and let the foal
nurse. We pride ourselves on the care of foals during capture,
processing and transporting.
8. How can you watch a wild horse
roundup?
Some of the lies being circulated on the
internet this summer contain statements that say the contractors and BLM do not want and sometimes do not allow people to watch wild
horse roundups. As contractors, we always work with the BLM to accommodate visitors
and photographers. We find a place where they can see and be safe
and not interfere with the gather operations. Just send us an E-Mail at clr@wildhorseroundups.com
and we will let you know where our next
wild horse roundup will be and how to contact the local BLM to make
arrangements to come out.
9.
Water Development In a high
desert climate, water is life. In many areas of Nevada, water, not
feed, is the limiting factor for wildlife and livestock throughout
much of the year.
Many mountain ranges and valleys in Nevada are covered in feed that
is never touched by animals, but wildlife is very limited. The
reason is obvious, it is a desert, it can be many miles or tens of
miles between the nearest permanent water sources.
The greatest boon to water development for the direct benefit of
wildlife and wild horses throughout the State of Nevada over the
last century and a half has been our ranchers and herders.
Water developments were installed by cattle ranchers and sheepmen to
the mutual benefit of their herds and the local wildlife. The many
thousands of water troughs, spring boxes, water tanks, and other
water developments installed by ranchers never
 cost the taxpayer
anything, and yet our wildlife flourished as a direct result of
these efforts.
Where ranchers develop the water, they have developed it in multiple
locations throughout an area, usually no more than five miles apart,
as opposed to the usual single guzzler wildlife organizations
establish within a large area. For ranchers this makes sense, as it
allows the use of a large portion of the range while minimizing
weight-losing travel for their animals to water.
Installing a single water source in an area with no alternatives
creates a perfect environment for predators, especially mountain
lions, to prey upon animals using this single water source.
The majority of old water developments, windmills, and "spring
boxes" were all installed by ranchers over the years. In modern
days, with reduced grazing allotments and a negative attitude
towards grazers by the federal government and state wildlife
agencies, many of the ranchers are not able to use the grazing land
and these water improvements are not being repaired or maintained
and have dried up. All over the deserts of Nevada there are dry
tanks and water troughs where once water was funneled into tanks
during spring runoff, or pumped with windmills or gas pumps. These
old wells are dry, and wildlife and wild horses are going thirsty.
When the ranchers leave, the water dries up and the wildlife either
goes elsewhere or dies.
10. What are the effects of the horse
slaughter ban on wild horses?
According to the Animal Welfare Council, "An increased supply of
low-value horses due to a processing ban will also create direct
competition with the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) National Wild
Horse and Burro Adoption Program. The BLM has been working
diligently to create a viable adoption program for BLM horses
removed from national public lands. The BLM program will be
negatively impacted by the increased competition for adoption
placement between BLM horses and unwanted horses that would have
otherwise been processed. This will increase the cost of the BLM
program if they have a larger inventory of BLM horses to maintain
due to lower adoption rates. The BLM enforces strict standards of
care for horses in their control, whereas there are few, if any,
governmental regulations in place specifically for
rescue/adoption/retirement facilities." See their Web
site for more complete information.
11. Was Dave Cattoor convicted of a felony?
Some individuals and interest groups are
attacking Cattoor Livestock Roundup and Dave Cattoor personally,
saying he has a felony conviction for capturing wild horses and
therefore should not be allowed to have a government contract. The
real story is in August of 1990, Cliff Heaverne and Dave signed a
contract with the Western Shoshone National Council to capture
horses for the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe. The Tribe claimed these
horses as Indian horses that were just running on BLM and Indian
Lands. The horses were captured on the Duckwater Reservation but
some did come from adjoining BLM land. The government declared the
horses to be free roaming wild horses and charged Cliff and Dave and
four others from the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe with count one,
conspiracy, and count two, use of aircraft to capture wild horses
and aiding and abetting. On the advice of their lawyer, Cliff and
Dave plead guilty to the count two charge. This charge was a
misdemeanor and they paid a $500 fine and were on probation for one
year. The Indians decided to go to trial and were found not guilty.
Had Cliff and Dave waited and gone to trial with the Shoshone
Indians they probably would not have been found guilty either. If
you are interested in seeing any of the documents from the courts
and the lawyers or the contract with the Shoshone Tribe, please
contact us. Click here to
read a PDF file containing a
Letter from BLM explaining the 1992 Duckwater
Indian Tribe Horse Gather
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Most
of the wild horses in the west range on land managed by the
Bureau of Land Management, (BLM.) We quote from the