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Nevada Wild Horse Advocates Challenge BLM Impound Notice, Warn of Slaughter Risk
Wild horse advocacy groups are demanding transparency from the Bureau of Land Management over a districtwide impound notice they say could allow unbranded mustangs to be reclassified as stray livestock and sold for slaughter. The dispute comes as the agency plans two more large roundups in Nevada, including 600 horses near Fallon and 1,000 in the East Pershing Complex.
RENO, Nev. â Wild horse advocacy groups are pressing the Bureau of Land Management to clarify a districtwide notice that they fear could allow free-roaming mustangs to be reclassified as stray domestic livestock and funneled into the slaughter pipeline without federal protections.
The dispute centers on a September "notice of intent to impound unauthorized livestock" issued for the BLM's Carson City district, which administers 5.3 million acres of public land in western Nevada and eastern California. The notice preceded an October helicopter roundup about 30 miles north of Reno that removed 323 horses from an area the agency calls the North Complex.
In an Oct. 16 demand letter obtained by the Sun and sent to the agency before the roundup, attorney Randall Weiner argued the notice is unlawful. He wrote that it fails to explain how the agency will distinguish domestic livestock from wild horses, conflicts with the legal definition of wild horses as "all unbranded and unclaimed horses," and improperly delegates to a state agency â the Nevada Department of Agriculture â the decision of whether a horse is wild or domestic.
"The point at which BLM decides whether a captured horse is a protected wild horse or an animal to be released to a claimant is the most consequential decision in the roundup, and it cannot be undone," Weiner wrote. "Public observation of that decision is the only check on it available before the decision becomes irreversible."
Advocates say the risk is heightened because wild horses routinely cross between public and private land. Under the notice, they argue, the BLM could quickly hand an unbranded horse to the state Agriculture Department to be claimed or sold for slaughter with little oversight.
"The BLM is making irreversible decisions about the legal status of these animals behind closed doors," said Laura Leigh, founder of the Reno-based group Wild Horse Education. "By classifying unbranded horses as 'livestock' at the trap site, out of public view, they are violating our First Amendment right to observe and to ensure these wild horses do not disappear into the slaughter pipeline before anyone can prove they are wild."
Public observation of roundups is typically permitted, but during the October gather observers were kept 5 miles from the trap site where helicopters drove horses into pens.
The impound notice remains valid for a year across the Carson City district, which also includes areas slated for two larger removals. A 600-horse roundup is set to begin Dec. 1 about 60 miles east of Fallon in the Clan Alpine Herd Management Area, and a 1,000-horse roundup is scheduled to start Jan. 5 in the East Pershing Complex south of Winnemucca and east of Lovelock.
"This isn't just an isolated issue at the North Complex; this notice is a districtwide blank check for the BLM to potentially slide wild horses out the backdoor risking the slaughter pipeline under the guise of livestock management," said Manda Kalimian of Rewilding America Now, one of three groups â along with Wild Horse Education and Montgomery Creek Preserve â that signed the demand letter threatening litigation.
The BLM did not respond to requests for comment. But in correspondence with staff for U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, a Nevada Democrat who has long championed wild horses in Congress, the agency said the impound notice is standard procedure for roundups.
In announcing the October gather's completion, the agency said the removal was necessary for animal welfare because range conditions had deteriorated and herd numbers "had grown beyond what the land could support." The BLM estimated 443 horses were living in an area it said could sustain only 101 to 157 animals, citing approaching winter, wildfire damage and ongoing drought.
"When forage and water become limited, wild horses are the first to suffer, facing preventable risks such as hunger, dehydration, exhaustion and injury as they search for resources," the agency said. "This gather was conducted to protect the animals' long-term health and restore healthier range conditions."
Advocates counter that the notice's lack of detail leaves the animals' legal status vulnerable at the moment of capture, and they are demanding full public transparency and inspection before any horse is transferred to state authorities. The demand letter signals a potential lawsuit if the agency does not revise its approach.