Western Watershed Project Joins Call to Postpone Wild Horse Roundup Based on Science
Western Watershed Project Joins Call for Postponement of Wild Horse Roundup
WWP joins Sierra Club, Governor Polis, Congressman Neguse, and American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) in science and legal-based calls for BLM to postpone the roundup in Sand Wash Basin.
DENVER (September 2, 2021) The Western Watershed Project, a leader in restoring and protecting watersheds, public lands, and wildlife, joined calls for the Bureau of Land Management to postpone the wild horse roundup occurring in the Sand Wash Basin based on scientific and legal grounds. Citing the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act (WFRHBA), Erik Molvar, Executive Director of WWP, stated, “The agency is unnecessarily removing wild horses from the HMA based on legally and factually inappropriate premises.”
In WWP’s letter addressed to Nada Culver, Deputy Director for Policy and Planning Bureau of Land Management, Molvar provides extensive detail regarding the legal and scientific bases for calling for the postponement of the multi-day roundup which started Wednesday. WWP strongly urges that the BLM “put the gather on hold until such time as the agency has undertaken a comprehensive re-analysis of competing land and forage resources within the Sand Wash HMA.”
Based upon the BLM's own data, the Sierra Club concurs with the WWP's conclusions. Delia Malone, Wildlife Chair of Colorado Sierra Club and professional ecologist with expertise in the Sand Wash Basin, stated today, “The only scientifically and ethically appropriate action for the BLM to take is to call off the emergency roundup, remove all domestic livestock from the HMA and, after the range has had time to recover, reassess the wild horse ‘Appropriate Management Level’.” On Monday, the Colorado Sierra Club issued its own official call for livestock to be removed from the basin to allow the basin to recover, pointing to BLM’s own data and expertise in range management.
WWP and Sierra Club join Governor Jared Polis, Congressman Joe Neguse, The American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) and thousands of advocates, conservationists, and environmentalists calling upon the Department of Interior to reassess Sand Wash Basin.
Erik Molvar, WWP, and Delia Malone of Colorado Sierra Club are available for comment and interviews.
About AWHC
The American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) is the nation's leading wild horse protection organization, with more than 700,000 supporters and followers nationwide. AWHC is dedicated to preserving the American wild horse and burros in viable, free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage. In addition to advocating for the protection and preservation of America's wild herds, AWHC implements the largest wild horse fertility control program in the world through a partnership with the State of Nevada for wild horses that live in the Virginia Range near Reno.
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