The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today released the final Environmental Assessment (EA) documenting its proposed action for managing non-native horses and burros at Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge (Sheldon) in Northwestern Nevada. Populations of non-native horses and burros on Sheldons lands exceed the refuges carrying capacity and are destroying habitat important for native fish and wildlife species. Sheldons Horse and Burro Management Program seeks to reduce destruction of important wildlife habitat by reducing horse and burro population numbers through periodic roundups and a horse and burro adoption and placement program, which would move horses and burros off refuge lands in a humane manner.
The Services proposed action includes minor refinements to the current program including modifying the corral system to reconfigure large pens to safer small pens and improve the water delivery system, testing the use of contraception to the reduce rate of horse population growth, and exploring techniques for marking animals. The modifications are expected to increase the efficiency of holding and sorting horses, and reducing risks to animals and personnel. The Services proposed action would be implemented until a Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) for the refuge is completed. Development of the CCP is scheduled to begin later this year and conclude in 2010.
The Service considered a reasonable range of alternatives in the EA for managing populations of non-native horses and burros on the Sheldon Refuge. These alternatives ranged from discontinuing the current program to using private contractors or Service employees to run the program and arrange for adoptions. The alternatives were developed based on several factors, including: past experiences of Service personnel familiar with horse and burro management on the Refuge; review of several scientific, planning, and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents developed by the Service, other agencies, and non-governmental parties; review of public comments received during the scoping period; review of information provided on horse-management related web sites; and discussions with interested, affected, and knowledgeable parties. The EA was adjusted to reflect input received from more than 770 public comments received during the 37-day comment period after release of the Draft EA.
An estimated 1,600 horses and burros currently wander freely year-round across Sheldon Refuge, which was established in the 1930s to conserve American Pronghorn antelope and other native wildlife. The combined population, which numbered fewer than 400 horses and burros in the early 1990s, is growing at an estimated annual rate of between 17 and 23 percent. The horses and burros consume forage and water, trample vegetation, compact soils, and otherwise directly and indirectly harm native fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats.
"Horses and burros have been managed on Sheldon for more than a century by ranchers and the government. But exploding populations of these non-native animals are causing immense damage to the refuges habitat and the wildlife it sustains, compromising the Fish and Wildlife Services ability to meet vital wildlife management obligations," said Ren Lohoefener, Director of the Services Pacific Region. "Our goal is to return horse and burro populations to suitable levels using humane capture methods and an effective adoption program that will find good homes for these animals."
In Sheldons high-elevation, semi-arid environments, conflicts among non-native horses and burros and native species are most severe during late summer and mid-winter and are prominent at Sheldons limited water resources and adjacent meadows, wetlands, and riparian riparian
Definition of riparian habitat or riparian areas.
Learn more about riparian zones. Monitoring information from 2002 concluded that 44 percent of all streams and 80 percent of the springs on the refuge are heavily or severely degraded by feral horses and burros. Although the Service has conducted periodic gathering of horses and burros on the refuge since 1980, efforts have not kept pace with growth in the population, exacerbating habitat damage.
The Horse and Burro Management objectives contained in the EA include:
- Maintaining a manageable horse and burro population (75-125 horses, 30-60 burros) in balance with other wildlife to assure a functioning natural landscape is available for the enjoyment of refuge visitors;
- Stopping range deterioration, improving wildlife habitat and watershed conditions, and reducing impacts on existing water resources;
- Ensuring that the refuges range provides ample forage for all wildlife populations endemic to the area, and;
- Reducing the spread of non-native horses and burros into key wildlife areas.
The Service is working cooperatively with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, private landowners, the Nevada Department of Wildlife and others with management expertise in addressing similar natural resource management challenges, as well as horse and burro management on adjacent lands.
Following the comprehensive public review and analysis, the Services proposed action was selected for implementation because it:
- Is consistent with the scientific principles of sound wildlife management and ecosystem recovery;
- Facilitates priority public uses appropriate and compatible with the Sheldon Refuge purposes and the Refuge System mission;
- Maintains and restores the ecological integrity of the habitats and populations on Sheldon Refuge;
- Addresses the important issues identified during the scoping process;
- Achieves the mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System;
- Achieves the purpose of Sheldon Refuge;
- Is consistent with previously approved management plans and associated NEPA Documents, including Refuge population objectives;
- Addresses the legal mandates of the Service and Sheldon Refuge.
Under the Services proposed action, selecting qualified contractors for gathering, transporting and managing adoption of the horses and burros would continue. The horses would be gathered using contracted horseback riders and helicopters to herd them into corrals. Burros would be baited into corrals using hay or other forage. Another contractor would screen potential adopters to ensure that good homes are selected for the horses and burros. Once the horses and burros are gathered, tested for disease, rested, and transported to the contractors facility, the contractor would provide care for them until all adoptions are completed and coordinate transportation to their adopted homes. Staff, contractors, and cooperators will continue to work carefully to minimize injury to the horses and conduct gathering operations only after the peak of foaling. The Service believes that implementation of this alternative is the best and most humane way to accomplish management objectives for horse and burro management.
The Service expects to implement the Horse and Burro Management Program beginning July 30, 2007. A copy of the Final Environmental Assessment can be obtained on the Services website: http://www.fws.gov/sheldonhartmtn/sheldon/horseburro.html. Questions can be e-mailed to sheldon-hart@fws.gov.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 547 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
