New Deadline is October 9, 2007
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today it is extending the comment deadline for its revised draft Environmental Assessment for managing non-native horses and burros at Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge in Northwestern Nevada to October 9, 2007. The comment period had been scheduled to end today.
In late June 2007, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a final Environmental Assessment (EA) and draft Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) addressing management of horses and burros at SNWR. The next gather of these animals had been scheduled to occur in early August 2007. In mid-July, the Service received additional comments on the EA and FONSI and in late-July, new information became available, prompting the Service to cancel its scheduled gather and to develop a modified proposed management program and revised EA.The EA has been modified to include the following:
- A new Proposed Action: The addition of Alternative B-2, -Modified Status Quo - Proposed Action (Ongoing Program Management on an Interim and More-Limited Basis), - would manage horses and burros until completion of the Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP), currently scheduled for 2010.
- Continued evaluation and, if appropriate, use of contraceptive and marking techniques.
- Results of recent aerial survey of the Refuges horse populations on Sheldon, which revealed considerably lower numbers than last years count (800 individuals in July 2007 versus 1,200 in July 2006). This change may be due in part to sampling variation, however the Service believes that fence repairs on the southern fence border of the Refuge resulted in a number of horses remaining on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands after wintering there. Horses on BLM lands are managed under the Wild Horse and Burro Act.
- Additional data from Sheldon records and reports regarding numbers of horses and burros, and documenting their damage to Refuge wildlife and habitats (including recent survey of springs).
The Services proposed action seeks to continue horse and burro gathers and adoptions due to concerns that additional population growth would increase animal/human health and safety problems and increase damage to valuable and sensitive Refuge habitats and cultural resources.
Sheldon Refuge was established in the 1930s to conserve American pronghorn antelope and other native wildlife, fish and plants and their habitats in the sagebrush sagebrush
The western United States’ sagebrush country encompasses over 175 million acres of public and private lands. The sagebrush landscape provides many benefits to our rural economies and communities, and it serves as crucial habitat for a diversity of wildlife, including the iconic greater sage-grouse and over 350 other species.
Learn more about sagebrush steppe ecosystem. At present, an estimated 800 horses and 90 burros wander freely year-round across the Refuge. The combined population of horses and burros is growing at an estimated annual rate of between 17 and 23 percent. They consume forage and water, trample vegetation, compact soils and otherwise directly and indirectly harm native fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats and the Refuges cultural resources.
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. Although the Service has conducted periodic gathering of horses and burros on the refuge since the 1980 Renewable Natural Resources Management Plan and Final Environmental Impact Statement, efforts have not kept pace with growth in the populations, exacerbating habitat damage.
The purpose of this revised Draft EA is to describe and evaluate a range of reasonable alternatives to prevent an increase in damage to valuable and sensitive Refuge habitats, including riparian areas and areas which have experienced recent wildfires, prevent an increase in collisions with vehicles on Highway 140, and conduct gathers and adoptions in a humane manner. The alternatives, in summary, are as follows.
- Alternative A (No Action): The Refuge would discontinue the ongoing program of horse and burro population management. Under this alternative, there would not be any horse and burro gathers, care or management efforts, or adoption program. Horse and burro populations would be allowed to grow, checked only by disease, predation, weather, forage, other natural forces and vehicle collisions.
- Alternative B-1: Status Quo (Ongoing Program Management). Under this alternative, current standard procedures would continue for managing horses and burros to bring their numbers in line with official Refuge program objectives. Refuge objectives established in 1977 and 1980 are to maintain populations of 75-125 horses and 30-60 burros. Therefore, the Service would attempt to remove as many horses and burros as quickly as possible (several hundred per year) to bring numbers in line with objectives. Horses and burros would be gathered using helicopter/horseback riders, horseback riders alone, and baited traps (corrals). All animals would be processed with expert staff and a veterinarian. Horses and burros would be placed in good homes through adoption agents. Contraception and marking techniques would be reviewed and used if feasible. Treated animals would be returned to the Refuge.
- Alternative B-2: Modified Status Quo - Proposed Action (Ongoing Program Management on an Interim and More-Limited Basis). Under this alternative, most current standard procedures for managing horses and burros would continue, but on a more-limited basis, until completion of the Refuge CCP (currently scheduled for 2010). On an annual basis, the Service would gather and adopt out a limited number of horses and burros, approximately equal to the annual increase in the Refuges populations. Horse gathers would occur through use of helicopters assisted by horseback wranglers and through the use of horseback wranglers alone. Burros would be gathered through use of baited traps (corrals). All animals would be processed with expert staff and a veterinarian. Horses and burros would be placed in good homes through adoption agents. Contraception and marking techniques would be reviewed and used if feasible. Treated animals would be returned to the Refuge.
- Alternative C: Adoption Directly from Refuge. Under this alternative, Refuge staff would facilitate horse care and adoptions instead of the current practice of contracting the service through adoption agents. Refuge objectives and all other aspects of the horse and burro management program would be the same as Alternative B-1 or B-2.
- Alternative D: Conduct Horse Gathers by Horseback Techniques Only. Under this alternative, horses and burros would be gathered solely through the use of horseback riders. Helicopters would not be used. Burros would still be gathered with baited traps (corrals). Refuge objectives and all other aspects of the horse and burro management program would be the same as Alternative B-1 or B-2.
Persons seeking more detailed information can obtain a copy of the revised draft EA at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services website: http://www.fws.gov/sheldonhartmtn/horseburro.html. The EA is now available for public review and comment for a two-week period, with a two-week extension. Comments from the public must be received by October 9, 2007. Written comments can be e-mailed to sheldon-hart@fws.gov or mailed to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 111, Lakeview, OR 97630. Questions should 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 97-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 548 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.
