The Nevada Senate unanimously approved Senate Joint Resolution 5 to prohibit expansion of wild horses and burro herd management areas within the state and "the creation of any wild horse and burro preserves on public lands in Nevada".
But the House of Representatives did not act on the measure in time, and the bill died. The Nevada legislature does not meet again until 2013.
SJR 5 would have expressed the legislature’s opposition to "any amendments to the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1331 et seq., that would…..allow any growth of wild horse and burro herds in Nevada, allow the expansion of wild horse and burro herd management areas in Nevada, allow the creation of wild horse and burro preserves on public lands in Nevada or in any other way negatively impact Nevada".
The proposed resolution would have called on Congress "to take steps necessary to ensure that the Secretary of the Interior [Ken Salazar] complies with existing laws and regulations relating to wild horses and burros; and …manage[s] the rangelands in Nevada in a manner which ensures the increased health and availability of those rangelands for multiple uses".
SJR 5 was tantamount to an endorsement to continued roundups of wild horses and burros from public lands where they are supposed to be able to roam free from "harassment", "capture" or "death", as "components" of the public lands, to be managed at the "minimal feasible level". Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act, 16 U.S.C. Sec. 1331 et seq.
The resolution would not have been binding on Congress or the U.S. Dept. of Interior, but it would have sent a strong message that could impede efforts to return wild horses and burros to public lands from which they were removed and placed in holding facilities.
For more on the plight of the wild horses and burros….. And, for more on the law that is supposed to save these icons of the American west….
Laura, I think you posted somewhere that emails to government officials in Nevada are considered ‘personal mail’ and can be deleted by them and disregarded. If you did not say this or were referring to another state, please disregard this note.
Thank you for all you do to keep America posted on laws and activities affecting our wild horses and burros on public lands.