Advocates fear horse deaths will continue

Wild horse advocates are afraid that other horses will succumb to traffic if a fence isn’t built to keep them away from the roads.

Bently and Parker were struck by a pickup traveling on East Valley Road late on Dec. 20.

Pine Nut Wild Horse Advocates Vice President Deniz Bobol said they’ve been trying to get the Bureau of Land Management to work on a fence for years.

“This tragedy was caused by the BLM's refusal to work with the local community to construct a fence to keep wild horses on the range and away from roadways,” she said. “For more than six years, PNWHA has begged the BLM to work with us to create a fence line along the western and portions of the southern boundaries of the BLM Buckeye allotment (east of East Valley Road) — where the Fish Springs horses live. Instead of working with us, BLM has set up our beloved horses for failure.”

Bobol said the Bently Ranch, which is the main holder of grazing rights in the Pine Nuts, is in favor of installing a fence.

“The BLM should work with the community on this needed fence and not set up our beloved wild horses for failure,” she said.

The advocates have been trying to obtain water farther back in the mountains to keep the horses out of the neighborhoods.

Bobol said they’ve been trying to arrange a meeting with BLM officials, but that hasn’t occurred.

Last week, the bureau announced that one of those officials, acting Carson City District Manager Ken Collum was named to the position.

Collum previously served as the Stillwater Field Manager for the Carson City BLM District. Prior to this, Collum was in the role of the Field Manager for the Eagle Lake Field Office in Susanville, California, part of the Northern California District, overseeing more than 1 million acres of public lands in northeastern California and northwestern Nevada.