Wild horse trapping dogs planning commissioner

The trapping of wild horses in the East Valley resulted in several people turning up to oppose the appointment of the only incumbent on the Douglas County Planning Commission.

Planning Commissioner DeVere Henderson defended calling the Bureau of Land Management to set up a trap on his property, saying he had 14 horses in his yard.

“This horse issue is unrelated to county business,” he said. “It’s between me and the BLM and my right to protect my property.”

Henderson said he felt his record on the planning commission should be considered over what happened with the horse trap, but several people disagreed with him.

Pine Nut Wild Horse Advocates spokeswoman Mary Cioffi said her organization has opted to remain silent on the issue of Henderson’s reappointment.

“We chose not to be involved in politics,” she said. “We were created to work with the BLM to try and preserve the horses in this area.”

Cioffi said that until a few weeks ago, there were around 100 horses in the Fish Springs herd.

The Advocates plan was to do incremental removals on their own in order to preserve the herd’s DNA.

When it came time to pick the new planning commissioners, Henderson’s name wasn’t even raised as a possibility.

County Commissioner Wes Rice nominated Bryce Clutts and his opponent in the 2018 election Kristi Kandel.

His nomination was seconded by Larry Walsh, who was on the phone for the meeting.

Commissioner John Engels said he felt both Kandel and Clutts were biased toward real estate and Lake Tahoe issues.

He said he would have liked to have East Valley resident Nicholas Maier considered. Maier was unable to attend Tuesday’s meeting.

Kandel and Clutts will replace Henderson and retiring Planning Commission Chairwoman Jo Etta Brown, who served 12 years on the board.

County commissioners spent the day interviewing and appointing members of the boards, committees and commissions.

Also appointed on Tuesday were:

Airport Advisory Committee

Keith Richter

Alexandra Kingzette

Jon Walters

AJ Ursic

Board of Equalization

Elaine Pace

Genoa Historic Commission

Marian Vassar

Rebecca Pappenfort

Robert Centanni

Senior Services and Public Transit Advisory Council

Felix Lockwood

Bob Cook

Carole Voge

911 Surcharge Advisory Committee

Christine Mills

Larry Werner

Douglas County Parks & Recreation

Debra Lang

Gary Dove

Cherise Smith

Library Board of Trustees

Bonnie Rogers

Jill Harper

Water Conveyance Advisory

Fred Stodieck

Barbara Byington

Russell Scossa