Wild horses win reprieve, but fight brews

RENO, Nev. — Hundreds of wild horses and burros slated for roundup at a national wildlife refuge along the Nevada-Oregon line will continue to roam free, at least for now, to the relief of wild horse advocates and dismay of some other environmentalists and wildlife officials.

After the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service canceled a planned gather last month under pressure from horse advocates and a House committee chairman, horse groups applauded.

But wildlife officials fear the herds will gobble up scarce resources and destroy habitat for the animals the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge was created to protect. The victory for horses endangers pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, pygmy rabbits, sage grouse, mule deer and untold species found in isolated springs, they say.

Other environmental groups, while not necessarily opposed to wild horses, argue too many will significantly degrade the delicate western Great Basin ecosystem and pillage the refuge's financial resources.

"We simply can't put the needs of horses above all other wildlife, especially when law requires these refuges be managed for specific species," said Evan Hirsche, president of the National Wildlife Refuge Association, an independent nonprofit organization that advocates for refuges.

As the dust over the proposed roundup settles, federal managers have agreed to reconsider whether horses and burros, viewed by many as romantic symbols of the American West, should have a bigger claim to the expansive high desert refuge than the stake they were given a quarter-century ago when cattle also shared the land.

"We're not saying there should never be a roundup of horses or they should let them go unchecked," Matt Rossell, outreach coordinator for the animal rights group In Defense of Animals.

"We just want to make sure the horses are gathered humanely and we really have good information on how many horses the land can sustain and that the horses are ending up in good homes."

Paul Steblein, project manager at the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge and the nearby Hart Mountain refuge, said besides the horses damaging habitat and posing a threat to motorists on a rural nearby highway, managing the animals eats up a big chunk of the refuge's funding.

"Every dollar we spend on a horse is a dollar we don't have for other priorities," Steblein said. "In general, we've spent in the last year more than half of our budget on horses and burros."