I am writing to respectfully, but firmly, request a scheduled public tour of the Winnemucca Off-Range Wild Horse and Burro Corrals in Paradise Valley, Nevada, in the near term, with access sufficient to meaningfully assess the condition and care of recently captured horses and garner interest in adoptions.
Winnemucca is a privately contracted, approximately 100‑acre off-range holding facility approved to house up to 4,000 wild horses and burros. Public access has remained extremely limited despite the facility’s central role in warehousing large numbers of Nevada’s wild horses. In fact, only one public visitation day has ever been scheduled.
Following the recent Snowstorm/Little Humbolt roundup and related operations, newly captured wild horses have been shipped (many directly from the range) to Winnemucca. Members of the public are deeply concerned about the welfare of these animals and many have expressed interest in adoptions.
Given the substantial number of federally protected wild horses now held at Winnemucca, as well as the facility’s use of public funds and its importance to BLM’s overall Wild Horse and Burro Program, regular and timely public access is both reasonable and necessary.
Transparency at off-range facilities is essential to maintaining public trust and to verifying compliance with BLM’s own humane handling and care standards.
Accordingly, we request that BLM:
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Schedule a public tour of the Winnemucca Off-Range Corrals within the next 30 days, with sufficient advance notice for stakeholders and interested members of the public to attend.
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Ensure that the tour includes opportunities to view: pens housing recently captured horses from current and recent roundups; sick and special-care pens, foals and mare–foal pairs; and pens with horses that are, or could reasonably be, adoption-eligible.
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Provide, in advance of the tour, a current facility inventory and recent mortality and veterinary reports for Winnemucca so that participants can understand what they are seeing on the ground in the context of recent operations.
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Establish a regular schedule of public viewing opportunities at Winnemucca (for example, monthly or quarterly), rather than limiting access to rare, one-off tours.
We appreciate that off-range operations can be complex and that safety and biosecurity must be taken into account. At the same time, the current level of opacity surrounding privately contracted off-range facilities, including Winnemucca, is not consistent with the public’s interest. A predictable, recurring schedule of tours with meaningful access would go a long way toward addressing public concern and demonstrating BLM’s commitment to transparency and humane care.
Please confirm in writing that BLM will schedule a tour within the requested timeframe, and provide proposed dates and any procedural requirements for attendance. If another official must coordinate the logistics, we respectfully request that you forward this letter to that person and copy us on the communication.
Thank you for your attention to this request and for your service in managing the Wild Horse and Burro Program. We look forward to your prompt response and to working with you to ensure that wild horses and burros held at Winnemucca are managed with transparency and in accordance with humane standards.
Sincerely,