Emotions run wild at hearing concerning Red Rock plan

Rancher Bob Webb says he likes seeing wild horses as much as the next person.

But all too often, Webb said, he sees them only when he's pulling the body of a dead or injured one off the section of State Route 160 that runs in front of his family's ranch.

"I don't know how many people know what it's like to hold somebody's head after they've hit a horse on the highway. I've risked my own safety to put a horse out of its misery because it has three broken legs," he told about 100 people gathered at the West Sahara Library Monday evening.

"We're trying to make wild horses into tame horses, and it's never going to work. They migrate," Webb said.

Webb and 70 other residents testified before three Bureau of Land Management officials during a four-hour public hearing about the agency's four proposed management plans for Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

Most of the speakers talked about one portion of the BLM's preferred option that calls for moving 17 wild horses from the areas north of SR 160 to the region south of it. It also proposes removing and adopting out 15 burros from the Calico Basin area and moving about another 15 burros to the south side of the highway.

BLM officials say the horses and burros have over-grazed the areas north of the road and destroyed natural springs and riparian areas there. They say the animals' water supply has been ruined.

It is the first time BLM officials have tried to compile a long-range plan for the 9-year-old conservation area. The plan addresses many issues including closing some areas to trail users, expanding the visitors' center and adding a second paved road through the popular loop area.

But most people came Monday night to talk about wild horses and burros, and most of those people called for leaving them where they are.

In presentations that often were hostile and elicited whoops and cheers from the crowd, speakers lambasted BLM officials for what they say is a failure to properly manage the horses and burros in their care. It seems as though the BLM is bent on getting rid of the animals, some critics said.

"This is reminiscent of days gone by when Washington (D.C.) wanted the Indians and the buffalo off the land," Samantha Sheldan, a Las Vegas poet, said.

"It seems when man faces a dilemma involving wildlife, they get rid of the wildlife because it's the easiest thing to do," Peggy Hamlen, another Las Vegas resident, said.

Billie Young, of the National Wild Horse Association, said her group has collected more than 7,100 signatures from people who want the horses and burros to stay put.

"They've been here since before the Mayflower got here. It's not a matter of indigenous or not indigenous. They're here now. They're a part of our heritage," Joe-Ed Casillas, a hiker and equestrian, said.

"They are accountable to us," Casillas said, gesturing toward the three BLM officials. "And if we let them walk all over us, they're going to do it."

Those whose views deviated from saving the horses and burros at all costs were fewer. But their ranks included members of the Sierra Club and a written statement from a UNLV biology professor -- all of whom said the BLM's first priority should be preserving the land.

But if anyone in the room was more unpopular than the BLM, it was John Hiatt, of the Red Rock Audubon Society. He called for careful overall management of the whole area, not just the horses. Several members of the audience tried to boo him from the lectern before he finished talking.

"There's a lot more to Red Rock than wild horses. We have a lot of issues involved here," Hiatt said. "I've seen horses dying of thirst, and that's not a pretty sight. I think the user groups need to realize if we love Red Rock to death, we can kill it.

"Too many bikers, too many hikers, too many horses -- the health of the land is paramount here," he said.

Trail users spent part of the time trying to ban each other from using the trails and blaming each other for damage found in popular sections of the 190,000-acre area.

Hikers didn't like the private equestrians, who didn't like the commercial horseback operations. And nobody liked the mountain bikers. Part of the BLM's proposal calls for closing the mountain bike trails north of the highway and charging only the mountain bikers a $5 user fee. All others could use the trails for free.

About half a dozen riders said the fee is unfair if applied only to mountain bike riders.

"We're easy to single out," said Scott Ruthe, a Las Vegas mountain bike rider. "I can't apologize for every mountain biker who turns a corner too fast. But excluding one segment of the user group from a trail opens the door to exclude everyone."

Others pointed out that adding a paved road from Sandstone Quarry back to the visitors center to provide a shorter alternative to the 13-mile Loop Road seemed odd when the horses and burros were being removed because of damage to the core area's ecosystem.

Mike Dwyer, director of the BLM's Las Vegas District office, and Dave Wolf, the BLM's Red Rock manager, and Mark Chatterton, the district's assistant field director of nonrenewable resources, said nothing during the hearing.

During a break, they said they weren't surprised by the emotion and anger among those who spoke.

"We've certainly got a good representation of one group's interests here," Wolf said, referring to the wild horse advocates. "It's a very emotional subject, and we expected it."

"I think it's an indication as to how important Red Rock is to the residents of Las Vegas and how passionate everyone is," Dwyer said.

BLM officials will accept written comments on the management plan through Oct. 31. The original deadline was Sept. 29, but they extended it this week because of public interest.

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