Wild horses have been plucked off Nevada ranges in the tens of thousands and now more face a massive round up.
But this time the roundup will take horses from the most accessible, and most visited herd. Many flock to the Cold Creek area to see the herd, and residents love the wild horses, but soon that may all be gone.
The picturesque community of Cold Creek has about five dozen homes, fewer than 100 full time residents, but twice as many regular visitors - hooved visitors that is. The area, north of Las Vegas, is a routine pit stop for several bands of wild horses. Residents are used to finding horses in their front yards in the late afternoons.
Some plant grass just so the horses will show up for a bite. When we recently met with residents at the fire station, many told us the horses are they reason they moved to Cold Creek.
"It's spectacular to sit out on the deck and watch the horses wander by," Rhea Little says.
"Every year one of the mares will come and bring one of the babies. It's heartwarming to know they trust us and feel safe in our yard," Wendy Kalinowski, another Cold Creek resident, says.
"Kids love them. They're down by the pond and watch them drink, wander up into the yard and keep everyone's grass trimmed nice and low," Simone Lindstrom says.
"I told my husband we need to live here. Now my children get to grow up in this environment with wildlife you'd never see in Las Vegas," Anna Wholey says.
The horses wander into Cold Creek almost daily, drawn by plentiful water that flows down from the mountains in a creek that's hidden from view. The water flows over waterfalls and into large pools where the horses pause for a drink, which is why the Bureau of Land Management has proposed yet another roundup of Wild Horses at cold creek.
"There's only so many horses that can be at any certain place at one time. There's water right now but all the horses congregate there and trample on that ground. There's only so much the range can sustain," Juan Palma, director of the BLM district, says.
Predictably, the residents are outraged. There have been two previous BLM roundups here. Once because the government said the horses were starving, another time because they were overeating the range.
The roundup proposed for January would remove three quarters of the horses that roam the area. A few years ago, BLM said the region could support 171 horses. Now it thinks the number should be around 50. The people who live out here don't buy the excuses.
The stallion herds appear healthy and so does the range. If there's a shortage of water, it's news to the residents.
"Always has a different reason, always come from a different direction. This time it's damage to the vegetation. If you want to see desolation, go down by the lakes where its just dust, all caused by ATV's. BLM should maybe be down there telling people don't do wheelies. They do far more damage than the horses," Bart Lewis says.
"We enjoy them. They don't do damage. I would like to know what happens to the horses they round up. Where does these poor horses end up? The Alpo factory or what?" Carlo Gagliardo asks.
Most of the horses end up warehoused in government corrals. Some have been sent to slaughter. A facility in Ridgecrest, Calif., has an admirable record of finding homes for horses through outreach programs. The same can't be said of the BLM in Las Vegas, which spends nearly all of its wild horse budget on roundups and very little on adoptions.
Wild Horse advocate Billie Young worked for BLM for a year.
"Nevada has the majority of the horses and yet has the lowest adoption rate, it's really unfortunate the priority is placed continuously and almost totally on gathering animals. There's little to no effort put into adoption programs," Young says.
No formal decision has been made about a roundup at Cold Creek. The BLM has yet to release its documentation, nor has it talked to any of the residents. But if past roundups are a model, public opinion won't make much of a difference. Juan Palma says the BLM is committed to protecting Nevada's horses. Critics have their doubts.
"Has the decision already been made? Oh absolutely it's already been made. They will gather down to the minimum number. Public comment will be overwhelmingly opposed to gathering these horses and there will be many alternatives offered, and again it will be, we'll gather the number we said we're gonna gather," Jerry Reynolds on, wild horse advocate, says.
The BLM will soon open up a period for public comment about the proposed Cold Creek roundup.
Jerry Reynoldson is a longtime wild horse advocate who recently founded a non-profit group Wild Horses 4Ever, which is still in the formative stages. The phone number is 702-398-7799.
Jerry is very knowledgable about wild horse issues and has offered to help anyone who is interested in adopting a wild horse, even if it means driving to the Ridgecrest facility in California.
Send feedback to Investigative Reporter George Knapp at gknapp@klastv.com
The Cold Creak area in north Las Vegas is a routine pit stop for several bands of wild horses.
