Nevada Agriculture Department releases RFP for Virginia Range estray horses

UPDATE: After voting in December to come up with a plan, the Nevada Department of Agriculture released a request for proposals Tuesday to identify a new owner of the Virginia Range estray horses.

“The intent, as outlined by the board during their meeting and in the RFP, is to select an owner that will work to keep the horse population on the range and facilitate adoptions of any horses that need to be removed from the range,” Director Jim Barbee said.

In December the Nevada Board of Agriculture voted 8 to 1 to turn over management of the horses to a nonprofit group. The agriculture board said the decision was necessary because the state is not capable of managing the horses.

According to the RFP, potential owners must detail plans and ability in five areas: livestock management (including addressing public safety risks), fertility control, stakeholder and local government coordination, partnership development and management, and fund development.

“Our number one priority has always been the protection of public safety, which requires access to resources that we have never possessed,” Director Barbee said. “Our hope is that, under new ownership, the horses can be managed on the range according to their needs. The selected nonprofit owner will have full decision-making capacity.”

In response, the American Wild Horse Campaign (AWHC) released a statement Tuesday afternoon, noting its own research has found that no insurance carrier will provide full liability coverage for a private entity to own 3,000 free-ranging horses on 500 square miles of land.

“Not only is this RFP in conflict with Nevada law, but also it’s false as advertised,” said Deniz Bolbol, director of Field Operations for the American Wild Horse Campaign. “AWHC has confirmed that no liability insurance is available to a private entity for coverage of 3,000 privately-owned horses free roaming over 500-square miles of habitat that includes thousands of private property parcels, multiple urban areas, highways and other busy thoroughfares.”

“Therefore, only an entity that intends to remove and destroy the horses could possibly assume ownership,” Bolbol continued. “The NDA set the stage to destroy the Virginia Range horses by cancelling the community-based Cooperative Agreements for humane management. That’s unconscionable and we will not allow it to stand.”

The Virginia Range estray horse population includes all feral and estray horses roaming in the area from highway 395 to 95A and I-80 to Highway 50. The most recent census shows there were 2,951 horses counted in the Virginia Range area, according to the Department of Agriculture.

The RFP will include two question and answer periods and can be found online. The proposal submission deadline April 16, 2018.

Meanwhile, wild horse advocates are again calling for the state to put up fencing to around Highway 50 where horses have been crossing.

Recent horse-vehicle crashes have triggered discussion on the importance of keeping Virginia Range horses off highways to prevent accidents.

In January of this year, a Lyon County sheriff's deputy suffered non-life threatening injuries after his patrol vehicle hit horses east of Dayton near the intersection of Highway 50 and Enterprise Road. In October of last year, a Carson City man died on Highway 50 east of Silver Springs after hitting a horse.

“For years, our local wild horse organizations and others have requested that state and local officials prioritize fencing Highway 50, from Carson City to Silver Spring, where the Virginia Range wild horses live,” said Louise Martin, spokesperson for Wild Horse Connection. “By fencing the highway and taking other actions, the state could prevent Virginia Range horses from getting on the highway.”

Wild horse advocates will be at the capitol building in Carson City on Wednesday, noon, as part of on-going demonstrations in which they have called on the governor to re-instate the public-private cooperative agreements they say promote public safety and humane management of the Virginia Range wild horses.

Wild horse advocates have urged the state to put up fencing, including installation of cattle/horse guards, flashing crossing-lights, wildlife underpasses, etc., to prevent horses from entering roadways and neighborhoods.