December 19, 2005

United States Department of Interior

Board of Lands Appeals

801 North Quincy Street, Suite 300

Arlington, Virginia 22203

Notice of Appeal – Dogskin Mountain Herd Management Area Plan/Capture Plan Update and EA No. NV-0303-03-0364700 – FNSI/Decision Record

The Record of Decision finds that an appropriate management level of 10 to 15 wild horses cannot meet the requirement of the Wild Horse and Burro Act without the augmentation of excess wild horses from other herd management areas.

Genetic research (Cothran and Singer, 2000;Gross 2000) indicates that an average long-term herd size of 140-150 horses appears necessary to support a minimum effective genetic population size. The augmentation of excess horses will not conserve the genetic integrity or social structure of the Dogskin Mountain Wild Horse Herd.

As a result of the December 2005 Gather, the Carson Field Office suspects that only 15 wild horses exist on the Dogskin Wild Horse Management Area. The Bureau has no knowledge of the age, sex or genetic composition of the surviving animals (John Axtel, personal communication). The Bureau of Land Management has no intention to manage for the uniqueness or genetic integrity of the Dogskin Wild Horse Herd. We find no evidence in the Wild Horse and Burro Act or federal regulations allowing for the “farming” or “mustanging” practices found in this Record of Decision.

Management activities described in the Record of Decision require intensive and elaborate actions exceeding the minimal feasible level requirements established in the Wild Horse and Burro Act. The Bureau of Land Management’s history of the Dogskin Wild Horse Herd best illustrates the present and ongoing problems preventing the Bureau of Land Management from achieving a thriving ecological balance. The appropriate management level was established 11 years ago and current wild horse numbers are estimated to be over 10 times the proper numbers necessary to protect wildlife habitats.

Board of Land Appeals

December 19, 2005

Page 2

Appropriate management levels are to be determined by the evaluation of rangeland monitoring data every five years (Burn’s Decision 1983). No new data were presented to support the 1993 AML which suggests the number is obsolete. Additional information suggests that the herd management area does not have adequate public water to support a herd. Presently, the Carson Field Office has pursued land use plan re-visions to eliminate other unsuitable wild horse herd management areas. We find the Record of Decision inconsistent with the federal regulations and land use policies.

Sincerely,

Roy Leach

Western Region

cc. Department of Interior

Regional Solicitor

2800 Cottage Way, Ste. E2725,Sacramento,CA 95825

Wayne Howle, Nevada Attorney General