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ELKO — Grant Gerber will head out horseback at daylight Monday on his Grass March and will be greeted with a parade when he reaches Carlin. The parade will wind its way through town and head to the Equestrian Park, where a welcome celebration is planned.

During the festivities, Gerber will resume his march to Battle Mountain, where he plans to hand off petitions seeking the removal of Bureau of Land Management Director Doug Furtado to a Cowboy Express that will deliver the petitions, Pony Express style, to the Governor’s Mansion in Carson City. Separate rallies are being planned all along the way.

Gerber, an Elko County Commissioner and local lawyer, is staging his march to call attention to the plight of the ranching families affected by Furtado’s decision to close the Argenta Allotment to grazing this summer. Furtado cited the three-year drought when he announced the closure in February, but rains since then have caused the grasses in the allotment to flourish. The allotment has been judged by Bob Schweigert of Intermountain Range Consultants to be in good shape.