The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Mount Lewis Field Office concluded the Fish Creek Herd Management Area (HMA) wild horse gather near Eureka, Nev., on Sept. 15, 2019. The BLM gathered 558 wild horses and removed 533 excess wild horses from public lands during gather operations that lasted from September 6-15, 2019. In addition, the BLM released back to the range, 13 studs and 7 mares; all the mares released, were treated with the fertility control vaccine PZP-22.
The purpose of the gather was to reduce overpopulation of wild horses within and outside the HMA, where there was not enough water to support the number of horses in the area, to prevent further degradation of the public lands associated with excess wild horses and restore a thriving natural ecological balance and multiple-use relationship on public lands. It was conducted in compliance with the provisions of Section 1333(b) of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. Removing excess animals will also enable significant progress toward achieving the Standards for Rangeland Health identified by the Northeastern Resource Advisory Council.
The BLM transported wild horses removed from the range to the Palomino Valley Wild Horse and Burro Center located in Reno, Nev., to be readied for the BLM’s wild horse and burro Adoption and Sale Program. Wild horses not adopted or sold will be placed in long-term pastures where they will be humanely cared for and retain their “wild" status and protection under the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act.
Additional gather information is available on the BLM website at https://go.usa.gov/xVWxC.
For more information, contact Jenny Lesieutre, BLM Nevada, wild horse and burro public affairs specialist, at (775) 861-6594 or jlesieut@blm.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management
