ELY – The Bureau of Land Management Ely District, Caliente Field Office concluded the Silver King Herd Management Area (HMA) wild horse gather on Feb. 16. The BLM gathered 284 excess wild horses and removed 256 excess horses from public and private lands in and outside the HMA located in Lincoln County, Nevada. The BLM is treating 25 mares with the fertility control vaccine GonaCon-Equine and will release them back into the HMA.
The Caliente and Cedar City field offices concluded the Eagle Complex wild horse gather on also on Feb. 16. The BLM gathered 1,074 excess wild horses from in and around the Chokecherry, Eagle, and Mt. Elinore Herd Management Areas (HMAs) located in Lincoln County, Nevada, and Beaver and Iron counties, Utah. The BLM treated 50 mares with the fertility control vaccine GonaCon-Equine and released them back into the Eagle HMA.
The purpose of the gathers was to prevent undue or unnecessary degradation of the public lands associated with excess wild horses, and to restore a thriving natural ecological balance and multiple-use relationship on public lands, consistent with the provisions of Section 1333(b) of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. Removing excess animals would also enable significant progress toward achieving the Standards for Rangeland Health identified by the Mojave-Southern Great Basin Resource Advisory Council.
The BLM transported wild horses removed from the ranges to the Palomino Valley Wild Horse and Burro Center in Reno, Nev. and the Sutherland Off-Range Corral in Sutherland, Utah 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/xAtAF.