BLM set to gather wild horses near Tonopah

The Battle Mountain District, Tonopah Field Office plans to gather about 120 horses from within the Reveille Allotment and Herd Management Area located approximately 50 miles east of Tonopah to remove excess wild horses in order to maintain a thriving natural ecological balance, and ensure healthy wild horses, the office announced this week.

The gather will be conducted through a Bureau of Land Management helicopter trapping contract and was scheduled to begin as early as Thursday.

Once gathered, approximately 70 of the wild horses will be removed from the area, 60 horses will be sent to holding facilities in Ridgecrest, Calif., and about 10 horses will be offered for adoption after the gather in Tonopah on Nov. 8. The remaining wild horses will be released back into the Herd Management Area for a post-gather population of 98 wild horses.

Mares selected to maintain herd characteristics and released back to the area will be treated with the fertility control agent Porcine Zona Pellucidae to slow herd growth rates and extend the time until another gather is needed.

The management of wild horses in the Reveille Allotment is subject to a 1987 District Court Order and two orders issued by the Interior Board of Land Appeals in 2001 and 2002. These orders require Bureau to conduct an annual inventory of the horses in the Reveille Allotment and initiate a gather to remove excess horses from the allotment when the inventory shows that population numbers exceed the appropriate management level of 138 horses. The current estimated population, based on previous inventory flights is 168 horses.

Gather activities within the Reveille Herd Management Area were analyzed in the 2010 Reveille HMA Wild Horse Gather Plan and Environmental Assessment, and the 2014 Reveille Wild Horse Gather Determination of NEPA Adequacy.

The EA, DNA, and Decision Record can be accessed on the Reveille Wild Horse Gather website: http://on.doi.gov/10qLBlh.

The Bureau of Land Management will post updates, photos and other information about the gather on the Reveille website and on the hotline at 775-861-6700 throughout the course of the gather. The Bureau welcomes members of the public that wish to observe the gather. Observation protocols and visitor information are available at http://on.doi.gov/1xAMeTp.

For more information about the Reveille gather, attending the gather or adopting a wild horse, contact Austin Brewer, Wild Horse and Burro Specialist, Tonopah Field Office 775-482-7832 or asbrewer@blm.gov.

For more information about the Bureau of Land Management’s wild horse and burro program, visit the National Wild Horse and Burro website at http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/whbprogram.html.