BLM NEWS RELEASE
Based upon data from an aerial population survey conducted in June 2010, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) have determined approximately 3,057 wild horses remain on the BLM-managed public lands in northwest Nevada, northeast California and south central Oregon and approximately 1,258 feral horses and burros remain on FWS-managed lands within the Sheldon-Hart Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex.
The population survey methodology was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) with the assistance of BLM wild horse specialists. The methodology incorporates peer-reviewed techniques that have been used for decades to estimate wildlife populations around the world.
The final report, which contains specific population counts for each surveyed area, is available on the web at: http://www.blm.gov/nv/. Associated news releases and documents available also include the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the BLM and FWS, which will further improve management of wild horses and burros on BLM and FWS-managed lands within this region.
In early September, the BLM and FWS signed an agreement designed to better coordinate the management of wild horses in a region covering northwest Nevada, northeast California and south-central Oregon. The agreement calls for BLM offices in the three states and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to improve how they count the animals and to share the information. However, the recent feral horse gather on the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge was conducted exclusively by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
