BLM NEWS RELEASE
CARSON CITY — The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Carson City District has scheduled two consecutive wild horse gathers in western Nevada, with the first to begin on Monday Jan. 16, 2012. Both gathers are scheduled for completion by Jan. 31. The two gathers include the following:
The Flanigan, Dogskin Mountain, and Granite Peak Wild Horse Gather is scheduled to begin on Jan. 16. The BLM will remove approximately 283 excess wild horses and treat and release approximately 22-36 mares from the Flanigan Herd Management Area (HMA) with PZP, a fertility control vaccine. These three HMAs are located about 30 miles northeast of Reno, Nev. in Washoe County. The gather is expected to be completed in approximately five days.
The Garfield Flat Wild Horse Gather will start on or around Jan. 22. The BLM will remove approximately 157 wild horses and treat and release about 26-33 mares with PZP. The Garfield Flat HMA is located roughly 12 miles southeast of Hawthorne, Nev. The gather is expected to be completed in about nine days.
The purpose of these gathers is to reduce the herd population sizes to within the appropriate management levels (AML) and to implement population growth controls to achieve or maintain a thriving natural ecological balance on the public lands.
Public lands will remain open during gather operations, subject to necessary safety restrictions. The public is welcome to attend the gathers and are encouraged to RSVP their attendance at (775) 885-6000 Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. A Wild Horse Gather Information Line has been set up at 775-885-6101 where the public can listen to a recorded message with information on daily gather activities and updated gather schedules. The BLM will regularly post gather information on its website at: /www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/carson_city_field.html under “Wild Horse Gathers.”
Excess wild horses are scheduled to be transported to the Palomino Valley Wild Horse Adoption Center, located about 20 miles north of Sparks, Nevada. Gathered wild horses will be prepared for adoption under the BLM’s adoption program. Wild horses for which there is no adoption demand will be placed in long-term pastures where they will be humanely cared for and retain their “wild” status and protection under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 (WFRHBA). The BLM does not sell or send any horses to slaughter.
The BLM works closely with the Nevada Department of Agriculture’s (NDOA) Brands Division during wild horse removals across the State. NDOA Brand Inspectors must verify the animals are excess wild horses and burros as defined by the WFRHBA. Once verified, the Brand Inspector will provide the BLM a certificate to transport the animals. Without this cooperation and coordination, the BLM would not be able to remove the excess wild horses and burros which, if not removed in a timely manner, would result in degradation of our native rangelands. The NDOA also may take jurisdiction of any estray, branded or abandoned domestic horse(s) under the State of Nevada estray laws.
For more information, contact Heather Emmons, BLM Public Affairs Officer, at (775) 861-6594 or Lisa Ross at (775) 885-6000.
