Jackson Mountains Wild Horse Gather

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORBUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
Nevada

Winnemucca District/Black Rock Field Office

Jackson Mountains Wild Horse Gather

Gathering wild horses ended on Thursday, July 5.

Final shipping of captured wild horses was on Saturday, July 7.

^{Jackson Mountain horses drinking water}

The Jackson Mountains Herd Management Area is located approximately 60 miles west of Winnemucca, Nevada. The area is bordered on the west by the Black Rock Desert, on the east by Desert Valley.

Continuing drought conditions, coupled with excess wild horse populations in and around the Jackson Mountains HMA, are resulting in increasing risk to the wild horse population and range health.

The situation is escalating and the BLM has determined that 630 wild horses need to be removed in order to be in compliance with the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971.

A population survey conducted in early April revealed 740 adult wild horses in the Jackson Mountains HMA gather area; with the expected 2012 foal crop this equates to approximately 930 horses.

The initial Proposed Action released to the public in the preliminary EA was to conduct an initial gather in the summer of 2012. The action also contained a gelding component.

Due to escalating conditions leading to an emergency situation since the release of the preliminary EA, the Proposed Action has been modified to conduct an emergency gather in early June, with an option to delay the initial gather to the original start date. The proposed action was also modified by removing the gelding component.

After the initial gather, whether in June or on or after July 1, the Modified Proposed Action would implement a long term management strategy designed to address large scale wild horse gathers while still achieving BLM’s management goals of attaining AML, reducing population growth rates, and obtaining a thriving natural ecological balance on the range as identified within the WFRHBA and the Director’s Strategy.

Under the Modified Proposed Action, the BLM would gather and remove approximately 75% of the existing wild horses (approximately 630 excess animals) in the initial 2012 gather. Since the first phase of the Modified Proposed Action would only allow for the removal of approximately 630 excess wild horses and would not achieve the desired low AML, two to three follow-up gathers over a period of ten years is proposed.

For general information about the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program, please visit the BLM’s website.