Battle Mountain District Office
| Contacts: | Shawna Richardson | , 775-635-4181 |
BLM Completes Diamond Complex Wild Horse Gather; Overwinters Some Horses Due to Drought Conditions
Battle Mountain, Nev. – The Bureau of Land Management concluded its Diamond Complex Wild Horse Gather on February 6. A total of 792 horses were gathered from the three Herd Management Areas that make up the complex: Diamond, Diamond Hills North and Diamond Hills South HMAs – all located in northern Nevada.
During the gather, conditions escalated. Wild horses gathered from the Diamond HMA, managed by the BLM Battle Mountain District, exhibited poor body condition as a result of reduced forage conditions due to the severe drought last year as well as stress from recent snow storms. This made forage very limited particularly in the lower elevations. In order to provide immediate protect of the wild horses and the resource, the BLM made the determination during the gather that additional wild horses needed to be removed from the Diamond HMA. This has meant that the planned 147 horse-removal from the Diamonds HMA was increased to 312.
The current population of the Diamond HMA is estimated to be 78 wild horses. Field observations indicate that the horses left on the range are in decent body condition and in areas with available forage.
In the spring, the BLM will conduct a census to determine the post winter population of the HMA. Should there be fewer horses than the low range of AML of 91 horses, the BLM will return Diamond HMA horses to the range until low range of AML is met. A group of the Diamond horses will be kept and cared for near Carson City to return to the HMA if necessary.
“These actions will ensure that the Diamond HMA will achieve and maintain a thriving natural ecological balance and a healthy, viable wild horse population,” said Doug Furtado, Battle Mountain District Manager. “We have been monitoring the Diamond HMA, anticipating that conditions could deteriorate. The series of snow storms that occurred earlier in the year forced wild horses off the mountain into lower areas that lacked forage. Unfortunately, based on the overall poor body condition and lack of forage, and understanding that more than six weeks of winter remains, we decided to remove horses that were struggling or suffering. We did the right thing for the well-being of the horses.”
To adopt a wild horse from Nevada, call the Palomino Valley National Adoption Center near Reno at (775) 475-2222. Applications are available online: www.blm.gov.
The Diamond Complex is located north of Eureka, Nev., within Eureka, Elko and White Pine counties. The gather was conducted across three different districts: the gather will began in the Ely District, then moved to the Elko District and finished in the Battle Mountain District.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.