New Adoption Facility Under Construction at BLM Litchfield Corrals

Wild horse and burro adopters and purchasers in northern California will benefit from increased convenience and comfort in the coming months, when a new adoption center and office opens at the Bureau of Land Management Litchfield Wild Horse and Burro Corral near Susanville, Calif.

While observing necessary precautions to prevent COVID-19 spread, a contract construction crew is continuing to work on the new facility.  The modular building was set in place during the week of April 6, and builders are now installing doors, windows and interior features. The BLM will later announce an opening date.

“The new building will have a public area where wild horse adopters and purchasers can get information and complete their transactions in comfort,” said BLM Northern California District Manager Alan Bittner.  “It will also provide private workspace for our staff and have security features consistent with our current standards.”

The new adoption center will replace a repurposed modular building that has been in use since the 1990s and has reached the end of its useful life. 

The Litchfield Corral is an important component of the BLM’s network of facilities for placing horses and burros into private care after they are removed from the range to manage populations.  It hosts on-site adoptions and sales, supports an inmate horse training and adoption program in the Sacramento area, and conducts satellite adoption and sales events across northern and central California.  It also supports the BLM’s internet adoption program and placement of horses in the Trainer Incentive Program, a Mustang Heritage Foundation program for placing halter-trained horses into good homes.

Consisting of interconnected pens ranging from two-and-a-half to five acres, the facility can accommodate up to 1,000 animals.  It includes working chutes and pens where animals receive identifying freeze marks and microchips along with vaccinations and medical care.  There are also segregated areas where sick animals can be isolated from the corral population.

When coronavirus preventative “shelter in place” orders are ended, the facility will again be open to the public during regular business hours, five days a week, excluding federal holidays.

More information on the BLM Wild Horse and Burro management program is available by visiting www.blm.gov/programs/wild-horse-and-burro.

Contact:  Jeff Fontana, 530-260-0189, jfontana@blm.gov