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ELY, Nev. – The Bureau of Land Management is seeking public review and comment on a plan to gather wild horses for up to ten years in the Seaman and White River Herd Areas, which are located southwest of Ely, Nevada, in Lincoln and Nye counties. 

The Wild Horse Gather Plan Preliminary Environmental Assessment is being conducted by the BLM Ely District’s Bristlecone and Caliente Field Offices, and Basin and Range National Monument and will be available for public review and comment for 30 days. The 30-day public comment period concludes Monday, Jan. 22, 2018.

The BLM is proposing to gather and remove all excess wild horses in and outside herd area boundaries. The Proposed Action is needed to improve watershed health and make significant progress towards achieving range health standards recommended by the BLM’s Mojave / Southern Great Basin Resource Advisory Council. The proposed gather plan would allow for an initial gather with follow-up gathers for up to 10 years from the date of the initial gather. The plan calls for transporting gathered horses to holding facilities where they would be offered for adoption.

The BLM manages wild horse populations in designated areas of public lands where they were found in 1971 and which have enough available food and water to ensure healthy horses thrive on healthy rangelands in the long-term in balance with other legal uses of the land. The Seaman and White River Herd Areas are not designated for wild horses due to insufficient forage and water resources available within the HAs to maintain healthy wild horses and rangelands over the long-term.  The BLM’s decision to not manage for wild horses within the Seaman and White River HAs is based on analysis in the November 2007 Ely Proposed Resource Management Plan, Final Environmental Impact Statement.  As of March 2017, the estimated wild horse population is 365, which includes foals.

The Preliminary Environmental Assessment for the Seaman and White River Herd Areas Wild Horse Gather will be available online for a 30-day review period beginning on Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2017 at https://go.usa.gov/xnUwF.

Hardcopies of these documents are available upon request from the Ely District. Substantive comment submission will be accepted until 4:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on Monday, Jan. 22, 2018. All comments received during the public comment period will be fully considered and evaluated for preparation of the Final PEA. Questions and written comments should be directed to:

Bureau of Land Management Ely District Office

Attention: Ruth Thompson, Wild Horse and Burro Specialist

702 N. Industrial Way, Ely, NV 89301

Comments can also be submitted electronically at blm_nv_eydo_seaman_white_river_ea@blm.gov.  Email messages should include “Seaman-White River Herd Areas Wild Horse Gather” in the subject line.

Commenters should be aware before including their address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in their comment, that their entire comment – including identifying information – may be made available to the public.  Although people can ask the BLM in their comment to withhold personal identifying information from public review, the BLM cannot guarantee that it will be able to do so.  Anonymity is not allowed for submissions from organizations or businesses and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or businesses.