Bureau of Land Management seeks public comment on Lake Mead Complex Wild Horse and Burro Gather Plan Environmental Assessment
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LAS VEGAS - The Bureau of Land Management Southern Nevada District announces the availability of a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) to address potential environmental consequences associated with excess wild horses and burros within the Lake Mead Complex (LMC). The preliminary 10-year Wild Horse and Burro Gather EA will be available for public review and comment for a period of 30 days from April 1 to April 30, 2021.
The gather plan would allow for an initial gather and follow-up maintenance gathers to be conducted over the next 10 years to achieve and maintain appropriate management levels. The proposed gather plan would remove excess wild horses and burros from inside and outside Gold Butte Herd Management Area (HMA), Muddy Mountains Herd Area (HA), and El Dorado Mountains HA. Collectively, these three areas are referred to here as the LMC.
The action is needed to reduce impacts to rangeland health and wildlife habitat within HMA and HA boundaries. The EA will be used to facilitate gathers, removals and fertility control of excess wild horses and burros in accordance with 43 CFR 4700 regulation and the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, as amended (Public Law 92-195). In the Gold Butte HMA, Muddy Mountains HA, and El Dorado HA, the BLM manages for zero wild horses. The Gold Butte HMA has an Appropriate Management Level (AML) range of 22-98 wild burros. The BLM manages Muddy Mountains and El Dorado HAs for zero wild burros. These values for AML were established based on monitoring data and an in-depth analysis of habitat suitability for maintaining healthy wild horses and burros on rangelands over the long-term.
The LMC is in southeastern Nevada and comprises approximately 274,000 acres of public land jointly managed by BLM and the National Park Service. Due to a lack of key forage species and the presence of the Mojave Desert tortoise, there are no grazing allotments located within the LMC.
A 30-day public comment period on the preliminary environmental assessment is set for April 1 through April 30, 2021. The public is encouraged to review the EA, located at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2001061/510, and provide substantive comments or concerns, prior to 4:30 p.m. (PDT) on April 30. The NEPA Register number is DOI-BLM-NV-S010-2020-0086-EA. All comments received will be fully considered and evaluated for preparation of the final EA.
Comments and concerns may be emailed to BLM_NV_SNDO_WHB_LMC_Gathers@blm.gov or sent in writing to the BLM Southern Nevada District Office, ATTN: Lake Mead Complex WH&B EA, 4701 N. Torrey Pines, Las Vegas, NV 89130. Hardcopies of the EA are available upon request from the BLM Southern Nevada District Office.
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment, including your personal identifying information, may be publicly available at any time. While you can ask that your personal identifying information be withheld from public review, we cannot guarantee that we 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.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.