Muddy Mountains HMA

During the 1900's to the 1940's, the Army Remount Service was active in a portion of the Antelope/Antelope Valley Complex. Periodically, the Army would release animals in the wild to upgrade their stock. The released stallions were mainly thoroughbreds or Morgans. A few draft blood lines were introduced to develop a hardier strain of horse to pull wagons and heavy artillery. As a result, the wild horses found in the complex are hardy and sound. They possess a variety of colors with variations from white to black, but most are sorrels and bays.  There are about 362 different species of wildlife in the Complex including mule deer, sage grouse, blue grouse, eagles, and hawks. 

Location: The Muddy Mountain Herd Management Area (HMA) is located in southern Nevada, approximately 40 miles east of Las Vegas in Clark County. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Las Vegas Field Office and the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) have joint administrative responsibilities for wild burros. 

Size: The area consists of 77,196 acres of BLM land and 1,509 acres of a mix of private and other public lands for a total of 78,705 acres.

Topography/Vegetation: This area is characterized as Mojave desert surrounded by low, rocky desert mountains. Lake Mead consists of half of its boundary. During the hot months of the year burros occupy broken areas characterized by ravines which supply shade. During the cooler season burros move away from the lake and utilize the whole HMA. Permanent water sources consist of springs and Lake Mead. The animals can travel up to ten miles and back each day for water during the drier part of the year. Burros drink water at least once each day during the hotter part of the year, but can survive by drinking every second day during the winter and early spring. Vegetation in the HMA is typical Mojave desert shrub; low growing and able to survive long periods of drought. The vegetation consists of salt-tolerant plants such as saltbush, greasewood and rabbitbrush, with grasses such as galleta grass.

AML:  50 burros