BLM Ely District to Roundup Wild Horses

PM WY BLM Corral small

From a BLM press release:

ELY, Nv (October 17, 2014) – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Ely District is scheduled in early November 2014 to begin gathering and removing approximately 120 excess wild horses from in and around the Triple B and Silver King Herd Management Areas (HMAs) in eastern Nevada. Details will be posted on the district website at http://on.doi.gov/1lGnDYC as they become available. The helicopter gathers are necessary to prevent further damage to private property and provide for public and animal safety.

The District will remove about 70 excess wild horses from the Triple B HMA, located about 30 miles northwest of Ely, that are damaging private property, and harassing and breeding domestic stock resulting in landowner complaints. Appropriate Management Level (AML) for the Triple B HMA is 215-250 wild horses. The current population is 1,311 wild horses.

The District will remove up to 50 excess wild horses from in and around the Silver King HMA. The horses to be gathered are located about 120 miles south of Ely. They are a safety concern on U.S. Highway 93 and are damaging private property, resulting in property owner complaints. AML for the Silver King HMA is 60-128 wild horses. The current population is 452 wild horses.

BLM attempts to keep wild horses away from private property and the highway, including trapping and relocating animals to other portions of the HMAs, have been unsuccessful.

The BLM will utilize the services of gather contractor Cattoor Livestock Roundup, Inc., of Nephi, Utah, which uses a helicopter to locate and herd wild horses toward a set of corrals to be gathered. The pilot is assisted by a ground crew and a domesticated horse that is trained to guide the horses into the corral. The use of helicopters, which is authorized by the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, has proven to be a safe, effective and practical means by which to gather excess wild horses with minimal anxiety or hardship on the animals.

Wild horses removed from the range will be transported to the National Wild Horse and Burro Center at Palomino Valley (PVC), in Reno, Nev., where they will be offered for adoption to qualified individuals. Wild horses for which there is no adoption demand will be placed in long-term pastures where they will be humanely cared for and retain their “wild” status and protection under the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. The BLM does not sell or send any horses to slaughter.

A Wild Horse Gather Information Line has been established at (775) 861-6700. A recorded message will provide information on daily gather activities and schedules. The BLM will also post daily gather information on its website at: http://on.doi.gov/1lGnDYC.

Public lands within the HMAs will be open to the public during gather operations, subject to necessary safety restrictions, and the BLM will make every effort to allow for public viewing opportunities. The BLM has established protocols for visitors to ensure the safety of the horses, the public, and BLM and contract staff. The protocols are available at: http://on.doi.gov/1lGnDYC under Observation Opportunities.

Gather activities in and outside the Triple B HMA were analyzed in the Triple B, Maverick-Medicine and Antelope Valley HMA Gather Plan and Environmental Assessment (EA), signed in May 2011 and available at http://on.doi.gov/1tgdHc6. Gather activities in and around the Silver King HMA were analyzed in the Ely District Public Safety and Nuisance Gather EA signed in August 2014 and available at http://on.doi.gov/1lx856K.

For more information, contact Chris Hanefeld, BLM Ely District public affairs specialist, at (775) 289-1842 or chanefel@blm.gov

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. The BLM’s mission is to manage and conserve the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations under our mandate of multiple-use and sustained yield. In Fiscal Year 2013, the BLM generated $4.7 billion in receipts from public lands.

–BLM–

14 thoughts on “BLM Ely District to Roundup Wild Horses

  1. These round ups are simply not necessary and crazy. Please stop them. These horses should be free and your organization was supposed to be protecting them and not destroying them.

  2. These are not excess horses they belong to we the people – leave them where they belong on our public lands !

  3. The wild horses were supposed to have been protected and preserved but this is just another excuse to wipe them out. They were there first so people can fence them out. I bet few if any have complained.

  4. you need to protect our wildlife and that includes wild horses they are a national treasure and once they are gone they’ll be gone forever we need to preserve

  5. Haven’t you done enough damage and torture to these wild wonderful horses? When is enough enough? Why do you continue to be the BIG BULLY on the block and take these horse off their rightful use of the land? I don’t want my taxpaying dollar to support horse pens all around this nation where the mistreatment and abuse of these beautiful animals continue on a daily basis…..PLEASE, PLEASE you unimaginable bullies STOP ALREADY!

  6. What a crock! Notice BLM doesn’t publish the expense report on cost of gathers and then “maintaining” these horses in their “free state”…public safety? ONE motorcyclist hits a horse…and really? how does one not see a horse…..ohhhhhhh, that’s right, speed limit is like SEVENTY FIVE mph in most of NV!!!!

  7. I feel betrayed by the BLM, by the US Government and every single politician. The silence on this issue from Washington is deafening. It is an atrocity and will go down in history as an atrocity. It is my hope that all involved in the destruction of our wild horses and other wild life will be despised for generation to come for the blatant mismanagement of our public lands and purposeful abuse of these wonderful creatures.

  8. This is the Salazar Plan in action….. No wild horses in the wild by the end of 2014. Of course the BLM couldn’t even get that right. So now they are shooting for 2015. We cannot give up!

  9. This is mismanagement and cruelty. Take public input and work together to solve problems. The laws need to change. Why don’t the private land holders put up fences on their property and leave the wild horses on their own land? It is proven the horses do not degrade the land. Private landholders do not have all rights to public land and animals on public land. Where is the science proving this amount of horses needs to be removed and why doesn’t the blm allow input and have public meetings?

  10. This is cruelty. Where is the science showing too many horses for the land they have set aside? Can a comprise be reached and public input allowed and public meetings to find a solution? The horses so not degrade the land.

  11. BLM – How many Wild Mustangs and Wild Burros do you have in holding pens? 40K right?!?!
    EVERYDAY IS HELL IN A HOLDING PEN FOR A WILD HORSE. Your DIRTY SECRETS are sick and we the public are watching. STOP ROUNDING UP WILD MUSTANGS AND BURROS IN ELY NEVADA AND ANYWHERE ELSE. Your NUMBERS ARE WRONG. Instead of rounding up more – SPEND THE MONEY BUILDING SHELTERS FOR THE HORSES IN THE HOLDING PENS INSTEAD OF SPENDING MONEY ROUNDING UP MORE. FOLLOW YOUR REQUIREMENTS FOR ADOPTERS TO PROVIDE SHELTER . HOW CAN YOU MAKE RULES THEN BREAK THE RULES YOU MADE. HARD TO UNDERSTAND. WHO DOES THAT? ONLY THE BLM.
    STOP ROUNDUPS OF MUSTANGS.
    ROUND UP THE BLM.

  12. Stop these roundups!!! there is no reason other than catering to the Ranchers and their cattle! too many cattle and they need to be removed first not the Wild Horses! Get it right BLM!!

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