The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Carson City, Nev., District Stillwater Field Office has drafted the preliminary environmental assessment for the proposed Wassuk Wild Horse Gather and is currently seeking public comment on the gather plan.

The BLM is proposing to gather 498 wild horses and remove approximately 400 excess wild horses from the range. The gather area is located 12 miles southeast of Yerington, Nev., and west of Walker Lake. The public is invited to comment on the plan through August 25, 2012.

According to the proposal, approximately 98 wild horses would be released back onto the range following the gather depending on gather efficiency. Of these, about 39 mares would be vaccinated with PZP-22 (porcine zona pellucida) fertility control vaccine which would assist with slowing population growth, maintaining population size within the appropriate management level (AML), and extend the time before another gather to remove excess wild horses would be needed. This would leave a post-gather population of approximately 321 wild horses in the Wassuk Herd Management Area (HMA), which remains above the AML range of 110 to 165.

The BLM intends to continue with population control activities over the next 10 years by returning every two to three years to treat mares with fertility control vaccine as well as to remove excess wild horses as proposed in this environmental assessment within the Wassuk HMA area