BLM Seeks Comments on Proposed Wild Horse Gather

The BLM is seeking comments on a proposed wild horse gather in the Fish Creek herd management area, in Nevada.
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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Nevada’s Battle Mountain District, Mount Lewis Field Office is seeking comments on the environmental assessment (EA) analyzing the potential impacts of a proposed wild horse gather in the Fish Creek herd management area (HMA), located south of Eureka, Nevada. The public comment period ends Jan. 23, 2015.

The proposed action includes gathering approximately 500 wild horses, vaccinating approximately 125 to 150 mares with the fertility control drug porcine zona pellucida (PZP), and returning about 300 mares and studs to the HMA. Approximately 200 excess wild horses, primarily three years of age or younger, would be transported to BLM facilities and prepared for adoption to the public.

The gather is designed to implement a long-term plan for controlling population growth rates of the wild horses by vaccinating a large portion of the gathered mares with fertility control vaccine and releasing them back to the HMA. The initial phase of the plan would use a helicopter to gather horses within the project area. Future phases could include darting to booster treat the mares and bait and water trapping to capture wild horses for future fertility control treatment.

The goal is to achieve the appropriate management level of 101 to 170 wild horses, while reducing the numbers of wild horses that would have to be gathered or removed in the future. The current estimated population is 549 wild horses, and the area has been experiencing severe drought since 2012, making forage and water limited for the large population

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