The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Nevada’s Sierra Front Field Office is soliciting input on the management of wild horses in the Pine Nut Mountains.

The BLM will be developing a 10-year plan to manage the Pine Nut Mountain wild horses that could include wild horse gathers, implementing population growth control measures, public education and outreach, habitat improvement/restoration, and monitoring protocols. The goal is to maintain or restore a thriving natural ecological balance of wild horses and their habitat.

Public comments will be accepted through July 6.

The Pine Nut Mountains herd management area (HMA) is located within the Pine Nut Mountains in Carson City, Douglas, and Lyon counties, Nevada. In April 2016, the BLM conducted an inventory of the Pine Nut Mountains and observed 536 wild horses; the appropriate management level for the HMA is 119 to 179 animals. Further, they observed 39% of the wild horses outside the HMA, including in urban interface areas such as Deer Run Road, Dayton, and Fish Springs. The BLM has published a final summary of current conditions for the HMA (available to view online at https://1.usa.gov/1t1Opmz) that concludes that vegetative trends and riparian functional assessments for springs demonstrate that wild horses are a causal factor in the deterioration of conditions