A wild horse roundup will proceed after the Bureau of Land Management's Black Rock Field Office issued the decision record for the final environmental assessment for the Calico Mountains Complex Wild Horse Capture Plan.
The BLM will gather and remove about 2,500 wild horses in the herd management areas north of Gerlach in Washoe and Humboldt counties, the agency said today.
Fertility control will be used to slow population growth among the 600-900 wild horses that remain to reduce the need for future gathers.
"The current wild horse population in these HMAs is more than three times
what the range can handle," said District Manager Gene Seidlitz. "We need
to gather and remove about 2,500 excess wild horses in the five HMAs to
achieve a thriving natural ecological balance on the land and address the
serious damage to the environment caused by this overpopulation. By
keeping the wild horse population within the appropriate management levels,
we can prevent further deterioration of delicate Lahontan cutthroat trout
streams, riparian zones, wildlife habitat, wilderness values and other
important resources in these HMAs."
Since the most recent gather in 2005, forage and water supplies have become
limited due to extreme drought conditions in the complex. The horses'
winter range is limited and inadequate resources exist to support the
current population. Without a gather, the horses' body conditions-which
are already compromised-could further deteriorate, resulting in a situation
later this winter that would require emergency horse removals to prevent
horse fatalities.
The five areas that comprise the Calico Mountains Complex are the Black Rock
Range East, Black Rock Range West, Calico Mountains, Granite Range, and
Warm Springs Canyon. The gather is expected to continue into late February
or early March 2010.
The BLM will use helicopters to capture the wild horses and will transport
the animals by motorized vehicles. 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 for gathering excess wild
horses from the public lands, and large scale geographic areas such as the
Calico Mountains Complex. Horses removed from the range will be offered
for adoption to qualified individuals. Unadopted horses will be placed in
long-term pastures where they will be humanely cared for and treated, and
will retain their "wild" status and protection under the 1971 law. The BLM
does not sell or send any horses to slaughter.
The gather and impacts are described and analyzed in the Calico Mountains
Complex Capture Plan Final EA. The EA and other information about the
Calico Mountains Complex gather are posted on the BLM Website at
http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/wfo.html. The BLM also will provide updates
and information at the same Web address on a regular basis throughout the
course of the gather.
