Wild horses captured during the fall 2016 Bureau of Land Management roundup in Nevada’s Owyhee Complex. File photo by Steve Paige for RTF.
The Bureau of Land Management on Saturday captured 37 wild horses on the final day of its helicopter roundup at the Fox and Lake Range Herd Management Area in Nevada.
BLM reported no injuries among the 24 studs, 11 mares and two foals captured. A total of 189 wild horses were captured at Fox and Lake Range beginning on Wednesday: 76 studs, 78 mares and 35 foals.
BLM set out to remove 200 wild horses from the herd management area south of Gerlach, Nevada.
The Tohakum 2 wildfire burned about 27,000 acres of the 177,724-acre HMA before being brought under control in September. According to BLM, a number of wild horses have remained in the burned area, which contains two water sources.
Their grazing would “hinder the success of fire rehabilitation efforts” and encourage the spread of invasive weeds, according to BLM.
The HMA’s wild horse population was estimated at 530 wild horses in March, before the foaling season. The agency’s “appropriate management level” for the HMA is 122-204 wild horses.
BLM permits livestock grazing on two allotments on the HMA. The combined permitted use is 5,796 animal unit months (an AUM is defined as the amount of forage needed to sustain one cow and her calf, one horse, or five sheep or goats for a month) on the two allotments, though ranchers with grazing permits there have voluntarily reduced their numbers in recent years and did not graze on the affected area from 2013-16, according to BLM.
Captured wild horses are being taken to the Indian Lakes Wild Horse Off-Range Corral in Fallon, Nevada, where they will be readied for the agency’s wild horse adoption program, according to BLM.
Planning documents
BLM is conducting the roundup under an emergency decision. To view planning documents, click here.
Previously
Fox & Lake Range roundup, day two: 56 Nevada wild horses captured, Nov. 18, 2017
BLM to capture 200 wild horses from partly burned Nevada HMA, Nov. 9, 2017