BLM Prepares Emergency Bait and Water Trap Gather of Wild Horses near Wendover due to Insufficient Water Sources
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ELKO, Nev. – The Bureau of Land Management, Elko District, and Wells Field Office will begin an emergency wild horse gather on September 29 to remove up to 60 wild horses from the Tunnel Spring area of the Goshute Herd Management Area, approximately 10 miles southwest of Wendover in Elko County, due to insufficient water sources. Hay and water will be used to gather the horses. The gather could last up to one month.
This gather will attempt to remove excess wild horses from the Tunnel Spring area to alleviate competition for limited water resources and prevent continued body condition decline, suffering and/or the death of the most vulnerable horses. The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Wells Field Office will conduct an emergency operation to gather and remove 60 excess wild horses from the affected area within the Goshute HMA. The BLM Wells Field Office has determined that the situation in the Goshute HMA is an emergency situation because of the intense competition wild horses are experiencing for extremely limited water resources in the HMA. These conditions threaten the health and welfare of the wild horses. The situation is too extreme to address through the normal gather cycle (BLM 4700-1 Handbook). Given the weakened state of the horses in the Goshute HMA, a veterinarian will be on-call to provide recommendations regarding care, treatment and, if necessary, euthanasia. [Per BLM Manual 4720.23]
Goshute HMA has an Appropriate Management Level (AML) of 74-123 adult wild horses. As of March 1, 2016, the BLM estimated the population at 904 wild horses (not including foals born this year). Approximately more than 60 horses are currently relying on Tunnel Spring for water based on recent monitoring of the area.
The BLM plans to gather and remove approximately 60 horses utilizing a water and bait trap, consisting of corral panels stocked with water and hay; no helicopters will be used. Because of the nature of the bait and water gather method, wild horses are reluctant to approach the trap site when there is too much activity. Therefore, only essential gather operation personnel will be allowed at the trap site during operations.
The contractor for this gather is Warner Livestock of Utah. Excess wild horses removed from the range will be transported to the Indian Lakes Facility in Fallon, NV. This gather operation is being conducted under the auspices of an Emergency Gather Decision. The Emergency Gather Decision can be found at http://on.doi.gov/2dI473g.
The emergency gather is expected to last one month. Gather reports and additional information will be posted on BLM’s Elko District website at http://on.doi.gov/2dI473g.
For more information, contact Wild Horse Specialist Bruce Thompson at 775-753-0286 or b50thomp@blm.gov.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.