BLM releases decision for Wood Hills area wild horse water/bait trapping gather
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The Bureau of Land Management, Elko District Office, Wells Field Office released the Decision Record for the Wood Hills area Wild Horse Water/Bait Trapping Gather June 5.
The ultimate goal of the gather is to remove all excess wild horses in the Wood Hills area in Elko County over a period of five years and reach a population of zero utilizing bait and water trapping. This action is based on limited water and/or forage availability to adequately support the current population of wild horses and on the adverse impacts to range resources being caused by wild horses concentrating on site specific areas within the project area.
The initial gather is scheduled to begin around July 15 and will take about 30 days to complete. The primary gather site is proposed to be at an unnamed spring located on public land in T. 36N, R. 64E. Section 4. Additional sites, on both public and private lands, may be used as necessary to complete the proposed action. The Determination of NEPA Adequacy, Finding of No Significant Impact, and Decision Record documents are available online at http://1.usa.gov/1GDnFvf. Follow-up gather activities will also use water/bait trapping as the primary method. Future gather dates will be posted on the BLM Nevada website at http://on.doi.gov/1t5WTaB.
The wild horses proposed for gather and removal from the Wood Hills area are outside of a Herd Management Area or Herd Area. The Wood Hills area was not identified as habitat used by wild horses at the time the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act was passed on Dec. 15, 1971; nor was it identified for wild horse management in the 1985 Wells Resource Management Plan or the 1993 Wells RMP Wild Horse Amendment and Decision Record. The estimated wild horse population based on 2015 inventory flights is estimated to be 231 wild horses plus year 2015 foals.
No population control measures will be implemented and gather dates and numbers will be posted on the BLM National Gather Schedule webpage at http://on.doi.gov/1GRSkpx.
For more information, contact Bruce Thompson, Elko District wild horse specialist, at 775-753-0200.
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.