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ELY, Nev. – On August 20, 2020, the Bureau of Land Management Ely District Office, Bristlecone Field Office, concluded the 2020 Triple B and Maverick-Medicine Herd Management Areas (HMAs) emergency wild horse gather. The BLM gathered and removed 390 wild horses from areas within and outside of the HMAs located in Elko and White Pine counties, Nevada. The action was necessary due to lack of water and declining health of the wild horses. Gather operations were conducted using the water and bait trap method.

The purpose of the gather was critical to ensuring the health of the HMA lands as well as the wild horses in the area, both of which are in jeopardy due to herd overpopulation and extremely limited water sources. The emergency gather will also help prevent further degradation of the public lands, associated with excess wild horses, and help make progress toward restoring a thriving natural ecological balance and multiple-use relationship on public lands, consistent with the provisions of Section 1333(b) of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act.

“By conducting this gather, the BLM was able to reduce the risk of starvation and thirst for the wild horses in the area while making progress toward achieving a thriving natural ecological balance on public lands,” said Leslie Riley, Acting Bristlecone Field Manager.

The BLM transported wild horses removed from the range to the Palomino Valley Center Wild Horse and Burro Corrals, in Sparks, Nev., to be readied for the BLM’s wild horse and burro Adoption and Sale Program. Wild horses not adopted or sold will be placed in off-range pastures where they will be humanely cared for and retain their “wild” status and protection under the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act.

Additional gather information is available on the BLM website at https://go.usa.gov/xfJVy.