BLM Nevada News
NEVADA STATE OFFICE NO. 2009-10
FOR RELEASE: January 13, 2009
CONTACT: Heather Emmons, (775) 861-6594, heather_emmons@blm.gov;
JoLynn Worley, (775) 861-6515, jworley@nv.blm.gov

BLM to gather 460 horses near Gerlach, Nev.

Winnemucca, Nev. – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Winnemucca Field Office will begin an emergency gather Thursday to remove approximately 460 horses from the Buffalo Hills Herd Management Area (HMA). The gather will last 10-14 days. Immediate removal of excess animals is necessary because water and forage is extremely limited.

The Buffalo Hills HMA is located 80 miles north of Reno and 100 miles west of Winnemucca, within Washoe County, Nev. This HMA is approximately 132,000 acres in size and lies northwest of Gerlach.

The herd population will be brought down to approximately 190 animals, which is the appropriate management level (AML). AML is an agency term used to describe the number of animals the landscape can sustain with adequate forage and water.

The gathered horses will be shipped to the Litchfield Corrals in California to be prepared for adoption or long-term holding. They will receive inoculations to protect them from disease and freeze marks with a unique number once they arrive at the facility. Many of the animals will be available for adoption or sale to interested members of the public within 45 days.

The horses will be gathered with the assistance of a helicopter due to limited road access, terrain and animal behavior.

For more information about BLM wild horses and burros, please visit http://www.blm.gov/

-BLM-

_{^{Note to editors: Media day is this Friday, Jan. 16. Any media interested in attending the gather must contact and coordinate with Heather Emmons at: (775) 861-6594. Media attending the gather must drive a four-wheel drive, high clearance vehicle. Drive time to the gather from Reno is approximately 2 ½ hours one way.}}