The BLM protects, manages, and controls wild horses and burros under the authority of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act to ensure that healthy herds thrive on healthy rangelands. The BLM manages these living symbols of the Western spirit as part of its multiple-use mission under the 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act.

 

One of the BLM Ely District’s key responsibilities under the 1971 law is to determine the “appropriate management level,” or AML, of wild horses and burros on the public rangelands. These animals have virtually no natural predators and their herd sizes can double about every four years. The Ely District is home to over 2,000 wild horses living within 24 wild horse Herd Management Areas, or HMAs, that vary in size from 10,500 acres to 689,185 acres.