Pine Nut horse gather suspended

The Pine Nut Mountains Wild Horse Gather will be suspended today due to weather. The gather may be resumed later in 2019 sometime after foaling season. The gather ran from February 7 through 19. The BLM gathered and removed 340 excess wild horses from public and private lands in and outside the Pine Nut Mountains Herd Management Area.

Due to overpopulation, increasing numbers of horses have left the HMA in search of food and water, creating traffic hazards, conflicts with local property owners, and other public safety issues. Within the last year, three horses have been killed in vehicle accidents outside of the HMA.

The gather was also conducted to prevent undue or unnecessary degradation of the public lands associated with excess wild horses, including bi-state sage grouse habitat. The gather also helped restore a 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.

Wild horses removed from the range were transported to the Palomino Valley Off-Range Wild Horse and Burro Corrals in Reno, 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 long-term pastures where they’ll 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/xEXxR.