BLM to Begin Bait Trapping Wild Horses Near Wells, NV on July 15

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has announced a plan to begin bait trapping wild horses near Wells, Nevada, starting July 15. This initiative aims to manage the wild horse population in the Wood Hills area over the next five years.

ELKO – The Bureau of Land Management says there will be no significant environmental impact from a horse gather planned next month southeast of Wells.

The agency recently issued a decision on the Wood Hills area water/bait trapping gather. "The ultimate goal 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," the BLM stated.

The horses are not in an official Herd Management 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," explained the BLM.

There is limited water and/or forage available to adequately support the current population of wild horses, according to the BLM, and the horses are causing adverse impacts to range resources.

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.

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.

The population is estimated to be 231 wild horses plus this year's 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 753-0200.

Originally published by Elko Free Press: http://wildhor.se/1BJe5Ih