BLM to host tour of Pine Nut herd management area gather site

The Carson City District, Sierra Front Field Office is holding a public pre-gather tour on Friday. The public will meet at 10 a.m. at the Dayton Valley Dog Park, located at Old Como and Dayton Valley Road. The tour is expected to last approximately three hours. Because of road conditions a four wheel-drive high clearance vehicle is required.

Visitors must RSVP by calling the Gather Information Hotline at 775-861-6700, option 2 and leave a message, or call Lisa Ross, Public Affairs Specialist, at 775-885-6107, email lross@blm.gov.

“This pre-gather tour is being offered to provide an opportunity for the interested public to obtain information about the Pine Nut Gather, by interacting with BLM staff as they provide an overview of gather operations,” said Sierra Front Field Manager Leon Thomas.

The BLM will gather approximately 332 wild horses and remove approximately 200 excess wild horses within and outside the Pine Nut Herd Management Area (HMA). As many as 132 wild horses will be released back to the range following the gather.

The gather area is located south of Dayton and east of Carson City and Gardnerville within Lyon, Douglas, and Carson City counties. The gather is scheduled to begin late Jan., 2015.

A population inventory completed in Aug., 2014 documented 332 wild horses. The Appropriate Management Level (AML) for the HMA is 119-179 wild horses.

Based on the inventory, and monitoring data showing impacts from an over-population of the HMA, BLM has determined that removal of the excess wild horses is necessary to achieve a thriving natural ecological balance.

Excessive grazing from wild horses has not only degraded the sage-grouse habitat, but has also reduced the availability of native forage grasses within the HMA, thereby decreasing the number of wild horses that can be supported by current range conditions.

Of the approximately 132 wild horses released back to the range, an estimated 66 mares will receive a 22-month Porcine Zona Pellucida (PZP-22) immunocontraceptive vaccine treatment prior to release. This vaccine will extend the time between gathers, and reduce the number of excess wild horses that would need to be removed in the future. The sex ratio of the released animals will be dependent on the sex ratio of the gathered wild horses.

For more information contact Lisa Ross at 775-885-6107.