The Bureau of Land Management will begin Red Rock HMA Wild Horse and Burro bait and water gather operations

On or around April 24, 2024, the Bureau of Land Management Southern Nevada District Office will begin a wild horse and burro gather on the Red Rock Herd Management Area (HMA) located about 20 miles west of Las Vegas in Clark County, Nev. The BLM will conduct gather operations using temporary bait and water traps consisting of a series of corral panels stocked with water and forage; no helicopters will be used.

The Red Rock HMA encompasses 157,443 acres of BLM land and 4,526 acres of a mix of private and other public lands for a total of 161,969 acres and has an Appropriate Management Level of 16-27 wild horses and 29-49 wild burros. Based on the March 2024 population stats, not including this year’s foal crop, 114 wild horses and 191 burros are within and directly outside the management area – nearly 422 percent above the high end of the established management level for wild horses and 390 percent for wild burros. The most recent gather on the Red Rock HMA was completed in 2019.

The BLM plans to gather approximately 112 wild horses and 70 wild burros, remove approximately 92 excess wild horses, 70 excess wild burros and treat up to 10 mares with GonaCon Equine, a population suppression fertility control vaccine, before being released back to the range along with up to 10 stallions.

The purpose of the gather is to prevent undue or unnecessary degradation of the public lands associated with excess wild horses, and to restore a thriving 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. The action is needed to achieve appropriate management levels within the Red Rock HMA.

“This gather will allow us to manage wild horses and burros in the Red Rock Herd Management Area at an appropriate management level for the area,” said Nicholas Pay, Pahrump Field Manager. “As always, the BLM is committed to conducting safe and humane gather operations as we work to bring herd size more in line with what the resources of the area can support.”

The BLM’s priority is to conduct safe, efficient, and successful wild horse and burro gather operations while ensuring humane care and treatment of all animals gathered. The BLM and its contractors are committed to using the best available science and handling practices for wild horses and burros while meeting overall gather goals and objectives in accordance with the Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program.

All animals identified for removal will be transported to the Ridgecrest Regional Wild Horse and Burro Corrals in Ridgecrest, Calif. Upon arrival to the facility, all animals will be checked by a veterinarian and readied for the BLM’s wild horse and burro Adoption and Sales Program. 

Due to the nature of the bait and water trap method, wild horses or burros are reluctant to approach the trap site when there is too much activity; therefore, only essential gather operations personnel will be allowed at the trap site during gather operations.

The BLM is conducting the gather under the DOI-BLM-NV-S030-2013-0010-EA Herd Management Area Plan Environmental Assessment decision signed on May 10, 2022.  The decision record and determination of National Environmental Policy Act adequacy can be accessed at the national NEPA register at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2006722/570.

Gather reports and additional information will be posted on the BLM website at https://www.blm.gov/programs/wild-horse-and-burro/herd-management/gathers-and-removals/southern-nevada-do-pahrump-fo. For technical information, contact Brianna Brodowski, Wild Horse and Burro Specialist at (702) 515-5000 or bbrodowski@blm.gov.

For information on how to adopt or purchase a wild horse or burro, visit www.blm.gov/whb.