On April 27, the Bureau of Land Management Ely District, Caliente Field Office issued a Decision Record (DR) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) based on analysis provided in the Caliente Herd Area Complex Wild Horse Gather Plan Environmental Assessment (EA). The BLM developed the 10-year gather plan to manage wild horses within the Caliente Complex located in southern Lincoln County.
The Caliente Complex consists of nine herd areas (HAs). They are the Applewhite, Blue Nose Peak, Clover Creek, Clover Mountains, Delamar Mountains, Little Mountain, Meadow Valley Mountains, Miller Flat and Mormon Mountains HAs. The Complex is not designated for wild horses due to insufficient forage and water resources available within the complex to maintain healthy wild horses and rangelands over the long-term. The current estimated wild horse population is approximately 1,744, which excludes the 2018 foal crop.
The purpose of the 10-year gather plan is to remove all wild horses in and outside HA boundaries to improve watershed health and make significant progress towards achieving range health standards recommended by the BLM’s Mojave-Southern Great Basin Resource Advisory Council. The BLM would transport gathered horses to holding facilities to be prepared for adoption, sale or transport to long-term pastures.
The EA and DR/FONSI are available online at https://go.usa.gov/xn5cZ. Hardcopies of the documents are available at the BLM Caliente Field Office, 1400 South Front Street, in Caliente. The field office is open from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except federal holidays. The field office will provide hardcopies, upon request. For more information, contact Chris Carlton, BLM Caliente Field Manager, at 775-726-8100.
