NAPF Supports Lahontan Horse Removal in Nevada

On May 9th, 2025 NAPF submitted it’s second comment supporting feral horse removals in the west, this time in western Nevada. The BLM’s Sierra Front Field Office proposes to gather and remove excess horses from the 9,600 acre Lahontan Herd Management Area (HMA), located approximately 35 miles east of Carson City and immediately south of the Lahontan Reservoir.

This action would address the significant over population of horses inside and outside of the HMA. The BLM’s defined appropriate management level (AML) for the Lahontan HMA is 7-10 wild horses. The estimated wild horse population, based on a 2024 aerial census, is 518. NAPF encouraged the BLM to remove horses and meet their established AML of 7-10 horses in the HMA.

NAPF’s comment cited peer reviewed scientific literature specifically from the Great Basin, “areas without wild horses had higher shrub cover, plant cover, species richness, native plant cover, and overall plant biomass, and lower cover of grazing tolerant, unpalatable, and invasive plant species such as cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), when compared to areas with horses”.

The removal of feral horses from western landscapes will provide benefits and stability to a host of native species that rely on these ecosystems, their limited water resources, and local cattle operations that rely on those same landscapes for their livelihoods. Horse removals are long overdue and NAPF applauds these proposals from the Bureau of Land Management.

NAPF’s First Policy Actions

The North American Pronghorn Foundation (NAPF) was founded to enhance pronghorn populations and habitats through advocacy, stewardship, stakeholder partnerships, and our hunting heritage. Recognizing the threat that feral horses and fractured migration corridors have on that mission, on April 29, the NAPF submitted its first comments on public policy.

The first was made to support of a Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Rock Springs Field Office proposal for gather and removal of nearly 3,000 feral horses from over 1 million acres of Wyoming public lands.  Multiple studies corroborate the damage that these horses have on sagebrush ecosystems when numbers exceed forage and water limitations.

This proposal advocates for permanent removal of feral horses in the newly converted herd areas of the former Great Divide Basin, Salt Wells Creek, and a portion of the Adobe town herd management areas (HMAs). It followed a May 8th, 2023 BLM decision to cease management of public lands for wild horses within checkerboard land ownership areas.

The NAPF believes that for the wellbeing of pronghorn and the landscapes they call home, that horse removals are long overdue. The BLM must act swiftly to prevent irreversible damage to landscapes and native species treasured for their uniquely American heritage, features, and habitats. The removal of these feral horses is scheduled to begin in July 2025.

The second comment was in support of the State of Wyoming’s proposed designation of the Sublette Antelope Migration Corridor via executive order 2020-1. The Sublette herd, perhaps the largest on the continent, migrates south from summer ranges in the foothills of the Wyoming Range, Bondurant, and Jackson Hole areas, to winter range near Pinedale, Green River, and Rock Springs. This corridor has been identified through decades of science using GPS collar data from hundreds of pronghorn. The state gained hard-earned knowledge about how disruptions to the corridor impact pronghorn. Poorly sited industrial projects, including the Sweetwater Solar facility have documented negative impacts on herd populations since 2019. The NAPF believes this designation is a key step to avoid those impacts as we support a wide range of activities occurring on the landscape.

NAPF commented on the need for this designation to safeguard priority areas within this corridor including high use areas, bottlenecks, and stopover areas. These proactive conservation measures are vital to the Sublette herd’s health in Southwest Wyoming, particularly following the devastating 2022-2023 winter where they suffered extreme mortality. We believe that we cannot be content to sustain the status quo, and that through careful planning, research in upcoming collar studies, and advocacy for pronghorn, we can ensure a robust future for this distinctively North American animal while ensuring a range of uses on the landscape.