BLM Approves Lahontan Horse Removal in Nevada
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved a plan to remove horses and burros in the Lahontan Horse Management area in central Nevada. The North American Pronghorn Foundation (NAPF) gave public comment in favor of that plan because of clear evidence that horse and burro populations in that area exceeded appropriate management level (AML), and are damaging to native plants, animals, and the environment they occupied.
Horse and burro populations in the Lahontan HMA exceeded 500 individuals on only 7000 acres with an AML of 7-10 animals. These levels had caused extensive damage to the high desert and sage ecosystem shared with species such as pronghorn and mule deer. This damage included increased erosion and runoff, decreases in available water, reduced sage, increased cheatgrass spread, and a significant reduction in overall suitability of an already fragile landscape to sustain wildlife.
NAPF firmly believes that action needs to be taken to manage horse and burro populations across much of the west. The BLM’s 2025 Wild Horse and Burro population estimates show that nationwide, populations are at three times the high range AML. In Nevada, only 1:4 horse management areas are at or below AML and some exceed the high AML by as much as 100 times. In the Johnnie HMA, 60 miles northwest of Las Vegas, the BLM estimates there are 462 animals against an AML of 0 in vital habitat for sage grouse and mule deer, and key areas for the Nellis pronghorn herd in the same area.
Like any other species on the landscape, horses and burros require management and too often that management has been set aside for non-scientific reasons. There is an accepted management level and process created with the Wild Horse and Free-Roaming Burro Act. When those levels are exceeded, damage to valuable and unique native animals and landscapes occurs. It’s time to demand that those populations are managed to objective. The NAPF applauds this management decision by the BLM, encourages it to continue to drive populations towards AML, and encourages its members to get informed and involved on this critical issue for pronghorn in the west.
-Erik Dippold
Lahontan Horse Gather Plan Decision
Bureau of Land Management 2025 Wild Horse and Burro Population Estimates