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.