Wild horse gather scheduled in burn area

Thursday, Jan. 13, 2000 | 9:24 a.m.

The roundup in the Clan Alpine Mountains is scheduled to begin Sunday and will take about three weeks to complete.

Jim Gianola, a BLM wild horse specialist in Carson City, said the Clan Alpine Herd Management Area encompassing about 323,000 acres is overpopulated with about 1,400 wild horses.

This past summer, part of the area was severely damaged by two wildland fires. Officials say the size of the herd needs to be reduced while the burned areas recover.

"We figure we'll have to catch about 990 horses to remove 600," Gianola said. Rounding up the larger number will ensure a sufficient number of horses five years of age or younger are removed from the range and taken to sanctuaries, he said.

The younger animals have a greater chance of being adopted by the public.

Even if 600 animals are removed, Gianola said there would still be more horses in the area than there should be under management guidelines.

"But this gather will be a big help in getting the numbers down," he said.

Most of the removed animals will be taken to BLM's holding corrals in Palomino Valley north of Reno or Ridgecrest in southern California to be prepared for adoption.

Aerial reseeding is scheduled to begin soon and officials said it might take two or more growing seasons before the range recovers.

About 300 wild horses from three other herd areas in northern Nevada were recently removed to a temporary facility in Fallon. Those animals will eventually be returned to their herds.

In all, about 2,000 wild horses were gathered in October and November from burned areas in Nevada, where summer fires destroyed a record 1.6 million acres.