The BLM said it gathered and removed 996 wild horses from public and private lands in and outside the Silver King HMA in eastern Nevada. | Photo: iStock

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Nevada Ely District Caliente Field Office has concluded the Silver King Herd Management Area (HMA) wild horse gather.

The BLM said it gathered and removed 996 excess wild horses from public and private lands in and outside the Silver King HMA in eastern Nevada. Approximately 228 wild horses remain in the HMA.

The BLM said it conducted the gather, which ran from Nov. 27 through Dec. 16 to prevent undue or unnecessary degradation of the public lands associated with excess wild horses and to restore a thriving natural ecological balance and multiple-use relationship on public lands, consistent with the provisions of Section 1333(b) of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. Removing excess animals will also enable significant progress toward achieving the rangeland health standards as identified by the Mojave-Southern Great Basin Resource Advisory Council, the BLM said