BLM Says Survey Confirms Horse Claims
A June 2010 survey of the wild horse population in the Western United States found about 4,217 horses in 13 horse management areas in parts of Nevada, California, and Oregon. This study was conducted following claims that the horse population was below the 900 horses that the Bureau of Land Management intended to leave after rounding up almost 2,000 wild horses from the Calico mountains.
In more detailed findings, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) found 1,141 mustangs in the five management areas that make up the Calico complex. The BLM had expected to find a minimum of the 600 horses that it was originally required to leave in the area.
Animal advocates are expected to continue their appeals to block additional roundups of horses in the area, in part by claiming that horse population surveys taken after the fact are not acceptable.
The BLM currently estimates that there are about 38,400 wild horses and burros in the ten western U.S. states, claiming that this is about 12,000 more than the legally “appropriate management level.” About 16,000-17,000 of these horses are found in Nevada alone.