Federal land managers are planning a big roundup of wild horses this week near the Lahontan Reservoir 45 miles east of Carson City.
The Bureau of Land Management intends to gather 250 mustangs from the Lahontan herd management area beginning Thursday, BLM officials said Tuesday.
The 261 wild horses that currently roam the Lahontan area are way more than the land can sustain, BLM officials said. They said the appropriate management level has been established at only seven to 10 horses.
The roundup using a helicopter and wranglers on horses is intended to achieve a "thriving natural ecological balance" as mandated by the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971, the agency said in a statement. It is likely to last five to seven days.
