BLM officials brief Churchill County commissioners on wild-horse gathers, geothermal and mining projects

Mark Mazza, assistant field manager for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Carson City District, told the Churchill County Board of Commissioners that BLM is conducting aerial census flights and continuing planning and NEPA work on several projects affecting county lands.

BLM is carrying out census flights this week, Mazza said, and is addressing gathers and management for multiple herd areas including Lahontan, Desatoya and Montgomery Pass. "We're actually doing our census flights right now this week," Mazza said, describing work on herds co-managed with other agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service.

The agency also described two priority geothermal projects in Churchill County: the Dixie Meadows project, for which BLM is coordinating environmental baselines with the Navy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and ORMAT, and Diamond Flat, an exploration project for which NEPA is in progress and a memorandum of agreement with the State Historic Preservation Office is being requested for a historic treatment plan.

Mazza and colleague Nate Pepe discussed minerals activity, noting a recent change in ownership at the Bell Mountain mine to Lincoln Resource Group and that the mine's 2020 environmental assessment remains on file. The BLM said Cosmo Dixie Exploration informed the agency it intends to convert exploration notices near Dixie Meadows from three proposed drill pads to an exploration plan covering five pads, with an estimated total disturbance of about 23 acres.

Recreation and realty updates included preparations for Sand Mountain access during Easter weekend (including a new helipad and later road paving), district-wide outreach for off-highway vehicle special recreation permits, and review of small reroutes for the Green Lake North transmission line along Highway 50. The BLM also said it had received an application for a railroad spur right-of-way west of Fallon from Western Emulsions; BLM staff said more details will be available at a future meeting.

Commissioners asked about long-term approaches to wild-horse population control, including nonlethal options. Mazza said gather schedules are set at headquarters and are constrained by funding and corrals to hold animals, and that broader changes probably require legislation. "Beyond that, I think a lot of things require legislation to change," he said.

Why it matters: the projects discussed — wild-horse management, geothermal exploration near Dixie Meadows and Diamond Flat, mine activity at Bell Mountain, and transmission/rail right-of-way proposals — could affect grazing allotments, wildlife habitat, cultural resources and local permitting. BLM said the Lahontan gather environmental assessment is a top priority and announced an IEC meeting for March 24 in Fallon to discuss related items.

The update was an informational briefing; no county action was taken at the meeting.