Brady Owens, assistant field manager for the Bureau of Land Management (Wells Field Office), told commissioners the agency is seeing water shortages at several spring complexes and that agency staff have observed horses in poor body condition and some mortalities.
Why it matters: wild horse gathers, water hauling, and other responses are resource- and policy-dependent and require higher-level authorization; the local field office said it has "put in requests" and is monitoring conditions.
Owens described the area of concern as stretching from Woodhills to the Mavericks near the refuge and said White Pine County is experiencing similar issues. "We're having some horses die," he said. Commissioners asked whether water hauling would be used; Owens said it was done last year but "this time, no" hauling had been implemented yet and that the office was awaiting direction "from people much higher in the organization."
The commission asked about the geographic extent; Owens said he had not heard reports from some areas such as the Goshoots and Dolly Vardens HMAs but confirmed multiple spring complexes were not meeting demand.
No formal action or directive was recorded; staff said they would continue to monitor conditions and update memos and that a gather request had been submitted for review at higher administrative levels.