Jakes Fire Emergency Roundup

BLM Moves Forward with Emergency Wild Horse Roundup Following Jakes Fire

Snowstorm Mountain and Little Humboldt HMAs, Nevada
Jan. 26, 2026

The Bureau of Land Management is moving forward with an emergency wild horse roundup in northeastern Nevada that is set to begin today - Jan. 26, 2026 - citing habitat loss from the 2025 Jakes Fire. The fire burned approximately 82,000 acres, including portions of designated wild horse habitat within the Snowstorm Mountains and Little Humboldt Herd Management Areas (HMAs).

Together, these two HMAs encompass roughly 134,261 acres of land (~117,109 acres in the Snowstorm Mountains HMA and ~17,152 acres in the Little Humboldt HMA). BLM estimates there are currently about 272 wild horses remaining across the two areas. Under the emergency decision, the agency plans to remove 182 horses, leaving approximately 90 wild horses on the range.

BLM states the roundup is necessary due to the loss of forage, ongoing drought conditions, and concerns about range recovery following the fire. However, while the action is framed as an emergency response, there is no provision in the decision documents for reintroducing any of the removed horses once the land has had time to recover. Instead, horses removed during the roundup will be transported to off-range holding facilities and prepared for adoption, sale, or long-term holding.

As with many post-fire management decisions, this action raises important questions about long-term wild horse management, the role of fire recovery, and whether removals are being used as a default response rather than addressing underlying land-use pressures on public lands.

Outdated Management Planning Raises Additional Concerns

It is also worth noting that the Bureau of Land Management is relying on older planning documents to justify this emergency roundup. The Snowstorm Mountains and Little Humboldt HMAs do not have a current, standalone Herd Management Area Plan in place. The most recent decision documents guiding removals in this complex date back to 2012, and the agency is using a Determination of NEPA Adequacy (DNA) rather than conducting a new, comprehensive management review.

This raises concerns about whether decisions affecting the wild horses in this area today are being made using outdated data and assumptions, particularly given more frequent and intense wildfires throughout the West and ongoing land-use pressures such as livestock grazing and multiple-use management priorities on adjacent public lands that influence habitat recovery both inside and outside the HMA.

Why This Matters

Emergency roundups can have permanent consequences for wild horse herds and the public lands they inhabit. When removals are authorized using outdated management plans, without updated population data, post-fire habitat assessments, or clear long-term recovery strategies, there is a real risk that decisions made under the banner of “emergency” become default management, rather than temporary measures.

Without a current Herd Management Area plan—or a commitment to return horses to the range once habitat recovers—emergency roundups may result in long-term or permanent removal of wild horses from their legally designated habitat, shifting responsibility to costly off-range holding facilities instead of addressing underlying land-use and management challenges on the range itself.

Water Developments on the Range: Publicly available BLM descriptions of the Snowstorm Mountains and Little Humboldt HMAs do not specifically list installed water catchments, guzzlers, or other artificial water developments for wild horses. Natural water availability in this semi-arid region is limited and likely further reduced by the 2025 Jakes Fire and ongoing drought. (Agency range descriptions focus on vegetation and terrain, without noting water infrastructure.) Moving forward, perhaps this will be addressed in a new management plan!

We are monitoring this situation and will continue to share updates and context as more information becomes available.

UPDATE: JAN. 30, 2026

As of January 29, 2026

Animals Rounded Up: 154
154 Wild Horses (76 Stallions, 78 Mares, and 0 Foals)

Animals Shipped: 147
147 Wild Horses (71 Stallions, 76 Mares, and 0 Foals)

Animals Treated with Fertility Control: 0
0 Wild Horses (0 Stallions, 0 Mares, and 0 Foals)

Animals Released:
0 Wild Horses (0 Stallions, 0 Mares, and 0 Foals)
0 Wild Burros (0 Jacks, 0 Jennies, and 0 Foals)

Deaths: 7
-Sudden / Acute: 0
-Pre-existing / Chronic: 7

Final Update: This roundup concluded on Jan. 30th.

Animals Rounded Up: 180 (87 Stallions, 93 Mares, and 0 Foals)
(Strangely, there are reports from WHE that there was indeed at least one foal rounded up - it was put down for a deformity. It seems as though the “Yearling Stud” was counted as an adult, rather than a foal? It seems likely that other foals were rounded up but listed as adult mares or stallions.)

Animals Shipped: 173 (82 Stallions, 91 Mares, and 0 Foals)