Date: September 23, 2003

CONTACT: Diane Hendry or Jamie Thompson at (775) 623-1500

Recreation Users Should Leave Gates As Found

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Winnemucca Field Office (WFO) has a responsibility to administer livestock grazing on public lands. The WFO manages 8.3 million acres of public lands in northwestern Nevada, which encompasses 103 grazing allotments – a big job. 

Besides livestock grazing, the BLM manages for other multiple uses of public lands such as mining, wild horse/burros, wildlife, fisheries, riparian habitats, cultural values and recreation.

Working together with livestock permittees, interested publics and public land users, BLM staff have developed grazing management plans for associated allotments to meet natural resource needs. To ensure a successful livestock management plan, livestock numbers, period of use and pastures/use areas are identified. Included in the management plans are range improvements such as springs with pipelines/troughs, cattle guards, fences and gates. 

Gates are randomly placed along fence lines and are designed to be used by both vehicular traffic as well as livestock. Cutting a fence is never excusable since there are gates that allow entry to and from public lands. Please do not cut fences to access rangelands. Open gates and cut fences allow livestock to drift into unauthorized areas or onto private land.

When enjoying the public lands it is important to observe your surroundings. If livestock are in the vicinity, the majority of the time they are authorized to be there. A closed gate ensures that livestock remain in authorized areas. If livestock are not observed in the area, an open gate should still be left open. When gates are encountered, please leave the gate as you found it since their purpose is to control livestock. 

Recreation users to public lands are a vital part of managing the resource. Creating healthy rangelands depends a great deal on the time and effort extended by all users of the public lands.

Gene Seidlitz, Supervisory Rangeland Management Specialist, said, “The BLM’s management of public lands focuses on multiple use, which means that all users can co-exist while still meeting the needs of the resource.”
For further information, please contact Gene Seidlitz, WFO at (775) 623-1500.

- BLM -