NRS244.387. Removal of wild horses from private property.

      1.  If a wild horse or horses stray onto land which is privately owned, an owner of the land may:

      (a) Inform the appropriate federal authority; and

      (b) Request the authority to remove the wild horse or horses from the land,

Ê in the manner and form required by the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1331 et seq., and the regulations adopted pursuant thereto.

      2.  If the appropriate federal authority fails to remove the wild horse or horses from the land within a reasonable amount of time after receiving a request pursuant to subsection 1, the landowner may:

      (a) Notify the board of county commissioners in the county in which the land is located of the failure; and

      (b) Request the county to institute an action in federal court on his or her behalf requesting a writ of mandamus ordering the appropriate federal authority to remove the wild horse or horses from the land.

      3.  Upon receiving a notification and request pursuant to subsection 2, the county may institute an action in a federal court of competent jurisdiction on behalf of the landowner requesting the court to issue a writ of mandamus directing the appropriate federal authority who was notified pursuant to subsection 1 to remove the wild horse or horses from the land. The county shall:

      (a) Determine whether it will institute such an action; and

      (b) Notify the landowner of its determination,

Ê as soon as practicable after receiving the request.

      4.  A motion filed pursuant to subsection 3 must include a request that the court authorize the county, the State Department of Agriculture or a representative of the county or the State Department of Agriculture to remove the wild horse or horses from the land if the appropriate federal authority is unable or unwilling to do so.

      5.  As used in this section “appropriate federal authority” means a federal agency or officer who is charged with the duties of:

      (a) Receiving notices from landowners requesting the removal of wild horses from land which is privately owned; and

      (b) Arranging to have wild horses removed from land which is privately owned,

Ê pursuant to the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1331 et seq., or regulations adopted pursuant thereto.

      (Added to NRS by 1999, 984)