Light Attendance at Bruneau Open House?

The event was held on a weekday, according to the BLM news release, when many people are at work.

Good thing, because income taxes keep the scam going.

Wild horses come off the range and go into feedlots.

Livestock come out of the feedlots and go on the range.

The government spends about $6 per day to care for a horse in a feedlot while it collects a little over 5¢ per day for a cow-calf pair on the range, losing about $5.95 per day per horse in captivity.

The facility currently houses over 1,200 horses according to a report by KIVI News, racking up a deficit of $2.6 million per year.

If the Trump administration is s serious about reducing government spending, why hasn’t it killed the grazing program or at least asked Congress to cancel it?

RELATED: Bruneau Off-Range Corrals Owned by Simplot Livestock.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Vandals to Compensate Ranchers for Damage to Pumphouse

Five individuals were charged with malicious injury to property and ordered to pay $5,000 each to permittees affected by loss of water according to a BLM news release.

The incident occurred in August 2023.

Interesting how cases involving injury to ranchers are solved while those involving injury to wild horses are not.

The name of the allotment and a link to the NEPA review for the range improvements were not given.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Shackleford Herd Adds Three New Foals

A story by WITN News says the number of wild horses continues to grow, as if there were no losses in 2025.

The population was 102 at the end of the year according to NPS.

Can you think of a reason why the birth rate is low, the breeding population is small and genetic diversity is at risk?

Here’s a hint:

RELATED: Shackleford Herd Declined Sharply in 2025.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Scoping Begins for Wild Horse and Burro Programmatic EA

The project will evaluate a range of management actions, and the environmental effects thereof, to be used in site-specific EAs for wild horse and burro management.

The idea is to streamline the planning process by analyzing actions found in a majority of management plans so the results can be dropped into future EAs by the field offices.

Comments are due by July 2.

UPDATE: The news release, published after this post went live, does not refer to a programmatic EA.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Horses Down, Burros Up in Latest Facilities Report

The grand totals as of May 28, representing short-term and long-term holding, were 53,773 wild horses and 4,252 wild burros, compared to 55,533 wild horses and 2,741 wild burros on March 26.

Reasons for the changes were not given in the report.

Adoptions, sales, deaths and transfers to other agencies bring the numbers down.

Motorized removal, preferred by ranchers, drives them up.

Mass sterilization, favored by the advocates, could eliminate the need for off-range holding along with the wild horse and burro program.

Would you be surprised if hunters and ranchers were the fastest growing segment in their donor base?

PREVIOUS: Inventory Decreases Slightly in New Facilities Report.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Pearce to Lead BLM

He was confirmed by the Senate on May 18, along with a slate of other nominees, according to the Congressional Record.

The BLM org chart has been updated accordingly.

It’s not clear if he’ll tolerate the lies about resource availability, carrying capacity and management priorities on America’s public lands.

RELATED: Trump Nominates Pearce for BLM Director.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Mustang Monday

At the Dishpan Butte HMA, part of the North Lander Complex, with Angelique Rea.

Or, if you prefer, in the Dishpan Butte Allotment.

The management plan allows 1.1 wild horses per thousand public acres in the HMA and livestock equivalent to 10.1 wild horses per thousand public acres in the allotment.

At what point does rangeland health begin to deteriorate?

Data sources: 2026 population estimates, RAS, ArcGIS Viewer.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Wild Horse Refuge Announces August Symposium

The event will be held at the refuge with the exception of a film screening in Steamboat Springs on the opening night.

A schedule, speaker’s list and travel recommendations have not been posted to the conference website.

Sponsoring organizations have not been identified.

Registration is required.  The price of admission is $150.

RELATED: Wild Horse Refuge Grazing Permits Safe for Now.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

► Search for other posts about wild horse refuges.

► Search for other posts about wild horse preserves.

Caliente Trapping Ends

The incident concluded on May 28 with 350 horses captured, 338 shipped, none released and 12 dead.

There were no unaccounted-for animals.

The death rate was 3.4%.

All but two of the deaths were intentional.

Youngsters represented 10.6% of the animals gathered, lower than expected for an event that occurred during foaling season.

Of the adults, 49.8% were male and 50.2% were female.

There were no plans to treat any of the mares with fertility control pesticides and return them to the range, a huge disappointment to the advocates.

The roundup supported three tenants of rangeland management.

RELATED: BLM Announces Caliente Bait Trap Roundup.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Forest Service Schedules Hearing for Montgomery Pass Roundup

The agency will take public comments on June 8 regarding the use of helicopters and other motorized equipment to capture and remove wild horses from areas outside the Montgomery Pass WHT.

Instructions for participating were included in the news release.

Although some natural and cultural resources may be affected, as indicated in the announcement, a concern of equal or greater importance must be AUM liberation and rancher prosperity, given that the project area contains numerous grazing allotments.

RELATED: Forest Service Seeks Bids for Montgomery Pass Roundup.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

BLM Impounds Another Pryor Stallion?

The Decision Record says the agency retrieved him, after he was captured on private property, and transported him to the corrals at Britton Springs.

The news release says removal from the HMA is permanent.

This is the third such incident since December.

The CX and DR were uploaded to the project folder yesterday.

RELATED: BLM Nabs Pryor Stallion.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

BLM to Reauthorize Hutchinson Training Program?

A new five-year agreement is in the works according to a report by KAKE News.

The agency told prison officials earlier this year that the inmate training program had been defunded.

BLM horses are still at the facility but the current inventory is less than half of capacity.

RELATED: Reprieve for Hutchinson Training Program.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Wild Horse Refuge Grazing Permits Safe for Now

An administrative officer with The Wild Animal Sanctuary, parent of the refuge, told Western Horse Watchers that they were aware of the Taylor Grazing Act developments in Montana and the potential implications they could have in Colorado, but as of today there have been no issues or changes to their permits.

The nonprofit flipped the preference in three allotment to horses, presumably to support a conservation herd, which the BLM now says is illegal.

The May 8 news release did not mention that the final decision, and the agency’s new understanding of the meaning of livestock, arose from bureaucratic interpretation of the statutes, to pacify the crybabies in Phillips County, not the court’s.

RELATED: BLM to American Prairie: Get the Bison Off the Public Lands.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Forest Service Joins Forces with Anti-Horse Club

The agency signed a MOU with the Boone and Crockett Club to improve access to public lands for hunting, angling and wildlife conservation according to a May 27 news release.

The nonprofit will work with 14 other groups to identify opportunities and solutions.

The club issued a statement on April 2 calling for the essential use of roundups and expanded sale opportunities to protect Western rangelands and native wildlife from wild horse and burro overpopulation.

“When on-range populations exceed the land’s carrying capacity, they don’t just compete with native wildlife like elk, mule deer, and pronghorn; they fundamentally alter the landscape.”

That remark reflects a complete misunderstanding of the way federal agencies manage the resources on public lands or a deliberate attempt to mislead the public.

Consider this example from the Warm Springs HMA in Oregon.  Who’s stripping away most of the forage—by design?

The AML tells you almost nothing about resource availability, carrying capacity and management priorities in the HMA.

Wild horse advocates would likely oppose the club’s demands but would see its concerns as an opportunity to sell more pesticides.

The announcement did not indicate if the club had a similar agreement with the BLM.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

County Posts Results from Currituck Wild Horse Advisory Board Special Meeting

The current population is approximately 115 according to the minutes.

Herd demographics were not given.

The status of the fertility control program, and the long-term effects thereof, were not included in the report.

Another meeting was held on May 21 but results have not been published.

RELATED: Currituck Wild Horse Advisory Board to Hold Special Meeting.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Black Mountain Trapping Ends

The incident concluded on May 18 with 495 burros captured, 486 shipped, six released and one dead.

There were two unaccounted-for animals.

495 – 486 – 6 – 1 = 2

The death rate was 0.2%.

Youngsters represented 4.4% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 58.4% were male and 41.6% were female.

There were no plans to treat any of the jennies with fertility control pesticides and return them to the range.

The roundup supported three tenants of rangeland management.

RELATED: BLM Announces Black Mountain Bait Trap Roundup.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.