North Complex Roundup, Day 3

The incident started on October 17.  Results through October 19:

  • FY: 2027
  • Scope: Dogskin Mountains, Flanigan, Granite Peak HMAs
  • Target: Horses
  • AML: 157
  • Pre-gather population: 424
  • Type: Planned
  • Contractor: Cattoor
  • Contract amount: $213,082
  • Unit cost: $666
  • Method: Helicopter
  • Category: Cruel and costly (according to advocates)
  • Better way: Beat the numbers down permanently with PZP (according to advocates)
  • Capture goal: 320
  • Removal goal: 320
  • Captured: 87, up from 32 on Day 1
  • Shipped: 47, up from zero on Day 1
  • Released: None
  • Deaths: 1, up from zero on Day 1
  • Average daily take: 29.0
  • Unaccounted-for animals: 39
  • Snippet from statute: It is the policy of Congress that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death
  • Snippet from manual: To protect wild horses and burros from unauthorized capture, branding, harassment or death

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

A stallion was dispatched for a broken leg on Day 3 after transfer to a holding corral.

The death rate is 1.1%.

The capture total includes 25 stallions, 39 mares and 23 foals.

Youngsters represented 26.4% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 39.1% were male and 60.9% were female.

Body condition scores ranged from 3 to 4 on Days 2 and 3.

The location of the trap site was not disclosed.

There are no plans to treat any of the mares with fertility control and return them to the range, which would prolong the genetic bottleneck created by the roundup.

The Complex is subject to permitted grazing.  Resources liberated to date:

  • Forage: 1,044 AUMs per year
  • Water: 870 gallons per day

Public lands within five miles of active trapping locations and temporary holding pens are closed to the public, with the exception of observers escorted by BLM staff.

PREVIOUS: North Complex Roundup Begins.

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

Advocates Insist That PZP Is Safe and Reversible

If the bureaucrats, ranchers and advocates held a lying contest, who would win?

Pay no attention to the advocates and their followers on socialist media who sell mass sterilization as wild horse conservation.

Did you know that the Pine Nut advocates, whose volunteers are poisoning the Pine Nut mares with PZP, receive material support from one of the permittees in the HMA?

That would be the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, whose LLC holds 75% of the active AUMs in the Buckeye Allotment.

RELATED: Three Steps You Can Take to Help Wild Horses.

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

Sulphur Aftermath

The pre-gather population was thought to be 560 and the roundup removed 259, leaving around 300 to repopulate the area.

Q. Did the helicopter sterilize any mares?

A. No, fertility control programs do that.

Q. Was the breeding population destroyed?

A. No, fertility control programs do that.

Q. Did the roundup stop genetic mixing?

A. No, fertility control programs do that.

Q. Did the incident attract women?

A. No, fertility control programs do that.

Q. Did the contractor cause irreparable harm?

A. No, fertility control programs do that.

Q. Why are the advocates so enthusiastic about fertility control?

A. They want the ranchers to win.

PREVIOUS: Sulphur Roundup Complete.

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

Sulphur Roundup Complete

The incident concluded on October 17 with 259 horses captured, 257 shipped, none released and two dead.

The sidebar at the gather page shows no unaccounted-for animals but the daily reports yield 37 missing due to incomplete data for shipping.

Operations were suspended for four days due to weather.

The capture total included 75 stallions, 131 mares and 53 foals.

Youngsters represented 20.5% of the animals gathered, enough to support a herd growth rate of 15% per year.

Of the adults, 36.4% were male and 63.6% were female, a potential indication of an abnormal sex ratio in the herd.

The death rate was 0.8%.

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

The contractor was Cattoor and the obligated amount was $287,650.

The roundup liberated 3,108 AUMs per year for other mandated uses of public lands.

PREVIOUS: Sulphur Roundup Announced.

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

BLM Announces Pryor Mountain Roundup, Again

The incident may already be in progress based on the date in the news release.

The hearing last week was not mentioned, suggesting the agency prevailed.

The capture goal is 100 and the removal goal is 37.

The target is horses.

The pre-gather population is thought to be 185.

The management plan allows 107 to 120.

Horses will be drawn into the traps with bait.

Operations, to be carried out by BLM staff, will not be open to public observation.

A map at the gather page shows the trap sites and closure areas.

Some mares will be treated with fertility control and returned to the HMA, presumably with some of the stallions.

Animals identified for removal will be taken to the holding pens at Britton Springs.

The HMA is not subject to permitted grazing but is adjacent to grazing allotments.

Removal of 37 horses will not cause irreparable harm as the advocates claim, but heavy use of the pesticides, implied by the narrow range of the AML, will.

RELATED: Pryor Roundup Announced.

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

BLM Announces Riddle Mountain Partial Emergency Roundup

The incident, delayed by legal action, will begin on October 20 according to the news release.

The capture goal is 140, down from 418 (100% of the herd).

The target is horses.

The contractor is Warner.  No new awards were found at USA Spending.

The method of capture is helicopter.

Operations will be open to public observation on a limited basis.

The destination of captured animals was not disclosed.

The HMA is subject to permitted grazing.

A preliminary injunction allowed the agency to remove horses above a baseline of 278.

PREVIOUS: BLM Closing Public Lands for Riddle Mountain Roundup.

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

BLM Closing Public Lands for Riddle Mountain Roundup

A new project has been opened in ePlanning and one document has been uploaded.

The entire HMA plus a five-mile buffer will be closed to all public entry with the exception of contractor personnel and observers escorted by BLM staff.

A map on page 6 shows the closure area.

A court order allowed the BLM to remove about a third of the horses provided the remaining population does not fall below 278.

Refer to footnote 1 at the bottom of page 3.

PREVIOUS: Court Rules in Favor of Riddle Mountain Coalition.

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

Red Desert Roundup, Day 3

The incident started on October 16.  Results through October 18:

  • FY: 2027
  • Scope: Green Mountain and Stewart Creek HMAs (two of five in Complex)
  • Target: Horses
  • AML: 475 (720 for Complex)
  • Pre-gather population: Unknown (2,278 for Complex)
  • Type: Planned
  • Contractor: Sampson
  • Contract amount: $393,488
  • Unit cost: $380
  • Method: Helicopter
  • Category: Cruel and costly (according to advocates)
  • Better way: Sterilize mares with PZP, pray for older horses to die (per advocates)
  • Capture goal: 1,035
  • Removal goal: Unknown
  • Captured: 167, up from 132 on Day 1
  • Shipped: 127, up from zero on Day 1
  • Released: None
  • Deaths: 3, up from 1 on Day 1
  • Average daily take: 55.7
  • Unaccounted-for animals: 37
  • Snippet from statute: It is the policy of Congress that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death
  • Snippet from manual: To protect wild horses and burros from unauthorized capture, branding, harassment or death

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

Two horses were dispatched on Day 2 for physical defects.

The death rate is 1.8%.

The capture total includes 57 stallions, 73 mares and 37 foals.

Youngsters represented 22.2% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 43.8% were male and 56.2% were female.

Body condition scores were not given.

The location of the trap site was not disclosed.

An unspecified number of mares will be treated with fertility control and returned to the range, prolonging the genetic bottleneck created by the roundup.

The Complex is subject to permitted grazing.  Resources liberated to date:

  • Forage: 2,004 AUMs per year
  • Water: 1,670 gallons per day

Public lands within two miles of active trapping locations and temporary holding pens are closed to the public, with the exception of observers escorted by BLM staff.

PREVIOUS: Red Desert Roundup Begins.

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

Colorado Wild Horse Advisory Committee Meets This Week

The meeting begins at 8:00 AM local time on October 21 according to the agenda.

Public comments will be taken at 9:00 AM.

CDA staff will update the team on the wild horse license plate, a source of funds for the darting programs, and BLM staff will discuss wild horse roundups in the state.

More information at the meeting website.

The advocates, not the legacy contractors, are inflicting irreparable harm on your wild horses.

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

Swasey and Cedar Mountain Roundups Go to Cattoor

The obligated amount is $397,025 according to a report at USA Spending.

The capture goal of 640 gives a unit cost of $620 per animal taken.

Western Horse Watchers has not been able to find a gather page or news release but they’re on the schedule with a start date of November 1.

A new project in ePlanning, covering the Swasey HMA, suggests that public lands closures are in the works.

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

What Upsets the Advocates More Than Images of Foals?

Images of drilling rigs.  This one’s on public lands in the Green Mountain HMA and Arapahoe Creek Allotment, south of Jeffrey City.

The Decision Record said the project received no comments in ePlanning.

See if you can find a wild horse policy statement at Lost Soldier.

How about the Wyoming Stock Growers Association?

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

Court Rules in Favor of Riddle Mountain Coalition

A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction blocking an emergency roundup that would have captured all of the wild horses in the HMA, placed them in feedlots for two years and returned a small fraction after conditions improved.

The news release said the Trump appointee was concerned that the BLM decided to remove the horses before it conducted an environmental assessment, a NEPA violation known as “predetermination.”

PREVIOUS: Court Says Whoa to Riddle Mountain Roundup.

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

SURPRISE: PLC Discusses Wild Horses at Annual Meeting

The agenda said the last session on September 16 would cover multiple use and future policy but it turned out to be an update from the BLM on wild horse populations and efforts to improve long-term management.

A article by Wyoming Livestock Roundup said the agency will be rolling out a new program by the end of the year called the Rangeland Health Initiative, which is intended to coordinate programs overseeing wild horse and burro management, livestock grazing and wildlife habitat.

On another front, they are trying to reengage the Path Forward Coalition, a group of stakeholders with varying perspectives on wild horse management and reach out to sportsmen and wildlife organizations.

The meeting was held a few days before the Pesticide Roundtable, which would have added more weight to remarks about fertility control.

RELATED: PLC Presents 2026 Rangeland Stewardship Awards.

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

Court Says BLM Can Process Challis Wild Horses

A federal judge has denied a preliminary injunction that would block adoptions and fertility control treatments of wild horses captured last month in Idaho according to a report by Capital Press.

The plaintiffs couldn’t point to any concrete data, information or statistics regarding the injections that would warrant an order stopping them.

Seriously?

Who said the advocates aren’t ill-informed about wild horses?

RELATED: Court Says Challis Roundup Can Proceed.

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