Barren Valley Roundup, Day 5

The incident started on September 4.  Results through September 8:

  • Scope: Sheepshead/Heath Creek HMA
  • Target: Horses
  • AML: 302
  • Pre-gather population: 1,200
  • Type: Emergency
  • Contractor: Cattoor
  • Contract amount: $269,383
  • Unit cost: $540
  • Method: Helicopter
  • Category: Cruel and costly (according to advocates)
  • Better way: Sterilize the mares with PZP (according to advocates)
  • Capture goal: 499
  • Removal goal: 499
  • Captured: 183, up from 170 on Day 4
  • Shipped: 166, up from 97 on Day 4
  • Released: None
  • Deaths: 2, up from 1 on Day 4
  • Average daily take: 36.6
  • Unaccounted-for animals: 15
  • 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, which were not published until September 8.

A mare was dispatched on Day 5 for a prolapsed vagina.

The death rate is 1.1%.

The capture total includes 64 stallions, 79 mares and 40 foals.

Youngsters represented 21.9% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 44.8% were male and 55.2% were female.

Body condition scores were not given.

The location of the trap site was not disclosed.

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

The HMA is subject to permitted grazing.  Removal of wild horses may not liberate any food or water for livestock due to wildfire and drought.

PREVIOUS: Barren Valley (Sheepshead) Roundup in Progress.

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

Court Says Challis Roundup Can Proceed

A federal judge has denied a restraining order sought by Wild Horse Education, arguing that the plaintiffs did not meet the standards for an extraordinary remedy.

The ruling is not a final adjudication of the lawsuit, according to a story by Capital Press, and the judge will consider the request later this month.

RELATED: Challis Roundup Announced.

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

Challis Roundup Announced

The incident will begin today according to the news release.

The capture goal is 281 and the removal goal is 146.

The target is horses.

The pre-gather population is thought to be around 330.

A helicopter will push them into the traps.

The contractor is Cattoor and the contract amount is $171,690 according to a report at USA Spending.

The unit cost is $611 per animal captured.

The HMA will be closed to public access with the exception of observers escorted by BLM staff.

Animals identified for removal will be taken to the off-range corrals in Challis.

Up to 54 mares will be treated with fertility control and returned to the range, implying that 90 stallions will be returned also, skewing the sex ratio in favor of males.

These actions will prolong the genetic bottleneck created by the roundup.

Recovery will be also slowed, if not prevented, by the advocates at Wild Love Preserve, who have been poisoning the mares with PZP.

The ranchers couldn’t have asked for a better partner.

PREVIOUS: BLM Closing Public Lands for Challis Roundup.

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

Management Priorities at Riddle Mountain

The HMA boundary excludes some deeded acreage on the west side that falls within the Burnt Flat allotment.

Otherwise, the borders match.

Your faithful public servants allow 56 wild horses on 28,331 public acres according to the 2026 population estimates, or two wild horses per thousand public acres.

In Burnt Flat, they allow livestock equivalent to 310 wild horses on 28,749 public acres according to the allotment master report, or 10.8 wild horses per thousand public acres.

The HMA is managed primarily for livestock.

The True AML is 366.

The arrangement costs taxpayers $679,000 per year for the 310 horses in off-range holding, minus $5,900 from ranchers grazing livestock in their stead.

Who would do a stupid deal like that?

PREVIOUS: Riddle Mountain DNA Fills Some Gaps in Roundup Announcement.

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

Court Puts American Prairie’s Permit Revocation on Hold

A U.S. district judge has temporarily blocked the BLM’s order, allowing AP’s bison to remain on three allotments in Phillips County according to its news release.

At the center of the case is whether the Taylor Grazing Act limits federal grazing permits to production-oriented livestock, an ad hoc excuse—and complete fabrication concocted by ranching interests—to thwart allotment conversions for conservation purposes, such as wild animal preserves.

The ruling casts a long shadow over the agency’s attempt to insert the clause into the Part 4100 grazing regulations, “to head off suggestions that grazing permits may be appropriate for other purposes, including preservation or conservation.”

PREVIOUS: 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.

► Search for other posts on grazing rule changes.

Salt River Charade Deepens

The advocates have created a genetic bottleneck from which there is no escape.

The bottleneck event was a PZP darting program that took the herd from 450 to 270 over a period of eight years, well beyond the range of reversibility.

A helicopter could achieve the same results in eight days, but the changes would not be permanent.

Would you approve $325,000 for a genetic study if you knew the mares had been sterilized, the breeding population had been destroyed and genetic mixing had been stopped?

The money would be better spent investigating those responsible for the destruction and their acolytes, who tried—and still try—to cover it up.

PREVIOUS: Board of Regents Authorizes Salt River Genetic Research.

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

Confusion Aftermath

The pre-gather population was not given but likely above 400 and 308 wild horses were removed, leaving around 100 to repopulate the area.

Q. Did the helicopters 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 push the herd off the genetic cliff?

A. No, fertility control programs do that.

Q. Why do the advocates strongly support fertility control?

A. They want the ranchers to win.

PREVIOUS: Confusion Roundup Over.

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

Confusion Roundup Over

The incident concluded on September 1 with 309 horses captured, 305 shipped, one released and three dead.

There were no unaccounted-for animals.

The death rate was 1.0%.  Two of the deaths were intentional.

The capture total included 128 stallions, 136 mares and 45 foals.

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

The contractor was Sampson and the contract amount was $235,563.

The operation liberated 3,696 AUMs per year for other mandated uses of public lands.

RELATED: Confusion Roundup Announced.

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

Riddle Mountain DNA Fills Some Gaps in Roundup Announcement

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

The capture goal is 100% of the herd, around 418 wild horses.

Some of the animals will be maintained in off-range holding for two vegetation growing seasons, to be returned to the HMA after recovery from wildfire and drought.

Cattle will also be removed to help the land recover.

No word on a public lands closure while the roundup is in progress.

The Kiger/Riddle horses have always done well at auctions.  The last one was in 2015.

PREVIOUS: Riddle Mountain Emergency Roundup Announced.

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

Piceance Roundup Ends

The incident concluded on September 2 with 894 horses captured, 880 shipped, none released, nine dead and five not accounted for.

894 – 880 – 0 – 9 = 5

The death rate was 1.0%.

The number of mares treated with fertility control was not given.

The capture total included 355 stallions, 368 mares and 171 foals.

The contractor was Warner and the contract amount was $679,249.

The capture goal was not reached.  Productivity was high at the beginning of the roundup but declined steadily.

In response to the incident, the governor sent a letter to DOI Secretary Burgum asking for an immediate freeze on upcoming roundups in Colorado.

State officials requested evidence that helicopter roundups are a more effective means of controlling the wild horse population but were silent about the long-term effects of fertility control, the alternative they prefer.

The operation liberated 10,728 AUMs per year for other mandated uses of public lands.

RELATED: Piceance Roundup Announced.

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

Foal-Free Friday, Surviving the Bottleneck Edition

A genetic bottleneck occurs when the size of a population is reduced, leaving only a small subset of individuals to reproduce.

The condition can be associated with motorized and nonmotorized removal.

The distinction is that the herds usually recover from helicopter roundups but not from long-term fertility control.

Extinction is the result in those cases, and it’s the method preferred by the advocates.

PREVIOUS: Foal-Free Friday, Evil Beyond Imagination Edition.

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

Riddle Mountain Emergency Roundup Announced

The incident, billed as a rescue in the news release, will start on September 9 but most details have been omitted.

The driver is inadequate food and water.

The pre-gather population was not disclosed.

The capture and removal goals were not stated.

The method of capture is probably helicopter.

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

The name of the off-range holding facility was not given.

The contractor was not identified.

A public lands closure was not discussed.

Conditions in the Burnt Flat Allotment, which contains the HMA, are not known.

The roundup could be an extension of the incident at Sheepshead (Barren Valley), which borders Riddle Mountain on the east side.

RELATED: Barren Valley Emergency Roundup Announced.

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

BLM Closing Public Lands for Fifteenmile Roundup

A map in the Decision Record, which was copied to the project folder in ePlanning, indicates the order applies to the entire HMA and five trap locations to the east.

Only gather operation personnel and any public observers escorted by BLM staff will be allowed in the closure area.

The ArcGIS Viewer puts the five traps in the North Gooseberry Allotment.

The allotment master report has it in the Improve category with 27% of the permitted use in the suspended column, suggesting that your stewards of the public lands are not taking their responsibilities seriously.

The 8,519 active AUMs support livestock equivalent to 710 wild horses on 114,317 public acres, or 6.2 wild horses per thousand public acres.

The stocking rate allowed by plan in Fifteenmile is 2.8 wild horses per thousand public acres, another example of the double standard for resource management on America’s public lands.

PREVIOUS: Fifteenmile Roundup Getting Closer.

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

BLM Closing Public Lands for Barren Valley Roundup

A map in the project folder indicates that the entire HMA will be off limits for the duration of the incident.

Only essential gather operation personnel will be allowed in the closure area unless accompanied by BLM staff according to the Decision Record.

A gather page has been created for Riddle Mountain, adjacent to Sheepshead, but no details are known at this time.

PREVIOUS: Barren Valley Emergency Roundup Announced.

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