That’s how Protect the Harvest describes the Virginia Range.
This site contains numerous photos of the Virginia Range and VR horses, most taken within the last year. Do you see any signs of starvation? Land wiped out by overgrazing?
These guys are on record as having no interest in taking ownership of the VR horses.
A representative of PTH appeared before the Board of Agriculture on 12/12/17 stating exactly that (go to 47:20 in the audio at this post).
A similar statement was made in an interview published 01/31/18 by The Storey Teller.
So why are they following the case so closely?
Here’s one possibility: The Virginia Range is an outlier, the numbers don’t fit the pattern established by their allies at the BLM.
If you want to get a quick estimate of the number of horses allowed in a given HMA, take the available acreage and divide by 800 (800 acres per horse). A parcel with 88,000 acres will support a maximum of 110 horses.
The VR has 3000 horses on 500 square miles. That’s 500 × 640 ÷ 3000 = 106 acres per horse.
The Virginia Range horses are surviving on a smaller ‘per capita’ land allocation than your typical HMA. The carrying capacity of the land is greater than BLM allows, at least on the Virginia Range. This casts a long shadow over the figures used by BLM and PTH.
The number of horses on the Virginia Range needs to be reduced to 500 or less, not because of a problem with the land, but to bring it in line with the BLM/PTH narrative.
If you’re still not convinced, consider this trailcam image from 07/24/17. It provides graphic evidence of the damage to wildlife and rangeland caused by the VR horses.
