Video from BLM’s Rangeland Management page. Fun facts, with their timestamps:
- 600 cow/calf pairs graze on 50,000 acres (0:12)
- 20% of the forage is utilized (5:29)
Public lands in Idaho can sustain twelve cow/calf pairs per thousand acres at a 20% forage utilization rate, suggesting a carrying capacity of sixty cow/calf pairs per thousand acres.
However, public lands in the state can only support 1.5 wild horses per thousand acres, according to the Herd Management page.
Probably because climate and resources vary wildly from allotment to allotment, with wild horses finding themselves in one of the bad spots.