Month: February 2020

Banker Horses Hide in Sea Grass

A story posted this morning by The News & Observer of Raleigh, NC shows a photo of a marsh area and asks how many horses are hiding there.  They are hard to spot but there are six, according to the report.

The story goes on to say that the greatest threat to the horses nowadays is—wait for it—climate change.

Yeah, right.

The greatest danger to these animals is the local ‘advocacy’ group, whose members refer to them as ‘highly threatened,’ yet they’re darting them with contraceptives.

How Many Cow/Calf Pairs Could a Checkerboard Rancher Place on One Square Mile?

The draft RMP Amendment and EIS for the four HMAs affected by the Rock Springs Consent Decree did not provide parcel sizes and grazing seasons for the 28 allotments involved, so the question will have to be answered by bootstrap.

Data for livestock on public lands in Wyoming yield 18.6 cow/calf pairs per thousand acres, assuming a six month grazing season.

Section 3.10 in the draft EIS indicates an average grazing season of about four months, so the estimated stocking rate would be 27.9 cow/calf pairs per thousand acres.

One square mile contains 640 acres, so the estimated number of cow/calf pairs that could be placed on a private checkerboard parcel is 27.9 ÷ 1,000 × 640 = 17.9.

Each parcel would require 4 × 5,280 = 21,120 linear feet of fencing plus a water source, a sizeable expenditure for just 18 ‘free ranging’ cow/calf pairs.

Of course, the rancher could import feed to allow the number of animals to increase into a profitable range, as it should be: Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are for domestic livestock, not wild horses.

RELATED: Is Wyoming a Fence-Out State?

Is Wyoming a Fence-Out State?

The four HMAs affected by the Rock Springs RMP amendment contain ‘checkerboard’ lands, areas where every other square mile alternates between public land and private or state lands.

The Rock Springs Grazing Association (RSGA) owns many of the private parcels inside the HMAs.  Historically, RSGA had agreed to a limited number of wild horses on private land within the checkerboard areas.

However, in 2010 RSGA revoked their consent and requested that all wild horses be removed from private lands.  The loss of this consent has complicated the management of wild horses on checkerboard lands, prompting the RMP amendment and actions resulting therefrom.  Refer to Section 3.1 in the draft EIS.

The problem could be resolved at the state level: Require property owners to install legal fences if they don’t want horses on their land.  Let the ranchers bear the cost of keeping their property private, not the taxpayers.  A longer-term objective, not related to the amendment, would be to deny them access to public lands, so the fencing would serve two purposes.

If you wanted to submit a substantive comment on the draft EIS, that would be one.

RELATED: Rock Springs EIS Posted.

PSA 12-24-19

Laramie County BOC to Consider Rule Change This Week

The Planning Commission and residents near Burns, WY have given the wrong answer, so now the pressure shifts to the Board of Commissioners, who will consider the rule change on February 4.

Facilities of the type proposed by Equine Elite must get approval from residents within three miles but an amendment requested by the company would reduce the distance to one mile, cutting many of the stakeholders out of the decision-making process.

The facility would hold up to 5,000 wild horses captured by the BLM and the BLM would pay Equine Elite an amount per horse for each day they are held.  The horses would receive vaccinations and be transitioned to domestic life, according to a report posted this morning by the Cheyanne-based Wyoming Tribune Eagle.

With the funding of the ‘Path Forward’ in December and now with the loss of four HMAs in Wyoming, more corrals are needed to accommodate wild horses displaced from their home range—so their food can be sold to public-lands ranchers.

RELATED: Laramie County Planning Board Rejects Proposed Amendment.

Eagle Roundup Day 16

Cumulative totals through 01-31-20, per the BLM roundup page for the Eagle Complex:

  • 949 animals gathered
  • 12 deaths (1.3%)
  • 417 studs (44.1%)
  • 528 mares (55.9%)
  • 4 new foals (2019 foals counted as adults)

The proportions of studs and mares are still outside of statistical limits corresponding to n = 945 and p-bar = .50.  These results do not look like they came from a process that produces 50% males and 50% females.  Why?

The thriving ecological balance is now only 651 wild horses away (1,700 horses to be gathered − 100 to be returned − 949).

Thriving Ecological Balance Rev 2

RELATED: Eagle Roundup Day 13, Eagle Wild Horses Get Short End of Stick.

So Long, Pilot Butte Wild Horse Scenic Loop?

The 24-mile gravel road, running along the southeastern border of the White Mountain HMA, provides wild horse viewing opportunities between the towns of Rock Springs and Green River in southwestern Wyoming.

The HMA is subject to permitted livestock grazing in the summer and winter.

Alternatives C and D in the draft RMP Amendment and EIS for wild horse management in that area will convert the HMA to an HA, no longer managed for horses.

Who wants to spend their summer vacation looking at cattle and sheep on land where horses once roamed?

RELATED: Pilot Butte Wild Horse Scenic Tour.