Month: August 2020

Crews Taming Pine Gulch Fire?

The fire has not moved any closer to the Little Bookcliffs WHR in the last two days but it has not been marked as contained in that area, according to today’s map, so there is still some risk of spread.

The 9 AM report at InciWeb puts the burned area at 135,000 acres, up slightly from yesterday’s 133,800 acres.  Containment has increased to 47%.

Operations at the Division B/A break, the point nearest the WHR, are discussed at the beginning of today’s briefing.

RELATED: Pine Gulch Fire Holding Near Little Bookcliffs WHR.

Sulphur Roundup, Day 10

Gather stats through August 24:

  • Horses captured: 458
  • Goal: 600
  • Deaths: 5

No deaths were reported over the last two days.

Foals represented 19.4% of the horses gathered.

Body condition scores ranged from 4 to 5.

The HMA, in western Utah on the Nevada border, intersects nine grazing allotments, one of which is not active.  The gather area extends into adjacent allotments as shown on the map supplied with the Final EA for wild horse management actions therein.

RELATED: Sulphur Roundup, Day 8.

Pine Gulch Fire Holding Near Little Bookcliffs WHR

The fire is still about a mile north of the WHR, according to today’s map.

The 9 AM report at InciWeb says that fire crews are monitoring the situation at the Division B/A break (denoted by two back-to-back parentheses on the map) and the management team is looking at options to prevent southerly spread.

The fire is now 44% contained and the total area burned is 133,800 acres, compared to 129,700 acres yesterday.

Light winds out of the northwest are predicted today, with a slight risk of dry lightning.

RELATED: Pine Gulch Fire Approaching Little Bookcliffs WHR.

UPDATE: Tactics for the Division B/A break are discussed at the end of today’s briefing.

Shawave Roundup, Day 21

Gather stats through August 23:

  • Horses captured: 1,578
  • Burros captured: 220
  • Animal deaths: 10

Captured mares now outnumber studs by 152.  Foals accounted for 18.5% of the total.

A mare died in the traps August 22 due to a broken neck.  Body condition scores have not been provided in this roundup.

Helicopter operations may cease in the next day or two, as the gather target of 1,650 horses has almost been reached.

The total number of animals shipped is 1,741.  The number of animals to be returned, according to the following relationship, is 47.

Animals shipped = Animals gathered – Animal deaths – Animals returned

The contractor is holding 44 mares on site (treated with contraceptives) so there are three unaccounted-for animals.

RELATED: Shawave Roundup, Day 19.

Grazing Program Ancillaries

What do they have in common?  They work together to give ranchers unfettered access to cheap feed on America’s public lands.

You don’t have a horse problem on western rangelands, you have a ranching problem, and it is huge.

Grazing Program Ancillaries B-1

Pine Gulch Fire Approaching Little Bookcliffs WHR

The map posted this morning suggests the fire has made an end run around a previously burned area, at the Division B/A break (denoted by back-to-back parentheses in the following image), and is now about a mile from the north end of the WHR.

Today’s report does not acknowledge this.

Winds will be out of the north this afternoon with gusts to 14 mph.  Rain showers are in the forecast for next week.

The area burned since July 31 has increased to approximately 129,700 acres, up from 126,600 acres yesterday.  Containment holding at 19%.

Reports at InciWeb have not indicated if the lands surrounding the WHR are subject to permitted livestock grazing.

NOTE: The previously burned area, from the Hunter Fire, is mentioned at 1:35 in this briefing from August 18.

RELATED: Weather Cooperating with Pine Gulch Fire Fighters.

Little Boocliffs WHR Pine Gulch Fire 08-23-20-1

Sulphur Roundup, Day 8

Gather stats through August 22:

  • Horses captured: 348
  • Goal: 600
  • Deaths: 5

Two studs were put down on August 21 due to pre-existing conditions and another horse was lost to colic.

Foals represented 18.1% of the horses captured.

Body condition scores over the last two days ranged from 3 to 5.

The forage assigned to livestock in the HMA would support an additional 855 wild horses, for a new AML of 1,105.  The stocking rate would be 4.2 animals per thousand acres, slightly lower than predicted by the Rule of 5.

RELATED: Sulphur Roundup, Day 6.

Don’t Forget the Laramie County CAFO!

The announcement earlier this week of three new off-range corrals and the expansion of a fourth complements the announcement earlier this year of the closure of three HMAs and downsizing of a fourth.

These short-term holding facilities are sometimes referred to as ‘concentrated animal feeding operations’ or ‘high-density feeding operations.’

Another such facility may be in the works, thanks to a rule change in Laramie County, WY that will streamline the approval of a CAFO near Burns.  Residents near the proposed feedlot opposed the change, along with the county planning commission.

The facility would have a capacity of 5,000 wild horses.

Weather Cooperating with Pine Gulch Fire Fighters

Today’s report shows 126,600 acres burned since July 31, compared to 124,900 acres yesterday, with 19% containment.  Light winds generally out of the north with a slight chance of afternoon thunderstorms.

The southern edge of the fire is about three miles north of the Little Bookcliffs WHR, according to the latest map.  The horses may be affected by smoke and ash—assuming they haven’t wandered off the reservation.

Crews have been removing fuel ahead of the fire to reduce its spread.

RELATED: Pine Gulch Fire Creeping.

Shawave Roundup, Day 19

Gather stats through August 21:

  • Horses captured: 1,315
  • Burros captured: 220
  • Animal deaths: 9

Helicopters were grounded August 20 due to smoke from wildfires.

Captured mares now outnumber studs by 106.  Foals accounted for 18.9% of the total.

No deaths were reported over the last two days.  Body condition scores have not been provided in this roundup.

The 44 mares treated with contraceptives on or about August 5 will receive boosters after 30 days followed by return to the HMA.

RELATED: Shawave Roundup, Day 17.

Wild Horse Management

Pine Gulch Fire Creeping

Today’s 10 AM report said most of the activity has been on the south side of the fire, which is now about three miles away from the north end of the Little Bookcliffs WHR.

That part of the fire has not been contained, according to the latest map, but it may stall as it moves into a previously burned area.

To date, roughly 124,900 acres have burned, compared to 121,800 acres yesterday.

RELATED: Pine Gulch Fire Correction.

Little Boocliffs WHR Pine Gulch Fire-1

Sulphur Roundup, Day 6

Gather stats through August 20:

  • Horses captured: 273
  • Goal: 600
  • Deaths: 2

A stud was put down on August 19 due to a pre-existing condition.

Foals represented 17.2% of the horses captured.

Body condition scores over the last two days ranged from 3 to 4.

The management plan for the HMA assigns 3.4 times as much forage to privately owned livestock as it does to horses.

The grazing allotments are shown on this map.  All are active except Mountain Home, according to the Final EA for wild horse management actions in the HMA.

The issues to be addressed by those actions, listed on page 5 of the EA (page 9 in the pdf), do not involve drilling, mining or logging.

RELATED: Sulphur Roundup, Day 4.

Triple B Roundup Ends

The operation concluded today, according to a BLM news release, with 390 wild horses removed from their home range.  Nine deaths were reported, with four horses put down on August 18 due to pre-existing conditions, including blindness.

The action was prompted by insufficient water and declining health of the animals.

The original goal was 360.

RELATED: Triple B Emergency Wild Horse Roundup Begins This Week.