Last week BLM signed a Categorical Exclusion and Decision Record authorizing the removal of up to 75 wild horses from private lands adjacent to the Red Rock Lakes HMA in northern California, subject to a 30-day appeal period.
Western Horse Watchers was unable to find an announcement of the event at the BLM news site.
The roundup, if it occurs, may be preceded by a news release with more information, such as timing, method of gather and destination of captured animals.
The HMA covers 18,541 acres and has an AML of 25, for a stocking rate of 1.3 horses per thousand acres.
The HMA intersects six grazing allotments, according to Section 2.23 in Volume 1 of the 2008 Alturas RMP. The forage allocated to livestock inside the HMA is not known.
The horses require 300 AUMs per year. Land inside the HMA must be able to produce at least 16 AUMs per year per thousand acres (AUMTA) to support them.
Curiously, the RMP allocates 54,881 AUMs per year to livestock across 457,519 acres, according to Section 2.8 in Volume 1. Forage production in those areas would be 120 AUMTA, reinforcing an observation made earlier this week that land is much more productive when designated for livestock grazing.
