All six allotments in the Surprise Complex are in the Improve category, according to the Allotment Master Report in RAS. This may mean that they are not meeting one or more standards for rangeland health.
If so, how much of the shortfall can be attributed to wild horses and burros? Refer to Sections 1.6 and 3.2.4 in the Draft EA.
The Wall Canyon HMA coincides with the Wall Canyon East allotment, so it is a good candidate for a ‘Short End of Stick’ report.
The management plan assigns 300 AUMs per year to the horses (Table 1-2), compared to 3,215 AUMs per year to cattle (Table 3-2). That’s about 9% of the forage to horses and 91% to cattle, in an area set aside for the horses.
The proposed gather plan cannot change the resource allocations and management priorities in the Complex. It can only enforce them.
Western Horse Watchers Association 