So says the writer of a story appearing this morning in the The Daily Sentinel of Grand Junction, CO.  The decision likely involves a plan for resource enforcement actions in the Piceance-East Douglas HMA, NEPA project DOI-BLM-CO-N050-2020-0056-EA.

The comment period for the Draft EA closed on December 23, according to a BLM news release dated November 23.

Western Horse Watchers did not see the announcement.  It may have been posted late but backdated to November 23, burying it in old news.  This has happened before.

The HMA covers 190,130 acres in northwestern Colorado and has an AML of 235, for an aimed-at stocking rate of 1.2 wild horses per thousand acres.

The EA indicates in Section 5.1 (page 30 in the pdf) that “The predominant land uses within the PEDHMA are livestock grazing, energy development, and dispersed recreation including hunting,” but provides no data for the allotments, grazing seasons and active AUMs.

That would have been a substantive comment.  Resource allocations and management priorities in the HMA are unknown.  Is it managed primarily for livestock?  Who knows.

Note that protection of wild horses is not one of the predominant uses.

Table 3.3 in the Final EA for resource enforcement actions shows the eight allotments that intersect the HMA.

Western Horse Watchers was unable to find the Ely Spring Sheep allotment in RAS, although it appears on Map I of the EA (page 9 in the pdf).  Ely Springs can be found in RAS but the acreage doesn’t match Table 3.3 so it was omitted.

Of the remaining allotments, five are managed by the Caliente Field Office and two by the Bristlecone Field Office.

The Caliente report shows one allotment in the Maintain category, two allotments in the Improve category and two in the Custodial category.

With most of the acreage coming from public lands, and all of the forage, Western Horse Watchers is unable to explain how those two allotments qualify as Custodial, in view of the 10% rule.

The category masks their condition.

The Bristlecone report classifies one allotment as Maintain and one as Custodial.

Same question for the allotment designated Custodial.

A category for blaming substandard conditions on wild horses and burros doesn’t exist.

RELATED: Another Silver King Roundup Starts This Week.

The next incident could occur in April, according to a report posted today by KX News of Bismarck, ND.  The roundup planned for last year was cancelled.

The original wild horses of TRNP, thought to be descendants of Sitting Bull’s horses, were removed from the area 20+ years ago.

The following video shows some of the effects of darting mares with contraceptives, which are safe and effective according to their adherents.

RELATED: TRNP ‘Culls’ Adopted, Horses of the Badlands.

BLM said today that 283 wild horses will be gathered from the Silver King HMA, starting on or about February 5, due to overpopulation.  Up to 25 mares will be treated with contraceptives and returned to the range, for a removal target of 258.

The operation will be carried out with helicopters, according to the news release, and will be open to public observation.

The last roundup ended in late 2018, with 996 horses removed.

The HMA covers 606,000 acres in eastern Nevada and has an AML of 128, for an aimed-at stocking rate of 0.2 wild horses per thousand acres.  Refer to Table 1 in the Final EA for resource enforcement actions in the HMA.

The target stocking rate across all HMAs is one wild horse per thousand acres.

As previously discussed, fractional stocking rates may indicate large amounts of forage diverted to privately owned livestock.

The HMA intersects eight allotments, per Table 3.3 in the EA, with five of them offering year-round grazing.  The Wilson Creek and Geyser Ranch allotments overlap the Eagle HMA to the east.

Cattle and sheep receive an estimated 24,000 AUMs per year inside the HMA, with just 1,500 AUMs per year assigned to the horses.  The HMA is managed almost exclusively for livestock.

The forage allocated to livestock would support an additional 2,000 wild horses, for a True AML of 2,128.  The current population of 343 wild horses is well within that range, making the roundup and fertility control program unnecessary.

Captured animals will be taken to the off-range corrals at Palomino Valley.

Gather stats and daily reports will be posted to this page.

RELATED: Silver King Horses Get Short End of Stick.

The incident began on January 6.  Gather stats through January 31:

• Horses captured: 767, up from 702 on Day 23
• Goal: 1,131
• Returned: 0
• Deaths: 18, up from 15 on Day 23
• Shipped: 628, up from 544 on Day 23

No gather activity was reported on Days 24 and 25.

One death occurred on Day 24 and two more on Day 26, all attributed to pre-existing conditions.  The overall death rate is 2.3%, up from 2.1% on Day 23.

One foal has been caught to date.  Roughly 45% of captured adults are male and 55% are female.  Some of the mares are probably within a few weeks of foaling.  Some may have foaled in the off-range corrals.

Body condition scores are not known.

The location of current operations is not known.  Three HMAs are involved in the roundup.

The number of unaccounted-for animals is 121, down from 143 on Day 23.

Some of the mares will be treated with contraceptives and returned to the range but no such activity has been reported.  Some may receive GPS radio transmitters.

Data quality on this roundup has been good.

RELATED: Eagle Roundup Day 23.

This year’s event is scheduled for June 11 – 13 at the Murieta Equestrian Center east of Sacramento.

The 2020 Expo was cancelled due to Covid.

Although many activities are expected, a day trip to a nearby HMA will not be one of them.  Events involving wild horses will be off the range.

At or near the Heber WHT with Friends of the Heber Wild Horses.