Month: June 2021

PZP Darting is Not the Answer

In the typical wild horse area, ‘sharing their home’ means 80 to 95 percent of the forage has been assigned to privately owned livestock.

It’s not a minor problem.

The number of horses displaced from public lands by permitted grazing is so large that every one of them in off-range holding could be returned by ending the practice in just a few dozen HMAs.

Those who would get rid of them with contraceptives are ranching collaborators.

Pond Dries Up at Sand Wash Basin HMA

The video description says there is too much mud around the edge for the horses to get to the remaining water.

A similar pattern occurred three years ago, but the BLM said the springs are flowing and the wells are pumping, so water deliveries weren’t needed.

The situation deteriorated over the next few weeks, and the government gave the OK to haul water.

A report from 2018 said the horses are confined to the area by a fence.

Amendment Tries to End Horse Transport for Slaughter

An amendment to HR 3684, an infrastructure bill, would ban the transportation of horses across state lines or to Canada or Mexico for slaughter for human consumption, according to a news release by Animal Wellness Action.

The measure follows reports of ‘horse laundering‘ associated with the government’s adoption incentive program.

A related bill, the SAFE Act, has been stymied by agriculture interests and pro-slaughter members of Congress.

WSGA Names 2021 Outstanding Range Professional

A range management specialist in the Worland Field Office received the award from the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, according to a BLM news release dated June 7.

So how’s the grazing program doing in that area?

The Allotment Information report in RAS yielded 516 rows, from which 73 duplicates were removed, leaving 443 records.  The dataset was filtered by Allotment Number.

A pivot table summarized the results:

Custodial Category (condition unknown)

  • 76 allotments
  • 193,264 public acres

Improve Category

  • 267 allotments
  • 1,601,043 public acres

Maintain Category

  • 100 allotments
  • 246,903 public acres

Approximately 60% of the allotments in the Worland Field Office do not meet standards for rangeland health, along with 78% of the public acres.  There are over six acres in the Improve category for every acre in the Maintain category.

The announcement said that strong working relationships with grazing permittees incentivize cooperative approaches that foster healthier rangelands, but that does not appear to be the case.

Perhaps the award was given for looking the other way.

RELATED: Status of Allotments in Wyoming, Allotment Categories Explained.

Even the Advocates Want to Get Rid of Them

The following story aired June 2.

At 1:21: “We need the Bureau of Land Management to stop rounding up wild horses, to manage them on our federal public lands, humanely, and use birth control instead of rounding them up and removing them and then stockpiling them.”

At 2:51, in response to a question about hassling wild horses, “Because the livestock industry has a huge, um, huge amount of power, and money, and they want all the horses gone.”

If that’s true, why do you want to reduce the herds with birth control?  Are you not cooperating with the ranchers?  Do you want the horses limited to 20% or less of the available resources?

Undeniable Truth #2.

RELATED: Caving In to Ranching Agenda at Onaqui Mountain HMA?

Centennial Roundup Day 10

The incident began on May 28.  Gather stats through June 6:

  • Burros captured: 359
  • Goal: 300
  • Returned: 0
  • Deaths: 0
  • Shipped: Unknown

The cumulative total on the gather page is 290, compared to 359 from the daily reports.

The breakdowns between jacks, jennies and foals have been provided for all days, not just the first three.  There is a mismatch on May 31.

Foals accounted for 13.9% of the burros gathered.  Of the adults, approximately 51% were male and 49% were female.

The number of burros shipped each day has not been reported, putting all of the animals in the unaccounted-for category.

Although the goal has been exceeded, the operation has not been marked complete.

RELATED: Centennial Roundup Day 7.

Memo to BLM: Get Rid of the Horses with PZP

Family bands torn apart by helicopters.

Adopted horses dumped at kill pens.

Unwanted animals languishing in off-range corrals.

These problems could be avoided with contraceptives, according to the writer of an opinion piece in this evening’s online edition of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Why not end permitted grazing and shift the resources back to the horses?

That would be bad for the ranchers and those in the PZP supply chain.

HMAs Freed from Grazing 05-23-21