Section 3.2.2 in the Draft EA for resource enforcement actions provides information on the grazing allotments that intersect the HMAs.
The Three Fingers HMA lies within the Wildhorse Basin pasture of the Board Corrals Allotment and the Riverside pasture of the Three Fingers Allotment.
The Western Watersheds map shows the arrangement.
The Allotment Master Report from RAS puts Board Corrals in the Maintain category and Three Fingers in the Improve category.
The Jackies Butte HMA lies within the Dry Creek Native pasture of the Jackies Butte Summer Allotment.
The Allotment Master Report puts Jackies Butte Summer in the Maintain category.
Two of the allotments are in the Maintain category along with 68% of the public acres.
The average forage density in the allotments is 72.4 AUMs per year per thousand acres, enough to support six wild horses per thousand acres, on top of the 2.4 wild horses per thousand acres allowed by plan.
The government has stated repeatedly that public lands in the Western U.S. can only carry one wild horse per thousand acres (27,000 animals on 27 million acres), so that brings up the question “How many wild horses can these HMAs really support?”
Don’t look to the advocates for an answer.
RELATED: Draft EA for Three Fingers and Jackies Butte Out for Review.
Western Horse Watchers Association 