On the Salt River with Stan Wiley.  Filmed last July but posted this week.

The effects of the Montana Solution were already apparent.

Now, thanks to the advocates, other herds will suffer its long-term effects, evident at Assateague Island but buried by the Park Service, and they’ll likely have to endure the trauma of roundups to receive it.

As predicted last week, they will drop their opposition to the roundups, and the losses associated therewith, if it means greater use of PZP.

RELATED: Foal-Free Friday, Lipstick on a Pig Edition.

No horses were lost in the May 19 update.

This is the fourth consecutive day of zero deaths.

All fatalities have occurred in pens occupied by the West Douglas horses.

Approximately 15% were foals.

The May 19 sitrep provides no new details.

RELATED: Cañon City Deaths Holding at 144.

Comments will be accepted through June 17, according to yesterday’s news release.

The Proposed Action, discussed in Section 2.2.1 of the EA, features roundups to the low end of AML, population suppression using PZP, GonaCon or IUDs, sex ratio skewing and GPS tracking of animals over a ten-year period.

The project area includes the Blawn Wash HA, not shown in the Western Watersheds map, and three HMAs.  The map in Appendix 1 puts Blawn Wash on the north side of the Four Mile HMA.

Blawn Wash was zeroed out in 2005.  A 2001 land exchange shifted 43% of the acreage and 70% of the forage from the BLM to the State of Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration.  Forage in that portion of the HA is managed by SITLA.

The four areas cover 215,350 total acres in western Utah and have a combined AML of 80 to 170, per Table 1.1 of the EA.

The 170 horses allowed by plan require 2,040 AUMs per year.  The stocking rate allowed by plan is approximately 0.8 wild horses per thousand acres.

The current population is thought to be 831, five times more horses than allowed by plan, but not necessarily above the carrying capacity of the land.

In their zeal to spread the Montana Solution across the American west, the advocates ignore this critical detail, giving cover to the public-lands ranchers.

Table 3.1 shows 16 grazing allotments that intersect the Complex, including the HA.

Section 3.3.2 indicates that livestock receive 5,696 + 1,533 = 7,229 AUMs per year inside the Complex, 3.5 times more forage than the horses.

The new enforcement plan will ensure that this resource stays with the ranchers.

The forage assigned to livestock would support an additional 602 wild horses, for a True AML of 772, which is smaller than the current population.  On the basis of these data, excess animals exist within the Complex.

Water is the limiting factor, according to Section 3.3.1, consisting of isolated springs and man-made developments for permitted grazing.  If grazing is curtailed due to drought or other reasons, these sources may not be maintained and can fall into disrepair.

The HMAs do not have Herd Management Area Plans.  The EA indicates that HMAPs are not prerequisites to resource enforcement actions.

The Complex does not appear in the latest roundup schedule.

Comments may be submitted online.  As of today, the count is zero.

RELATED: New Resource Enforcement Plan for Bible Springs Complex?

No deaths were reported in the May 18 update.

All fatalities have occurred in pens occupied by the West Douglas horses.

Approximately 15% were foals.

The May 18 sitrep provides no new details.

RELATED: No Change in Cañon City Deaths.

The incident began on May 2.  Gather stats through May 16:

• Target: Burros
• Type: Planned
• Method: Helicopter
• Captured: 710, up from 607 on Day 13
• Average daily take: 47.3
• Capture goal: 1,080
• Removal goal: 1,080
• Returned: None
• Deaths: None
• Shipped: 630, up from 508 on Day 13

The cumulative total includes 264 jacks, 359 jennies and 87 foals, based on figures in the daily reports.  The breakdown at the gather page is 265, 357 and 88.

Youngsters represented 12.3% of the animals captured.  Of the adults, 42.4% were male and 57.6% were female.

The herd can’t be growing at a rate of 20% per year with a birth rate of 12% per year.

The percentage of foals has been going down as the number of animals caught goes up.

The percentages of males and females are now outside calculated limits of variation for a simple random process centered at p-bar = .5 (50% males / 50% females) with a sample size of n = 623 adults.

Abnormal sex ratios are not unusual in herds treated with the Montana Solution.

It’s one of the characteristics the Park Service is hiding at Assateague Island.

No PZP jennies have been reported since Day 6.

Is that result lower than expected?  Where did they go?  The experiment will likely be discussed next week at the International Fertility Control Conference.

The location of the trap site within the HMA was not given.

Day 15 ended with 80 unaccounted-for animals.

The number of animals taken off the range is 710 and the removal goal is 66% complete.

Other statistics:

• AML: 478
• Forage assigned to burros: 2,868 AUMs per year
• Pre-gather population: 3,000
• Forage liberated to date: 4,260 AUMs per year
• Water liberated to date: 3,550 gallons per day
• Forage assigned to livestock: 7,333 AUMs per year (estimated)
• Burros displaced from HMA by permitted grazing: 1,222
• True AML: 1,700
• Stocking rate at new AML: 1.7 burros per thousand acres
• Burros displaced from HMA by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

RELATED: Black Mountain Roundup Day 13.

The organizers have announced dates and locations in most states.

They are still pushing HR 6635, the helicopter ban.

Consider these scenarios for taking wild horses off the range:

A. By helicopter

• Horses before incident – 400
• Horses after incident – 250
• Forage shifted to ranchers – 1,800 AUMs per year

B. By wrangler

• Horses before incident – 400
• Horses after incident – 250
• Forage shifted to ranchers – 1,800 AUMs per year

C. By Montana Solution

• Horses before incident – 400
• Horses after incident – 250
• Forage shifted to ranchers – 1,800 AUMs per year

What have the advocates accomplished by ending helicopter roundups?

The bill will likely require changes.

Initially, helicopter roundups were bad but with the rollout of the catch-treat-release program and its potential for expanded use of the Montana Solution, they are good.

No deaths were reported in the May 17 update, leaving the total at 144.

All fatalities have occurred in pens occupied by the West Douglas horses.

Data in the May 17 sitrep indicate 15.3% were foals.  The report did not indicate if they were born in captivity or taken off the range.

RELATED: Cañon City Deaths Stable at 144.

No deaths were reported in the May 16 update, leaving the total at 144.

All fatalities have occurred in pens occupied by the West Douglas horses.

The May 16 sitrep includes a breakdown between adults and foals lost to the virus.

RELATED: Cañon City Deaths Climb to 144.

The incident began on May 2.  Gather stats through May 14:

• Target: Burros
• Type: Planned
• Method: Helicopter
• Captured: 607, up from 524 on Day 11
• Average daily take: 46.7
• Capture goal: 1,080
• Removal goal: 1,080
• Returned: None
• Deaths: None
• Shipped: 508, up from 454 on Day 11

No gather activity occurred on Day 12.

The cumulative total includes 234 jacks, 293 jennies and 80 foals, based on figures in the daily reports.  The breakdown at the gather page is 235, 291 and 81.

Youngsters represented 13.2% of the animals captured.  Of the adults, 44.4% were male and 55.6% were female.

The herd can’t be growing at a rate of 20% per year with a birth rate of 13% per year.

No PZP jennies have been reported since Day 6.

The location of the trap site within the HMA was not given.

Day 13 ended with 99 unaccounted-for animals.

The number of animals taken off the range to date is 607.

Other statistics:

• AML: 478
• Forage assigned to burros: 2,868 AUMs per year
• Pre-gather population: 3,000
• Forage liberated to date: 3,642 AUMs per year
• Water liberated to date: 3,035 gallons per day
• Forage assigned to livestock: 7,333 AUMs per year (estimated)
• Burros displaced from HMA by permitted grazing: 1,222
• True AML: 1,700
• Stocking rate at new AML: 1.7 burros per thousand acres
• Burros displaced from HMA by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

RELATED: Black Mountain Roundup Day 11.

At the Ozark National Scenic Riverways with Tim Layton.

One death was reported in the May 15 update, bringing the total to 144.

All fatalities have occurred in pens occupied by the West Douglas horses.

No new details were provided in the May 15 sitrep.

RELATED: Cañon City Deaths Unchanged at 143.

An undated announcement by the City of Reno indicates that the FY 2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act authorized $500,000 “in federal support for the protection and humane management of the historic Virginia Range horses in the greater Reno area.”

Humane management usually means getting rid of them with PZP.

The funds were directed to the Nevada Department of Agriculture for “collaborative, science-based management” of the herd.

The announcement said the horses are managed under two cooperative agreements, one between the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses and NDA for fertility control and the other between NDA and Wild Horse Connection for range management, including rescue and relocation, diversionary feeding and fence construction and repair.

The article last August by Courthouse News said NDA had contracted with WHC to implement the fertility control program but that was not mentioned by the City.

Nevada is a fence-out state, according to a flier posted by the City of Reno, meaning livestock are free to roam and feed over any property that is not fenced.

The state describes the Virginia Range mustangs as feral/estray livestock.

Wyoming is also a fence-out state but taxpayers, not RSGA, will be responsible for keeping wild horses off the property owned or leased by the association.

Most of the Virginia Range is in Storey County, but a portion on the west side lies in Washoe County, where most of the development has taken place.

Much of the area in Storey County is sparsely populated and privately held, meaning you can buy land and live among free-roaming horses, minus the youngsters of course.

RELATED: Meeting #2 Regarding Virginia Range Mustangs Set for Monday.

The City of Reno will host another informational session on May 16 starting at 5:30 PM Pacific time, according to an undated announcement on the city’s web site.

RELATED: Lower Speed, More Fencing for Virginia Range Mustangs?

No deaths were reported in the May 14 update, leaving the total at 143.

All fatalities have occurred in pens occupied by the West Douglas horses.

No new details were provided in the May 14 sitrep.

RELATED: Cañon City Deaths Rise Slightly.

The incident began on May 2.  Gather stats through May 12:

• Target: Burros
• Type: Planned
• Method: Helicopter
• Captured: 524, up from 421 on Day 9
• Average daily take: 47.6
• Capture goal: 1,080
• Removal goal: 1,080
• Returned: None
• Deaths: None
• Shipped: 454, up from 351 on Day 9

The cumulative total breaks down to 203 jacks, 247 jennies and 74 foals, according to figures in the daily reports.  The figures at the gather page are 204 jacks, 245 jennies and 75 foals, which do not sum to 531 as indicated in the sidebar.

Youngsters represented 14.1% of the animals captured.  Of the adults, 45.1% were male and 54.9% were female.

The herd can’t be growing at a rate of 20% per year with a birth rate of 14% per year.

Four PZP jennies have been caught to date, part of the Humane Society darting project.

The location of the trap site within the HMA was not disclosed.

Day 11 ended with 70 unaccounted-for animals.

Other statistics:

• AML: 478
• Forage assigned to burros: 2,868 AUMs per year
• Pre-gather population: 3,000
• Forage liberated to date: 3,144 AUMs per year
• Water liberated to date: 2,620 gallons per day
• Forage assigned to livestock: 7,333 AUMs per year (estimated)
• Burros displaced from HMA by permitted grazing: 1,222
• True AML: 1,700
• Stocking rate at new AML: 1.7 burros per thousand acres
• Burros displaced from HMA by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

RELATED: Black Mountain Roundup Day 9.