A presentation by Chandra Rosenthal will occur at the Colorado Café Scientifique in Denver on August 2, according to this announcement.
A report by the group earlier this year claimed that the agency doesn’t consider the effects of permitted grazing on rangeland health, as noted in a story dated March 18 by KLAS News of Las Vegas.
RELATED: PEER Study in the News.
The management plan assigns an estimated 75% of their food to a public-lands rancher and they’ve now wandered into neighboring allotments due to “overpopulation and lack of forage within the HMA,” according to the discussion following Table 2 in the Draft EA for resource enforcement actions therein.
Who could have predicted that?
RELATED: New Bordo Atravesado Resource Enforcement Plan Out for Review.
A project has been created in ePlanning and a Draft EA has been posted.
The scoping period, if it occurred, was not announced at the BLM news site nor was the comment period for the EA.
The Proposed Action (Alternative A) features removals to the low end of the AML and population suppression over a ten-year project life.
Alternative B would add sex ratio skewing. Refer to page three in the EA (page five in the pdf).
The HMA covers 19,606 total acres east of Socorro, NM, including 16,493 public acres.
The 60 horses allowed by plan require 720 AUMs per year.
The stocking rate allowed by plan is 3.6 wild horses per thousand public acres, compared to a target rate of one wild horse per thousand acres acres across all HMAs.
The HMA lies within the Bordo Atravesado Allotment. The Allotment Master Report puts it in the Improve category with 2,714 active AUMs on 20,857 public acres.
Forage availability equates to 130.1 AUMs per year per thousand public acres, enough to support 10.8 wild horses per thousand acres, on top of the horses allowed by plan.
The number of horses displaced from the HMA by permitted grazing would be 10.8 × 16,493 ÷ 1,000 = 178.
The True AML would be 60 + 178 = 238, four times higher than the current AML.
The current population is thought to be around 230.
The forage assigned to livestock inside the HMA would be 130.1 × 16,493 ÷ 1,000 = 2,146 AUMs per year, assuming the resource is evenly distributed across the parcel, three times more than the forage assigned to horses.
The bureaucrats, like the advocates, think the horses are the problem.
The BLM will collect 2,146 × 1.35 = $2,897 per year in grazing fees from ranching operations inside the HMA while it spends 178 × 5 × 365 = $324,850 per year to care for the horses displaced thereby.
Would you say that’s a wise use of the public lands?
Confining the permittee to his base property was not considered in the analysis.
The HMA has no HMAP, presumably, given that the term was not found in the EA.
If the document existed, it would ratify and reinforce the lopsided resource allocations and mismanagement of the HMA you see here.
The Authorization Use Report indicates that cattle are on the land twelve months per year, which includes a wilderness study area.
Comments will be accepted through August 27.
The incident began on July 23. Gather stats through July 29:
The figures above are based on the daily reports. The number of horses shipped doesn’t match the total at the gather page.
Three horses were put down on Day 7 due to pre-existing conditions. Two foals died in temporary pens, cause unknown.
The horse death rate is now 1.5%, up from 1.1% on Day 5.
The horse total includes 373 stallions, 422 mares and 150 foals.
Youngsters represented 15.9% of the horses captured. Of the adults, 46.9% were male and 53.1% were female.
The herd can’t be growing at a rate of 20% per year with a birth rate of 16% per year.
A better estimate would be 11% per year, assuming a death rate of 5% per year.
Body condition scores on Days 6 and 7 ranged from 4 to 5.
The trap was moved to a new location on Day 6.
The HMA is subject to permitted grazing.
Day 7 ended with 237 unaccounted-for horses and no unaccounted-for burros.
Mares treated with fertility control will be returned to the area at a later date.
Other statistics:
RELATED: Twin Peaks Roundup, Day 5.
The Blue Wing – Seven Troughs Allotment, which contains the five HMAs affected by the roundup, offers 20,316 active AUMs on 1,192,778 public acres, according to the Allotment Master Report.
Forage availability works out to 17.0 AUMs per year per thousand public acres, enough to support 1.4 wild horses per thousand acres. Click on image to open in new tab.
Table 1 in the 2016 Final EA for resource enforcement actions in the Complex provides public acres and AMLs for the HMAs. Those values are marked as Given in this table:
Three HMAs are managed for horses and burros so the first step is to convert the AMLs to horses only.
The resource requirements for burros are half of those for horses, so the equivalent AML for Lava Beds would be 148 + 16 ÷ 2 = 156.
The forage requirement for those horses would be 156 × 12 = 1,872 AUMs per year.
The next step is to estimate the forage assigned to livestock inside the HMAs, assuming the resource is evenly distributed across the allotment.
Forage availability in the Blue Wing allotment is 17 AUMs per year per thousand acres so the portion in Lava Beds should be 232,995 ÷ 1,000 × 17 = 3,961 AUMs per year.
That resource would support 3,961 ÷ 12 = 330, the number of horses displaced from the HMA by permitted grazing.
The bureaucrats refer to them as “excess animals,” more horses than allowed by plan, to be removed from their lawful home and shipped to feedlots in favor of the permittees.
The advocates want them removed with the Montana Solution, not helicopters.
The True AML for Lava Beds is therefore 156 + 330 = 486, the number of animals the HMA could support if it was managed principally for wild horses as specified in the original statute.
The True AML for the five HMAs is 1,400.
The BLM will collect 9,631 × 1.35 = $13,002 per year in grazing fees from ranchers operating inside the HMAs while it spends 802 × 5 × 365 = $1.46 million per year to care for the horses displaced thereby.
Would you say that’s a wise use of the public lands?
RELATED: Blue Wing Roundup Announced.
The incident began on July 17. Gather stats through July 29:
Helicopters did not fly on Day 13.
A stallion and mare were put down on Day 12 due to marginal BCS. A mare was put down on Day 13 due to club feet. They survived the chase and would be alive today if there was no roundup. The death rate is 2.5%.
The capture total includes 194 stallions, 234 mares and 87 foals.
Youngsters represented 16.9% of the animals captured. Of the adults, 45.3% were male and 54.7% were female.
The herd can’t be growing at a rate of 20% per year with a birth rate of 17% per year.
A better estimate would be 12% per year assuming a 5% death rate.
Body condition scores were not given.
The location of the trap site was not disclosed.
The Complex and surrounding lands are subject to permitted grazing.
Day 13 ended with 29 unaccounted-for animals.
Mares treated with fertility control may be returned to the area at a later date.
Other statistics:
RELATED: Triple B Roundup, Day 11.
The incident began on July 15. Gather stats through July 29:
The death rate is 0.4%.
The total, based on the daily reports, includes 279 stallions, 347 mares and 150 foals.
The eighteen horses taken off the range in Part 1 have been omitted.
Youngsters represented 19.3% of the animals captured. Of the adults, 44.6% were male and 55.4% were female.
The herd can’t be growing at a rate of 20% per year with a birth rate of 19% per year.
Fourteen percent would be a better estimate assuming a death rate of 5% per year.
Body condition scores were not given.
The location of the trap site was not disclosed.
The HMA and surrounding lands are subject to permitted grazing.
Day 15 ended with 105 unaccounted-for animals.
The capture goal is 74% complete.
Mares treated with fertility control may be returned to the area at a later date.
Other statistics:
RELATED: Piceance Roundup, Part 2 Day 13.
A federal judge ruled yesterday that 18 horses captured earlier this year need not be returned to Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests because they do not qualify for protection under the WHB Act and are therefore considered to be unauthorized livestock, according to a report posted today by Courthouse News Service.
RELATED: ISPMB Complaint Involves ASNF ‘Jumping Mouse’ Horses.
The term does not appear in the news release issued earlier this week but that’s what it’s all about, according to a brief by Law Street Media.
A copy of the complaint was posted to Docket Alarm.
The Interior Board of Land Appeals has held that an HMAP is not a prerequisite to a wild horse roundup as long as the record indicates compliance with the WHB Act, as noted, for example, in Section 1.1 of the Final EA for livestock protection actions in the Bible Springs Complex.
If the BLM can show that the major components of an HMAP have been addressed, including the establishment of HMAs, AMLs and objectives for managing them, with ongoing monitoring and evaluation of whether those objectives are being met, the case will likely go down in flames and the advocates will not win the relief they seek.
A waste of time and money. Exactly what you’d expect from the advocates.
RELATED: Advocates Take Legal Action to Stop Blue Wing Roundup.
Operations will begin August 7, as scheduled, with three HMAs and one HA affected.
The capture goal is 450 and the removal goal is 410. Mares treated with fertility control would be returned to the range but this is not mentioned in the news release.
Helicopters will push the horses into the traps and the incident will be open to public observation, conditions permitting.
The Complex covers 215,350 total acres in southwestern Utah and the 170 horses allowed by plan require 2,040 AUMs per year.
The aimed-at stocking rate is 0.8 wild horses per thousand acres, slightly less than the target rate across all HMAs of one wild horse per thousand acres.
The current population is thought to be 831.
The Western Watersheds map shows the arrangement. The HA, on the north side of Four Mile, was not included. Click on image to open in new tab.
The Complex intersects 16 allotments with an estimated 7,229 AUMs per year assigned to privately owned livestock inside the HMAs. Refer to Section 3.3.2 in the Final EA.
Captured animals will be taken to the Axtell off-range corrals, where they will be held at a cost of $5 per head per day.
The BLM will collect $9,759 per year in grazing fees from the permittees while it spends $1.1 million per year to care for the 602 wild horses the resource would support.
Would you say that’s a wise use of the public lands?
Gather stats and daily reports will be posted to this page.
Mares treated with the Montana Solution tend to live longer than their untreated counterparts, a phenomenon observed at Assateague Island, where the technique was in use for over twenty years.
The 2021 census revealed 27 males and 51 females on the Maryland side of the island, five years after the darting program was shut off.
The Park Service buried the results for 2022.
The advocates acknowledge the fact, and some boast about it, claiming that the mares no longer have to endure the stress of pregnancy, delivery and nurturing the young.
Stallions don’t go through any of that so why are they dying off at a higher rate?
Mares allowed to breed are usually put back on the regimen after they produce a live foal, which may follow one or more stillbirths.
With no new foals on the way, the newborn is free to nurse for several years, as more and more PZP is pumped into its mom.
Given that antibodies are transferred from mothers to foals through their milk, could other substances—that have detrimental effects on males—be transferred to colts?
Perhaps the issue is not longevity of mares but brevity of stallions.
More research is needed, which the advocates will oppose.
The last thing they want you to know about wild horses is the truth.
RELATED: Foal-Free Friday, Who Said We’re Trying to Preserve Them Edition.
Refer to this post on HuntTalk, a message board for outdoorsmen.
The original piece was probably written by the real estate agent and PZP darter in the Minden/Gardnerville area.
“You MUST want to protect wild horses and be a team player.”
Stories by the Pine Nut advocates are occasionally featured these pages, along with the appropriate commentary, such as the June 24 edition of Foal-Free Friday.
The Decision Record, dated July 28, authorizes a mix of Alternatives B and C across seven BLM allotments, as described in Sections 2.3 and 2.4 of the Final EA.
Alternative B applies to Telegraph Creek, Box Elder, Flat Creek and Whiterock Coulee.
Alternative C applies to French Coulee, East Dry Fork and Garey Coulee.
American Prairie Reserve obtained grazing privileges on these allotments by acquiring private lands serving as base properties then petitioned the BLM to change the livestock type to bison.
The decision may establish a precedent for others who acquire private property tied to grazing allotments then request the BLM to change the livestock type to horses.
Catch-treat-release could become adopt-haul-release.
The plan was condemned by the Public Lands Council earlier this year.
The decision is subject to a 30-day appeal period, according to the news release.
The EA and DR were posted with other project documents in ePlanning.
The incident began on July 23. Gather stats through July 27:
The figures above are based on the daily reports. The number of horses shipped doesn’t match the total at the gather page.
Two horses were put down on Day 4 due to pre-existing conditions. A mare jumped out of a pen on Day 5, ran through fencing and was later found dead.
The horse death rate is 1.1%.
The horse total includes 308 stallions, 352 mares and 127 foals.
Youngsters represented 16.1% of the horses captured. Of the adults, 46.7% were male and 53.3% were female.
The herd can’t be growing at a rate of 20% per year with a birth rate of 16%. A better estimate would be 11% per year, assuming a death rate of 5% per year.
Body condition scores on Days 4 and 5 ranged from 4 to 5.
Trapping continued at Bull Flat in Lassen County.
The HMA is subject to permitted grazing.
Day 5 ended with 200 unaccounted-for horses and no unaccounted-for burros.
Mares treated with fertility control will be returned to the area at a later date.
Other statistics:
RELATED: Twin Peaks Roundup, Day 3.
They crossed the channel yesterday and the auction begins today, according to a report by WMDT News of Salisbury, MD.
The herd makes the return trip tomorrow, minus the youngsters, with the exception of a few “buy backs.”
The official guide explains the process from start to finish.
Might be, according to a story posted this evening by the Steamboat Pilot & Today.
The advocates, with the assistance of BLM firefighters, are darting the mares with fertility control so the herds won’t bounce back.
Visitors will be eager to see these curated horse exhibits.
The incident began on July 17. Gather stats through July 27:
Two mares were put down on Day 11 due to pre-existing conditions. They’d be alive today if there was no roundup. The death rate is 2.3%.
The total includes 161 stallions, 201 mares and 77 foals.
Youngsters represented 17.5% of the animals captured. Of the adults, 44.5% were male and 55.5% were female.
The herd can’t be growing at a rate of 20% per year with a birth rate of 18% per year.
A better estimate would be 13% per year assuming a 5% death rate.
Body condition scores were not given.
The location of the trap site was not disclosed.
The Complex and surrounding lands are subject to permitted grazing.
Day 11 ended with 74 unaccounted-for animals.
Mares treated with fertility control may be returned to the area at a later date.
Other statistics:
RELATED: Triple B Roundup, Day 9.
The incident began on July 15. Gather stats through July 27:
A horse was put down, presumably, on Day 12. No details were given.
The death rate is 0.4%.
The total, based on the daily reports, includes 267 stallions, 322 mares and 136 foals.
The eighteen horses taken off the range in Part 1 have been omitted.
Youngsters represented 18.8% of the animals captured. Of the adults, 45.3% were male and 54.7% were female.
The herd can’t be growing at a rate of 20% per year with a birth rate of 19% per year.
Fourteen percent would be a better estimate assuming a death rate of 5% per year.
Body condition scores were not given.
The location of the trap site was not disclosed.
The HMA and surrounding lands are subject to permitted grazing.
Day 13 ended with 89 unaccounted-for animals.
The capture goal is 69% complete.
Mares treated with fertility control may be returned to the area at a later date.
Other statistics:
RELATED: Piceance Roundup, Part 2 Day 11.
The plaintiffs allege that the planned removal of 1,000 wild horses and burros will occur without the benefit of current data and environmental assessments related to rangeland conditions, according to a news release dated July 26.
A link to the complaint was not provided.
Helicopters are the fastest way to bring resource consumption in line with the specifications of the land-use plans but they don’t do much for rangeland health.
RELATED: Blue Wing Roundup Announced
Western Horse Watchers Association 