Management plans for HMAs allow, on average, one animal per thousand acres.
Assume they’re all designated for horses.
The land must be able to produce at least 12 AUMs per year per thousand acres to sustain those animals.
A new BLM Briefing Book provides data for livestock grazing on Colorado rangelands, which occurs on 7.8 million acres.
Here are some of the results:
San Luis Valley Field Office
- Authorized forage: 28,519 AUMs per year
- Affected land: 474,000 acres
- Forage production: 60.2 AUMs per year per thousand acres
Kremmling Field Office
- Authorized forage: 38,865 AUMs per year
- Affected land: 328,100 acres
- Forage production: 118.5 AUMs per year per thousand acres
White River Field Office
- Authorized forage: 117,694 AUMs per year
- Affected land: 1,435,513 acres
- Forage production: 82.0 AUMs per year per thousand acres
Colorado River Valley Field Office
- Authorized forage: 35,500 AUMs per year
- Affected land: 441,600 acres
- Forage production: 80.4 AUMs per year per thousand acres
Tres Rios Field Office
- Authorized forage: 20,528 AUMs per year
- Affected land: 324,061 acres
- Forage production: 63.3 AUMs per year per thousand acres
As observed on numerous occasions, public lands are always more productive when designated for privately owned livestock.
These numbers tell you that the carrying capacity of western rangelands is much higher than the government admits.
Allotments in the Kremmling Field Office could support 9.9 wild horses per thousand acres!
The Virginia Range has been carrying ten wild horses per thousand acres for years, although the advocates are now working with the bureaucrats at NDA to cover it up.
RELATED: Livestock Outnumber Horses and Burros on Public Lands?
Western Horse Watchers Association 