Changes that actually help the horses, such as managing the HMA principally for them, as specified in the original statute, cannot be made through a gather decision.
The advocates and their drones apparently don’t understand that.
Comments on the project, which consists of a scoping letter and nothing else, will be accepted through February 7.
A sigh of relief will go up when that day arrives.
RELATED: Advocates Push McCullough Comments Past One Thousand.
North Dakota governor Doug Burgum sent a letter to the Park Service today expressing confidence that the agency can find a solution that supports genetic diversity and protects the environmental integrity and capacity of the park for current and future generations of visitors, according to a report by The Bismarck Tribune.
A news release dated January 28 by the Salt River Wild Horse Darting Group says the only reason to disagree with the bill, which calls for humane management of the beloved Alpine herd, a euphemism for inhibiting the mares with their favorite pesticide, would be if you enjoy seeing wild horses go to slaughter.
Sorry, but here are ten reasons why we oppose your stupid ideas:
All of these are attributable to the Montana Solution.
As for the full range of wild behaviors in a natural setting, forget it.
The advocates care far more about their standing with the bureaucrats and ranchers than they do about the horses.
Their long-term goal is to be leaders in the wild horse removal industry.
RELATED: Salt River Advocates Mobilize in Favor of Alpine Ranchers.
Horses have the day off. In the Little Picacho Wilderness, part of the Chocolate Mule Mountains HMA in southern California, with Lonnie Huffman.
No youngsters in this band. The mares should be heavily pregnant by now, at least some of them, but the advocates have blocked this essential part of their existence.
With the darting program moving into its fifth year, many of the mares are at risk of sterility and the herd is dying off. That’s how the advocates save wild horses.
Before they got involved, the Virginia Range was carrying at least ten wild horses per thousand acres, ten times higher than the target rate of the bureaucrats and ranchers, who want this outlier erased.
The advocates are eager to comply.
The Nevada Department of Agriculture and the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, to whom you provide financial support, are responsible for the destruction.
Photo taken January 28.
RELATED: Virginia Range Crimefighting Update for December.
Six reports, partially redacted, have been posted to the Colorado HMA page.
The illness claimed the lives of 146 wild horses at the facility.
RELATED: Cañon City Aftermath.
Although 43 wild horses were shot dead in October, as indicated in this story by the CBS affiliate in Phoenix, the losses will be much greater if the advocates have their way.
The bureaucrats want the horses gone.
The ranchers, whom they serve, want them gone.
The hunters and biologists want them gone.
So, the advocates, working in concert with state legislators, have drafted SB 1057, which would spread their ruinous darting program into the Apache National Forest.
Their ringleader, interviewed for the story, has already admitted that she’s getting rid of the Salt River herd with the Montana Solution.
Alternative C in the scoping newsletter for the livestock plan at TRNP may provide a solution that satisfies all of the stakeholders: Now that the herd has been thinned by shooting and trapping, a fully contracepted (sterilized) herd could be achieved and the horses could stay in the forest to live out their lives, a task for which the advocates are eminently qualified.
RELATED: Alpine Horses Killed Because People Saw Harm They Caused?
If you have too many bills and not enough money, should you ignore the bills or detach your ass from the chair and take it to a job?
The image above, from the home page of the new wild horse sanctuary in Colorado, shows a symptom of the problem, not the problem.
The Wild Animal Sanctuary, a Colorado non-profit corporation, acquired the property for a wild horse refuge, according to a news release on PRN.
The refuge will house up to 500 wild horses taken from HMAs in Colorado.
The announcement did not indicate of the horses would be darted, sterilized and/or kept in segregated pastures.
The transaction represents a victory for the bureaucrats and ranchers. Get the horses off the public lands and into private care, giving livestock unfettered access to their food.
The facility covers 18,650 deeded acres west of Craig, with an additional 3,500 acres in BLM leases and one 300-acre private lease, according to the agent’s listing.
The operator information report in RAS links the ranch to grazing authorizations 0504787 and 0504788.
The allotment information report ties the authorizations to three allotments.
The allotment master report provides management status, acreage and active AUMs.
The authorization use report shows livestock types and grazing seasons.
The news release did not say if the new owners would petition the BLM for changes in livestock types and seasons of use, as American Prairie did in Montana. Such changes would likely have the ranching community crying foul, as it did with American Prairie.
With catch-treat-release promising to alleviate the feud between the advocates and roundup contractors, new adjuvants working their way through the research pipeline, and IUDs gaining traction among the uninformed and misinformed, the future looks bright for the public-lands ranchers.
The concept of a self-assembling IUD was discussed at the same conference attended by your chair of the WHBAB, but the video doesn’t show the actual device.
That gap has been closed with the demonstration below. More information at iUPOD.
Although helicopter roundups are the fastest and most efficient way of shifting food and water to livestock operators in areas identified for wild horses, population growth suppression ensures the herds don’t bounce back, keeping the resource scales tipped in favor of the ranchers for many years to come.
RELATED: Foal-Free Friday, Coddling the Ranchers Edition.
What do they think they’re going to accomplish?
The project will protect ranching interests and enforce the specifications of the land-use plan over a ten-year period by gathering and removing excess animals to the low end of the AML while thwarting population growth with pesticides, including alternate treatments for mares not responding to the Montana Solution.
Is that what they don’t like?
They’re all in if the government ruins the mares with PZP but not with Gonacon or other technologies such as IUDs?
RELATED: McCullough Peaks Tops ePlanning Most Active List.
Attorneys for the Central Oregon Wild Horse Coalition and the federal government appeared today before a federal judge regarding a plan by the Forest Service to reduce the AML and bring the current population in line therewith, according to a story posted today by Courthouse News.
The judge adjourned the hearing after two hours, stating he would take the matter under advisement and issue an opinion at a later date.
Removal of wild horses from the WHT has been delayed by equipment problems and the lack of an adequate off-range holding facility.
A government attorney said that horses not sold or adopted would be euthanized.
RELATED: Big Summit Roundup Attracts Legal Action.
The agency has denied a request by state legislators to add another 60 days to the comment period, according to a report by KX News.
The scoping newsletter will be available for public review through January 31.
RELATED: Dickinson Press Calls for Longer Comment Period at TRNP.
Wild Horse Education pledged $5,000, bringing the total to $25,000, according to a BLM news release.
The shootings occurred in November 2021 but were not announced until August 2022.
The incident liberated enough forage to support ten cow/calf pairs on a six-month grazing season.
RELATED: Jakes Valley Reward Doubles.
The Editorial Board announced their position in an op-ed posted this morning.
Western Horse Watchers would like to see the Park Service come clean on the history of wild horses at the park, going back to Fort Buford, and to consider the reintroduction of the old bloodlines now preserved by The Nokota Horse Conservancy.
The January edition of Horse Tales has been published, along with another column about wild horses by the real estate agent, PZP darter and pleader for the public-lands ranchers in the Minden/Gardnerville area.
As you read the article, which begins on page four, how many of these underlying beliefs can you identify?
The writer says the reproduction rate has been reduced by over 90% and there are very few livestock competing for the range.
The majority of the acreage is in pretty good shape. The areas in poor condition are either privately owned or on BIA land.
The National Data Viewer tells a different story.
The HMA, with the orange border, is half the size of the HA, shown in black.
Almost all of the acreage is subject to permitted grazing (green).
There is no BIA land in the area identified for wild horses.
Like the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, the Pine Nut advocates work hard to protect ranching interests, not wild horses.
The Virgina Range, site of world’s largest darting program and magnet for dozens of nitwits, is just a few miles to the north. Click on image to open in new tab.
RELATED: Pine Nut Advocates Not Playing for Home Team.
At least you know where they stand on the issue. Their outdoors reporter has identified a lead in Vilvoorde, Belgium, according to a story posted this evening.
RELATED: SHOCKER: HJR3 Co-Sponsor Runs Cattle on Public Lands!
The project has likely been flooded with a narrow range of comments tracing to a handout or form letter distributed by the advocates.
Sadly, the changes that need to be made cannot be made in a wild horse gather decision.
RELATED: McCullough Comments Hit 500!
At the Ozark National Scenic Riverways with Tim Layton, another area where the Park Service manages wild horses (for those arguing against their removal at TRNP).
Western Horse Watchers Association 