Advocates Protest as VR Stallion Killer Appears in Court

“Justice for Frost” was the theme today in Dayton as the suspect faced charges of malicious killing of a wild horse and torturing, overdriving, injuring or abandoning animals, according to a story by KTVN News of Reno.

Tracy Wilson, defeatist and pesticide pusher for the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, coordinator of the Virginia Range darting program, told the reporter “We really want to see this prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Wilson and her band of merrymen are getting rid of hundreds of Virginia Range mustangs every year with Zonastat-H, an ovary-killing pesticide, and nobody’s pushing for their arrest.

Calico Roundup, Day 3

The incident began on October 1. Results through October 3:

Scope: Black Rock Range, Calico Mountains, Granite Range, Warm Springs Canyon HMAs
Purpose: Pest control, resource enforcement, rancher protection
Target: Horses
Type: Planned
Method: Helicopter
Category: Cruel and costly*
Better way: Poison mares with ovary-killing pesticides*
Captured: 144, up from 26 on Day 1
Average daily take: 48.0
Capture goal: 761
Removal goal: 380
Returned: 31, up from zero on Day 1
Deaths: 1, up from zero on Day 1
Shipped: 63, up from zero on Day 1

The figures above are based on the daily reports, not the totals posted by the BLM.

The location of the trap site on Days 2 and 3 was not given.

A mare was euthanized for a pre-existing injury on Day 3.

The death rate is 0.7%.

The capture total includes 51 stallions, 80 mares and 13 foals.

Youngsters represented 9.0% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 38.9% were male and 61.1% were female.

Approximately 78% of the adults shipped were female, while 100% of those released were male, suggesting that the contractor is skewing the sex ratio in favor of stallions.

The HMAs and surrounding lands are subject to permitted grazing.

*According to advocates.

Day 3 ended with 49 unaccounted-for animals.

Mares returned to the Complex will be treated with GonaCon Equine, a fertility control pesticide.

Other statistics:

Forage liberated to date: 1,356 AUMs per year
Water liberated to date: 1,130 gallons per day
Forage assigned to livestock: Undetermined
Horses displaced from area by permitted grazing: Undetermined
True AML: Undetermined
Stocking rate at new AML: Undetermined
Horses removed because of drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

Overpopulation means more horses than allowed by plan, not necessarily more horses than the land can support.

RELATED: Calico Roundup in Progress.

More Conflicts of Interest at WHBAB?

A keyword search of the Operator Information Report for Nevada turned up five instances of “Higbee,” all with addresses in Alamo.

EDWIN E HIGBEE, JR, Authorization 2705030
HIGBEE CHILDREN’S TRUST, Authorization 2705033
VARLIN S HIGBEE, Authorization 2700038
VAUGHN M HIGBEE, Authorization 2703324
HIGBEE BROTHERS, Authorization 2705122

Varlin Higbee, third permittee on the list, was recently appointed to the WHBAB representing livestock management organizations. He joins Tammy Pearson, a permittee from Minersville, UT, who was seated in early 2021.

The Allotment Information Report ties Authorization #2700038 to three allotments in the Basin and Range National Monument:

South Coal Valley
Black Bluff
Black Horse

The Allotment Master Report puts all three in the Custodial category, condition unknown.

Allotments are usually placed in Custodial if public lands represent less than 10% of the total acreage and/or 10% of the available forage.

In this case, public lands provide all of the acreage and all of the forage.

The National Data Viewer indicates that most of Black Bluff lies within the Seaman Range HA, the lawful home of wild horses, along with the eastern third of South Coal Valley. Click on map to open in new tab.

Higbee shares the allotments with others, including relatives, so his personal financial interests and those of his family will likely outweigh any concern for wild horses.

RELATED: WHBAB Vacancies Filled.

Calico Roundup in Progress

The incident started October 1, with 26 horses captured, none shipped, none released and no deaths.

Four HMAs in northern Nevada are affected.

Another WHBAB Nomination Cycle Begins

With three openings filled last week, the BLM and USFS seek candidates representing natural resource management, public interest (with special knowledge of equine behavior) and wild horse and burro research, according to yesterday’s news release.

The positions become vacant on January 11.

The WHBAB advises both agencies on the management and protection of free-roaming horses and burros on public lands.

Ideally, nominees will support three principles associated therewith:

Pest control
Resource enforcement
Rancher protection

Nominations will be accepted through November 6.

Socialist Media Update for September 2023

Traffic from Facebook jumped unexpectedly last month due to a post about the carrying capacity of the North Lander Complex.

The report enjoyed an international audience, with most views occurring during the first week, followed by a few hits each day for the balance of the month.

The advocates generally avoid such discussions because they’re not compatible with their fertility control narrative.

WordPress no longer reports traffic from X (Twitter).

Traffic from Socialist Media September 2023 10-02-23

WHBAB Vacancies Filled

The Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service selected two new members and re-appointed a third, according to a news release dated September 29.

The two new members represent wildlife and livestock management organizations.

The Board advises both agencies on the management and protection of wild horses and burros on public lands.

With two of the nine seats occupied by permittees, you now have the equivalent of two Palestinian advisors setting policy direction toward Israel.

RELATED: WHBAB Nomination Update.

Desatoya Roundup Cut Short?

The incident ran from September 25 through September 30, with 59 horses captured, 12 shipped, 26 released and one dead.

The capture and removal goals were 122 and 24, respectively.

There were 20 unaccounted-for animals.

The death rate was 1.7%.

The capture total included 14 stallions, 39 mares and 6 foals.

Youngsters represented 10.2% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of 5% per year.

Land managers often use growth rates of fifteen to twenty percent per year to predict herd sizes and management actions.

Of the adults, 26.4% were male and 73.6% were female, outside the expected range of variation of a simple random process with p-bar = .5 and n = 53 adults.

How to Compute p-chart Limits 02-10-22

Put differently, the percentages of stallions and mares don’t look like they came from a population with 50% males / 50% females.

Abnormal sex ratios are commonly found in herds treated with Zonastat-H, a fertility control pesticide favored by most wild horse advocates.

But the BLM has been treating the Desatoya mares with GonaCon Equine, a fertility control pesticide that may act as a sterilant.

The gather page says 33 mares were treated and 12 were released.

If the mare that died on Day 5 had been treated before the injury occurred, 20 mares could still be in the pen awaiting a second dose, which must be given at least 90 days after the first according to the 2017 labeling amendment.

Gonacon 90-Day Requirement 07-01-23