The total estimated on-range population as of March 1 was 82,883.

The number of animals in off-range holding was 61,915 as of November 26.

The latest schedule calls for the removal of 19,870 animals.

Let’s use round numbers: 83,000 on the range, 62,000 in off-range holding and 20,000 to be removed.

If everything goes according to plan, the on-range population will be 63,000 and the off-range population will be 82,000 at the end of FY24 (September 30).

The crossing of the two trend lines will be hailed as a major achievement by the bureaucrats and ranchers, along with some advocates.

The incident began on December 28.  Results through December 30:

• Scope: Sonoma Range HA, East Range HA, Humboldt HA, Tobin Range HMA, North Stillwater HMA, Augusta Mountains HMA
• Purpose: Pest control, resource enforcement, rancher protection
• Target: Horses
• Type: Planned
• Method: Helicopter
• Category: Cruel and costly*
• Better way: Thin the herd with ovary-killing pesticides*
• Captured: 324, up from 142 on Day 1
• Average daily take: 108.0
• Capture goal: 2,875
• Removal goal: 2,875
• Returned: None
• Deaths: 4, up from zero on Day 1
• Shipped: 148, up from zero on Day 1

Two mares were dispatched on Day 3 due to injuries sustained in capture.

Two horses were put down for pre-existing conditions on Day 2 but the details are not visible in the daily reports.

The death rate is 1.2%.

The capture total includes 143 stallions, 175 mares and 6 foals.

Youngsters represented 1.9% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 45.0% were male and 55.0% were female.

Body condition scores averaged 3.

The location of the trap site was not given.

The Complex is managed primarily for animal agriculture.  The National Data Viewer shows habitat loss and grazing allotments.  Click on image to open in new tab.

*According to advocates.

Day 3 ended with 170 unaccounted-for animals.

There are no plans to treat any of the captured mares with fertility control pesticides and return them to the range.

Other statistics:

• Forage liberated to date: 3,888 AUMs per year
• Water liberated to date: 3,240 gallons per day
• Horses allowed by plan: 555
• Pre-gather population: 3,375
• Forage assigned to horses: 6,660 AUMs per year
• Forage assigned to livestock: Not determined
• Horses displaced from Complex by permitted grazing: Not determined
• True AML: Not determined
• Stocking rate at new AML: Not determined
• Horses displaced by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

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

The ability of the Complex to sustain wild horses has been severely limited by the bureaucrats, who have assigned most of their food to the public-lands ranchers.

RELATED: East Pershing Roundup Begins.

The incident supports three tenets of rangeland management: Pest control, resource enforcement and rancher protection.

Why do they consult with the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses?

They’re using PZP to shrink the Virginia Range herd, not stabilize it as their spokesidiot claims.  Read their reports to NDA!

BLM likes motorized removal while CAAWH likes nonmotorized removal.  There’s little if any difference in their attitudes toward wild horses.

RELATED: East Pershing Roundup Begins.

The latest incident involved a calf last week, according to a report posted this morning by The Colorado Sun.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife said it would not use lethal methods to alleviate the threat.

The agency delivered six wild burros from the Axtell off-range corrals to the Gittleson Ranch in 2022 to deter wolf predation.

The condition of the animals was not disclosed.

RELATED: Axtell Burros Not Doing Their Job in Colorado?

The advocates claim PZP is safe, proven and reversible while condemning Gonacon Equine as a sterilant.

The truth about PZP: Damage begins with the first injection and proceeds to sterility after five years of treatment.  The advocates call these mares “self-boosting.”

The consequences of PZP: The herds implode.  The advocates can achieve results that helicopters can’t, to the delight of the bureaucrats and ranchers.

There’s no need to spend tens of millions of dollars every year on roundups and off-range holding.  You just need to be patient.

RELATED: Foal-Free Friday, Unlawful Use of Pesticides Edition.

The incident started today as advertised, with 142 horses captured, none shipped, none released and no deaths.

The location of the trap site was not disclosed.

RELATED: East Pershing Roundup Starts Next Week.

They were found dead of natural causes, according to a report posted today by the Maryland Coast Dispatch.

The herd consisted of 81 horses earlier in the month.

General Harker was a band stallion according to the AIA list dated December 6.

Yankee was unattached.

The loss keeps the sex ratio skewed in favor of females, a documented effect of PZP.

The list shows just two other bachelors, unusual for a herd of wild horses.

The article said the Park Service completes a full census of the horse population six times per year but did not mention that it stopped publishing the results to the Assateague news page four years ago, when the long-term effects of the fertility control program became obvious.

At the time the herd size was 75 and there were 2.4 mares for every stallion.

The darting program was shut off in 2016.

RELATED: If PZP Is Reversible, Why Hasn’t Assateague Herd Rebounded?

A record of decision will be published in early 2024 according to today’s news release.

The EIS was copied to the project folder on December 22.

Unlike Zonastat-H, a pesticide applied to cherished wild horses, none of the new ingredients could be found in the RUP Report.

RELATED: BLM to Trial New Herbicides on Cherished Plants and Weeds.

The Applegate Field Office has proposed the removal of juniper trees in northeastern California to stimulate the development early seral grass and forb species preferred by mule deer and other sage-steppe obligate species.

Curiously, the project area, which covers 13,790 public acres, coincides roughly with the Nelson Corral Allotment.  Refer to Figure 1 in the DNA.

Perhaps there are other intended consumers of the tender young plants not mentioned in the analysis?

The Allotment Master Report puts Nelson Corral in the Maintain category.

The allotment offers 1,802 active AUMs on 12,849 public acres, or 140.2 AUMs per year per thousand public acres, equivalent to 11.7 wild horses per thousand acres.

This brings more embarrassment to land managers who claim that public lands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand acres.

On the Salt River with markstorto.

Must be a bachelor band, that’s why there’s no youngsters.

If the NDA allowed you back on the Virginia Range in 2019 and you pounded the mares with pesticide-laced darts through 2023, how long have you been poisoning the herd?

Elapsed time = Final year – Initial year + 1 = 2023 – 2019 + 1 = 5 years

How long does it take to sterilize a mare?

Five years.

Aren’t you concerned about the long-term viability of the herd?

We have a better way to get rid of wild horses.  There’s no need to spend tens of millions of dollars every year on roundups and off-range holding.  The bureaucrats and ranchers just need to be patient.

RELATED: CAAWH Now an Appendage of BLM, Wants Ranchers to Win.

The Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses said in a news flash last week that it is providing logistical, financial and darting support for the fertility control program in Nevada’s Pine Nut Mountains, “further proving the feasibility of this approach to keeping wild horses wild and in balance with their environment.”

In balance with their environment?

Sounds like they’re reading from the BLM playbook.

That means shrinking the herds so they fit into the tiny resource boxes the bureaucrats have given them, with most of their food and water going to the public-lands ranchers.

They’re still referring to PZP as a fertility control vaccine, not an ovary-killing pesticide.

As for the Land Conservancy Project, are they going to turn it into a pig farm with laboratory to produce more poison?  Maybe call it Billings Unit 2.

With 3,300 acres, there’s plenty of room for a PZP darting school complete with free-roaming horses for target practice.

Who would support these efforts, besides its uninformed and misinformed base?

• Hunters
• Ranchers
• Farm bureaus
• Public lands councils
• Stockgrowers associations
• Cattlemen’s groups
• Colleges and universities
• Societies for rangeland management
• Agribusiness

RELATED: CAAWH Continues Work of Wild Horse Annie?

The roundup is set to begin on December 28, which is Thursday.

No rain in the forecast with temperatures reaching the low 50s.

Rain is predicted on the other side of the Sierra but will not reach this area, apparently.

The Complex is south of Winnemucca and the off-range corrals are to the north.

The privately owned corrals can accommodate 4,000 horses on 100 acres, equivalent to 4,000 cow/calf pairs on 100 acres, proving there is no need for ranchers to be anywhere near public lands.

RELATED: East Pershing Roundup in the News.

Adjectives for equine pests.

RELATED: Battle of the Adjectives.

The incident will start on or about December 28 according to today’s news release.

The capture and removal goals are identical, 2,875 each.

No animals will be treated with fertility control and none will be released, at least not intentionally.

A helicopter will push the horses into the traps and operations will be open to public observation.

Horses not dispatched in the field will be taken to the privately owned corrals in Paradise Valley.

Gather stats and daily reports will be posted to this page.

The National Data Viewer shows the six original HAs and three remaining HMAs.

The Complex is managed primarily for animal agriculture as discussed in this video.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

RELATED: Introduction to the East Pershing Complex.

Zonastat-H may be applied only to female horses and burros capable of doing environmental damage, as specified on the label.

Application to control animals that interfere or could interfere with animal agriculture, or pose safety hazards to motorists, constitutes unlawful use of the pesticide and should be investigated by law enforcement.

Administering two doses of GonacCon Equine less than 90 days apart also constitutes unlawful use of the pesticide and should be investigated by law enforcement.

Application of these products without the proper PPE also constitutes unlawful use.

This applies to the bureaucrats, ranchers and advocates who authorize or carry out such uses on public or private lands.

RELATED: Foal-Free Friday, Breaking the Monotony Edition.

The horses removed this summer have returned, at least some of them, but they are now in private care, according to a story dated December 21 by the Pahrump Valley Times.

The status of the burros was not given.

RELATED: Pahrump Residents Working to Reverse Johnnie Roundup.