The incident began on December 8.  Results through December 10:

• Scope: Nevada WHR
• Purpose: Pest control, resource enforcement, rancher protection
• Target: Horses
• Type: Planned
• Method: Helicopter
• Category: Cruel and costly*
• Better way: Get rid of them with ovary-killing pesticides*
• Captured: 123, up from 60 on Day 1
• Average daily take: 41.0
• Capture goal: 350
• Removal goal: 138
• Returned: 1, up from zero on Day 1
• Deaths: 2, up from 1 on Day 1
• Shipped: 58, up from zero on Day 1

The capture total on Day 1 was changed from 59 to 60.

A stallion was released (escaped?) on Day 3.  No details were given.

A mare was dispatched on Day 2 due to a fractured radius (leg bone).

The death rate is 1.6%.

The capture total includes 36 stallions, 69 mares and 18 foals.

Youngsters represented 14.6% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 34.3% were male and 65.7% were female.

Body condition scores were not given.

The WHR is not subject to permitted grazing but surrounding lands are.

*According to advocates.

Day 3 ended with 62 unaccounted-for animals.

Up to 106 mares will be treated with GonaCon Equine, a fertility control pesticide, before being returned the range with up to 106 stallions.

Other statistics:

• Forage liberated to date: 1,464 AUMs per year
• Water liberated to date: 1,220 gallons per day
• Horses allowed by plan: 500
• Pre-gather population: 438
• Forage assigned to horses: 6,000 AUMs per year
• Forage assigned to livestock: None
• Horses displaced from HMA by permitted grazing: None
• True AML: 500
• Stocking rate at new AML: 0.4 wild horses per thousand acres
• Horses displaced by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

RELATED: Nevada WHR Roundup Begins.

At the Ozark National Scenic Riverways with Adventures With Crystal.

Handpicked for those who support the defeatists, pesticide pushers and ranching sympathizers at the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses and its affiliates.

On the cost of off-range holding.

Previous audio snippets can be found in the Index under Microcasts.

It’s the second of three areas identified for wild horses in the East Pershing Complex that’s now managed principally for livestock.

Table 9 in the Final EA for pest control and resource enforcement indicates seven allotments that intersect the HA.

The figures for overlap in the last column seem reasonable based on inspection of the parcels in the National Data Viewer.

The NDV indicates that the northern half of the HA is mostly checkerboard lands while the southern half is mostly public lands.

The Allotment Master Report provides management status, acreage and active AUMs.

Around 55% of the public lands are in the Improve category.

The condition of Klondike is unknown.  The custodial category is usually reserved for allotments covering a small percentage of public lands.

Low forage density in Star Peak and Dolly Hayden suggests they are not very useful from a grazing viewpoint.  Rawhide may be recovering from overuse, wildfire or some other deficiency.

The forage assigned to livestock inside the HA is 15,356 AUMs per year, equivalent to 1,280 wild horses.  The current AML is zero so the True AML would be 1,280.

The HA covers 451,904 total acres, including 321,328 public acres, so the stocking rate at the new AML would be four wild horses per thousand public acres.

This brings great embarrassment to land managers who for years have stated that public lands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand acres (27,000 animals on 27 million acres).

These same managers collect 15,356 × 1.35 = $20,730 per year from ranching activity inside the HA, while spending 1,280 × 5 × 365 = $2,336,000 per year caring for the horses displaced thereby.

Would you say that’s a wise use of the public lands?

A 160-acre checkerboard parcel inside the HA and Dolly Hayden allotment was offered for sale earlier this year.  The listing included photos of wild horses.

The EA and related documentation can be found in the project folder at ePlanning.

RELATED: How Many Wild Horses Can the Sonoma Range HA Support?

The incident started yesterday as advertised, with 59 horses captured, none shipped, none released and one dead.

RELATED: Nevada WHR Roundup Starts This Week.

Which of these terms, when used by the advocates to describe wild horses, will convince you that removal by pesticides is better than removal by helicopters, that they really care about these animals and that you should shower them with your financial support?

RELATED: Adjectives for Equine Pests.

It’s one of three areas identified for wild horses in the East Pershing Complex that’s now managed principally for livestock.

Table 9 in the Final EA for pest control and resource enforcement indicates eight allotments that overlap the HA.

The National Data Viewer suggests that roughly half of Thomas Creek is outside the HA so 50% was used for the amount of overlap instead of 100% as indicated in the table.

The other percentages look okay.

The Allotment Master Report provides management status, acreage and active AUMs.

Approximately 61% of the public acreage is in the Improve category.

The forage assigned to livestock inside the HA is 9,989 AUMs per year, enough to support 832 wild horses.  The current AML is zero so the True AML would be 832.

The HA covers 212,587 total acres, including 150,095 public acres, so the stocking rate at the new AML would be 5.5 wild horses per thousand public acres.

An assumption in the calculations above is that forage is evenly distributed across the allotments.  If 95% of Clear Creek is inside the HA, then so is 95% of the forage.

The base property tied to the Sonoma Allotment was on the market earlier this year for $11.2 million.

The base property tied to Clear Creek sold last year to J6 Ranches.

RELATED: Habitat Loss in the East Pershing Complex.

The daily reports stopped on November 28 with 257 unaccounted-for horses.

Yesterday a report for November 29 was added, indicating 69 horses shipped and one death.

That leaves 187 unaccounted-for animals.

The sidebar at the gather page shows the release of 68 stallions but that figure does not appear in the daily reports.

The incident has not been marked complete and there has been no news release.

RELATED: Status of Clan Alpine Roundup?

Which of these terms, when used by the advocates, helps you believe that they really care about wild horses and that they’d never do anything harmful to the herds?

a. Cherished

b. Beloved

c. Innocent

d. Treasured

e. Iconic

f. Majestic

If you chose any of these words, and offered your financial support thereby, the joke’s on you because they’re beating the populations down with ovary-killing pesticides so ranchers can access most of their food and water.

RELATED: Foal-Free Friday, Defunding the Advocates Edition.

The 2023 auction was announced on September 7 but results have not been posted.

The 2022 auction was announced on September 6 and results were published on October 27.

An email inquiry sent on December 4 has not been answered.

Why would they want to hide the results?

Because they give insight on market conditions and going rates for livestock grazing, which dwarf the current fee of $1.35 per AUM, suggesting that it’s ridiculously low and that the American people are not receiving a fair return for the use of public lands.

This brings great embarrassment to the bureaucrats and ranchers.

RTELATED: Price of Hay Unchanged, Still Too High.

The Complex consists of six Herd Areas.  Three have been taken away and a fourth has been cut in half, roughly, leaving three Herd Management Areas.

The missing HAs are unfit for wild horses, supposedly, but not for livestock.

The Complex is south of Winnemucca, NV.

RELATED: Introduction to the East Pershing Complex.

This undated letter was sent by a reader.

The linked video from the Twin Peaks HMA was posted 12 years ago, possibly on the eve of a roundup or shortly thereafter.

HO! HO! HO!  You can have your wild horse and burro program as long as it doesn’t interfere with the grazing program.

The Nevada Department of Wildlife, in partnership with Utah State University and the U.S. Geological Survey, has approached the BLM about monitoring prey selection in two HAs that overlap or are near designated wilderness areas in southeastern Nevada.

The researchers suspect that predation behavior will change after a sudden decrease in the equine population, as would result from a roundup, shifting toward native species such as mule deer, elk and bighorns.

That would be unwelcome news for big game hunters.

Could it also shift to nonnative species, such as privately owned cattle and sheep?

The area is subject to permitted grazing.

The answers seem obvious: If you’re a mountain lion and you lose a major food source, you change your diet, move to another area or die.

The study is not consistent with the claim that wild horses have no natural predators.

Data will be collected with trailcams.

The Draft EA was the only document copied to the project folder.

Comments will be accepted through December 14.

RELATED: Caliente Complex in Pictures.

The case brought earlier this year by the Center for Biological Diversity, Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife Conservation and the Arizona Wildlife Federation, alleging that wild horses were destroying the habitats of endangered species in the Tonto National Forest, has been tossed according to a report by KPNX News.

The decision does not protect the horses.  It may have alleviated the risk of forcible removal, but nonmotorized removal by the Salt River Wild Horse Darting Group, an affiliate of the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, will continue.

The goal is to take the population of approximately 400 animals down to 200 in ten years, after which the mares will be sterile and the herd will be lost—forever.

RELATED: Coalition Sues Forest Service Over Salt River Horses.

The FY24 schedule shows a December 7 start date but today’s news release indicates December 8.

The plan calls for the capture of 350 wild horses, removal of 138, treatment of up to 106 mares with GonaCon Equine (a fertility control pesticide) and the return of 212.

The current population is thought to be 438, within the AML of 300 – 500.

The WHR lies within the Nevada Test and Training Range so the incident will not be open to public observation.

Animals designated for removal will be taken to the Ridgecrest off-range corrals.

The WHR covers 1,301,637 acres of military land southeast of Tonopah and is not subject to permitted grazing but surrounding lands are.

A roundup two years ago removed horses and burros from the area.

The largest roundup of FY24 is scheduled to begin on December 28, with 2,875 wild horses to be captured and removed.

As of today, the incident has not been announced by the BLM and a gather page has not been created.

The Complex, consisting of three HMAs and four HAs, may get its name from the county in Nevada where the action will occur.

The roundup aligns with three tenets of rangeland management:

• Pest control
• Resource enforcement
• Rancher protection

The advocates, defeated a long time ago and now desperate for a seat at the table, eagerly participate in the process.

Alternative B in the Final EA was authorized by the Humboldt Field Office in a 2018 Decision, minus the sterilization option.

You can find these documents in the project folder on ePlanning.

Figure 1 shows the HAs and HMAs.

Figure 2 shows the grazing allotments.

Section 3.12 in the EA discusses livestock grazing and resource apportionment.

How much forage has been assigned to the ranchers in the lawful home of wild horses?

Don’t look to the advocates for answers.

Idaho Fish and Game published the announcement on November 30 but shut down its web site on December 1 for a nonresident tag sale.

It’s back up and running today.

Synopsis:

• Horses bad
• Livestock good

The event will be held tomorrow evening at the Morrison Knudsen Nature Center in Boise starting at 6:30 PM.