How Many Wild Burros Can the Canyonlands HMA Support?

The HMA covers 89,392 total acres, including 77,311 public acres, and the 100 burros allowed by plan receive 600 AUMs per year.

The stocking rate allowed by plan is 1.3 wild burros per thousand public acres.

Table 3.1 in the Final EA for pest control and resource enforcement indicates 34% of the Robbers Roost Allotment overlaps the HMA.

The National Data Viewer shows the arrangement.  Click on image to open in new tab.

The allotment offers 3,840 active AUMs on 159,786 public acres.

Therefore, the bureaucrats have taken 3,840 × .34 = 1,305 AUMs per year from the burros and given them to the permittee, assuming the resource is evenly distributed across the parcel.

The number of burros displaced from the HMA by permitted grazing is 1,305 ÷ 6 = 217.

The True AML would be 100 + 217 = 317, the number of burros the HMA could sustain if it was managed principally for them as specified in the original statute.

Table 2.1 puts the current population at 168, about half of the carrying capacity.

The stocking rate at the new AML would be 317 ÷ 77,311 × 1,000 = 4.1 wild burros per thousand public acres, equivalent to two wild horses per thousand acres, to be achieved by confining the rancher to his base property in a year-round off season.

RELATED: BLM Publishes Canyonlands Final Planning Documents.