The allotment, in southwestern Wyoming below the I-80 checkerboard, offers 16,298 active AUMs on 181,182 public acres, according to the Allotment Master Report.
The forage assigned to horses is zero.
How many wild horses could live there?
Using the principle of forage interchangeability, the True AML would be 16,298 ÷ 12 = 1,358, the number of horses the land could support if it was managed principally for them as specified in the original statute.
The stocking rate would be 1,358 ÷ 181,182 × 1,000 = 7.5 wild horses per thousand public acres.
Why is this important?
The bureaucrats and ranchers tell us that public lands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand acres (27,000 animals on 27 million acres).
The advocates bolster the narrative with their darting programs.
If the allotment was an HMA, the AML would be 181 and 1,177 horses would be consigned to off-range holding because of permitted grazing.
BLM allotments in the state carry livestock equivalent to 158,425 wild horses on 17,312,214 public acres, or 9.2 wild horses per thousand public acres.
RELATED: The Allotments Tell the Story: They’re Lying, All of Them.
Western Horse Watchers Association 