The allotment, on the west side of Three Fingers HMA in Oregon, offers 7,472 active AUMs on 89,550 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 7,472 ÷ 12 = 623, 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 623 ÷ 89,550 × 1,000 = 7.0 wild horses per thousand public acres.
Why is this important?
The bureaucrats and ranchers claim 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 reinforce the narrative with their darting programs.
If the allotment was an HMA, the AML would be 90, and 623 – 90 = 533 horses would be consigned to off-range holding because of permitted grazing.
BLM allotments in the state carry livestock equivalent to 87,934 wild horses on 13,130,302 public acres, or 6.7 wild horses per thousand public acres.
RELATED: The Allotments Tell the Story: They’re Lying, All of Them.
Western Horse Watchers Association 