The allotment, on the south side of the Saylor Creek HMA in Idaho, offers 3,163 active AUMs on 27,951 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 3,163 ÷ 12 = 264, 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 264 ÷ 27,951 × 1,000 = 9.4 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 bolster the narrative with their darting programs.
If the allotment was an HMA, the AML would be 28 and 264 – 28 = 236 horses would be consigned to off-range holding because of permitted grazing.
The stocking rate allowed by plan for Saylor Creek is 0.5 wild horses per thousand public acres, yet the Twin Butte Allotment, just over the line from Notch Butte, supports livestock equivalent to 9.8 wild horses per thousand public acres!
BLM allotments in the state carry livestock equivalent to 110,141 wild horses on 11,003,206 public acres, or ten wild horses per thousand public acres.
RELATED: The Allotments Tell the Story: They’re Lying, All of Them.
Western Horse Watchers Association 