The allotment, which contains the Four Mile HMA, offers 4,450 active AUMs on 30,374 public acres, according to the Allotment Master Report.
The 60 horses allowed by plan receive 720 AUMs per year.
How many wild horses could the allotment support?
Using the principle of forage interchangeability, the True AML would be 60 + 4,450 ÷ 12 = 431, 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 431 ÷ 30,374 × 1,000 = 14.2 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 give their assent through their darting programs.
If the allotment was an HMA, the AML would be 30 and 401 horses would be consigned to off-range holding because of permitted grazing.
BLM allotments in Idaho carry livestock equivalent to 110,141 wild horses on 11,003,206 public acres, or 10.0 wild horses per thousand public acres.
Wild horses can be placed on public lands not identified for their use by acquiring the base property associated therewith and converting the grazing preference to horses, as American Prairie did for bison in Montagna.
RELATED: The Allotments Tell the Story: They’re Lying, All of Them.
Western Horse Watchers Association 