Poisoning of Wild Horses No Longer Allowed?

You can’t poison their water holes per 18 USC 3 §47, a common practice before 1959.

Poisoning Wild Horses Outlawed 09-29-24

Today, the advocates poison the mares with Zonastat-H, a restricted-use pesticide that tricks their immune systems into attacking their ovaries.

Better Way 10-25-23

The ranchers are also involved, but they prefer GonaCon Equine.

Their methods may differ but their goal is the same: Ranching superiority in the lawful homes of wild horses.

RELATED: If You Want to Help the Ranchers Give Money to the Advocates.

If Wild Horses Had Principal Use of East and West Y U Bench et al

The allotments overlap an area known as Y U Bench near Cody, WY, where livestock fencing was modified to facilitate pronghorn migration.

They offer 3,793 active AUMs on 35,181 public acres, according to the Allotment Master Report.

Y U Bench Allotment Calcs 09-29-24

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 317, 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 nine 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, defeated a long time ago and now in their camp, reinforce the narrative with their darting programs.

If the allotments were an HMA, the AML would be 35 and 282 horses would be consigned to off-range holding because of permitted grazing.

BLM allotments in Wyoming carry livestock equivalent to 158,425 wild horses on 17,312,214 public acres, or 9.2 wild horses per thousand public acres.

Wild horses can be placed on public lands not identified for their use by acquiring base properties associated with grazing allotments and flipping the preference to horses, as American Prairie did for bison in Montana.

RELATED: The Allotments Tell the Story: They’re Lying, All of Them.

Y U Bench Allotments 09-28-24

Park Service to Remove Bison and Horses from TRNP?

The incident will begin on October 5, according to a report by KFYR News, with 400 bison captured and 200 removed.

On October 18, 200 wild horses will be captured and 15 removed.

A helicopter will push the animals into the traps and operations will not be open to public observation.

Western Horse Watchers was unable to find an announcement at the TRNP news page.

A link to the NEPA analysis covering the action was not given.

The location of gather stats and daily reports is not known.

RELATED: Town of Medora to NPS: Keep TRNP Wild Horses.

Fences Not the Only Problem at Y U Bench?

Volunteers with the Absaroka Fence Initiative and nearby community modified over two miles of barbed wire fence on Y U Bench southeast of Cody, WY to facilitate the migration of the Carter Mountain pronghorn herd, according to a BLM news release.

The changes maintain functionality for livestock grazing.

The offending allotment was not identified.

The National Data Viewer shows numerous allotments in and around Y U Bench, all in the Cody Field Office.

Western Horse Watchers searched the Allotment Master Report for parcels containing “Bench” and selected five.

  • South YU Bench
  • Lower YU Bench
  • YU Bench East
  • YU Bench West
  • Bench

The report puts all of them in the Improve category, another indication that our stewards of the public lands are not taking their responsibilities seriously.

The event was covered by the Cody Enterprise in a September 12 article, but nobody explained why the permittees aren’t accountable for wildlife-friendly fences.

Pronghorn Caught in Fence 09-28-24

Perhaps the fences are just a symptom and the real problem is animal agriculture, along with its enablers, cheerleaders and collaborators.

Wild horses and burros might have a few things to say about that.

Y U Bench lies between the McCullough Peaks and Fifteenmile HMAs, not shown in the following map.  Click on image to open in new tab.

RELATED; Winners of 2024 Stewardship Awards Announced.

Y U Bench Allotments 09-28-24

FY25 Roundup Plan to Build on FY24 Successes?

It’s not about healthy horses on healthy rangelands as suggested in the September 26 blog post, it’s about ranching superiority in the lawful homes of wild horses, sometimes referred to as achieving and maintaining AMLs.

The advocates stopped playing for the home team years ago.  Today, they support the effort through their darting programs (first part of schedule).

Ranchers perform the task in Oregon.

In herds where field-darting is not practical, the BLM will capture the animals, provide the treatment and return them to the range.  These incidents have been marked “CTR.”

The column did not indicate how much forage had been assigned to livestock in the areas targeted for removal, which would allow you to decide by calculation if they’re really overpopulated.

FY25 begins on October 1.

RELATED: FY25 Roundup Schedule Issued.

Working Together for a Horse-Free Future 12-21-22

Foal-Free Friday, Breaking the Addiction Edition

The advocates say that wild horse adopters should not receive cash incentives because they turn the process into a money-making venture, with some animals ending up in slaughter.

Similarly, the advocates should not be given financial support because it fuels their obsession with pesticides, primarily PZP.

Instead, they should be given vouchers for treatment at Betty Ford clinics or similar institutions, where they can be deprogrammed and educated in basic math, rational thought and intellectual integrity.

RELATED: Foal-Free Friday, Gaslighting Your Supporters Edition.

Sand Wash Advocates 01-17-22

Another Sign the Advocates Want the Ranchers to Win

You’re seeing cow poop where you previously saw horse poop.

The Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, a leader in nonmotorized removal and staunch opponent of principal use, pursues the Virginia Range mares relentlessly.

The PZP darting program, now in its sixth year, has moved into the sterilization phase, which may explain why it hasn’t posted the Year 6 agreement with NDA to its darting resources page.

It may contain terms like “tipping point” and “no looking back,” as its adherents lucture you about the safety and reversibility of the pesticide.

This bogus advocacy group will do anything to win the approval of the bureaucrats and ranchers, including total herd destruction.

RELATED: If You Want to Help the Ranchers Give Money to the Advocates.

Cowpie on Virginia Range 09-25-24

Best Use of Twin Peaks AUMs?

The HMA sits on top of nine grazing allotments, discussed in Section 3.2.2 of the Final EA for pest control and resource enforcement therein.

The map in Appendix H shows the arrangement (page 103 in the pdf).

The National Data Viewer indicates that some of the allotments extend beyond the HMA boundary, taking with them a small percentage of the active AUMs, but that will be ignored in this report.

The management plan allows 758 wild horses in the HMA plus 116 wild burros.

These animals require 758 × 12 + 116 × 6 = 9,792 AUMs per year.

The Allotment Master Report provides management status, acreage and active AUMs.

Twin Peaks Allotment Calcs 09-24-24

The allotments offer 26,803 active AUMs per year on 656,475 public acres.

Approximately 99% of that acreage is in the Improve category.

The AUMs would support 2,234 wild horses, on top of the 758 allowed by plan.

The pre-gather population of 1,800 is well within this range.

Current management practices give the resource to the ranchers, who pay $1.35 per AUM, while consigning 2,234 wild horses to off-range holding at a cost of $5 per head per day.

The cash flow in this scenario, Alternative A, is:

1.35 × 26,803 – 2,234 × 5 × 365 = -$4,040,865.95 per year

The Proposed Action, Alternative B, would shift the resource back to the horses by confining the ranchers to their base properties, for a cash flow of zero.

No income from grazing, no expenditure for off-range holding, with net savings to taxpayers of $4 million per year.

RELATED: Twin Peaks Roundup Announced.

Thriving Ecological Balance-3

If Wild Horses Had Principal Use of East Walker, Lucky Boy and Nine Mile

The permits on these allotments, located west of Hawthorne, NV, are up for renewal.

They offer a combined 5,102 active AUMs on 71,998 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 5,102 ÷ 12 = 425, 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 425 ÷ 71,998 × 1,000 = 5.9 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, defeated a long time ago and now one of their allies, give their assent through their darting programs.

If the allotments were an HMA, the AML would be 72 and 353 horses would be consigned to off-range holding because of permitted grazing.

BLM allotments in Nevada carry livestock equivalent to 173,144 wild horses on 40,194,360 public acres, or 4.3 wild horses per thousand public acres.

Wild horses can be placed on public lands not identified for their use by acquiring base properties associated with grazing allotments and flipping the preference to horses, as American Prairie did for bison in Montana.

RELATED: The Allotments Tell the Story: They’re Lying, All of Them.

East Walker Lucky Boy Nine Mile Allotments 09-23-24

Scoping Begins for Wyoming Honor Farm Contract Renewal

One document has been copied to the project folder.

A forthcoming environmental assessment will evaluate the wild horse gentling and adoption partnership between BLM Wyoming and the Wyoming Department of Corrections as well as other alternatives, according to today’s news release.

Comments will be accepted through October 23.

RELATED: What’s Happening at Wyoming Honor Farm?

SHOCKER: New PLC President Is a Public-Lands Rancher

He assumed the role at the end of the 56th Annual Meeting according to a September 20 news release.

As a role model for the industry, his allotments meet or exceed standards for rangeland health.  Right?

The Operator Information and Allotment Information reports at RAS tied him to these authorizations and allotments, all in the Royal Gorge Field Office.

  • 0502003 – WEST BOX CANYON
  • 0503694 – HAYDEN RANCH
  • 0503746 – BEAR CREEK
  • 0505292 – HOWARD CREEK
  • 0505310 – MAVERICK GULCH

The Allotment Master Report provides management status, acreage and active AUMs.

Canterbury Allotment Calcs 09-23-24

The operation is on the small side, putting the new president in the figurehead category.

All of the public acres are in the Improve category, which should be an embarrassment to PLC.

The parcels support livestock equivalent to 70 wild horses, with an average stocking rate of 4.8 animals per thousand public acres.

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), which should bring more embarrassment.

The advocates, defeated a long time ago and now in their camp, bolster the narrative with their darting programs.

RELATED: Winners of 2024 Stewardship Awards Announced.

Relationship Between Active AUMs and Permitted Use

The Allotment Master Report provides both.

In this example from the Blue Wing Allotment in Nevada, C-Punch Ranch receives 14,058 active AUMs but the permitted use is 25,864.

Blue Wing AUMs 09-22-24

Which one represents the forage allocation for livestock?

Sometimes the BLM moves AUMs into the suspended column because of fires, drought, solar arrays, mines, etc.

Those AUMs can shift back to active use when conditions improve or after the useful life of the project.

The relationship between these variables is:

Active AUMs = Permitted UseSuspended AUMs

or

Permitted Use = Active AUMs + Suspended AUMs

Western Horse Watchers uses active AUMs when comparing forage allocations for wild horses and livestock.

RELATED: What Do the AUM Numbers Tell You About an HMA?