Kiger-Riddle Management Plan Breaks with Tradition

Due to their popularity, horses captured in these roundups had a very high adoption rate, 100% in some cases.

For this reason the BLM did not apply population suppression in the HMAs, such as fertility control pesticides, sex ratio skewing and castration of stallions.

You won’t find any remarks about that at the HMA pages [Kiger | Riddle] but you can still see them at the 2015 gather page:

Kiger Population Control Statement 10-13-24

That has changed in the new plan, issued in July.

The Decision Record authorized Alternative A, the Proposed Action, discussed in Section 2.2 of the Final EA.

The option, titled “Remove Excess Wild Horses and Implement Intensive Fertility Control Management over a Ten-Year Period,” includes the use of Zonastat-H and GonaCon Equine—a practice that’s been avoided for many years.

More troubling, however, are the inconsistencies in the discussion of these pesticides, starting at the bottom of page 149 in the EA (156 in the pdf).

Like the Buffalo Hills EA, the citation for GonaCon Equine is out of date:

“The EPA required product label associated with the registration for ZonaStat-H is cited in the EA as EPA (2012). That label states that ‘For maximum efficacy, ZonaStat-H is administered as an initial priming dose followed by a booster dose at least two weeks later.’ The EPA-required product label associated with the registration for GonaCon-Equine is cited in the EA as EPA (2013). That label states that ‘If longer contraceptive effect is desired, a second vaccination may be given 30 or more days after the first injection or during the following year with no known adverse health effects to the vaccinated animal.’”

The registration was amended in 2015 and 2017.

In 2013 (and 2015) GonaCon was a restricted-use pesticide. In 2017, that designation was dropped.

In 2013 the shortest interval between treatments was 30 days. In 2017, the EPA increased it to 90 days.

Zonastat-H is still a restricted-use pesticide, meaning it’s not available for retail sale and you must be certified to apply it. That’s why the advocates spend three days at the Billings School of PZP Darting and Public Deception.

The EA acknowledges the certification requirement on page 158 of the pdf: “In keeping with the EPA registration for ZonaStat-H (EPA 2012; reg. no. 86833 1), certification through the Science and Conservation Center in Billings, Montana is required to apply that vaccine to equids.”

But there is no such statement for GonaCon Equine, which should be there if they’re referring to the 2013 (or 2015) registrations!

The absence of that remark suggests they’re following the 2017 amendment but violating the 90-day interval between treatments.

Apparently, they want the 30-day interval of the old registrations and the certification-free policy of the new registration.

You can’t have it both ways!

These errors invalidate the EA in this writer’s opinion and the court should halt the roundups as the coalition requested.

Twin Peaks Roundup Over

The incident concluded on October 11 with 949 horses captured, 906 shipped, 39 released and four dead.

There were no unaccounted-for animals.

Ten mules and one burro were picked up on the last day and released.

The capture and removal goals were 940 and 870 respectively.

The death rate was 0.4%.

The average daily take was 86.3.

The door on a trailer came open during transport on October 3 and nine horses fell out.

The capture total included 343 stallions, 434 mares and 172 foals.

Youngsters represented 18.1% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of 13% per year.

Of the adults, 44.1% were male and 55.9% were female, outside the expected range of variation from a random process centered at 50% males / 50% females.

The October 7 schedule indicates that up to 30 mares will be treated with GonaCon Equine and returned to the HMA.

If they receive two doses, which is common in roundups, they would not be released for at least 90 days, the minimum interval between treatments.

Anything less constitutes unlawful use of the pesticide.

The roundup liberated 10,920 AUMs per year, giving new hope to the permittees.

RELATED: Twin Peaks Roundup Announced.

Coalition Tries to Block Kiger, Riddle Mountain Roundups

The plaintiffs, consisting of the Oregon Wild Horse Organization, Central Oregon Wild Horse Coalition and Western Watersheds Project, argue that the BLM must demonstrate that wild horse removals will restore an ecological balance on public lands but failed to do so, according to an October 11 report by Capital Press.

The claim will likely not hold water once the court realizes that achieving a thriving ecological balance means ranchers accessing most of the food in the lawful homes of wild horses, a result the agency seeks consistently across ten western states.

The advocates, defeated a long time ago, underscore the philosophy with their darting programs.

The final planning documents covering the roundups were copied to the project folder on July 22 and they are on the October 7 schedule.

The wild horse and burro program is a grazing program ancillary, protecting ranchers by minimizing the pests and enforcing resource allocations already on the books.

Other such functions include predator control (mostly at the state level), wildfire recovery, sagebrush restoration and pinyon/juniper eradication.

Thriving Ecological Balance-3

Why Western Horse Watchers Ignores Some Stories

If they’re behind a paywall you won’t hear about them.

RELATED: Note to Advocates.

Ignoring Wild Horse Stories 10-12-24

HMAPs: Pacifiers for Advocates

They do not allocate resources.

They cannot change resource allocations.

They fortify resource allocations already on the books.

But the advocates can feel good about themselves, thinking they’ve done something useful for wild horses, as business continues as usual on America’s public lands.

HMAPs Pacifiers for Advocates 10-10-24

Foal-Free Friday, Divide and Conquer Edition

The table on page 3 of the September update for the Virginia Range darting program shows how the advocates have set their priorities.

Areas with hit rates of four or more are shown in orange while areas of six or more have been marked red.

Virginia Range Darting Calcs Sep 2024 10-09-24

Mares in the red zone are probably toast, never again to bear fruit, and those in the orange zone are well on their way.

If the advocates can put enough of the mares in the red zone the herd will implode.

Mass Sterilization and Motorized Removal 08-10-24

HMAP for Antelope and Triple B Complexes in the Works?

A new project was opened in ePlanning today but no documents were posted.

The description says the new plan will guide future management of the Complexes and the wild horses within.

Is it a response to a protest in Reno?

Contrary to what the advocates say, HMAPs ratify and reinforce existing management plans, which put ranching interests far above those of the horses.

Park Officials Revise TRNP Roundup Plan

Previously the capture goal was 200 and the removal goal was 15, but now they’re 200 and zero according to an October 9 report by INFORUM.

Advocates argue that continued use of GonaCon Equine will result in a nonreproducing herd that dies off but how would they react if it was done with Zonastat-H?

RELATED: Only 8 Viable Mares at TRNP?

Twin Peaks Roundup, Day 9

The incident started on October 1. Results through October 9:

Scope: Twin Peaks HMA
Target: Wild horses
AML: 758 horses (and 116 burros)
Pre-gather population: 1,800 horses (and 140 burros)
True AML: 2,992
Type: Planned
Method: Helicopter
Category: Cruel and costly (according to advocates)
Better way: Snuff out new life with pesticide-laced darts (according to advocates)
Capture goal: 940
Removal goal: 870
Captured: 731, up from 621 on Day 7
Shipped: 688, up from 578 on Day 7
Released: 39, up from 1 on Day 7
Deaths: 4, no change from Day 7
Average daily take: 81.2
Unaccounted-for animals: None
Snippet from statute: It is the policy of Congress that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death
Snippet from manual: To protect wild horses and burros from unauthorized capture, branding, harassment or death

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

No horses were caught on Day 9. The trap was moved to Honey Lake, outside the HMA.

The death rate is 0.5%.

The sidebar says one horse released despite the incident on Day 3 when nine fell out of a trailer and the return of 38 stallions on Day 9.

The capture total includes 269 stallions, 327 mares and 135 foals.

Youngsters represented 18.5% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of 13% per year.

Of the adults, 45.1% were male and 54.9% were female, no indication of an abnormal sex ratio.

Body condition scores ranged from 3 to 4 on Day 8.

The number of animals removed depends on the number released. Up to 30 mares will be treated with GonaCon Equine and be returned to the range with up to 42 stallions according to the FY25 schedule.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management. Resources liberated to date:

Forage: 8,304 AUMs per year
Water: 6,920 gallons per day

RELATED: Twin Peaks Roundup, Day 7.

BLM Updates Roundup Plans

FY24

September 9 → October 7

FY25

September 9 → October 7

The new fiscal year started on October 1.

RELATED: FY25 Roundup Schedule Issued.

Virginia Range Darting Update for September 2024

The Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, a leader in nonmotorized removal and staunch opponent of principal use, reported today that 91 mares received 93 doses of PZP during the month, 13 given as primers and 80 as boosters.

Over the life of the program, which began in 2019, the advocates have pummeled 2,064 mares with 9,860 doses of the pesticide, for an average of 4.8 doses per mare.

The epicenter of the program is in and around the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center, listed as USA Parkway in the page 3 chart.

Since the beginning of the year, 161 foals have been born and 54 died.

The current population is thought to be 3,501 with 299 horses listed as missing, compared to 3,515 with 302 horses listed as missing in August.

The population was 3,548 with 311 listed as missing in July and 3,521 with 302 listed as missing in June.

The Year 6 agreement with NDA has not been posted to the darting resources page.

The Year 5 summary has not been posted to the monthly reports page.

A goal for October is to maximize booster treatments so the herd will continue to shrink and to complete the training of newly certified darters.

Not discussed in the September update:

Long-term population goal
Number of viable mares
Size of breeding population
Loss of genetic diversity
Changes in death rate and sex ratio
Unlawful use of pesticides

The report will be submitted to the Nevada Department of Agriculture.

Adjectives for Pests 12-01-23

Note to Advocates

Don’t write letters to news outlets that put your material behind paywalls.

Note to Advocates 10-09-24

Another Example 10-09-24

Milton to Drench Paynes Prairie and Cumberland Island Horses

The forecast hasn’t changed much in the past 24 hours.

The storm will push salt water onto the eastern shores of Florida and Georgia as it crosses land and moves into the western Atlantic tomorrow.

Hurricane Milton Advisory 17A 10-09-24

Wild Horse Refuge Flips Rio Ro Mo Grazing Preference

The Operator and Allotment Information Reports at RAS give the following results for THE WILD ANIMAL SANCTUARY, parent of the refuge:

0500504 – ROYAL GORGE FO, WALKER CANYON
0500932 – LITTLE SNAKE FO, SUGARLOAF PEAK, LOWER BORD GL SEC 15
0500933 – LITTLE SNAKE FO, SUGAR LOAF BUTTE

A search of ePlanning turned up a project for renewal of Authorizations 0500932 and 0500933, as well as 0500652. Authorization 0500504 was not included.

The folder contains an EA and FONSI.

Western Horse Watchers was unable to determine if there were opportunities for public review and comment. The project has been marked complete.

The Proposed Action is discussed in Section 3.1 of the EA.

The forage allocations did not change but the livestock types changed from cattle and sheep to horses.

The Authorization Use Report indicates the changes have been put into effect.

The Allotment Master Report indicates that most of the acreage is private, denoted by white in the map below, which may explain why there was little if any disagreement about giving up a few small parcels to help get more wild horses off the public lands in Colorado.

Twin Peaks Roundup, Day 7

The incident started on October 1. Results through October 7:

Scope: Twin Peaks HMA
Target: Wild horses
AML: 758 horses (and 116 burros)
Pre-gather population: 1,800 horses (and 140 burros)
True AML: 2,992
Type: Planned
Method: Helicopter
Category: Cruel and costly (according to advocates)
Better way: Snuff out new life with pesticide-laced darts (according to advocates)
Capture goal: 940
Removal goal: 870
Captured: 621, up from 390 on Day 5
Shipped: 578, up from 299 on Day 5
Released: 1, no change from Day 5
Deaths: 4, up from 3 on Day 5
Average daily take: 88.7
Unaccounted-for animals: 38
Snippet from statute: It is the policy of Congress that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death
Snippet from manual: To protect wild horses and burros from unauthorized capture, branding, harassment or death

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

A mare died of a broken neck on Day 7 after running into a panel during sorting.

The death rate is 0.6%.

The sidebar still says one horse released despite the incident on Day 3 when nine fell out of a trailer and ran to the top of a hill.

The capture total includes 230 stallions, 278 mares and 113 foals.

Youngsters represented 18.2% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of 13% per year.

Of the adults, 45.3% were male and 54.7% were female, no indication of an abnormal sex ratio.

Body condition scores ranged from 3 to 4 on Day 6, the only day when they were given.

Trapping moved to the southern end of the HMA on Day 6.

The number of animals removed depends on the number released. Up to 30 mares will be treated with GonaCon Equine and be returned to the range with up to 42 stallions according to the FY25 schedule.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

RELATED: Twin Peaks Roundup, Day 5.

The Verdict Is In

The Virginia Range mustangs find you guilty of gross incompetence for sending 24 members of their herd to the Carson City prison in early August.

How Advocates Solve Problems

If homes were burning because of faulty circuit breakers, they’d build more fire stations.

McKinney Fire 08-08-22

Roundup Base Property Available for $22 Million

Brand Rock Ranch covers 18,108 total acres west of Roundup MT, including 8,207 deeded acres, 9,261 public acres and 640 state acres.

It’s about 50 miles north of the Billings School of PZP Darting and Public Deception.

The property consists of three parcels, two with grazing preference on BLM lands, according to the agent’s listing.

The Operator Information Report at RAS tied the ranch to authorization 2500711.

The Allotment Information Report tied the authorization to these parcels:

OIL WELL
ELIASSON IND
CURRANT CREEK
ALKALI CREEK WEST

The allotments offer a combined 1,973 active AUMs on 9,482 public acres according to the Allotment Master Report.

That’s equivalent to 164 wild horses, or 17.3 wild horses 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).

The land ratio is on the low side. You must acquire approximately 8,200 deeded acres to access 9,500 public acres, or 1.16 public acres per deeded acre.

Properties with ratios of three to five might be more attractive from the viewpoint of profitability and return on investment.

Only 8 Viable Mares at TRNP?

That’s according to an October 6 letter to INFORUM.

They and their offspring are the 15 horses to be removed from the park later this month.

Although the proposed livestock plan was terminated in April, the Park Service appears to be pursuing Alternative C, a nonreproducing herd that dies off.