They’ve been idle for ten years, more or less, and they’re no longer in RAS.
But the BLM just released a Draft EIS for public review and the previous forage allocations are discussed in Section 1.1. Table 1-1 gives the public acres.
- Hammond – 473 active AUMs, 11,048 public acres
- Mud Creek – 590 active AUMs, 8.206 public acres
- Hardie Summer – 408 active AUMs, 6,006 public acres
- Hammond FFR – 32 active AUMs, 1,159 public acres
A 2023 land health assessment determined that the available forage in Hammond is north of 1,700 but that finding has been ignored.
No forage has been assigned to wild horses in these parcels.
How many could live there?
The allotments offer a combined 1,503 active AUMs on 26,419 public acres, equivalent to 125 wild horses, or 4.7 animals per thousand public acres.
Why is this important?
Your faithful public servants 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. Like the ranchers, they want you to think that the herds must stay within AML if they are to survive.
If the allotments were merged into an HMA, the AML would be 26 and 99 horses would be consigned to off-range holding because of permitted grazing.
BLM allotments in Oregon support livestock equivalent to 87,934 wild horses on 13,130,302 public acres, or 6.7 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.
RELATED: The Allotments Tell the Story: They’re Lying, All of Them.
Western Horse Watchers Association 