K Ranch covers 14,367 deeded acres on the north side of I-40 near Dinosaur, CO, with access to 45,140 BLM acres and 3,200 state acres according to the agent’s listing.
The National Data Viewer shows the arrangement. Click on image to open in new tab.
The Allotment Master Report puts it in the Improve category, with 3,664 active AUMs on 43,242 public acres, equivalent to 305 wild horses or 7.1 wild horses per thousand public acres.
Your faithful public servants claim that public lands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand acres (27,000 on 27 million acres).
The land ratio is, using the agent’s data, is 3.1 public acres for every deeded acre.
The ranch does not overlap any areas identified for wild horses.
The legislature expects the Colorado Wild Horse Working Group to identify and pursue long-term solutions for wild horses removed from federal horse management areas or held in federal facilities, the best of which is to put them back on public lands at the expense of privately owned livestock.
This can be accomplished by acquiring base properties such as this one and flipping the grazing preference to horses.
The investment ratio would be $39,016 per rescued horse if the ranch was operated in self-sustaining mode.
On-site hay production would increase capacity, driving the investment ratio down.
The listing says the ranch supports a year-round cattle operation of approximately 530 cows, plus 75 yearling heifers and 15 bulls, equivalent to roughly 600 wild horses.
RELATED: Starting a Nonprofit That Actually Helps Wild Horses.
Western Horse Watchers Association 