Black Ranch covers 3,710 deeded acres in northeastern Montana, with grazing privileges on 26,600 BLM acres and 4,680 state acres according to the agent’s listing.
The map indicates the BLM grazing preference is tied to the Upper Canyon Creek, MT04725 and Eagles Nest Coulee allotments, which offer a combined 4,346 active AUMs on 28,661 public acres, according to the allotment master report.
That’s equivalent to 362 wild horses or 12.6 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 animals on 27 million acres).
The land ratio, using the agent’s data, is 7.2 public acres per deeded acre.
The ranch does not overlap any areas identified for wild horses.
The best option for wild horses removed from their lawful homes 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 $27,624 per rescued horse, assuming the ranch operated in self-sustaining mode.
On-site hay production would increase capacity, driving the investment ratio down.
The listing says the ranch supports 750 head for seven months per year but does not give the status of livestock during the off season. Normally the animals would retreat to the deeded acreage or rented pastures.
RELATED: Starting a Nonprofit That Actually Helps Wild Horses.
Western Horse Watchers Association 