Wyoming’s Pathfinder Ranches Changing Hands

The listing indicates it’s under contract, with an asking price of $79.5 million.

The operation consists of twelve ranches organized into four units:

• Two Crosses
  • 180,061 total acres
    • 39,034 deeded
    • 25,228 state
    • 115,799 BLM
    • 3.0 BLM acres per deeded acre
  • 37,909 AUMs
    • Equivalent to 3,159 wild horses
    • Stocking rate would be 27.3 wild horses per thousand BLM acres
• Beulah Belle
  • 98,357 total acres
    • 23,146 deeded
    • 7,962 state
    • 67,248 BLM
    • 2.9 BLM acres per deeded acre
  • 19,810 AUMs
    • Equivalent to 1,651 wild horses
    • Stocking rate would be 24.6 wild horses per thousand BLM acres
• Stewart Creek
  • 569,053 total acres
    • 22,470 deeded
    • 8,999 state
    • 537,584 BLM
    • 23.9 BLM acres per deeded acre
  • 23,734 AUMs
    • Equivalent to 1,978 wild horses
    • Stocking rate would be 3.7 wild horses per thousand BLM acres
• Wooden Rifle
  • 68,606 total acres
    • 14,537 deeded
    • 6,797 state
    • 47,272 BLM
    • 3.3 BLM acres per deeded acre
  • 8,991 AUMs
    • Equivalent to 749 wild horses
    • Stocking rate would be 15.8 wild horses per thousand BLM acres

Your faithful public servants claim that public lands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand BLM acres.

Stewart Creek, the unit with the best land ratio but lowest stocking rate, overlaps three of the five HMAs in the Red Desert Complex.  Not disclosed by the agent.

If the operation was repurposed as a refuge, it would support 7,500 wild horses, saving taxpayers an estimated $13.7 million per year and paying for itself in six years.

The project would likely face stiff opposition from ranchers, farm bureaus and stock grower’s associations.

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: Key Indicators for New Wild Horse Preserves.