BLM Issues North Complex Final Planning Documents

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

That option includes forcible removal to low AML and application of fertility control pesticides.

The news release put the current population at 369, compared to an AML of 101 to 157.

Section 2.5 covers alternatives considered but dropped from the analysis.

Section 3.5 addresses livestock grazing.

The DR, EA and other supporting documents were copied to the project folder today.

The Complex includes the Dogskin Mountains, Flanigan and Granite Peak HMAs.

A roundup does not appear on the FY26 schedule.

PREVIOUS: Planning Documents for North Complex Out for Review.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Advocates Send Currituck Stallion to Beach in the Sky

They moved him to the farm last November amid claims of food aggressiveness and earlier this week they euthanized him according to a report by WAVY News.

How many times did he colic in the wild?

His transition to domestic life was documented by WTKR News.

RELATED: Advocates Remove Currituck Stallion from Beach.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

BLM Seeks Vet Services for Litchfield ORC

The RFP was published on July 29.

The base period is one year with options for four more years.

Refer to the statement of work for a description of services to be provided.

Bidders must be familiar with CAWP.

Proposals are due by August 12.

The capacity of the preparation facility is 1,000 animals according to the May 28 report.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Foal-Free Friday, Beating a Dead Horse Herd Edition

Long-term use of PZP at the Salt River, under the guise of humane population reduction, has produced the following results:

  • The mares have been ruined, except for those with faulty immune systems
  • The breeding population has been destroyed
  • There is no genetic mixing

Curiously, some advocates are still calling for scientific study of herd size and genetic health, evident in a July 29 commentary in the Arizona Capitol Times.

How would the research save the herd from total collapse?

Why haven’t Van der Salm, the Salt River ringleader, and Roy, the disgraced former leader of the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, been held to account?

PREVIOUS: Foal-Free Friday, Blood from a Stone Edition.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Chincoteague Pony Auction Falls Short of Last Year

Thunderbolt was the top producer going into today’s event, credited with ten foals, but Ace was the top earner, generating $70,600 for the fire company.  A disputed foal may also be his, which would add another $50,000.

Colts outnumbered fillies 46 to 42 in this year’s foal crop, but fillies attracted $361,100 in bids compared to $274,500 for colts.

The total paid was $635,600, compared to over $1 million in 2025.

Of the 88 foals born in the refuge, 80 were offered for sale.

The seven buybacks averaged $33,886 per head, compared to $5,458 per head for the others.

The highest bid went to Tuney, one of the buybacks, for $60,000.

Six of the buybacks were female, setting the stage for more production and greater income in 2027.

Auction results provided by Superior Livestock Auction.

Refer to this spreadsheet for a ranking of sires.

List of foals by DSC Photography.

Comments on 2025 auction.

PREVIOUS: Chincoteague Pony Auction in Progress.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Callaghan Aftermath

The pre-gather population was over 4,500 and 2,000 animals were removed.

Q. Did the helicopters sterilize any mares?

A. No, fertility control programs do that.

Q. Was the breeding population destroyed?

A. No, fertility control programs do that.

Q. Was genetic mixing prevented?

A. No, fertility control programs do that.

Q. Did the incident skew the sex ratio in favor of females?

A. No, fertility control programs do that.

Q. Did the roundup attract women?

A. No, fertility control programs do that.

Q. Are you surprised that the advocates push for the greater of two evils?

A. No, they want the ranchers to win.

PREVIOUS: Callaghan Roundup Ends?

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

BLM Closing Public Lands for Bible Springs Roundup

A new project has been created in ePlanning and two documents have been uploaded.

The Decision Record states that public lands within a two-mile radius of active trapping locations and temporary holding facilities will be closed to all public entry for the duration of the incident except for essential gather operation personnel and any public observers escorted by BLM staff.

The map on page 4 of the DR shows the affected area.

The roundup has not been announced but it’s on the schedule with a start date of August 1.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Second Flat Fire Approaching Oregon ORC?

The BLM issued a vague news release on July 27 asking the public to avoid the Hines off-range corrals so firefighting crews could work safely and effectively.

But it did not identify the threat.

The map at Inciweb shows the Second Flat fire a few miles to the north.

The July 28 update said that firefighters were trying to improve containment lines on the eastern and southern edges of the fire impacting communities in Hines and Burns.

The fire covered 86,504 acres as of yesterday with 5% containment.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Moriah Roundup Ends Early

The incident continued through the weekend with a total of 257 horses captured, 250 shipped, one released and five dead.

There was one unaccounted-for animal.

257 – 250 – 1 – 5 = 1

The capture goal was 500.

The news release said there was not enough water to support the number of animals in the region.

The death rate was 1.9%.

The capture total included 86 stallions, 112 mares and 59 foals.

The average daily take was approximately 37.

The percentage of foals was large enough to support a herd growth rate of 18% per year.

There was no indication of an abnormal sex ratio in the adults.

Fertility control was not in the project scope.

The operation lasted seven days and liberated an estimated 3,000 AUMs per year.

RELATED: Moriah Roundup Announced.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Lahontan Roundup Ends?

The incident continued through the weekend with a total of 703 horses captured, 698 shipped, one released and four dead.

The capture goal was 700.

A news release has not been published but the sum of the animals shipped, released and killed matches the number captured so it’s probably over.

The death rate was 0.6%.

One of the deaths was intentional.

The capture total included 291 stallions, 333 mares and 79 foals.

The average daily take was approximately 100.

There were no unaccounted-for animals.

The percentage of foals was not large enough to support a herd growth rate of 20% per year.

There was no indication of an abnormal sex ratio in the adults.

Fertility control was not in the project scope.

The operation lasted for 7 days and liberated an estimated 8,400 AUMs per year.

RELATED: Lahontan Roundup Announced.

UPDATE: It’s official—the news release says it’s over.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Callaghan Roundup Ends?

The incident continued through the weekend with a total of 2,005 horses captured, 1,992 shipped, none released and 11 deaths.

The capture goal was 2,000.

A news release has not been issued but the sum of the animals shipped and killed is close to the number captured so it’s probably over.

The daily reports yielded 2,001 captured, 1,992 shipped and 11 deaths.

There are discrepancies in the data because

Shipped + Released + DeathsCaptured

The death rate was 0.5%.

Three of the deaths were intentional.

The capture total included 786 stallions, 827 mares and 392 foals.

The daily reports gave 796, 833 and 372.

No burros were caught.

The average daily take was approximately 118.

The percentage of foals was not large enough to support a herd growth rate of 20% per year.

There was no indication of an abnormal sex ratio in the adults.

Fertility control was not in the project scope.

The operation persisted for 17 days and liberated an estimated 24,000 AUMs per year.

RELATED: Callaghan Roundup Announced.

UPDATE: It’s official—the news release says it’s over.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

BLM Seeks Vet Services for Elm Creek

The RFP appeared yesterday at SAM.

The base period is one year with options for four more years.

Refer to the statement of work for a description of services to be provided.

Bidders must be familiar with CAWP.

Proposals are due by August 14.

The capacity of the maintenance facility is 475 animals according to the May 28 report.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Salt River Herd Getting Older?

The average of the herd is increasing, along with the death rate, because no new foals are hitting the ground.

It’s not nature’s way, it’s a better way according to the advocates.

The Salt River advocates portray themselves as voices for the horses but they were hired to get rid of them.

How much of their support comes from hunters and ranchers?

The Salt River Wild Horse Darting Group is a forward base of the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, a leader in mass sterilization.

Conservation, protection and preservation are codewords for long-term use of fertility control, with the inevitable result of permanent infertility and herd collapse.

That’s what you’re seeing at the Salt River (and Virginia Range).

Refer to the AdvocateSpeak decoder for more examples.

RELATED: Don’t Worry, Science Will Indict Salt River Advocates.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

West Douglas Vet Services No Longer Needed?

The RFP was marked INACTIVE yesterday with no contract awarded.

The Piceance roundup announcement, which included West Douglas, did not say where horses identified for removal would be taken but the RFP said the place of performance was Rio Blanco.

PREVIOUS: BLM Seeks Vet Services for West Douglas Roundup.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Moriah Roundup, Day 5

The incident started on July 20.  Results through July 24:

  • Scope: Moriah HA
  • Target: Horses
  • AML: Zero
  • Pre-gather population: 608
  • Type: Planned
  • Method: Helicopter
  • Category: Cruel and costly (according to advocates)
  • Better way: Eliminate the breeding population with PZP (according to advocates)
  • Capture goal: 500
  • Removal goal: 500
  • Captured: 183, up from 94 on Day 3
  • Shipped: 96, up from zero on Day 3
  • Released: None
  • Deaths: 4, up from 3 on Day 3
  • Average daily take: 36.6
  • Unaccounted-for animals: 83
  • 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 stallion died of a broken neck on Day 4.

The death rate is 2.2%.

The capture total includes 62 stallions, 79 mares and 42 foals.

Youngsters represented 23% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of 18% per year.

Of the adults, 44% were male and 56% were female, no indication of an abnormal sex ratio.

Body condition scores on Days 4 and 5 ranged from 2 to 4.

The location of the trap site is not known.

The name of the contractor was not provided.

There are no plans to treat any of the mares with fertility control pesticides and return them to the range.

The HA is managed principally for livestock.  Resources liberated to date:

  • Forage: 2,196 AUMs per year
  • Water: 1,830 gallons per day

The project area extends beyond the HA.

PREVIOUS: Moriah Roundup, Day 3.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.