A story by KOLO News says TI Ranches of Lamoille, NV ran 1,200 head of cattle in the late 1970s and early 1980s, before wild horse numbers increased, compared to 700 head today.
The article said the ranch includes a 224,000-acre BLM allotment, about 20,000 acres of private land and a Forest Service permit covering 30,000 to 40,000 acres.
The market value of the base property, an important factor in evaluating the financial status of a public-lands rancher, especially his net worth, was not given.
The operator information report at RAS tied the ranch to BLM authorization #2704021 in the Wells Field Office.
The allotment information report linked the authorization to the VALLEY MOUNTAIN and BIG MEADOWS allotments.
A search of the AOIs in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest tied the ranch to three allotments in the Mountain City, Ruby Mountains & Jarbidge Ranger District.
The ArcGIS Viewer showed no overlap between the Forest Service allotments and areas identified for wild horses.
The AOIs do not indicate rangeland health but suggest that the authorized use is less than the permitted use, which may account for the smaller herd or at least part of it.
Big Meadows is not inside an area identified for wild horses but that does not mean the horses avoid it.
Over half of the permitted use in the suspended column, according to the allotment master report, which may explain why it’s in the Maintain category and why the cattle numbers are smaller than they used to be.
Valley Mountain, overlapped by the Maverick-Medicine HMA, offers 4,532 active AUMs on 260,930 public acres, equivalent to 1.4 wild horses per thousand public acres.
It’s in the Improve category with 19% of the permitted use in the suspended column.
Although horses may be a factor in rangeland health, the equivalent stocking rate tells you that resources are scarce and the prospects for larger cattle herds are poor.
To the east is the Spruce allotment, which was to be repurposed as a wild horse preserve until ranchers got involved.
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