BLM said today in a news release that the operation had concluded, with 1,716 excess horses captured and 47 returned to their home range. The 24 deaths were not reported.
There has been much discussion on these pages about the effect on the horses but how many poor ranchers have been hurt by the mandatory AUM curtailment needed to achieve the Mojave-Southern Great Basin RAC standards for rangeland health?
There is no curtailment.
RELATED: Eagle Roundup Day 40.
Refer to this story by Phoenix-based AZFamily, posted today.
If the unallocated forage was assigned to the horses, the AML could be moved closer to the minimum acceptable level for maintaining genetic diversity, per section 4.4.6.3 of the WHB Management Handbook.
RELATED: Heber KMIs.
Cumulative totals through 02-24-20, per the BLM roundup page for the Eagle Complex:
The latest report says “Operations complete.”
RELATED: Eagle Roundup Day 38, Eagle Wild Horses Get Short End of Stick.
Photo: Refugees from Eagle Complex at Palomino Valley off-range corrals, 02-08-20.
More commentary by Rick Gore.
On Paynes Prairie State Park with Rambling Tim.
Cumulative totals through 02-22-20, per the BLM roundup page for the Eagle Complex:
The proportions of mares and studs are still outside of statistical limits corresponding to n = 1,711 and p-bar = .50. The number of mares removed from the area is assignably larger than the number of studs. Why?
The gather target of 1,700 horses has been achieved. Approximately 100 horses were to be returned but that hasn’t been reported yet.
The horses are not starving when their population exceeds AML, they’re robbing too much forage from the most noble and deserving inhabitants of public-lands: Privately owned livestock.
RELATED: Eagle Roundup Day 36, Eagle Wild Horses Get Short End of Stick.
Virginia Range mustangs stop by for a drink but the system is still off for the season.
