Author: Western Horse Watchers

East Pershing Roundup, Day 39

The incident began on December 28.  Results through February 4:

The figures above are based on the daily reports, not the totals posted by the BLM.

A mare was put down on Day 38 for a facial fracture, possibly due to collision with a post or pipe panel.  A stallion was dispatched on Day 39 due to a missing eye.

The death rate is 1.0%.  Four horses died accidentally, 22 were killed intentionally.

The capture total includes 1,024 stallions, 1,184 mares and 345 foals.  The sidebar at the gather page says 1,022/1,178/347.

Youngsters represented 13.5% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of eight percent per year.

Of the adults, 46.4% were male and 53.6% were female, no evidence of an abnormal sex ratio.

Body condition scores ranged from 3 to 4 on Days 38 and 39.

The location of the trap site was not disclosed.

The Complex is managed primarily for animal agriculture.  The National Data Viewer shows habitat loss and grazing allotments.  Click on image to open in new tab.

*According to advocates.

East Pershing Complex with Allotments 12-30-23

Day 39 ended with 146 unaccounted-for animals.

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

With 2,378 horses shipped, and a pre-gather population in Winnemucca of 958, give or take, the off-range corrals should be at 83% of capacity.

Other statistics:

  • Forage liberated to date: 30,600 AUMs per year
  • Water liberated to date: 25,500 gallons per day
  • Horses allowed by plan: 555
  • Pre-gather population: 3,375
  • Forage assigned to horses: 6,660 AUMs per year
  • Forage assigned to livestock: Not determined
  • Horses displaced from Complex by permitted grazing: Not determined
  • True AML: Not determined
  • Stocking rate at new AML: Not determined
  • Horses displaced by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

Overpopulation means more horses than allowed by plan, not necessarily more horses than the land can support.

The ability of the Complex to sustain wild horses has been limited by the bureaucrats, who have assigned most of their food to the public-lands ranchers.

Refer to these reports for an indication of the problem:

RELATED: East Pershing Roundup, Day 37.

BLM Updates FY24 Roundup Plan

The December 8 schedule, which greatly increased the scope of the removals, has been supplanted by the February 1 schedule.

The grand totals increased from 20,942 gathered and 19,870 removed to 21,603 gathered and 20,260 removed.

Warm Springs Canyon was replaced by McGee Mountain.

Antelope Hills and Lost Creek were dropped.

Calico was added as an “as built.”

Twin Peaks moved from August to September.

The first part of the schedule corresponds to nonmotorized removal, the domain of the advocates.

These actions support three tenets of rangeland management.

RELATED; BLM Massively Expands FY24 Roundup Schedule.

East Pershing Roundup, Day 37

The incident began on December 28.  Results through February 2:

The figures above are based on the daily reports, not the totals posted by the BLM.

The death rate is 1.0%.  Three horses died accidentally, 21 were killed intentionally.

The capture total includes 940 stallions, 1,080 mares and 303 foals.  The sidebar at the gather page says 938/1,074/305.

Youngsters represented 13.0% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of eight percent per year.

Of the adults, 46.5% were male and 53.5% were female, no evidence of an abnormal sex ratio.

Body condition scores ranged from 3 to 4 on Days 36 and 37.

The location of the trap site was not disclosed.

The Complex is managed primarily for animal agriculture.  The National Data Viewer shows habitat loss and grazing allotments.  Click on image to open in new tab.

*According to advocates.

East Pershing Complex with Allotments 12-30-23

Day 37 ended with 6 unaccounted-for animals.  This result should be zero based on the totals in the sidebar, suggesting there are errors in the daily reports.

The contractor is shipping them the same day they are captured, no animals held back for selective return.

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

Other statistics:

  • Forage liberated to date: 27,840 AUMs per year
  • Water liberated to date: 23,200 gallons per day
  • Horses allowed by plan: 555
  • Pre-gather population: 3,375
  • Forage assigned to horses: 6,660 AUMs per year
  • Forage assigned to livestock: Not determined
  • Horses displaced from Complex by permitted grazing: Not determined
  • True AML: Not determined
  • Stocking rate at new AML: Not determined
  • Horses displaced by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

Overpopulation means more horses than allowed by plan, not necessarily more horses than the land can support.

The ability of the Complex to sustain wild horses has been limited by the bureaucrats, who have assigned most of their food to the public-lands ranchers.

Refer to these reports for an indication of the problem:

RELATED: East Pershing Roundup, Day 35.

Black Mountain Roundup, Day 17

The incident started on January 9.  Results through January 25:

  • Target: Burros
  • Method: Helicopter
  • Type: Planned
  • Category: Cruel and costly*
  • Goals: Gather 1,000, remove 960
  • Better way: Poison the jennies with PZP, let the herd die off*
  • Captured: 1,150, up from 1,112 on Day 15
  • Shipped: 1,102, up from 900 on Day 15
  • Released: None
  • Deaths: 2, no change from Day 15
  • Average daily take: 67.6
  • Unaccounted-for animals: 46

The figures above are based on the daily reports, not the totals posted by the BLM.

Gather activity concluded on Day 16 with 15% overreach.

  • Animals taken by helicopter: 1,112
  • Animals taken by roping: 38

The death rate is 0.2%.

The capture total includes 461 jacks, 524 jennies and 165 foals.

Youngsters represented 14.3% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 46.8% were male and 53.2% were female.

The name of the contractor was not given and the location of the trap site was not disclosed.

The HMA is subject to permitted grazing.

  • Forage liberated to date: 6,900 AUMs per year
  • Water liberated to date: 5,750 gallons per day

The Day 17 report said 47 burros will be returned to the HMA, including those treated with the Montana Solution, but only 46 animals were held back according to the totals.

1,150 – 1,102 – 2 = 46

The National Data Viewer shows habitat loss and overlapping allotments.  Click on map to open in new tab.

The HMA is managed primarily for livestock.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

*According to advocates

RELATED: Black Mountain Roundup, Day 15.

Black Mountain HMA with Allotments 12-20-23

Virginia Range Darting Update for January 2024

The Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, a leader in nonmotorized removal, reported today that 82 mares received 82 doses of PZP during the month, 17 given as a primer and 65 as a booster.

Over the life of the program, which began in 2019, the advocates have pumped 8,609 doses of the pesticide into 1,994 mares.

Two foals were born and one died of unspecified causes.

The current population is thought to be 3,465 with 342 horses listed as missing, compared to 3,471 with 336 listed as missing in December.

Goal for February: “Continue to maximize booster treatments to mares across the Virginia Range before spring breeding season to prevent pregnancies, and continuing to allow for humane population decrease.”

Let Us Fix Your Wild Horse Problem 02-18-23

Not discussed in the report:

  • Long-term population goal
  • Size of breeding population
  • Loss of genetic diversity
  • Changes in death rate and sex ratio
  • Unlawful use of pesticides

PZP tricks the immune system into attacking the ovaries, resulting in sterility after five years of treatment.

The report will be submitted to the Nevada Department of Agriculture.

RELATED: Virginia Range Darting Update for December 2023.

Adjectives for Pests 12-01-23

Groundhog Predicts Another Year of Deceit from Advocates

He didn’t see his shadow according to a report by AP News.

Actually, it doesn’t matter.  We know they’re defeatists, pesticide pushers and ranching sympathizers.

“As you start reducing the amount of available space and forage, then you need to manage the numbers to fit what’s available for the horses.”

That’s what the bureaucrats have been doing for 50 years and instead of opposing it, the advocates go along with it.

CAAWH Membership Card Exposed 01-01-24

Why are you still giving them money?

Foal-Free Friday, Keeping You in the Dark Edition

The Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, a leader in nonmotorized removal, publishes monthly reports for the Virginia Range darting program, which they share with the Nevada Department of Agriculture.

The report for January should post next week.

What is the size of the breeding population?

How many mares are still viable?

What is the sex ratio?

They have the information but they don’t say.

Accountability to the public is lacking in this and other such programs.

When the long-term effects become apparent, the herds will be lost forever.

RELATED: Foal-Free Friday, All Zeal but No Truth Edition.

Cherished Wild Horses 02-01-24

Reward Offered in Big Summit Wild Horse Shooting

The Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, a leader in nonmotorized removal, pledged $5,000 for information leading to the arrest of those responsible, according to a story dated February 1 by The Bulletin of Bend, OR.

The Forest Service did not indicate if the target was female and if it was in foal.

Would you feel better if the advocates were getting rid of them with PZP?

Why hasn’t law enforcement investigated CAAWH for unlawful use of pesticides?

RELATED: Wild Horse Shot, Killed in Big Summit WHT.

CAAWH Congratulates Self for Poisoning Virginia Range Mare

Her freedom and safety have been safeguarded thanks to the pioneering fertility control program, according to a January 31 news flash distributed by Lucky Three Ranch.

The advocates have determined that three foals are enough and her contribution to the genetic diversity of the herd is adequate.

So now they’re going to sterilize her with an ovary-killing pesticide, which they describe as a lifeline.

Better Way 10-25-23

Won’t you give them $30 so they can buy another dose of the miraculous vaccine?

Curiously, they didn’t refer to it as reversible.

These frauds care far more about their standing with the bureaucrats and ranchers than they do about wild horses.

RELATED: CAAWH Admits Virginia Range Mares Are Sterile?

East Pershing Roundup, Day 35

The incident began on December 28.  Results through January 31:

The figures above are based on the daily reports, not the totals posted by the BLM.

The death rate is 1.1%.  Three horses died accidentally, 21 were killed deliberately.

The capture total includes 906 stallions, 1,024 mares and 295 foals.  The sidebar at the gather page says 904/1,018/297.

Youngsters represented 13.3% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of eight percent per year.

Of the adults, 46.9% were male and 53.1% were female, no evidence of an abnormal sex ratio.

Body condition scores ranged from 3 to 4 on Days 34 and 35.

The location of the trap site was not disclosed.

The Complex is managed primarily for animal agriculture.  The National Data Viewer shows habitat loss and grazing allotments.  Click on image to open in new tab.

*According to advocates.

East Pershing Complex with Allotments 12-30-23

Day 35 ended with 6 unaccounted-for animals.  This result should be zero based on the totals in the sidebar, suggesting there are errors in the daily reports.

The contractor is shipping them the same day they are captured.

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

Other statistics:

  • Forage liberated to date: 26,664 AUMs per year
  • Water liberated to date: 22,220 gallons per day
  • Horses allowed by plan: 555
  • Pre-gather population: 3,375
  • Forage assigned to horses: 6,660 AUMs per year
  • Forage assigned to livestock: Not determined
  • Horses displaced from Complex by permitted grazing: Not determined
  • True AML: Not determined
  • Stocking rate at new AML: Not determined
  • Horses displaced by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

Overpopulation means more horses than allowed by plan, not necessarily more horses than the land can support.

The ability of the Complex to sustain wild horses has been limited by the bureaucrats, who have assigned most of their food to the public-lands ranchers.

Refer to these reports for an indication of the problem:

RELATED: East Pershing Roundup, Day 33.

BLM Got Rock-Bottom Price on East Pershing Roundup?

Yesterday’s report by KLAS News said the agency paid $690,000 to Sampson Live Stock to capture and remove 2,875 wild horses from the Complex, including, presumably, transport to the new off-range corrals operated by JS Livestock.

That works out to $240 per horse.

A fee of $500 to $1,000 per head was expected.

Sampson is an established contractor with the BLM, not an up-and-comer trying to get its foot in the door.

The feedlot held 958 wild horses in November, according to the latest Facility Report, so the roundup will put it at 96% of capacity.

Third-party monitoring is needed but it’s on private land.

RELATED: Contractor Demonstrates East Pershing Sleighride.

Vehicles-of-Interest Identified in Clark Mountain Burro Shooting

The next step is to identify their owners.  Both are 2008 Toyota extended cab pickups according to today’s news release.

They were last seen traveling together in Primm, NV on August 13, 2019.

The investigation focuses on 19 dead burros found along Interstate 15 the same day.

The remains of 46 animals were found along I-15 between Halloran Springs, CA, and Primm that year.

By October, the reward topped $100,000.

A BLM Public Affairs Officer told Western Horse Watchers that the agency hopes to generate new leads from the descriptions of the vehicles and ammunition.

The southern edge of the HA runs along I-15.  It’s mostly BLM land with some NPS acreage in the middle.  Click on image to open in new tab.

A roundup in 2020 removed 126 burros from the area.

RELATED: Clark Mountain Reward Still Available.

Clark Mountain HA 01-31-24

Contractor Demonstrates East Pershing Sleighride

The horse appears to be on a skid of some sort, as the wranglers move with him.

They’re with Sampson Live Stock according to a story by KLAS News of Las Vegas.

If the East Pershing horses received 15% of the authorized forage before the roundup, how much will they get when it’s over?

15%.

Roundups do not allocate resources.

They cannot change resource allocations.

They enforce resource allocations already on the books.

You need to change the books, specifically, the RMPs.

Confine the ranchers to their (multi-million dollar) base properties in a year-round off season and let them pay the going rate to feed their animals.

RELATED: East Pershing Roundup, Day 33.

UPDATE: Original video scrubbed, replaced by this one.

Advocates Bawling About Loss of McCullough Filly?

They teamed up with Cowboy State Daily in an article dated January 29 to mislead readers about management practices in the HMA, the lawful home of wild horses.

Fertility control, described as “shooting mares with darts containing birth control medication,” has been implemented there for years according to Angelique Rea.

At McCullough Peaks, the darts contain PZP, a restricted-use pesticide that tricks the immune system into attacking the ovaries.  It’s not a medication.

Rae said the BLM failed to provide evidence of rangeland degradation and that removing the horses because they’re above AML is not reason enough.

Yes, it is.

The AML represents a limit on forage available to the horses, not the forage available in the HMA or the number of horses it can actually support.

The roundup will remove the pests and protect the ranchers.

The forage assigned to livestock would support an estimated 535 wild horses, on top of the 140 allowed by plan.

The advocates are silent about this.

Sandy Sisti, a PZP darter and ranching sympathizer, noted that the herd is aging out, a codeword for dying off.

She said the birth control has spared mares the rigors of pregnancy and delivering foals (an essential part of their existence), so they’re living longer.

That’s a codeword for abnormal sex ratio.

These buffoons, and others like them, are sterilizing the mares and driving the breeding population into the single digits, which spells disaster for the herd.

RELATED: Cause of McCullough Roundup Death Revealed.

AML-1

East Pershing Roundup, Day 33

The incident began on December 28.  Results through January 29:

The figures above are based on the daily reports, not the totals posted by the BLM.

On Day 33, a stallion was put down for a club foot, a mare was dispatched for swayback and another mare was killed due to a missing eye.  Although most won’t be adopted, if they’re deemed unadoptable, they’re toast.

The death rate is 1.2%.

The capture total includes 855 stallions, 941 mares and 258 foals.  The sidebar at the gather page says 853/935/260.

Youngsters represented 12.6% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of seven to eight percent per year.

Of the adults, 47.6% were male and 52.4% were female, no evidence of an abnormal sex ratio.

Body condition scores ranged from 3 to 5 on Days 32 and 33.

The name of the contractor was not given and the location of the trap site was not disclosed.

The Complex is managed primarily for animal agriculture.  The National Data Viewer shows habitat loss and grazing allotments.  Click on image to open in new tab.

*According to advocates.

East Pershing Complex with Allotments 12-30-23

Day 33 ended with 6 unaccounted-for animals.  This result should be zero based on the totals in the sidebar, suggesting there are errors in the daily reports.

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

Other statistics:

  • Forage liberated to date: 24,612 AUMs per year
  • Water liberated to date: 20,510 gallons per day
  • Horses allowed by plan: 555
  • Pre-gather population: 3,375
  • Forage assigned to horses: 6,660 AUMs per year
  • Forage assigned to livestock: Not determined
  • Horses displaced from Complex by permitted grazing: Not determined
  • True AML: Not determined
  • Stocking rate at new AML: Not determined
  • Horses displaced by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

Overpopulation means more horses than allowed by plan, not necessarily more horses than the land can support.

The ability of the Complex to sustain wild horses has been limited by the bureaucrats, who have assigned most of their food to the public-lands ranchers.

Refer to these reports for an indication of the problem:

RELATED: East Pershing Roundup, Day 31.

McCullough Roundup, Day 5

The incident started on January 22.  Results through January 26:

  • Target: Horses
  • Method: Bait
  • Type: Planned
  • Goals: Gather 80, remove 35
  • Captured: 11, up from 10 on Day 3
  • Shipped: 3, no change from Day 3
  • Released: 7, up from 6 on Day 3
  • Deaths: 1, no change from Day 3
  • Average daily take: 2.2
  • Unaccounted-for animals: 0

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

Activity over the past two days consisted of one mare captured and released.

The death rate is 9.1%.

The location of the trap site was not disclosed.

The HMA is subject to permitted grazing.

  • Forage liberated to date: 48 AUMs per year
  • Water liberated to date: 40 gallons per day

The National Data Viewer shows habitat loss and overlapping allotments.  Click on map to open in new tab.

An estimated 535 wild horses have been displaced from their lawful home by permitted grazing, making the True AML almost five times higher than the current AML.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

RELATED: McCullough Roundup, Day 3.

McCullough Peaks HMA with Allotments 07-14-23