Researchers to Study Mountain Lion Prey in Caliente Complex

The Nevada Department of Wildlife, in partnership with Utah State University and the U.S. Geological Survey, has approached the BLM about monitoring prey selection in two HAs that overlap or are near designated wilderness areas in southeastern Nevada.

The researchers suspect that predation behavior will change after a sudden decrease in the equine population, as would result from a roundup, shifting toward native species such as mule deer, elk and bighorns.

That would be unwelcome news for big game hunters.

Could it also shift to nonnative species, such as privately owned cattle and sheep?

The area is subject to permitted grazing.

The answers seem obvious: If you’re a mountain lion and you lose a major food source, you change your diet, move to another area or die.

The study is not consistent with the claim that wild horses have no natural predators.

Data will be collected with trailcams.

The Draft EA was the only document copied to the project folder.

Comments will be accepted through December 14.

RELATED: Caliente Complex in Pictures.

Caliente Mountain Lion Study 12-06-23

Court Dismisses Salt River Legal Action

The case brought earlier this year by the Center for Biological Diversity, Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife Conservation and the Arizona Wildlife Federation, alleging that wild horses were destroying the habitats of endangered species in the Tonto National Forest, has been tossed according to a report by KPNX News.

The decision does not protect the horses.  It may have alleviated the risk of forcible removal, but nonmotorized removal by the Salt River Wild Horse Darting Group, an affiliate of the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, will continue.

Simone Neterlands with Darting Rifle 09-02-23

The goal is to take the population of approximately 400 animals down to 200 in ten years, after which the mares will be sterile and the herd will be lost—forever.

RELATED: Coalition Sues Forest Service Over Salt River Horses.

Nevada WHR Roundup Starts This Week

The FY24 schedule shows a December 7 start date but today’s news release indicates December 8.

The plan calls for the capture of 350 wild horses, removal of 138, treatment of up to 106 mares with GonaCon Equine (a fertility control pesticide) and the return of 212.

The current population is thought to be 438, within the AML of 300 – 500.

The WHR lies within the Nevada Test and Training Range so the incident will not be open to public observation.

Animals designated for removal will be taken to the Ridgecrest off-range corrals.

The WHR covers 1,301,637 acres of military land southeast of Tonopah and is not subject to permitted grazing but surrounding lands are.

A roundup two years ago removed horses and burros from the area.

Nevada WHR and Allotments 12-05-23

Virginia Range Darting Update for November 2023

The Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, a leader in nonmotorized removal, indicated in the November report that 162 mares received 162 doses of Zonastat-H during the month, 31 given as a primer and 131 as a booster.

Over the life of the program, which began in 2019, 1,978 mares have received an astonishing 8,399 doses of the ovary-killing pesticide.

Of the 175 foals born this year in the primary target zone, 90 have died, in some cases with the aid of predators.

The current population is thought to be 3,479 with 350 horses listed as missing, compared to 3,498 with 338 listed as missing in October.

A goal for December is to “Continue to maximize booster treatments to mares across the Virginia Range to prevent pregnancies, allowing for continued population reduction.”

Better Way 10-25-23

Not discussed in the report:

  • Long-term population goal
  • Size of breeding population
  • Loss of genetic diversity
  • Herd demographics (average age of herd, sex ratio, percent foals)
  • Changes in death rates
  • Risk of sterility

The program is now in its fifth year and many of the mares are at the point of no return.

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

The Virginia Range is subject to permitted grazing.

RELATED: Virginia Range Darting Update for October 2023.

Pesticide Pushers 07-17-23

Introduction to the East Pershing Complex

The largest roundup of FY24 is scheduled to begin on December 28, with 2,875 wild horses to be captured and removed.

As of today, the incident has not been announced by the BLM and a gather page has not been created.

The Complex, consisting of three HMAs and four HAs, may get its name from the county in Nevada where the action will occur.

The roundup aligns with three tenets of rangeland management:

  • Pest control
  • Resource enforcement
  • Rancher protection

The advocates, defeated a long time ago and now desperate for a seat at the table, eagerly participate in the process.

Alternative B in the Final EA was authorized by the Humboldt Field Office in a 2018 Decision, minus the sterilization option.

You can find these documents in the project folder on ePlanning.

Figure 1 shows the HAs and HMAs.

Figure 2 shows the grazing allotments.

Section 3.12 in the EA discusses livestock grazing and resource apportionment.

How much forage has been assigned to the ranchers in the lawful home of wild horses?

Don’t look to the advocates for answers.

Price of Hay Unchanged, Still Too High

A bale of alfalfa-grass mix sold for $34 yesterday, 20 bales minimum, no change from last month.

The single-bale price was $35.

Although it’s off its high of $36 per bale earlier this year, it’s up 79% from the summer of 2021, when Bidenomics was unleashed on the American people.

An average horse would need around five bales per month, putting the cost at $170 per AUM.

The poor ranchers, forced to live in multi-million-dollar base properties, pay $1.35 per AUM to access forage on public lands.

Curiously, a headline today on Drudge says “Animal shelters across USA overflowing.”

RELATED: Cost of Hay Dropped Slightly!

How Much Private Land Do the Public-Lands Ranchers Control?

Nearly 120 million acres according to the Public Lands Council, with grazing privileges on more than 250 million acres managed by the USFS and BLM.

Consider the new off-range corrals north of Winnemucca.

If a private owner can care for 4,000 horses on 100 acres, the ranchers should be able to maintain 4.8 billion (4,800,000,000) cow/calf pairs on their deeded acreage.

There’s no need for permitted grazing!

Why do they want access to public lands?  Why do they view it as their birthright?

Profit, greed.  It’s a gravy train, a government giveaway.

They pay pennies on the dollar to feed their animals, compared to the Winnemucca corrals, which are subsidized by taxpayers.

Solution?  Confine the ranchers to their (multi-million-dollar) base properties, which they’re already doing, but make the off-season twelve months per year and let them pay the going rate to feed their animals.

As a result, AMLs can be increased and the landmass identified for wild horses and burros in 1971 (around 53 million acres) can be managed principally for them, as specified in the original statute.

RELATED: Winnemucca Base Property Hits Market for $11.2 Million.

AML-1

Adjectives for Equine Pests

The BLM recently paid the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses $91,865.50 to poison the Cedar Mountain mares with Zonastat-H, an ovary-killing pesticide.

CAAWH now refers to the herd as majestic, expanding the list of adjectives they use to describe the animals they’re trying to exterminate.

Majestic Wild Horses of Cedar Mountain 12-01-23

Apparently, they’ve found that this and other such terms are very effective in separating well-intentioned donors from their money.

RELATED: What Is a Cherished Horse or Burro?

Adjectives for Pests 12-01-23