A kayakers-eye view of cherished wild horses by Walking with a Wookie.
Author: Western Horse Watchers
Spring Creek Base Property Hits Market for $7.9 Million
Triangle L Ranch covers 5,885 deeded acres, with grazing preference on 74,000 public acres producing 5,132 AUMs per year, according to the listing by Hall and Hall.
That works out to 69.4 AUMs per year per thousand public acres, enough to support 5.8 wild horses per thousand public acres, despite claims by the bureaucrats that public lands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand acres (27,000 animals on 27 million acres).
Why the difference? The bureaucrats assigned most of the forage in the lawful homes of wild horses to privately owned livestock.
The property features nine miles of a perennial creek and a 125-acre pivot.
The asking price includes all farm equipment but not cattle and hay.
The agent’s map ties the deeded acreage to BLM and Forest Service allotments.
On the BLM side: Frost Creek, Lindsay Creek and Browne, all in the Tuscarora Field Office, and Railroad Pass in the Bristlecone Field Office.
For the Forest Service: Mica North, Corral Creek and Cherry Springs, all in the Ruby Mountains Ranger District (Humbolt-Toiyabe National Forest). Unfortunately, the AOIs for this area have not been published. The allotments can be found on the Western Watersheds map but will not be covered here.
The National Data Viewer shows the BLM allotments vis-à-vis nearby HMAs.
Railroad Pass overlaps Diamond Hills South. Click on image to open in new tab.
The Allotment Master Reports (Tuscarora | Bristlecone) put Frost Creek and Lindsay Creek in the Maintain category, and Browne and Railroad Pass in the Improve category.
The seller does not hold all of the active AUMs in the allotments.
Livestock retreat to base properties during the off season and during periods of voluntary or mandatory non-use due to drought, wildfires or overgrazing.
Instead of competing with wild horses, a buyer could leverage the deeded acres in a rewilding project by asking the BLM for change in livestock type and season of use, as American Prairie did for bison in Montana.
In this way, less than 6,000 private acres would control 74,000 public acres, exactly what the ranchers are doing except the landscape would be dotted with free-roaming horses, not privately owned cattle and sheep.
RELATED: Eureka Base Property Hits Market for $2.75 Million.
Antelope Roundup South, Day 7
The incident began on July 9. Results through July 15:
- Scope: Antelope, Antelope Valley HMAs
- Purpose: Pest control, resource enforcement, rancher protection
- Target: Horses
- Type: Planned
- Method: Helicopter
- Category: Cruel and costly*
- Better way: Poison mares with ovary-killing pesticides*
- Captured: 631, up from 391 on Day 5
- Average daily take: 90.1
- Capture goal: 1,107
- Removal goal: 1,107
- Returned: 2, up from 1 on Day 5
- Deaths: 5, up from 3 on Day 5
- Shipped: 533, up from 320 on Day 5
The figures above are based on the daily reports, not the totals posted by the BLM.
A mare died of a fractured neck on Day 6, probably due to impact on a pipe panel.
A foal was lost on Day 7 because of an umbilical hernia. The report did not indicate euthanasia.
The death rate is 0.8%.
The capture total includes 197 stallions, 286 mares and 148 foals.
Youngsters represented 23.5% of the animals gathered.
Of the adults, 40.8% were male and 59.2% were female. These proportions don’t look they came from a simple random process centered at 50% males / 50% females with a sample size of 483.
A birth rate of 23% per year corresponds to a growth rate of 18% per year.
Land managers often use growth rates of 20% per year to predict herd sizes and management actions.
Body condition scores were not provided.
The location of the trap site was not disclosed.
The HMAs and surrounding lands are subject to permitted grazing.
*According to advocates.
Day 7 ended with 91 unaccounted-for animals.
Mares treated with fertility control pesticides will be returned to the area at a later date.
Other statistics:
- Forage liberated to date: 7,548 AUMs per year
- Water liberated to date: 6,290 gallons per day
- Forage assigned to livestock: Unknown
- Horses displaced from area by permitted grazing: Unknown
- True AML: Unknown
- Stocking rate at new AML: Unknown
- Horses removed because of drilling and mining: Ask the advocates
Overpopulation means more horses than allowed by plan, not necessarily more horses than the land can support.
RELATED: Antelope Roundup South, Day 5.
Antelope Roundup North, Day 7
The incident began on July 9. Results through July 15:
- Scope: Spruce-Pequop, Goshute, Antelope Valley HMAs
- Purpose: Pest control, resource enforcement, rancher protection
- Target: Horses
- Type: Planned
- Method: Helicopter
- Category: Cruel and costly*
- Better way: Poison mares with ovary-killing pesticides*
- Captured: 249, up from 202 on Day 5
- Average daily take: 35.6
- Capture goal: 2,000
- Removal goal: 2,000
- Returned: None
- Deaths: 4, up from 3 on Day 5
- Shipped: 193, up from 122 on Day 5
The figures above are based on the daily reports, not the totals posted by the BLM.
A mare was put down on Day 6 due to blindness in one eye, a non-life-threatening condition.
The death rate is 1.6%.
The capture total includes 85 stallions, 122 mares and 42 foals.
Youngsters represented 16.9% of the animals gathered.
Of the adults, 41.1% were male and 58.9% were female.
A 17% birth rate corresponds to a herd growth rate of 12% per year.
Land managers often use growth rates of 20% per year to predict herd sizes and management actions.
Body condition scores on Days 6 and 7 ranged from 3 to 4.
The location of the trap site was not disclosed.
The HMAs and surrounding lands are subject to permitted grazing.
*According to advocates.
Day 7 ended with 52 unaccounted-for animals.
There are no plans to treat captured mares with fertility control pesticides and return them to the area.
Other statistics:
- Forage liberated to date: 2,988 AUMs per year
- Water liberated to date: 2,490 gallons per day
- Forage assigned to livestock: Unknown
- Horses displaced from area by permitted grazing: Unknown
- True AML: Unknown
- Stocking rate at new AML: Unknown
- Horses removed because of drilling and mining: Ask the advocates
Overpopulation means more horses than allowed by plan, not necessarily more horses than the land can support.
RELATED: Antelope Roundup North, Day 5.
Wild Burros Found Dead in Death Valley
The remains of five animals were found earlier this week, according to a report dated July 13 by KLAS News of Las Vegas.
The animals were shot and killed in the Lower Wildrose area of the park.
The report was likely based on a news release from NPS.
The BLM assisted NPS with burro removal last year, suggesting that officials with the Park Service were not satisfied with the progress of a private contractor.
RELATED: NPS Dissatisfied with Peaceful Valley Rescue, Orders Roundup?
Advocates Offer Treachery, Not Protection, to Wild Horses
Go back to the report by KLAS News about the July 13 incident at the Antelope roundup and listen to the advocate’s remarks at 1:58.
But if you’re going to remove ’em, remove ’em in the fall, and do it humanely.
Does that sound like a voice for the horses or a propagandist for the ranchers?
Why would you want to remove them? Where are her figures for acreage, forage production and their allocation among the various users?
In most circles, “humanely” is a code word for “poisoning the mares with ovary-killing pesticides.” Is that what she means?
Or maybe she wants them forcibly removed from their lawful homes by cowboys, with a few foals body-slammed along the way.
The new management plan for McCullough Peaks illustrates the prevailing attitude among the advocates: “You need to manage the numbers to fit what’s available for the horses.”
That’s how they respond to shrinking acreage and loss of food and water to the public-lands ranchers.
It’s not unique to the HMA, the pattern has been occurring across the western U.S. for 50 years.
The advocates have no understanding of processes, cause and effect, problem identification and problem solving.
They’re as dull as the livestock they’re trying to protect.
RELATED: Draft EA for McCullough Pest Control Out for Review.
Helicopter Ban Is Not the Answer
The incident on July 13 was a symptom. It had nothing to do with helicopters.
The same thing would happen if you pushed the horses into the trap with bulldozers and wranglers.
Why won’t the reporters, and the advocate who leaked the video, talk about the causes of roundups, such as multiple use, resource management and public-lands ranching?
RELATED: Antelope Escapee Caught, Killed.
Rally Put TRNP Wild Horses in Grave Danger?
It’s the kiss of death. The Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, a leader in nonmotorized removal, has offered its assistance to the Park Service, according to a story dated July 13 by INFORUM.
The advocates have their own vocabulary to conceal their true intentions and loyalties, so you can’t take their statements at face value.
Helping wild horses means pounding the mares with pesticide-laced darts, exactly what the group is doing on the Virginia Range. With the program now in its fifth year, many are at risk of sterility.
As noted previously, what CAAWH wants most is a contract with the Park Service to carry out Alternative C of the proposed livestock management plan (establish a fully contracepted herd that dies off in the park).
Nobody’s better qualified.
RELATED: TRNP Rally Next Month.
Antelope Escapee Caught, Killed
A story dated July 13 by KLAS News does not give the location of the incident (North or South roundup).
A stallion was put down yesterday at Antelope North because of a broken leg and that may be what you’re seeing in the video.
RELATED: Antelope Roundup North, Day 5.
Antelope Roundup South, Day 5
The incident began on July 9. Results through July 13:
- Scope: Antelope, Antelope Valley HMAs
- Purpose: Pest control, resource enforcement, rancher protection
- Target: Horses
- Type: Planned
- Method: Helicopter
- Category: Cruel and costly*
- Better way: Poison mares with ovary-killing pesticides*
- Captured: 391, up from 270 on Day 3
- Average daily take: 78.2
- Capture goal: 1,107
- Removal goal: 1,107
- Returned: 1, no change from Day 3
- Deaths: 3, up from 2 on Day 3
- Shipped: 320, up from 200 on Day 3
The figures above are based on the daily reports, which may differ slightly from the totals posted by the BLM.
A foal died of dehydration on Day 5.
The death rate is 0.8%.
The capture total includes 131 stallions, 171 mares and 89 foals.
Youngsters represented 22.8% of the animals gathered.
Of the adults, 43.4% were male and 56.6% were female.
A birth rate of 23% per year corresponds to a growth rate of 18% per year.
Land managers often use growth rates of 20% per year to predict herd sizes and management actions.
Body condition scores were not provided.
The location of the trap site was not disclosed.
The HMAs and surrounding lands are subject to permitted grazing.
*According to advocates.
Day 5 ended with 67 unaccounted-for animals.
Mares treated with fertility control pesticides will be returned to the area at a later date.
Other statistics:
- Forage liberated to date: 4,680 AUMs per year
- Water liberated to date: 3,900 gallons per day
- Forage assigned to livestock: Unknown
- Horses displaced from area by permitted grazing: Unknown
- True AML: Unknown
- Stocking rate at new AML: Unknown
- Horses removed because of drilling and mining: Ask the advocates
Overpopulation means more horses than allowed by plan, not necessarily more horses than the land can support.
RELATED: Antelope Roundup South, Day 3.
Draft EA for McCullough Pest Control Out for Review
The comment period opened yesterday and runs through August 12, according to the BLM news release.
The Proposed Action, discussed on page 6 of the EA, features bait trap removal of excess horses to achieve AML, continued application of the fertility control pesticide PZP and something new—use of the longer-lasting pesticide GonaCon Equine on mares that have contributed to the genetic diversity of the herd.
Older horses would be allowed to remain within the HMA.
The HMA, a subset of the HA, covers 120,412 total acres east of Cody, WY, including 113,938 public acres, and the AML ranges from 70 to 140.
The stocking rate allowed by plan is 1.2 wild horses per thousand public acres.
The area is managed primarily for animal agriculture, a purpose for which PZP was not approved.
As for the project, it does not allocate resources.
It cannot change resource allocations.
It enforces resource allocations already on the books, just like HMAPs.
RELATED: Scoping Begins for McCullough Peaks Livestock Protection Plan.
Antelope Roundup North, Day 5
The incident began on July 9. Results through July 13:
- Scope: Spruce-Pequop, Goshute, Antelope Valley HMAs
- Purpose: Pest control, resource enforcement, rancher protection
- Target: Horses
- Type: Planned
- Method: Helicopter
- Category: Cruel and costly*
- Better way: Poison mares with ovary-killing pesticides*
- Captured: 202, up from 71 on Day 3
- Average daily take: 40.4
- Capture goal: 2,000
- Removal goal: 2,000
- Returned: None
- Deaths: 3, up from zero on Day 3
- Shipped: 122, up from zero on Day 3
The figures above are based on the daily reports, which may differ slightly from the totals posted by the BLM.
A foal died on Day 5 due to colic and a stallion was put down because of a compound break in his left rear leg. A foal was euthanized due to lameness.
The death rate is 1.5%.
The capture total includes 69 stallions, 99 mares and 34 foals.
Youngsters represented 16.8% of the animals gathered.
Of the adults, 41.1% were male and 58.9% were female.
A 17% birth rate corresponds to a herd growth rate of 12% per year.
Land managers often use growth rates of 20% per year to predict herd sizes and management actions.
Body condition scores were not provided.
The location of the trap site was not disclosed.
The HMAs and surrounding lands are subject to permitted grazing.
*According to advocates.
Day 5 ended with 77 unaccounted-for animals.
There are no plans to treat captured mares with fertility control pesticides and return them to the area.
Other statistics:
- Forage liberated to date: 2,424 AUMs per year
- Water liberated to date: 2,020 gallons per day
- Forage assigned to livestock: Unknown
- Horses displaced from area by permitted grazing: Unknown
- True AML: Unknown
- Stocking rate at new AML: Unknown
- Horses removed because of drilling and mining: Ask the advocates
Overpopulation means more horses than allowed by plan, not necessarily more horses than the land can support.
RELATED: Antelope Roundup North, Day 3.
Foal-Free Friday, We Need to Come Together Edition
Sorry, but your host isn’t throwing in with pesticide pushers and ranching sympathizers.
They’re part of the problem, not the solution.
If PZP and GonaCon were taken off the market, they’d have nothing, no reason to exist.
RELATED: Foal-Free Friday, Battle of the Pesticides Edition.
Advocates Seek Delay of Antelope Roundups
Rising temperatures this weekend will create a danger for humans and horses under the pressure of an ongoing helicopter roundup, according to a news release dated July 13.
The BLM stated that it will have a veterinarian onsite and is not considering suspending operations at this time.
RELATED: Antelope Roundups in Progress.
PBS Looks at Invasive Species
As usual, the nonprofit is silent about permitted grazing and the presence of livestock in this 12-minute segment about wild horses.
If they were honest about that, their viewers would understand why there are few if any predators in these areas.
They didn’t admit that horses appear in the North American fossil record while cattle and sheep do not.
The roundup scenes were probably filmed last year at the Twin Peaks HMA.
The July 23 report at the BLM gather page mentions a PBS production crew working on “Human Footprint, the Film.”
Video queued up to the mark, just hit go.
RELATED: What PBS Didn’t Tell You About America’s Wild Horses.
Antelope Roundup North, Day 3
The incident began on July 9. Results through July 11:
- Scope: Spruce-Pequop, Goshute, Antelope Valley HMAs
- Purpose: Pest control, resource enforcement
- Target: Horses
- Type: Planned
- Method: Helicopter
- Category: Cruel and costly*
- Better way: Poison mares with ovary-killing pesticides*
- Captured: 71, up from 22 on Day 1
- Average daily take: 23.7
- Capture goal: 2,000
- Removal goal: 2,000
- Returned: None
- Deaths: None
- Shipped: None
The figures above are based on the daily reports, which may differ slightly from the totals posted by the BLM.
The capture total includes 26 stallions, 30 mares and 15 foals.
Youngsters represented 21.1% of the animals gathered.
Of the adults, 46.4% were male and 53.6% were female.
The herd may be growing at a rate of 16% per year, given a birth rate of 21% per year.
Body condition scores were not provided.
The location of the trap site was not disclosed.
The HMAs and surrounding lands are subject to permitted grazing.
Day 3 ended with 71 unaccounted-for animals.
There are no plans to treat captured mares with fertility control pesticides and return them to the area.
Other statistics:
- Forage liberated to date: 852 AUMs per year
- Water liberated to date: 710 gallons per day
- Forage assigned to livestock: Unknown
- Horses displaced from area by permitted grazing: Unknown
- True AML: Unknown
- Stocking rate at new AML: Unknown
- Horses removed because of drilling and mining: Ask the advocates
Overpopulation means more horses than allowed by plan, not necessarily more horses than the land can support.
*According to advocates.
RELATED: Antelope Roundups in Progress.
Eureka Base Property Hits Market for $2.75 Million
Located between the Rocky Hills and Diamond HMAs, Diamond Springs Ranch covers 994 deeded acres, with grazing preference on three BLM allotments producing 2,100 AUMs per year, according to the listing by Hall and Hall.
The property features 341 acres under three pivots, three mobile homes, a shop, barn and corrals.
Water sources include seven springs, three ponds and two wells.
The agent’s map ties the deeded acreage to the Jiggs, Flynn/Parman and Parman Individual allotments.
The National Data Viewer shows the arrangement. Click on image to open in new tab.
The Allotment Master Report puts Jiggs and Flynn/Parman in the Improve category, with Parman Individual in Custodial (condition unknown).
The Authorization Use Report shows cattle on an 8.5 month grazing season for all three.
Where do the animals go during the off season? Back to the base property.
The allotments offer a combined 2,124 AUMs per year on 33,303 public acres, enough to support 177 wild horses.
The stocking rate would be 5.3 wild horses per thousand public acres, five times higher than the rate allowed by the bureaucrats (27,000 animals on 27 million acres).
A buyer could petition the BLM for a change in livestock type and season of use, turning the ranch into a wild horse sanctuary, as American Prairie did for bison in Montana.
Think of it as a rewilding project, where you leverage 994 private acres to control 33,303 public acres. No off season.
RELATED: Yes to American Prairie, No to Mustang Monument.
UPDATE: Added video.
Antelope Roundup South, Day 3
The incident began on July 9. Results through July 11:
- Scope: Antelope, Antelope Valley HMAs
- Purpose: Pest control, resource enforcement
- Target: Horses
- Type: Planned
- Method: Helicopter
- Category: Cruel and costly*
- Better way: Poison mares with ovary-killing pesticides*
- Captured: 270, up from 22 on Day 1
- Average daily take: 90.0
- Capture goal: 1,107
- Removal goal: 1,107
- Returned: 1, up from zero on Day 1
- Deaths: 2, up from 1 on Day 1
- Shipped: 200, up from zero on Day 1
The figures above are based on the daily reports, which may differ slightly from the totals posted by the BLM.
A stallion jumped the trap on Day 2, regaining his freedom.
A foal died in holding on Day 2 due to colic.
The death rate is 0.7%.
The capture total includes 93 stallions, 118 mares and 59 foals.
Youngsters represented 21.9% of the animals gathered.
Of the adults, 44.1% were male and 55.9% were female.
The herd may be growing at a rate of 17% per year, given a birth rate of 22% per year.
Body condition scores were not provided.
The location of the trap site was not disclosed.
The HMAs and surrounding lands are subject to permitted grazing.
Day 3 ended with 67 unaccounted-for animals.
Mares treated with fertility control pesticides will be returned to the area at a later date.
Other statistics:
- Forage liberated to date: 3,228 AUMs per year
- Water liberated to date: 2,690 gallons per day
- Forage assigned to livestock: Unknown
- Horses displaced from area by permitted grazing: Unknown
- True AML: Unknown
- Stocking rate at new AML: Unknown
- Horses removed because of drilling and mining: Ask the advocates
Overpopulation means more horses than allowed by plan, not necessarily more horses than the land can support.
*According to advocates.
RELATED: Antelope Roundups in Progress.
Clear Creek Livestock Thrive in Area Unfit for Wild Horses
Clear Creek Ranch, located about 15 miles south of Winnemucca, NV, sold last year to J6 Ranches, according to Pershing County assessor’s records.
The listing by Hall and Hall says it covers 10,457 deeded acres, with grazing preference on 48,370 BLM acres producing 2,995 AUMs per year.
The asking price was $8.9 million.
The base property, described in the following video, lies mostly within the Clear Creek Allotment, which lies within the Sonoma Range HA, an area identified for wild horses.
The National Data Viewer shows the arrangement. Click on image to open in new tab.
The Allotment Master Report puts Clear Creek in the Maintain category, with 2,931 active AUMs on 48,370 public acres.
That works out to 60.6 AUMs per year per thousand public acres, enough to support five wild horses per thousand public acres.
The BLM insists that public lands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand public acres (27,000 animals on 27 million acres).
How many wild horses are allowed in the HA? None (AML is zero).
As for the amenities, the log cabin is in APN 009-300-28, with other structures and equipment in APN 009-300-27.
Some of the deeded acreage is in Humbolt County, not covered here.
The HA covers 212,587 total acres, including 150,095 public acres.
The current population is 146, according to the March 2023 HA/HMA Report, and the last roundup was in 1987.
RELATED: Winnemucca Base Property Hits Market for $11.2 Million.
Horses of the Coalfields: Tragedy, Nuisance or Tourist Attraction?
A reporter for Lancaster Farming looks at the work of Tinia Creamer and her rescue in a story dated July 8.
As mentioned previously, some horses were abandoned and some were turned out to save money, including stallions, despite an unwritten rule to the contrary.
The area is outside the BLM’s jurisdiction.
The article did not indicate if advocates from western states had offered to pummel the mares with ovary-killing pesticides.
