City of Reno Approves Virginia Range Fencing Project

Report by KTVN News. A start date was not given.

Bullfrog Off-the-Record Roundup Starts Today?

There is no announcement at the BLM news page or input and actions page.

A link to the daily reports has not been added to the Nevada gather page.

We’re still waiting for a FY26 roundup schedule.

A temporary banner says blm.gov is not being updated and staff will not be able to respond to inquiries until FY26 appropriations are enacted.

But they can send notices to their media partners, such as KTNV News in Las Vegas.

The capture goal is 250 according to the report.

The driver is public safety and private property encroachment.

They’re billing it as an emergency.

Burros will be drawn into the traps with bait.

Operations are probably not open to public observation.

There are no plans to treat any of the jennies with PZP and return them to the range, a huge disappointment to the advocates.

Animals identified for removal will be taken to the contract corrals in Axtell.

The HMA surrounds the town of Beatty.

The report did not mention that Nevada is a fence-out state.

VRE FAQ Contradicts Goicoechea

The NDA website was down at the time but it’s working now.

He stated on August 26 that feeding and watering the horses was illegal.

But the FAQ says on page two that watering is not illegal.

If he’s wrong about that, should we believe what he says about the advocates and their mass sterilization program?

Mustang Monday

On the Virginia Range with Western Horse Watchers.

How Would Buckeye Rate as a Wild Horse Refuge?

The allotment covers 81,960 public acres but there is only one pasture so it may operate as a general use area shared by two permittees, with cattle and sheep moving across the land as specified in the AMR.

The actual arrangement is unknown.

If free-roaming horses replaced cattle, the other permittee would still be entitled to graze sheep.

The advocates may never make such a request as they have been working for years to cement their relationship with the bureaucrats and ranchers.

The base property tied to 1,471 AUMs in the allotment consisted of a 40-acre parcel but the preference was transferred to another parcel inside a 944-acre tract before it was purchased by the advocates.

Thus, the land ratio is very good. Up to 81,960 public acres can be accessed through the acquisition of 944 deeded acres.

Unfortunately, the allotment overlaps the Pine Nut Mountains HA, an area that could be returned to the horses not by spending millions of dollars on a base property but by purging the bureaucracy of ranchers and ranching sympathizers and overturning the planning process that zeroed it out.

A refuge should increase territory for wild horses while decreasing lands occupied by livestock.

In summary, the allotment satisfies two of four requirements for a refuge:

If the project moves ahead and the cattlemen are howling, along with their cheerleaders, it might be worthy of your support.

Buckeye Grazing Preference Transfers to CAAWH

The nonprofit holds 75% of the active AUMs according to the Allotment Master Report.

The percentage of public land is not known.

The Authorization Use Report shows their portion is still permitted for cattle with a 5.5 month grazing season.

Western Horse Watchers does not know if the advocates have asked the BLM to change the livestock type to horses and the grazing season to 12 months, turning the area into a refuge for up to 122 equines.

A search of ePlanning for projects involving Buckeye turned up the grazing preference transfer but nothing for repurposing the allotment.

The portion controlled by CAAWH may not overlap the Pine Nut Mountains HMA but almost certainly overlaps the HA.

Reminder About Sanctuaries

If they don’t include public lands and don’t displace livestock therefrom, they’re not worthy of your support.

Nonprofits operating solely on deeded acreage do the will of the public-lands ranchers.

The model employed by American Prairie gives hope to wild horses.

They buy base properties tied to grazing allotments and flip the preference to bison.

The problem in the wild horse world is that those who claim to be voices for the horses are actually servants of the ranchers.

If the Public Lands Council isn’t howling about your project, you’re not doing it right.

WaPo Op-Ed Calls for Horse Slaughter?

The editors placed it behind a paywall so the identity of the writer is not known.

Western Horse Watchers will not subscribe to any news source, whether it’s written by liberals or conservatives.

Foal-Free Friday, the Great Disconnect Edition

The advocates tell us that wild horses face competition from livestock, unfair resource allocations and shrinking habitats but their solution—mass sterilization—aligns with and can only aggravate the problem.

The ranchers couldn’t have asked for more feckless opponents.

Why are you still giving them money?

Eighth Annual Devil’s Garden Roundup Ends Early

The incident concluded on September 30.

The documented capture total, based on the daily reports, is 268, including 120 stallions, 121 mares and 27 foals.

The capture goal was 350.

Youngsters accounted for 10.1% of the sample.

Of the adults, 49.8% were male and 50.2% were female.

The average daily take was 7.7.

The death rate, based on the stated capture total of 276, was 2.5%.

Body condition scores were not given.

The number of animals shipped is not known.

The operation liberated 3,216 AUMs per year.

The WHT is subject to permitted grazing.

BLM Issues Antelope-Triple B Final Planning Documents

The Decision Record authorizes Alternative A, the Proposed Action, discussed in section 2.4 of the Final EA.

Details of the new HMAP can be found in Appendix XIII.

No changes to AMLs or authorized AUMs
Forcible removal
Application of fertility control pesticides
Skewing of sex ratios in favor of males
Monitoring of genetic diversity
Massive interference in natural order

Recall the rallying cry in the Nevada Current op-ed: “America’s wild horses have faced competition from livestock, unfair resource allocation, and shrinking habitat for generations.”

How does the new plan fix any of that?

It doesn’t. The only change the advocates want is more government spending on services they provide.

Defund the Advocates Day Set for December 2

In some circles it’s known as Giving Tuesday but think of it as an opportunity to give the advocates the boot.

BLM Approves Nuisance Roundup at Pinehurst School

The Decision Record authorizes the Proposed Action, discussed in Section B of the Categorical Exclusion, clearing the way for bait-trap removal of six wild horses that have strayed from the Pokegema HMA onto school property.

A map of the project area was not provided but the incident would probably take place near Highway 66 on the west side of the HMA based on the school address.

The news release did not indicate if Oregon was a fence-out state and if the barrier around the school meets the requirements of a legal fence.

Funding for the operation would come from ______________________.

BLM Publishes McGregor Auction Results

Bidders paid $1,051,726 for 14,116 AUMs, or $74.50 per AUM according to today’s news release, suggesting that the American people are not receiving a fair price for grazing on term permits, which is currently set at $1.35 per AUM.

BLM to Remove Wild Horses and Burros from Centennial HMA

The incident will begin on October 4.

The removal goal is 270 but the actual number of horses and burros is flexible.

A helicopter will push the animals into the traps.

Operations will not be open to public observation.

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

Captured animals will be taken to the off-range corrals at Ridgecrest.

The HMA overlaps the northern half of the naval air weapons station at China Lake.

The news release did not indicate if the animals were confined to the area by fencing or if the advocates had offered to sterilize the mares and jennies with PZP.

BLM land adjacent to the facility is subject to permitted grazing.

Funding for the roundup will come from __________________________.

Mustang Monday

At the Green Mountain HMA with Wyoming PBS.

High-Frequency Radar System to Affect Coyote Lake Wild Horses?

The proposal would withdraw approximately 5,000 public acres from settlement, sale, location and entry under the general land laws, subject to existing rights, and reserve the area for military purposes.

The BLM news release does not include a map or link to a NEPA project but a notice in the Federal Register gives the townships, ranges and sections which can be found in the PLSS layer of the ArcGIS Viewer.

Most of the project area is in the Coyote Lake HMA, or, if you prefer, the Coyote Lake Allotment, with a small portion in 15-Mile Community.

The Air Force would place two transmitters in Christmas Valley according to an article by Oregon Public Broadcasting. The facility on BLM land, about 150 miles to the southeast, would contain two receivers.

The project area covers 16 sections, for a total of 10,240 acres, so the withdrawn lands would be somewhere inside the blue box in the following map.

Comments will be accepted through December 29.

No FY26 Budget, No FY26 Roundup Schedule

The House passed a continuing resolution that would fund the government through November 21 but it failed in the Senate.

Republicans need at least eight Democrat votes in that chamber to get it across the finish line according to a report by The Hill.

Any amendments would send it back to the House, which is not in session.

Another option is a partial government shutdown.

As of today, a FY26 schedule has not been posted to the BLM gather page.

The advocates will not receive any new funding for their PZP sterilization programs until FY26 appropriations bills have been signed into law and maybe then, given the desire to cut federal spending, not at all.

The new fiscal year begins on October 1.