The stallion died of natural causes. He was not one of the top producers in 2025.
The mare slipped on ice and broke her neck.
The report by WBOC News did not indicate if any foals had been born in 2026.
Known for its abnormal sex ratio and unprecedented birth rate, the saltwater cowboys have engineered the herd for maximum revenue at the annual pony swim and auction.
The herd is so small that it’s in danger of becoming extinct according to an article by the New Times of San Luis Obispo.
A retired ranger from the Los Padres National Forest, home of the WHT, said she’s recommending and hoping that the Forest Service lets it die out.
Western Horse Watchers was unable to find a map of the territory but believes it’s located at the northern end of the Santa Lucia Ranger District based on remarks about a radar dome on page 45 (55 in the pdf) of the land management plan for the forest.
The WHT is not subject to permitted grazing.
The Forest Service does not post AOIs for neighboring allotments so it’s not possible to determine if the target stocking rate (20 horses on 13,3215 public acres) is reasonable.
Objective LG 3 in the management plan says the WHT remains suitable and sustainable over the long term but that was from 2005.
Despite cancellation of the AIP, 8,080 animals were placed into private care last year, up 20% from FY24, according to a BLM blog post.
The report did not indicate how many animals were removed from public lands during the same period and if the off-range inventory was rising or falling.
The scope of work includes transportation of 36 adults, 36 youngsters and 11 burros to a horse and cattle farm in Pikeville between February 15 and February 21.
The solicitation does not give a reason for the move.
The BLM and Forest Service seek nominations for six positions on the Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board, three currently vacant and three to become vacant in September, according to today’s news release.
The agencies will host a webinar on March 11 to explain the process.
Board members serve three-year terms and meet one to four times per year.
Federal land management agencies are supposed to serve the people and protect the environment according to an article in today’s edition of This Is Reno.
But the Trump administration has gutted them and directed them to only work on projects that help oil and gas companies, ranchers and mining companies.
Which has the greatest impact on wild horses and burros?
Drilling and mining affect anywhere from a few acres to a few thousand acres while public lands ranching devours entire HMAs and beyond.
The BLM page concerning range and herd health, which applies to the wild horse and burro program not the grazing program, says PZP is only effective for approximately one year, unless four or more shots are given over time.
The new fee, effective March 1, is $1.69 per AUM, up from $1.35 in 2025.
The BLM news release said changes to the fee cannot exceed 25% of the previous year’s price, which is the case this year.
For comparison, the price of alfalfa-grass hay this week was $27 per bale, 20 bales minimum, putting the cost of feed at $135 per AUM (five bales per horse per month).
An environmental assessment for grazing permit renewals says in section 1.1 that the field office authorizes 380,544 active AUMs on 1,947,890 federal acres, equivalent to 16.3 wild horses per thousand federal acres.
Your faithful public servants claim that public lands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand acres.
The EA did not indicate how many of the acres were in the Improve category.
Comments on the project will be accepted through February 14.
A solution might be for the contractor to build a sturdier fence while letting the water run onto public lands as it does now so the animals can continue to drink.
Any talk about new trenches or pipes or tanks on public lands would likely trigger a NEPA review and months or years of delay before anything happens in the field.
The allotment, located between the town of Adel and Beatys Butte HMA, offers 4,808 AUMs on 51,785 public acres, equivalent to 7.7 wild horses per thousand public acres.
The allotment master report puts it in the Improve category, probably because it’s in a priority management area for greater sage-grouse, not because of the exceptional stocking rate.
Your faithful public servants claim that rangeland health will suffer if wild horse populations exceed AML, which corresponds to a stocking rate of one wild horse per thousand acres.
There is only one permittee, suggesting that grazing privileges can be obtained through one base property, which may correspond to some or all of the private acreage inside the allotment.
With an estimated carrying capacity of 400 wild horses, the project might be worth a closer look—if the base property is offered for sale along with the permit.
Wild horses can be placed on public lands not identified for their use by acquiring base properties tied to grazing allotments and flipping the preference to horses.
The advocacy groups could have special funds for such efforts.
Instead, they use your donations to buy pesticides so they can beat the horse numbers down in favor of livestock.
Western Horse Watchers Association 