They’re spreading the Montana Solution across the fruited plain, hoping you won’t notice the absence of foals and the destruction it portends.

By getting rid of the horses, they ratify and reinforce the mismanagement of areas designated for their welfare.

Here’s what they’re trying to protect:

1. Former HMAs now managed almost exclusively for livestock.

• AMLs are zero
• Livestock receive most of the resources, with a small amount reserved for wildlife

2. HMAs managed primarily for livestock.

• AMLs correspond to 20% or less of authorized forage
• Livestock receive four to six times more forage than the horses

3. Off-range corrals flooded with animals displaced by permitted grazing.

• True AMLs often exceed current populations by wide margins
• Carrying capacities have not been exceeded

4. Loss of wildness.

• Increased presence of humans in their environment
• Alteration of natural behaviors
• Low birth rates and rising death rates
• Herds don’t bounce back

5. Fulfillment of ranching agenda.

• Non-native species become the primary consumers of resources
• Ranchers don’t pay for the field work, but they reap the benefits
• Funding comes from donors who think they’re helping the horses
• Some support may come from groups aligned with the ranchers

On the bright side, problems of genetic diversity and inbreeding go away, because there is no breeding at all.

All of this is coordinated by a group that refused to sign the letter to Haaland seeking the removal of livestock from HMAs.

If you still don’t think they’re frauds, get your cap, make the pilgrimage to Billings and join their army of certified volunteers.

RELATED: Advocates Protect Ranchers, Not Horses and Burros?

A visitor asked for information showing that some of the advocacy groups defer to cattle/mining interests at the expense of wild horses and burros.  Here is the reply:

Hi R.,

Data collection and number crunching are needed to show how the government manages areas set aside for wild horses and burros.

There are many such posts on the blog, here is a recent example:

How Many Wild Horses Can the North Lander Complex Support?

The government puts ranching interests far above those of the horses and burros.

AMLs typically correspond to 20% or less of the authorized forage.

Livestock receive three to six times more forage than the horses and burros.

The off-range corrals and pastures are flooded with animals displaced from their home range by permitted grazing.

In their desire to get rid of the horses with PZP, instead of helicopters, the advocates reinforce the status quo and protect the ranchers.

That’s how you know they’re frauds.

The problem is resource allocation, which is documented in the land-use plans.

As for drilling and mining, they affect anywhere from a few acres to a few thousand acres, but public-lands ranching devours entire HMAs and beyond.

Regards,

B.

westernhorsewatchers.com

RELATED: Lots to Celebrate at Sulphur HMA, If You’re an Advocate.

They’re wrong about almost everything in the wild horse world, so it’s easy to imagine, but Western Horse Watchers has no such data.

However, the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses indicated today in a news release that 74% of those who responded to their poll oppose helicopter roundups, and 63% support birth control for herd management.

Statements regarding the beliefs of Americans, a huge leap from their sample of 520 registered voters, give or take, may or may not be valid.

Referring to helicopter roundups, the group’s executive director noted that “The more the American public knows about the BLM, the less supportive it is of the inhumane and outdated approach to wild horse and burros.”

If the people understood how the BLM manages the public lands, especially areas set aside for wild horses, they’d reject the Montana Solution along with the roundups.

That’s bad news for her and her army of volunteers, who seek the approval of the bureaucrats and ranchers at the expense of our wild horses.

RELATED: Signatories of Rock Springs Petition Duped by Advocates?

Sixteen saddle-started horses and one halter-trained colt, forced off their home range in Nevada to accommodate the public-lands ranchers, were adopted over the weekend at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center, according to a BLM news release dated February 28.

The announcement said there are no natural predators that can effectively control wild horse and burro populations on America’s public lands, as those animals would also be interested in the privately owned cattle and sheep that dominate the landscape and may find them to be easier targets.

The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, a nonprofit that works with Congress, governors and state legislatures to promote hunting, angling, recreational shooting and trapping, said in a news release yesterday that it signed a letter to Tracy Stone-Manning, along with other hunting and wildlife groups, supporting the BLM’s plan to gather 22,000 wild horses and burros from western rangelands this year.

The letter describes the animals as nonnative, feral livestock that lack natural predators and can have significant detrimental impacts on native ecosystems and wildlife habitat.

Other signatories include the National Rifle Association, Public Lands Foundation and The Wildlife Society.

Privately owned cattle and sheep, the predominant nonnative species on America’s public lands, were not mentioned and apparently have no impact on rangeland health.

What if the herd was well within the True AML but the government got rid of them to protect the public-lands ranchers?

If “overpopulated” stirs you to a sense of duty, then you need to be in Florence, CO this weekend for the Sand Wash adoption, as described in this BLM news release.

RELATED: Sand Wash Roundup Over.