Author: Western Horse Watchers

Antelope Complex Emergency Roundup Starts This Weekend

The BLM will remove 2,200 excess horses from four HMAs in eastern Nevada starting on or about August 1.

Helicopters will push the animals into the traps and the incident will be open to public observation, according to a news release dated July 29.

The total AML is 789 and the current population is thought to exceed 6,000.

The HMAs cover approximately 1.6 million acres, for an aimed-at stocking rate of 0.5 wild horses per thousand acres.  The average rate across all HMAs is one wild horse per thousand acres.

The pre-gather stocking rate is about four wild horses per thousand acres, equivalent to 250 acres per horse.

Antelope Complex Map 07-29-21

Horses removed from the Complex will be taken to the off-range corrals at Palomino Valley, NV or Axtel, UT.

Gather stats and daily reports will be posted to this page.

RELATED: Antelope Complex Horses Get Short End of Stick.

National Geographic Tells Half of Wild Horse Story

The writer mentions competition with livestock but does not explain how far the government has tipped the scales in favor of the ranchers—on land identified for horses.

The story includes remarks from the turncoats and allies of the ranchers, along with the usual pablum about wild horses.

  • They’re non-native (status of livestock ignored)
  • They’re overpopulated
  • They’re destroying western rangelands
  • Better to get rid of them with PZP than helicopters
  • Not enough food and water for horses and other local animals

As for the recent Onaqui roundup, the BLM gave fertility control injections to just over a hundred mares and stallions, according the story, before returning them to the wild.

Thriving Ecological Balance-3

Photographer Raises Awareness of Wild Horses

Refer to this story by CBS News.  Includes video.

The article said the photos are sold at art shows, with some of the proceeds going to charities that protect wild horses, but did not indicate who the beneficiaries were and what is meant by ‘protect.’

Nowadays, when the advocates talk about the brutality of helicopter roundups they’re really trying to convince you that attrition by PZP is better, when in reality there is no overpopulation, no excess horses and no justification for either.

The problem is public-lands ranching, not free-roaming horses.

West Douglas Roundup Day 3

The incident began on July 26.  Gather stats through July 28:

  • Horses captured: 125
  • Capture goal: 450
  • Removal goal: 450
  • Returned: 0
  • Deaths: 1
  • Shipped: 1

One foal was placed into foster care today.

The horse put down on Day 1 would be alive if it wasn’t for the roundup.  Charge to roundup.

Foals accounted for 17.6% of the horses gathered.  Of the adults, 46.6% were male and 53.4% were female.

There were 123 unaccounted-for horses at the end of Day 3.

Supplemental statistics:

  • AML: 0
  • Forage assigned to horses: 0
  • Pre-gather population: 450
  • Forage liberated to date: 1,500 AUMs per year
  • Water liberated to date: 1,250 gallons per day
  • Forage assigned to livestock: Unknown
  • Horses displaced from HA by livestock: Unknown

RELATED: West Douglas Roundup Begins.

Calico Decision Reached

The BLM has selected the Proposed Action to enforce resource allocations in the Calico Complex over the next ten years, according to a Decision Record signed today.

The Proposed Action features removal of excess horses and burros to low AML, fertility control vaccines, intra-uterine devices, sterilization of mares and sex ratio skewing.

The Final EA was posted with other project documents.

The news release did not indicate when the plan, which is subject to a 30-day appeal period, will be implemented.  Five HMAs are affected.

RELATED: Comments Invited on Draft EA for Calico Gather Plan.

New Safeguards for AIP?

The Adoption Incentive Program remains in effect, despite legal actions, but additional measures were announced today to provide greater oversight and protection of animals placed into private care.

The news release did not indicate if the new steps would apply to sale-eligible animals and those sold outright, sometimes for as little as $1 each.

RELATED: Adoption Incentive Backfiring or Working Exactly as Planned?

Tamarack Fire 45% Contained

The 9:00 AM report says Division L has merged into Division O and today’s map shows little if any progress toward the Pine Nut Mountains HA.

The total area burned is now 67,800 acres, with over 1,600 personnel involved.

Today’s forecast calls for thunderstorms, with the potential for heavy rains, according to the overview at InciWeb.

RELATED: Tamarack Fire Still Growing.

UPDATE: Added video of today’s briefing.

Drought: Pretext for Massive Wild Horse Removals?

The WHBAB floated the idea earlier this month.  Now, the writer of letter to The Salt Lake Tribune jumps on the bandwagon, claiming that the horses will starve and/or die of thirst if they’re not pulled off the range.

The current population has surpassed 3X AML, which means three times more than allowed by plan.

Given that livestock receive four to six times as much forage than the horses, there should be enough food overall.

Many ranchers have voluntarily reduced grazing in response to the drought, according to the writer, but by by much?  Five to ten percent?  A symbolic gesture in anticipation of resource enforcement actions by the federal government?

RELATED: West Douglas Emergency Gather Starts Next Week.