Author: Western Horse Watchers

BLM to Decimate Onaqui Herd, Advocates Say ‘Let Us Do That’

They’re opposed to helicopter roundups, as indicated in this June 18 news release by Animal Wellness Action, but won’t condemn the darting program.

True, the terms ‘humane management’ and ‘fertility control’ don’t appear in the announcement.

The problem is upstream in the management process, namely, the land-use plans that determine who gets what.

The rancher-friendly ‘Path Forward,’ which is mentioned in the announcement, will enforce resource allocations already on the books.

The darting program can only keep the scales tilted in favor of the ranchers.

RELATED: Rallying for Onaqui Wild Horses or Privately Owned Livestock?

McCullough Advocates Celebrate WHB50 by Getting Rid of Horses

Personnel with Friends of a Legacy, an advocacy group associated with the McCullough Peaks HMA in northwestern Wyoming, will be showing off their darting program at an event on July 2, according to an article by the Powell Tribune.

The HMA covers approximately 110,000 acres, according to Section 3.1 in a 2012 EA for resource enforcement actions in the area.

The current size is 120,000 acres, according to the HMA page, and the AML is 140, for a target stocking rate of 140 ÷ 120,000 × 1,000 = 1.2 wild horses per thousand acres.

The horses require 1,680 AUMs per year at the AML.

The HMA intersects five grazing allotments, listed in Section 3.2 of the EA.

McCullough Peaks Allotment Map 06-18-21

The Allotment Master report in RAS provides data for the allotments.

The forage assigned to livestock inside the HMA has increased slightly, compared to 2012.  All five allotments are in the Improve category.  Most of the active AUMs are held by the same permittee.

McCullough Peaks Allotment Data 06-18-21

The southwest corner of Red Point extends beyond the HMA boundary, taking with it small part of the forage in the allotment, assumed to be 100 AUMs per year.  The table above shows public acres only.

The total authorized forage inside the HMA, neglecting wildlife, is 1,680 + 6,196 – 100 = 7,776 AUMs per year.

The horses receive 1,680 ÷ 7,776 = 21.6% of that resource.  The HMA is managed primarily for livestock.

The forage assigned to livestock would support an additional (6,196 – 100) ÷ 12 = 508 wild horses, for a True AML of 140 + 508 = 648.

With 508 wild horses cheated out of a spot in their home range by privately owned livestock, why do the advocates want to get rid of more?  Is the current population greater than 648?

Why aren’t they demanding that the HMA be managed principally for wild horses, per the original statute?

The darting program ensures that the ranchers receive most of the resources—in an area set aside for wild horses.

Good work, guys.

Rallying for Onaqui Wild Horses or Privately Owned Livestock?

The news release about the Onaqui rally said the horses receive between nine and fifteen percent of the resources on public lands, taken to mean nine to fifteen percent of the authorized forage in the HMA, with the balance is assigned to livestock.  No other details were given.

Several questions come to mind:

  • What is the total authorized forage?
  • How many horses have been displaced by livestock?
  • What is the True AML?
  • How does that compare to the current population?

The AML ranges from 121 to 210, according to the HMA page, requiring 1,452 to 2,520 AUMs per year.

If the forage requirement at the low end of the AML is 9% of the total, then the authorized forage must be 1,452 ÷ .09 = 16,133 AUMs per year.

If the forage requirement at the high end of the AML is 15% of the total, then the authorized forage must be 2,520 ÷ .15 = 16,800 AUMs per year.

The two results are not identical but suggest the total is in the mid 16,000s so let’s assume it’s 16,500 AUMs per year, neglecting wildlife.

The forage assigned to livestock is 16,500 − 2,520 = 13,980 AUMs per year, which would support an additional 1,165 wild horses.  That is, 1,165 wild horses have been displaced from the HMA by privately owned livestock.

The True AML is the horses allowed by plan plus the horses displaced by livestock, which is 210 + 1,165 = 1,375.

The current population is not known but is almost certainly less than 1,375.  If there are no excess horses, there is no justification for a roundup and or fertility control program.

Why do the advocates want to dart the horses when the problem is domestic livestock?

RELATED: Onaqui Rally at State Capital.

Stakeholders Optimistic About ‘Ingenuity’ and ‘Perseverance’

“These vehicles hold great promise for minimizing wild horse herds,” said one of the ranchers who attended the conference with dozens of advocates.

“That prototype in New Mexico is already obsolete,” claimed another.

“One of the drawbacks of that contraption is that the horses have to come to it,’ noted one of the presenters, “but these things are mobile and can go on the offensive.”

Ingenuity and Perseverance 06-16-21

The rover and drone include a vast array of sensors, on-board ballistics computers and satellite positioning systems that assure pinpoint accuracy.

Darts are fired by linear motors that don’t use compressed gas or other propellants.

“These platforms will really put a dent in those herds,” whispered one of the advocates, “something we’ve dreamed of for a long time.”

Although the technology won’t be commercialized for several years, land managers are anxiously watching its development while researchers put the finishing touches on GonaQuine, a long-lasting treatment that isn’t classified as a sterilant.

RELATED: ‘Ingenuity’ Shows Off Advanced Darting Technology.

America’s Wild Horse Herds Have Already Been Decimated

The damage occurred when the bureaucrats wrote the land-use plans.  The idea of managing principally but not exclusively was thrown overboard and supplanted with federal regulations that nullify the original statute.

Everything happening now, including the removal of ‘excess’ animals, fertility control programs, sex-ratio skewing and sterilization research is the fulfillment of those plans.

Automatic Darting Machine to Ditch Microchips?

A grant from the National Science Foundation will fund the development of facial recognition technology, or similar algorithms, to identify wild horses for treatment, eliminating the need for RFID chips.

The system would provide a humane way to control population growth and keep the horses and other wildlife healthy, according to a story in today’s edition of the El Paso Herald-Post.

Benefits that might accrue to public-lands ranchers were not discussed.

RELATED: New Machine Darts Wild Horses Automatically.

Arizona Fire Restrictions Good News for Wild Burros?

The new rules, announced on June 11, apply to the Colorado River District, among others, which contains most of the HMAs in the state.  Refer to the map at the Arizona HMA home page.

Prohibited activities include discharging a firearm, air rifle, exploding targets or gas gun, which may affect the delivery of population controls by darts.

Use of jabsticks would not be affected.

A four-year trial of PZP on Black Mountain burros, mentioned in Section 4.1 of the 2020 Final EA for resource enforcement actions in the HMA, ends this August.

AJR-5 Hearing This Week

The Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife will consider the measure on June 17, according to the bill’s status.

More information, including a link to the livestream, can be found at the Committee’s hearings page (click on Show Details to see the agenda).

The resolution would ask the federal government to declare a moratorium on wild horse and burro roundups and urge the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service to restore the animals to their legal areas throughout the state of California.

RELATED: AJR-5 Amended.