The text was revised on June 28. The status says re-referred to committee.
No hearings have been scheduled.
RELATED: AJR-5 Hearing Postponed.
Author: Western Horse Watchers
New Lake Mead Gather Plan in the News
Water is a limiting factor in the analysis, according to a story in today’s edition of the Las Vegas Sun. Although the lake is the main source for the burros, along with a few springs, the BLM can’t consider it when setting management levels.
The AML for horses is zero but a small herd inhabits the area. They will be removed if the plan is approved.
The comment period for the draft EA closed on April 30. A decision record for the project has not been published.
RELATED: Comments Invited on Draft EA for Lake Mead Gather Plan.
You Don’t Have a Horse Problem You Have a Ranching Problem
The 50,000 wild horses in off-range holding could be returned to the range by ending permitted grazing on just a few dozen HMAs.
That’s about one fifth of the HMAs and WHTs combined.
If the pattern holds in other wild horse areas, the total number of horses cheated out of a spot on their home range by privately owned livestock is well north of 200,000.
As bad as that is, the advocates want to get rid of even more with their ruinous darting programs. Why are you still giving them money?
RELATED: Example of Downstream Focus, Confusing Cause and Effect.
Currituck Wild Horses Combat Aquatic Weeds
They wade into the water to eat the stuff, much like the horses on the Salt River, according to a report by The Herald-Sun of Raleigh, NC.
The story said the horses have learned to swim from island to island when food is scarce but what would happen if the next one is a grazing allotment that’s currently in season?
Black Mountain Roundup, Part 2, Day 111
The incident began on March 9, a resource enforcement action that follows a wild burro removal in 2020. Gather stats through June 27:
- Burros captured: 209
- Goal: 500
- Returned: 0
- Deaths: 0
- Shipped: 154
Foals accounted for 15.3% of the burros gathered. Of the adults, 61% were male and 39% were female, barely inside the expected range of variation produced by a simple random process centered at 50% males / 50% females (p-bar = .5 and n = 209).
Fertility controls will not be applied this year and the incident is not open to public observation.
The number of burros in the unaccounted-for category is 55.
Data quality is good.
Some supplemental statistics:
- Forage liberated to date: 1,254 AUMs per year
- Water liberated to date: 1,045 gallons per day
- Burros displaced from HMA by privately owned livestock: 1,222
RELATED: Have You Seen Any Videos of the Oatman Burros Lately?
Pokegama Roundup Rebooted?
A story in today’s online edition of the Herald and News of Klamath Falls, OR says the operation will resume on private lands but does not say when.
It will not be open to public observation.
Last year, five horses were captured in September but no further activity was reported.
Western Horse Watchers was unable to find an announcement for the event at the BLM news site.
RELATED: Pokegama Progress Report.
UPDATE: BLM issued news release on July 1.
Mustang Monday
At McCullough Peaks HMA with Stephanie Perry.
The Advocates Should Join Forces with the Cattlemen
Both groups want the same thing: Wild horses off the range.
The advocates want to get rid of them with contraceptives, while the ranchers want them dispatched with helicopters, but those differences can be worked out later.
Collaboration could lead to a groundbreaking plan for eradicating most of America’s wild horses.
Oh wait.
RELATED: Wild Horse Management Needs to Change?
Virginia Range Mustangs at TRIC
WARNING: Although this video begins with an F-bomb, some viewers might be offended by the foal at 0:40.
RELATED: AIP Fallout, Managing Humanely and Virginia Range Update.
This Is Not a Story About Horses Arriving at ‘Forever’ Homes
The video description says all of the beautiful young horses and pregnant mares in this film have been slaughtered by now.
Slaughter, like adoption events, sanctuaries, EMM and TIP, doesn’t get much attention on Western Horse Watchers because it does not address the causes of their removal from public lands. It’s too far downstream in the process to bring any improvement.
What good is it to shut the valve on the outlet of the tank when you haven’t stopped the flow going into the tank?
RELATED: Not the Same SAFE Act?
Have You Seen Any Videos Lately of Foals on the Salt River?
Have You Seen Any Videos of the Oatman Burros Lately?
Didn’t think so. A roundup in the Black Mountain HMA has been going on since March 9, with 176 animals captured as of June 20. The goal is 500.
The incident was not announced on BLM’s news site.
The WHB roundup schedule, updated on June 15, shows a projected completion date of September 30.
Training Feral Horses
Wild horse enthusiasts will get a chuckle out of this propaganda piece dated June 25 by the rancher-friendly Capital Press of Salem, OR.
As for the trainer featured in the story, you probably don’t want a horse handled by her.
Like adoption events, EMM and TIP are rarely discussed on Western Horse Watchers because they are too far downstream in the management process and deflect attention away from the ranchers and the underlying causes of wild horse removals.
Sterilization Plan Dropped at Confusion HMA
An article posted yesterday by Bloomberg Law says the BLM decided against the tactic, part of a broader effort to enforce resource allocations in the HMA, in response to legal actions by several advocacy groups.
A subscription is required to read the full story.
RELATED: BLM Hits Pause on Sterilization Plans for Confusion HMA.
Failure to Connect the Dots
Would you publish an op-ed about millions of domestic livestock that ruin public lands with high-density grazing and title it ‘Too Many Wild Horses?’
You would if you’re The Washington Post.
Example of Downstream Focus, Confusing Cause and Effect
An article about overpopulation by The Horse suggests that the current surplus of about 70,000 wild horses and burros (on public lands) could be eliminated if just four to five percent of horse-owning households adopted one animal.
The story did not indicate how many more households would be needed to liquidate the animals in off-range holding.
What’s wrong with this idea?
First, there are few if any excess animals on America’s public lands. That’s bad news to those in the PZP supply chain. They thrive on the overpopulation narrative.
Second, adoptions don’t stop removals, they prolong them. The AIP, and the adverse consequences associated therewith, are effects of roundups, not causes of them.
Third, the ‘surplus’ would return, the roundups would resume and the corrals would be overflowing, not because the animals reproduce, but because of the way our public lands are managed.
AMLs, the numbers that determine when an area is overpopulated, are small because the bureaucrats have decided that most of the resources on lands set aside for horses and burros shall be assigned to privately owned cattle and sheep.
The True AMLs, numbers that represent the horses and burros allowed by plan plus the horses and burros displaced by livestock, are much higher, as anyone reading these pages knows.
The animals in off-range holding could be returned to the range by ending public-lands ranching on just a few dozen HMAs.
Those corrals and pastures could be emptied four to five times over if livestock grazing was ended on all HMAs. It’s that bad.
Eventually the herds will exceed the True AMLs and corrective actions will be needed.
But those discussions are off the table until the HMAs are managed principally for wild horses and burros, which is what the True AMLs represent.
If you want to help America’s wild horses and burros, look upstream in the management process, understand why they’re being removed from the range and address those causes for a lasting solution.
Crooked Creek Fire Stalled?
The June 24 fact sheet at Inciweb shows little if any spread in the past few days, with 5,400 acres burned and 25% containment.
Firefighters continue to monitor for any threat to the Pryor Mountain WHR.
RELATED: Crooked Creek Fire Moving East.
Wild Horse Management Needs to Change?
Here’s what the advocates are proposing:
- Get rid of the horses with PZP, not helicopters
- Make sure the ranchers receive most of the resources
- Drive birth rates to zero and let the herds die off
Not exactly what Velma had in mind 50 years ago.
RELATED: Feasibility of Decimating Wild Horse Herds with Contraceptives.
Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests Shut Due to Fire Danger
The closure, which started yesterday, means the public is prohibited from entering any part of the forests at any time, according to a USFS news release dated June 22.
An expiration date was not provided.
The area is home to the Heber wild horses.
Extreme Fire Danger Prompts Closure of Tonto National Forest
Refer to this USFS news release. The order goes into effect today and will prevail until July 31 or until rescinded, whichever occurs first. The Lower Salt River is not affected.
