Author: Western Horse Watchers

Even the Advocates Want to Get Rid of Them

The following story aired June 2.

At 1:21: “We need the Bureau of Land Management to stop rounding up wild horses, to manage them on our federal public lands, humanely, and use birth control instead of rounding them up and removing them and then stockpiling them.”

At 2:51, in response to a question about hassling wild horses, “Because the livestock industry has a huge, um, huge amount of power, and money, and they want all the horses gone.”

If that’s true, why do you want to reduce the herds with birth control?  Are you not cooperating with the ranchers?  Do you want the horses limited to 20% or less of the available resources?

Undeniable Truth #2.

RELATED: Caving In to Ranching Agenda at Onaqui Mountain HMA?

Centennial Roundup Day 10

The incident began on May 28.  Gather stats through June 6:

  • Burros captured: 359
  • Goal: 300
  • Returned: 0
  • Deaths: 0
  • Shipped: Unknown

The cumulative total on the gather page is 290, compared to 359 from the daily reports.

The breakdowns between jacks, jennies and foals have been provided for all days, not just the first three.  There is a mismatch on May 31.

Foals accounted for 13.9% of the burros gathered.  Of the adults, approximately 51% were male and 49% were female.

The number of burros shipped each day has not been reported, putting all of the animals in the unaccounted-for category.

Although the goal has been exceeded, the operation has not been marked complete.

RELATED: Centennial Roundup Day 7.

Memo to BLM: Get Rid of the Horses with PZP

Family bands torn apart by helicopters.

Adopted horses dumped at kill pens.

Unwanted animals languishing in off-range corrals.

These problems could be avoided with contraceptives, according to the writer of an opinion piece in this evening’s online edition of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Why not end permitted grazing and shift the resources back to the horses?

That would be bad for the ranchers and those in the PZP supply chain.

HMAs Freed from Grazing 05-23-21

Caving In to Ranching Agenda at Onaqui Mountain HMA?

Last month, you bought a five bedroom home but just found out that four of the bedrooms have been reserved for illegal aliens.

Therefore, your wife needs to go on birth control to make sure your family does not outgrow its allocated share of the dwelling, previously referred to as ‘your house.’

Are you going to accept that?

The writer of a guest column in today’s edition of The Salt Lake Tribune does, only he’s talking about lands set aside for wild horses, not five bedroom homes.

RELATED: Saving the Onaqui Horses by Getting Rid of Them.

Centennial Roundup Day 7

The incident began on May 28.  Gather stats through June 3:

  • Burros captured: 300
  • Goal: 300
  • Returned: 0
  • Deaths: 0
  • Shipped: Unknown

The cumulative total on the gather page is 230, compared to 300 from the daily reports.

Although the goal has been reached, the operation has not been marked complete.

The number of burros shipped each day has not been reported, putting all of the animals in the unaccounted-for category.

RELATED: Centennial Roundup Day 5

Authority for New Pest Control Program at Surprise Complex?

Look at the citations under Authority on pages 7 and 8 of the Decision Record.  Most of them refer to federal regulations—rules invented by the unelected bureaucracy, not the people’s representatives.

The bureaucrats never have to face the voters.  Are they accessible to special interests?

This may explain why public policy—at least in the wild horse world—doesn’t reflect the will of the American people.

RELATED: Decision Reached in Surprise Complex Gather Plan.

BLM Seeks Off-Range Pastures for Wild Horses and Burros

Facilities must be located in Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington or Wyoming and must have a capacity of 200 to 10,000 animals, according to a story posted today by KMVT News of Twin Falls, ID.

The initial contract period is one year, with renewal options of four and nine years.

Proposals must be submitted by July 19.

Western Horse Watchers was unable to find an announcement of the solicitation at the agency’s news site.

Horse History and Trivia

What is the historical name for the horse and where did this animal originate?

Why were thousands of free-roaming horses rounded up in the early 1900s?

Those are two of the Trivia Questions on page eight in the current edition of Horse Tales.  Answers on page 19.

By the 1950s, their numbers had dropped to around 25,000.  Who was hunting them from airplanes and poisoning their water holes?

You’ll have to go elsewhere for that answer.

Centennial Roundup Day 5

The incident began on May 28.  Gather stats through June 1:

  • Burros captured: 208
  • Goal: 300
  • Returned: 0
  • Deaths: 0
  • Shipped: Unknown

The daily reports included a breakdown of jacks, jennies and foals through May 30 but only the totals after that.

Foals accounted for 13.9% of the animals caught though May 30.

The cumulative total on the gather page is 138, compared to 208 from the daily reports.

The number of burros shipped each day was not reported, putting all animals in the unaccounted-for category.

RELATED: SoCal Burro Removal Underway?

Decision Reached in Surprise Complex Gather Plan

Alternative 1, the Proposed Action, has been approved for implementation, subject to a 30-day appeal period, according to a Decision Record signed on May 27.

The event was not announced on BLM’s news site.

Over the next ten years, the new resource enforcement plan will

  • Remove horses and burros as expeditiously as feasible to reach low AML
  • Treat any mares returned to the Complex with fertility control
  • Adjust sex ratios to 60 percent males and 40 percent females
  • Conduct maintenance gathers if the population exceeds AML

Six HMAs are affected, as described in Section 1.2 of the Final EA.

RELATED: Management Priorities at Surprise Complex.