Not because most of the land is privately owned or that the horses are managed at the state level, but because of the stocking rate.
The article in Tahoe Quarterly noted that a survey conducted in early 2018 (when the Nevada Department of Agriculture wanted to transfer ownership of the horses to a private entity) found approximately 2,900 wild horses in the area. The article also noted that the Virginia Range covers around 300,000 acres.
Those numbers yield a stocking rate of roughly ten wild horses per thousand acres.
NDA says the range can support 600 horses at most, with 300 horses representing the ideal amount, according to the story.
That last figure yields a stocking rate of one wild horse per thousand acres, in line with the target rate for wild horses on federal lands.
Now you have a driver for a fertility control program—in lieu of roundups.
And the turncoats at AWHC were only too eager to help.
One woman, commenting on the use of PZP in a Facebook page for the Fish Springs horses, located a few miles south of the Virginia Range, said “Hey, look at it this way, they get more sex without the consequences!”
This is what passes for advocacy in the wild horse world.
You can’t have government telling the people that the land can only support one wild horse per thousand acres when the Virginia Range is carrying ten. Not when you’re biased in favor of ranching interests.
The program is a disgrace and an insult to Velma’s legacy.
The incident happened this morning at the Glen Grove Equestrian Center in Morton Grove, IL, according to a story by the Chicago Tribune. Authorities said the failure was the result of heavy snowfall. No people or animals were hurt.
The incident began on January 6. Gather stats through February 15:
Horses captured: 1,070, up from 1,004 on Day 35
Goal: 1,131
Returned: 0
Deaths: 29, up from 27 on Day 35
Shipped: 939, up from 895 on Day 35
One death occurred on Day 37 as a result of the roundup and another on Day 41 due to pre-existing conditions.
The overall death rate is 2.7%, same as Day 35.
Three foals have been caught to date. Roughly 45% of captured adults are male and 55% are female. Some of the mares may have foaled in the off-range corrals.
The gather page says 28 deaths and 940 horses shipped.
The operation has liberated 12,840 AUMs per year for other mandated uses in the Complex. Demand for water has been reduced by an estimated 10,700 gallons per day.
The location of current activity is not known. Three HMAs are involved in the roundup.
The number of unaccounted-for animals is 102, up from 82 on Day 35.
Some of the mares will be treated with contraceptives and returned to the range but no such activity has been reported. Some may receive GPS radio transmitters.
The number of unaccounted-for animals is 34, down from 37 on Day 7.
Some of the mares will be treated with contraceptives and returned to the range, but no such activity has been reported. The effect on pre-born foals is not known.
The Rock Springs Grazing Association, petitioner in the consent decree and instigator of the RMP amendments, owns some of the land it uses in the Wyoming checkerboard and leases other parcels, originally from the Anadarko Corporation, which was acquired by Occidental Petroleum. Occidental sold the land to Orion Mine Finance in 2020.
What would happen if Orion told RSGA that the land is designated for wild horses?
The Virginia Range is ‘ground zero’ in the wild horse preservation movement.
Today, it is home to the largest darting effort in the country, sponsored by the ringleader and standard-bearer of the wild horse prevention movement, the American Wild Horse Campaign.
An undated article appearing in the winter 2020-2021 edition of Tahoe Quarterly leads the reader from Velma’s first encounter with the mustangers in 1950 to the current fertility control program, which has no adverse effects according to an adherent interviewed for the story (see trailcam photos below).
Along the way, it considers rangeland health, including comments by J.J. Goicoechea, a proponent of the rancher-friendly ‘Path Forward,’ a plan for achieving and maintaining AMLs on public lands inhabited by wild horses.
That means eighty to ninety five percent of the forage going to the ranchers.
Western Horse Watchers was able to find two grazing allotments associated with Mr. Goicoechea and his father, Pete, one managed by BLM’s Tuscarora Field Office and the other by the Bristlecone Field Office.
The Allotment Master reports [Tuscarora | Bristlecone] show both in the Improve category, with the Goicoecheas holding most of the active AUMs in each allotment.
The number of unaccounted-for animals is 37, down from 114 on Day 5.
Some of the mares will be treated with contraceptives and returned to the range, but no such activity has been reported. The effect on pre-born foals is not known.
The project was picked up today by Drudge. Both links pointed to a report by AP News that referred to the area as an ‘innovation zone,’ where companies would have powers like those of county government.
The story did not mention that the property, around 67,000 acres, is also inhabited by the Virginia Range mustangs.
The voters did not remove Donald Trump from office, they affirmed his second term.
Nobody’s doing anything about it. You’re not even allowed to talk about it.
Just like the wild horse world.
Be a good advocate. Don’t talk about privately owned cattle and sheep. Forget about resource allocations and management priorities on western rangelands.
Keep pushing for contraceptives, sanctuaries and relocation of wild horses into remote wilderness areas, so their food can be sold to public-lands ranchers.
Western Horse Watchers Association 