The incident began today, with 41 horses captured and no deaths reported.

RELATED: Another Silver King Roundup Starts This Week.

The Piceance-East Douglas HMA covers 190,130 acres in northwest Colorado, including 158,310 acres of BLM land, 5,330 acres of state land and 26,490 acres of private land, according to Section 1.1 an EA from 2011.  Ownership is denoted by tan, blue and white, respectively, in the following map.

The largest section of private land is at the south end of the U-shaped HMA.

The old EA was incorporated by reference into a new EA for resource enforcement actions in and around the HMA.  The Proposed Action, featuring roundups and fertility control, is discussed in Section 3 of the new EA.  Supporting documents can be found in the project files.

The number of horses allowed by plan is 235 and the stocking rate allowed by plan is 1.2 wild horses per thousand acres.  The forage requirement is 2,820 AUMs per year, so the land must be able to produce at least 14.8 AUMs per year per thousand acres.

The HMA intersects four allotments.  Table 3-14 in the old EA provides the total acreage inside the HMA for the public portions only.  Map 3-4, reproduced below, shows the allotments but does not distinguish between public and private lands.

However, Map 3-5 does.  Pastures on the west end of Yellow Creek and Square S overlap the private area, along with a small portion of Cathedral Bluffs, suggesting that the HMA is 100% subject to permitted grazing

Although the total area available to livestock inside the HMA may be 190,130 acres, neither EA provides data for the private portions of the allotments.  Therefore, the following calculations will be based on the public portions only.

Allotment sizes and active AUMs were taken from the Allotment Master report in RAS.

Allotment acreage, grazing seasons and forage amounts inside the HMA were developed from data in Tables 3-14 and 3-15 of the old EA, updated per the Authorization Use report from RAS.

Land in the Greasewood allotment must be able to produce at least 1,569 ÷ 27,810 × 1,000 = 56.4 AUMs per year per thousand acres to support livestock grazing in that area.  Forage production rates in the other allotments are of similar magnitude, exceeding the rate for horses by an appreciable margin.

The total authorized forage for livestock on public lands inside inside the HMA is 6,840 AUMs per year.  If the private areas were included, the number would likely be higher.

The Greasewood permittee would have to place 603 cow/calf pairs in the allotment to graze off 1,569 AUMs in a 2.6 month grazing season.  The total estimated number of cow/calf pairs on public lands inside the HMA is 4,800.  The overall stocking rate is 4,800 ÷ 166,888 × 1,000 = 28.8 cow/calf pairs per thousand acres.

The weighted average grazing season inside the HMA is 1.4 months per year.

These figures are compared in the following charts.

Although the grazing season is short, cattle are turned out at a high stocking rate, perhaps mowing down everything in sight, which would explain why the horse population must be held to such a small number.

The HMA is managed primarily for livestock, with the horses receiving just 29% of the authorized forage, neglecting wildlife.

The forage assigned to livestock would support an additional 570 wild horses, for a True AML of 805.

The current population, estimated to be 838, includes 33 excess horses, not 603.

“The need for a roundup and fertility control program is not as great as we originally thought.”

RELATED: Decision Expected Next Week in Piceance-East Douglas EA?

The incident began on January 6.  Gather stats through February 5:

• Horses captured: 883, up from 841 on Day 28
• Goal: 1,131
• Returned: 0
• Deaths: 22, same as Day 28
• Shipped: 749, up from 711 on Day 28

No gather activity was reported on Day 29.

No deaths occurred on Days 29, 30, 31.  The overall death rate is now 2.5%, down from 2.6% on Day 28.

One foal has been caught to date.  Roughly 46% of captured adults are male and 54% are female.  Some of the mares are probably within a few weeks of foaling.  Some may have foaled in the off-range corrals.

Body condition scores are not known.

The location of current operations is not known.  Three HMAs are involved in the roundup.

The number of unaccounted-for animals is 112, up from 108 on Day 28.  The contractor is probably holding them on site.

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.

Data quality continues to be good.

RELATED: Eagle Roundup Day 28.

These volunteers live on site in their own campers or camp trailers, according to a news release issued today.  BLM provides varying levels of services such as water, septic, phone and power connections, depending on the site.

There is no salary, but the agency provides allowances to cover living expenses.

Horse watching opportunities in the immediate area will likely be slim to none.

Hosts are needed at the Douglas City, Steel Bridge and Junction City campgrounds along the Trinity River, west of Redding, CA.  The season runs from May to November.

Last year’s announcement says the campgrounds have excellent access to the river, which offers world class salmon and steelhead fishing opportunities, white water rafting, and areas great for swimming and picnicking.

The incident occurred last week on state route 602 in New Mexico, according to a report posted today by AP News.  Other members of the band were chased into the mountains.

Refer to this listing in ZipRecruiter, posted yesterday.  The district boundary can be seen in this map.

Applicants must be able to perform assignments that involve strenuous walking, horseback riding and climbing over rough and mountainous terrain.  Work may require heavy lifting, bending and working with [wild?] horses up to 1500 pounds, as well as lifting hay bales up to 100 pounds, metal panels, construction materials and wire rope.

The successful candidate must be able to fly in small fixed or rotary wing aircraft to conduct aerial inventories of WHB populations and must be able to operate four-wheel drive vehicles in rugged terrain.

Sounds interesting but the role is probably not compatible with the views and beliefs expressed on these pages.

UPDATE: The PZP zealots may be a good fit.  They’re getting rid of more wild horses than predators, oil and mining companies, and WHB shooters.

RELATED: Get Job with BLM, Give Cover to Public-Lands Ranchers.

Table 3-14 in an EA from 2011, incorporated by reference into the new EA for resource enforcement actions in the Piceance-East Douglas HMA, shows the four allotments that overlap the HMA.  The reference appears in Section 1.1.1 of the new EA.

The amount by which the allotments extend into the HMA is not known.

The Allotment Master report puts all four in the Improve category.

Livestock receive 6,935 AUMs per year on 166,888 acres, according to data from Tables 3-14 and 3-15 in the old EA, and wild horses receive 235 × 12 = 2,820 AUMs per year on 190,130 acres according to data in Section 1.1 of the new EA.

That’s 41.6 AUMs per year per thousand acres for livestock, compared to 14.8 AUMs per year per thousand acres for horses, reinforcing an observation made earlier that forage production tends to increase when land is designated for livestock.

In this case, by a factor of almost three.

RELATED: Decision Expected Next Week in Piceance-East Douglas EA?

The incident began on January 6.  Gather stats through February 2:

• Horses captured: 841, up from 767 on Day 26
• Goal: 1,131
• Returned: 0
• Deaths: 22, up from 18 on Day 26
• Shipped: 711, up from 628 on Day 26

Three deaths occurred on Day 27 and one on Day 28, all due to pre-existing conditions.

The overall death rate is 2.6%, up from 2.3% on Day 26.

One foal has been caught to date.  Roughly 46% of captured adults are male and 54% are female.  Some of the mares are probably within a few weeks of foaling.  Some may have foaled in the off-range corrals.

Body condition scores are not known.

The location of current operations is not known.  Three HMAs are involved in the roundup.

The number of unaccounted-for animals is 108, down from 121 on Day 26.

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.

Data quality continues to be good.

RELATED: Eagle Roundup Day 26.

They just don’t get sick according to a Line on Agriculture segment posted this morning by the Ag Information Network of the West.  Includes audio.

What will be the long-term effect on the animals as humans interfere with natural behaviors via roundups, fertility control and sex ratio skewing?

So says the writer of a story appearing this morning in the The Daily Sentinel of Grand Junction, CO.  The decision likely involves a plan for resource enforcement actions in the Piceance-East Douglas HMA, NEPA project DOI-BLM-CO-N050-2020-0056-EA.

The comment period for the Draft EA closed on December 23, according to a BLM news release dated November 23.

Western Horse Watchers did not see the announcement.  It may have been posted late but backdated to November 23, burying it in old news.  This has happened before.

The HMA covers 190,130 acres in northwestern Colorado and has an AML of 235, for an aimed-at stocking rate of 1.2 wild horses per thousand acres.

The EA indicates in Section 5.1 (page 30 in the pdf) that “The predominant land uses within the PEDHMA are livestock grazing, energy development, and dispersed recreation including hunting,” but provides no data for the allotments, grazing seasons and active AUMs.

That would have been a substantive comment.  Resource allocations and management priorities in the HMA are unknown.  Is it managed primarily for livestock?  Who knows.

Note that protection of wild horses is not one of the predominant uses.

Table 3.3 in the Final EA for resource enforcement actions shows the eight allotments that intersect the HMA.

Western Horse Watchers was unable to find the Ely Spring Sheep allotment in RAS, although it appears on Map I of the EA (page 9 in the pdf).  Ely Springs can be found in RAS but the acreage doesn’t match Table 3.3 so it was omitted.

Of the remaining allotments, five are managed by the Caliente Field Office and two by the Bristlecone Field Office.

The Caliente report shows one allotment in the Maintain category, two allotments in the Improve category and two in the Custodial category.

With most of the acreage coming from public lands, and all of the forage, Western Horse Watchers is unable to explain how those two allotments qualify as Custodial, in view of the 10% rule.

The category masks their condition.

The Bristlecone report classifies one allotment as Maintain and one as Custodial.

Same question for the allotment designated Custodial.

A category for blaming substandard conditions on wild horses and burros doesn’t exist.

RELATED: Another Silver King Roundup Starts This Week.

The next incident could occur in April, according to a report posted today by KX News of Bismarck, ND.  The roundup planned for last year was cancelled.

The original wild horses of TRNP, thought to be descendants of Sitting Bull’s horses, were removed from the area 20+ years ago.

The following video shows some of the effects of darting mares with contraceptives, which are safe and effective according to their adherents.

RELATED: TRNP ‘Culls’ Adopted, Horses of the Badlands.

BLM said today that 283 wild horses will be gathered from the Silver King HMA, starting on or about February 5, due to overpopulation.  Up to 25 mares will be treated with contraceptives and returned to the range, for a removal target of 258.

The operation will be carried out with helicopters, according to the news release, and will be open to public observation.

The last roundup ended in late 2018, with 996 horses removed.

The HMA covers 606,000 acres in eastern Nevada and has an AML of 128, for an aimed-at stocking rate of 0.2 wild horses per thousand acres.  Refer to Table 1 in the Final EA for resource enforcement actions in the HMA.

The target stocking rate across all HMAs is one wild horse per thousand acres.

As previously discussed, fractional stocking rates may indicate large amounts of forage diverted to privately owned livestock.

The HMA intersects eight allotments, per Table 3.3 in the EA, with five of them offering year-round grazing.  The Wilson Creek and Geyser Ranch allotments overlap the Eagle HMA to the east.

Cattle and sheep receive an estimated 24,000 AUMs per year inside the HMA, with just 1,500 AUMs per year assigned to the horses.  The HMA is managed almost exclusively for livestock.

The forage allocated to livestock would support an additional 2,000 wild horses, for a True AML of 2,128.  The current population of 343 wild horses is well within that range, making the roundup and fertility control program unnecessary.

Captured animals will be taken to the off-range corrals at Palomino Valley.

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

RELATED: Silver King Horses Get Short End of Stick.