Author: Western Horse Watchers

Shawave Mountains Roundup Starts Next Week

BLM announced today that 1,600 wild horses and 200 wild burros will be removed from the Shawave Mountains HMA beginning on or about August 3, due to overpopulation.

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

The HMA covers 177,202 acres in northwestern Nevada.  The AML is 136 wild horses and zero wild burros.  The aimed-at stocking rate is 0.8 wild horses per thousand acres.

The HMA is managed with four others as a part of the Blue Wing Complex, per Section 1.1 in the Final EA for wild horse and burro management actions in the area.

Blue Wing Complex Map-1

The map in Figure 4 indicates the HMA lies within the massive Blue Wing-Seven Troughs allotment.  The forage allocated to livestock inside the HMA is not known at this time.  The horses allowed by plan require 1,632 AUMs per year with no forage allocated to burros.

The current population was estimated to be 1,722 horses and 160 burros, not including this year’s foal crop.  They may have exceeded the authorized resources in the area.

Horses removed from the HMA will be taken to the off-range corrals in Fallon, NV and the burros will be shipped to the off-range corrals in Axtell, UT.

Mares returned to their home range will be treated with contraceptives.

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

Montezuma Peak Emergency Roundup Starts This Week

BLM said today that approximately 50 wild horses and 25 wild burros will be removed from the Montezuma Peak HMA beginning July 29, due to insufficient water.

The operation will be carried out with bait traps, according to the news release, and will not be open to public observation.

The HMA covers 77,876 acres in southern Nevada.  The AML is 4 horses and 10 burros, equivalent to nine horses (4 + 10 ÷ 2).  The equivalent stocking rate would be 0.1 wild horses per thousand acres.

Nevada_Wild_Horse_Range_Map-1

The announcement did not say if the HMA was subject to domestic livestock grazing.

The current population is 130 wild horses and 207 wild burros, excluding this year’s foal crop.  The equivalent wild horse population would be 130 + 207 ÷ 2 = 234.

A 20% growth rate would put the herd size at 234 × 1.2 = 281, with a forage demand of 281 × 12 = 3,372 AUMs per year.  The total authorized forage on the HMA is unknown.

Captured animals will be taken to the off-range corrals in Ridgecrest, CA.

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

Letter Criticizes BLM Opinion Piece, Pushes PZP

There are four million permitted cattle and sheep on public lands in the western U.S., according to the writer of a letter to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, compared to 81,000 wild horses, but the horses need to be managed with PZP.

After all, it’s been used for 30 years.

Where?  Assateague Island.  Many wild horse ‘advocates’ point to the area as a paragon of wild horse management but the results have been disastrous.

RELATED: BLM Opinion Piece Acclaims ‘Path Forward,’ Ignores Livestock.

What is an Excess Horse?

The current population at Saylor Creek is 131 wild horses.  The AML is 50.  How many excess horses are present?  The herd is 2.6 times over AML.

There are 81 excess horses on the HMA, per current wisdom.  It’s overpopulated.

The herd requires 13% of the authorized forage on the HMA but you’re not supposed to know that.  When the roundup ends, the horses will only need about 5%.

RELATED: Comments on Saylor Creek Wild Horse Roundup.

Statutes and Regulations

Exhibit A

16 USC 1332, Definitions, WHB Act, a duly enacted statute.

Paragraph (c) defines “range” as “the amount of land necessary to sustain an existing herd or herds of wild free-roaming horses and burros” that’s “devoted principally but not necessarily exclusively to their welfare.”  It stands as it did in 1971.

Paragraph (f), which defined “excess animals” as those “which must be removed from an area in order to preserve and maintain a thriving natural ecological balance and multiple-use relationship” did not appear in the original Act.  It was added by PRIA.

Exhibit B

CFR 4710.3-2, Wild horse and burro ranges, Part 4700, Subpart 4710, a federal regulation.

Accordingly, herd management areas, a term that did not appear in the original Act, “may also be designated as wild horse or burro ranges to be managed principally, but not necessarily exclusively, for wild horse or burro herds.”

Exhibit A lays down the law.  Exhibit B makes it tentative.

Which one prevails?  Can a regulation override a statue?

Thriving Ecological Balance-3

Sulphur Roundup in the Works?

A project appears in BLM’s NEPA register (sometimes referred to as ‘ePlanning’) but no documents have been posted.

There are three levels of analysis in the NEPA process: Categorical Exclusion (CX), Environmental Assessment (EA) and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).  Wild horse management actions often fall into the middle category but major changes, such as the Rock Springs RMP Amendments, require an EIS.

A project involving wild horses and burros may begin with a scoping request, to receive input from the public, followed by staff work to formulate an action plan and draft an environmental assessment.  The EA looks at the consequences of a preferred action and one or more alternatives.

The preliminary plan and EA are posted for public review and may be revised in light of substantive comments.

If there are no major issues, a decision record and finding of no significant impact may be is issued, allowing the plan to go forward.  This does not mean the roundup starts the following week!  There are priorities and funding is not unlimited.  The plan may face legal challenges.

The process can take several years to complete although it may be shortened or bypassed altogether in the case of emergencies.

The Sulphur HMA is in western Utah on the Nevada border.

Public-Lands Ranchers May Need More Forage?

A spokesman for the Public Lands Council said earlier this week before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources that “There may be a need for access to additional forage, including vacant allotments or other available allotments that were not grazed during the summer season.”

His testimony concerned the effects of COVID-19 on public-lands ranchers, according to a news release dated July 23.

He did not indicate where those underutilized allotments would be found but almost certainly could offer a few suggestions.

Western Horse Watchers was unable to find a statement in the organization’s news releases condemning the recent PZP Amendment to H.R. 7608, a spending bill for FY 2021 now under consideration in the House.

The amendment has the full support of AWHC.

RELATED: PLC Wants to Change Image of Public-Lands Ranching.

Nevada WHR Emergency Roundup Starts Next Week

BLM announced today that approximately 125 wild horses will be removed from the Nevada WHR, beginning on or about July 28, due to insufficient water.

The operation will be carried out with bait traps, according to the news release, and will not be open to public observation.

The WHR was gathered two years ago and is now the subject of proposed management actions over a ten-year period.

It covers about 1.3 million acres of military land in southern Nevada.  The AML is 500, for a target stocking rate of 0.4 wild horses per thousand acres.

Nevada_Wild_Horse_Range_Map-1

The WHR is managed principally for wild horses.  Livestock grazing is not allowed and public access is prohibited.

The current population was estimated to be 961, including 461 excess horses.

Captured animals will be taken to the off-range corrals in Ridgecrest, CA.

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

Antelope Valley Emergency Roundup Starts This Week

BLM said today that approximately 50 wild horses will be removed from the Antelope Valley HMA, beginning this weekend, due to insufficient water and forage.

The western portion of the HMA belongs to the Triple B Complex, which was gathered about a year ago.

The operation will be carried out with bait traps, according to the news release, and will not be open to public observation.

The HMA covers 463,540 acres in eastern Nevada and has an AML of 259.  The aimed-at stocking rate is 0.6 wild horses per thousand acres.

Triple B HMA Map-1

The fractional stocking rate may correspond to a large percentage of forage diverted to privately owned livestock.

The current population is thought to be 1,144, with 885 excess horses.  The herd is 4.4 times over AML but how close is it to the carrying capacity of the HMA?

Captured animals will be taken to the off-range corrals in Bruneau, ID.

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

RELATED: Triple B Emergency Wild Horse Roundup Begins This Week.