Author: Western Horse Watchers

Laramie County Commissioners Discuss CAFO!

The March 3 meeting was interrupted briefly after the February 18 minutes had been approved to shuffle roles in response to the resignation of the chair.

Although the high-density horse feeding operation proposed by Equine Elite was not on the agenda, it was discussed at the conclusion of regular business.  You can watch the proceedings beginning at 12:58 in this video.

Developers of the facility have asked the county for a rule change that will silence the voices of many who oppose the project.

The planning department has drafted a new rule based on an odor propagation model developed by the University of Nebraska – Lincoln.

Commissioners asked for a public hearing on March 17 to formally consider the proposal and receive stakeholder comments.

A decision will not be rendered until April 7, at the earliest.

Minutes of the meeting have not been posted as of today.

RELATED: Laramie County Commissioners Meet This Week.

Comments Invited on EA for Black Mountain Gather Plan

BLM announced today the opening of a 30-day comment period on an Environmental Assessment for the Black Mountain Wild Burro Gather and Population Control Plan.

The HMA covers approximately one million acres in northwestern Arizona, including the old mining town of Oatman.  The AML is 478, for an aimed-at population density of 0.5 burros per thousand acres.  See Table 1 in the EA.

Black Mountain HMA Map-1

The current population is thought to be around 2,200.

The HMA intersects fourteen grazing allotments, although some of them are not active, according to Table 7.  Figure 15 in Appendix C indicates that roughly half of the HMA is subject to permitted livestock grazing, maybe a bit more.

The forage allowance for burros is half of that for horses.  If horses roamed the HMA, the plan would need to allocate 5,736 AUMs per year (478 × 12).  Given that the land was set aside for burros, the forage allocation would be 2,868 AUMs per year.

Comments can be submitted at the project documents page.  Substantive only, please.

Laramie County Commissioners Meet This Week

Consideration of a rule change requested by Equine Elite for a proposed CAFO near Burns, WY is not on the agenda for the March 3 meeting.

At their meeting on February 4, commissioners asked planning department staff for a report on odor propagation models that could assess the concerns of residents near the proposed facility.

The feedlot would have a capacity of 5,000 wild horses on approximately 80 acres.

RELATED: Laramie County Commissioners Looking for Cover?

IMG_0565

Photo of wild horses at Palomino Valley off-range corrals on 02-08-20.  The facility has a capacity of 1,850 horses on approximately 100 acres.

What Can the BLM Do With an Extra $21 Million?

Back in December, Congress awarded an additional $21 million to the BLM to further address the wild horse ‘problem,’ courtesy of the ill-conceived ‘Path Forward.’

Keep in mind that most of the affected lands were set aside for the horses and that the agency involved is responsible for their protection.

Q. How many wild horses could be removed with the additional funding?

A. Given a cost of roughly $1,000 to gather and process one animal, as many as 21,000 could be removed beyond what the BLM had already anticipated in FY 2020.  This does not mean the agency has the capacity in its outplacement programs to handle that many horses.  Probably not.  So let’s reduce the number to 10,000.

Q. Which areas would be targeted first?

A. Given the agency’s bias toward livestock grazing, which existed before FLPMA, HMAs where the poor ranchers are suffering from AUM cutbacks (because of the horses) would likely be at the top of the list.

Q. What economic benefits might accrue from the $21 million expenditure?

A. The government could receive up to $162,000 per year in incremental grazing fees from the ranchers to whom the ‘liberated’ forage is sold (10,000 horses × 12 months per year × $1.35 per AUM).

Q. Are there any other economic benefits?

A. Not to the government, only the cost of warehousing that many more horses, about $2 per day per head.  The ranchers would benefit, of course, but they’re not the ones spending the $21 million.  Think of it as redistribution of wealth: From your pocket to theirs, assuming you pay federal taxes.

Q. Could the expenditure be described as an investment in America’s future?

A. No.  There is no payout and no rate of return.  It’s negative cash flow all the way.  You don’t spend $21 million up front so you can spend an additional $7.1 million annually after that ($162,000 per year – 10,000 horses × $2 per day × 365 days per year).

Q. I thought the ‘Path Forward’ would cut costs and reduce government spending?

A. It’s not about saving money.  There are no plans to close departments, sell buildings and lay people off when AML is achieved.  It’s about enriching the public-lands ranchers and those who operate off-range pastures, sanctuaries and preserves.

RELATED: Wild Horses: Existential Threat to Ranching Agenda.

New Grazing Season!

Rejoice and be glad!  The 2020 grazing season starts tomorrow, with fees stuck in a time capsule since the 1960s.

Pray for good weather and abundant forage (not for the stupid horses) and that the ranchers will always be insulated from the realities of a free market, at least on the cost side.

May they never be forced off the public lands and have to pay (OMG) the going rate to feed their livestock.

RELATED: Grazing Fee Unchanged in 2020, Cost of Feed?, Grazing Fee Defies FLPMA.

What Is a Stocking Rate?

It’s a measure of population density, usually reported on these pages as animals per thousand acres.

Animal dispersion varies inversely with stocking rates—the lower the rate the greater the dispersion.

Stocking rates are also indicators of grazing intensity.  The higher the rate the greater the demand for forage.  Can the land keep up with animal appetites?

The management plan for the Pryor Mountains WHR allows 120 wild horses on 38,000 acres, for a stocking rate of 3.2 animals per thousand acres (120 ÷ 38,000 × 1,000).

Why not animals per acre?  Decimals.  The stocking rate expressed in those units would be 0.0032 animals per acre (120 ÷ 38,000).

The management plan for the Silver King HMA in eastern Nevada yields a stocking rate of 0.00022 animals per acre.

The scaling factor in the first calculation (1,000) shifts the decimal to make the result a little easier to read.

The Virginia Range in western Nevada has a stocking rate of approximately ten wild horses per thousand acres, while the average rate for lands managed by the BLM is one wild horse per thousand acres.

What might account for the difference?

Wild Horses: Existential Threat to Ranching Agenda

Is the government ramping up its rhetoric about wild horses, ahead of the next installment on the disastrous ‘Path Forward?’

Back in October the acting director of the BLM said wild horses were the greatest threat to America’s public lands.

In December, Congress authorized an additional $21 million to deal with the ‘problem,’ contingent on the development of a game plan.

Now they have to soften up the target—which is not the horses—it’s you.

The ranching cabal wants the herds cut by 70%.

The government is happy to indulge them.

And they want to do it with your approval.

PSA 12-15-19

Eagle Roundup Complete

BLM said today in a news release that the operation had concluded, with 1,716 excess horses captured and 47 returned to their home range.  The 24 deaths were not reported.

There has been much discussion on these pages about the effect on the horses but how many poor ranchers have been hurt by the mandatory AUM curtailment needed to achieve the Mojave-Southern Great Basin RAC standards for rangeland health?

There is no curtailment.

RELATED: Eagle Roundup Day 40.