BLM Relocation Moves Ahead

BLM said yesterday that 159 employees now in Washington, D.C. were notified of their reassignment to offices in the western U.S., with 40 of those jobs moving to the new headquarters in Grand Junction, CO.

Affected personnel have 30 days to accept.  Individuals who decide to relocate will receive an incentive equal to 25% of base pay, according to the news release.

RELATED: BLM Picks New Headquarters.

It’s Not About the President, It’s About the Supreme Court

Is the end drawing near for Justice Ginsburg?

If she dies while he’s in office, the entire liberal program—and one hundred years of ‘progress’—will be put at risk.

Therefore, he has to go.  Either by outright removal or failure to win re-election in 2020.

He cannot be given the opportunity to nominate another justice, because liberals use the institution to drive their ruinous agenda.  Roe and Obergefell are just two examples.

Binge Grazing at Challis HMA

Now that the roundup is over and the horses are gone, the ranchers can enjoy more of what their allotments have to offer.

In just a few short months, thousands of cattle will be turned loose on an HMA that can only support 253 wild horses.  You see, the numbers won’t work with just hundreds of cow/calf pairs—which is what you might guess for an area that recently achieved a thriving ecological balance.

Refer to Tables 2 and 3 in Appendix G of the Environmental Assessment for the HMA management plan.

In the Bradbury Flat allotment, which covers 15,706 acres and is 100% inside in the HMA, 2,490 AUMs have been authorized on six pastures in a 2.5 month grazing season.

Livestock operators would have to place 996 cow/calf pairs on that parcel to consume that much forage in that amount of time.  The animal density would be 63.4 cow/calf pairs per thousand acres!

The density allowed by plan for wild horses is 1.5 animals per thousand acres.

On Bradshaw Basin, also 100% inside the HMA, ranchers have access to 850 AUMs on 8,184 acres for 2.5 months.  That translates to 340 cow/calf pairs on the allotment with a density of 41.5 cow/calf pairs per thousand acres.

The number of cow/calf pairs on the other allotments and the cow/calf densities can be found in the following table.  The permitted forage for the Mountain Springs allotment was computed by difference, so the column total matched the figure given in Section 4.2.2 in the EA.  The grazing season was not given so it was estimated.

Challis AUM Calcs-1

The chart below shows the forage allowed by plan for horses and livestock on the HMA.

The map showing the allotment locations on the HMA could not be found (mentioned in Section 4.2.2 in the EA) so all of the acreage in the HMA was used in the livestock density calculation.  If some of the land is not subject to livestock grazing, the overall cow/calf density would be higher.

Challis AUM Charts-1

Now you know why over half the horses on the HMA had to be removed.  By the time the ranchers get though, there’s almost nothing left for them.

Never mind that land was set aside for the horses.  That was a long time ago.

UPDATE: If you add the numbers in the ‘Acres in HMA’ column, you get 168,240, which is very close to the size of the HMA stated in the EA (168,720 acres).  Thus, all of the HMA is subject to livestock grazing, except for areas described as ‘Frail Lands.’

RELATED: Challis Roundup Ends.

Hypothesis, Reiterated

The number of wild horses and burros in off-range corrals and long-term pastures (around 50,000) can be explained by the misappropriation of forage on just a few dozen HMAs.

The forage allocated to privately owned cattle and sheep on public lands in the western U.S., about nine million AUMs per year, would support at least 750,000 wild horses and burros, enough to empty all of those corrals and pastures fifteen times over.

You don’t have a horse problem on western rangelands, you have a ranching problem.

RELATED: Hypothesis, Subject to the Test of Future Experience.

Challis Roundup Ends

BLM said today that 295 wild horses had been gathered from the HMA, taking the herd from 429 animals to 134.  No deaths were reported and the number of horses to be returned has yet to be determined.  The post-gather population target is 185.

Captured mares will be treated with contraceptives before being returned to their home range, according to the news release, and the sex ratio of the herd will be altered to slow population growth.

The gather stats included 14 geldings and 43 foals.  After deducting the geldings from the total, the youngsters accounted for 15% of the horses captured.

RELATED: Challis Wild Horses to Experience ‘Thriving Ecological Balance.’

Echo Bluff Horses Lose Freedom Because of Stupid Humans

This story was in the news a few days ago but was passed over because the original site was fouled with ads and tracking software.

But this syndicated version by Fox News of St. Louis is readable.

Visitors to the park had been feeding the animals and they became a bit too friendly, so they were removed and put up for adoption.

Hand feeding is one of the best ways to make a horse pushy and disrespectful.

RELATED: Wild Horses in Missouri?, Echo Bluff Horses Featured in Kid’s Section of Washington Post.