Author: Western Horse Watchers

Fish Creek Roundup Complete

BLM said today that operations concluded on 09-15-19, with 558 wild horses gathered from the Fish Creek HMA in central Nevada.  Five deaths were reported (0.9%) and twenty horses were returned to the range, for a population reduction of 538 animals.

The seven mares allowed to rejoin the herd were treated with contraceptives, according to the news release.

The process reduced forage consumption on the HMA by 6,456 AUMs per year, some of which may be picked up by ‘other authorized users.’

The announcement said the roundup complied with Section 1333(b) of the 1971 WHB Act, except there is no Section 1333(b) in the 1971 Act.  The reference should be to the WHB Act of 1976/1978/2004.

The original statute was ‘reshaped’ by the political allies of the public-lands ranchers.

RELATED: Fish Creek Roundup Starts Next Week, Fish Creek Horses Get Short End of Stick, Livestock Grazing in Nevada.

Park Service to Resume Fertility Control at TRNP

The Grand Forks Herald reported today that the wild horses of Theodore Roosevelt National Park will again be subject to a birth control program, meaning the mares will be shot in the butt with contraceptive darts.

The report did not indicate if the pesticide would be administered by park staff or volunteers from local ‘advocacy’ groups.

The full effect of this practice—tampering with breeding patterns and the reproductive systems of mares—will not be known for generations.

RELATED: TRNP ‘Culls’ Adopted.

Another Animal Welfare Group Pushes Contraceptives for Horses

Animal Wellness Action, a lobbying group in Washington, DC, said today in a news release that Congress should order the BLM (and presumably the Forest Service) to increase fertility control programs as a way to halt the growth of wild horse herds and reduce the need for roundups on public lands in the western U.S.

“It’s time to double down on contraception not roundups,” said the group’s director of federal affairs, in response to the wild horse management plan announced on 04-22-19.

Sadly, the problem is not wild horse overpopulation, it is public-lands ranching.

RELATED: Ten Years to AML: The Way Forward for America’s Horses and Burros.

Fort Polk Herd Dwindles

The Natchitoches Times reported today that just 20 to 30 wild horses remain in the Kisatchie National Forest, suggesting that the end is near for the herd.

The horses are not protected by the WHB Act and are viewed by Fort Polk staff (U.S. Army) as ‘trespass livestock.’  Several rescues and advocacy groups are working to find new homes for the mustangs, according to the report.

A post dated 09-08-19 by Pegasus Equine Guardian Associates says 318 wild horses have been removed from the area since the roundup was announced in 2016.

RELATED: Fort Polk Horses Gunned Down.

Liberals Will Never Condemn Public-Lands Ranching

Because it’s an enterprise of the Left, a darling of the Democrat Party.  They love their little collective farms, with all the government control.  Cow farts and climate change be damned.

Private sector ranching is another story.

Be sure to read the commentary by Eleanor Schwartz, beginning on page 59 of the 25th anniversary edition of FLPMA, including the footnotes, to see who drafted the statute, which codified ‘multiple use’ and gave us helicopter roundups of wild horses.

What about the Burns Amendment?  Conrad Burns, senator from Montana, had little to gain from a change to the WHB Act that accelerated the disposal of wild horses removed from public lands in the western U.S.  But Harry Reid, senator from Nevada, sure did.

Of the states with federally managed herds of wild horses and burros, Montana is at the bottom of the list, while Nevada, with half of the nation’s wild horses, is at the top.

Reid convinced Burns to fall on his sword for the benefit of the public-lands ranchers.

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Multiple Use Minute

Trailcam photos of deer at the water tanks.

The BLM, which controls some land on the Virginia Range (most of it is privately owned), puts wild horses in the ‘historical values’ category—they are not regarded as wildlife.

Everything would change, of course, if horses were shown to be an indigenous species, not a re-introduced species.  The wild horse narrative would fall to the ground.

Deer at Water Tanks 08-23-19

Did the Clark Mountain Reward Yield Any Useful Information?

The story has faded from the headlines but a report posted today by KNPR of Las Vegas says most of the dead burros were found near water holes and some appear to have been shot from the highway (I-15).

The animals share the land with wildlife and livestock, according to the report, and the investigation continues.

An audio segment with Jason Lutterman of the BLM was provided.

RELATED: Clark Mountain Burros Still in the News.