Eighth Annual Devil’s Garden Roundup, Day 30

The incident started on August 27.

The documented capture total through September 25 is 209, including 92 stallions, 98 mares and 19 foals.

Youngsters accounted for 9.1% of the sample.

Of the adults, 48.4% were male and 51.6% were female.

The average daily take is 7.0.

A horse died on Day 30 for unspecified reasons, bringing the total deceased to 7.

The death rate is 3.3%.

The Forest Service does not include deceased animals in the daily breakdowns.

Body condition scores were not given.

The number of animals shipped is not known.

The operation has liberated 2,508 AUMs per year.

The WHT is subject to permitted grazing.

RELATED: Eighth Annual Devil’s Garden Roundup, Day 25.

Propaganda, Not Education, Coming to Virginia City

Now they’re billing it as education and awareness.

The Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses will serve cookies and hot cider on October 23 as they try to convince you that mass sterilization is a humane alternative to motorized removal.

How stupid do you have to be to believe anything from these phonies?

RELATED: An Evening of Education and Advocacy for Wild Horses?

Leadership Shakeup at Wild Horse Transition Team

John Mack has left the group over disagreements with founder Jacquelyn Hughes as to how many horses should be removed from the Salt River herd according to a report by Phoenix New Times.

That shifts management responsibilities to Hughes for five years if AZDA was to select her proposal, which is not her style.

As a wild horse removal contractor, she wants to get in, get the job done and move on to the next opportunity.

By contrast, the Salt River advocates have stayed the course, which is necessary to sterilize the mares.

RELATED: AZDA Should Give Salt River Advocates the Boot.

BLM Mulls Stone Cabin Emergency Roundup?

The agency published a signed decision on August 7 for temporary water hauls in the Stone Cabin and Willow Creek allotments, which contain the HMA.

A DNA worksheet was also copied to the project folder.

The decision document says on page three that water is the most effective tool for distributing cattle on arid lands and that the animals are unlikely to venture more than two miles from a water source, linking permitted grazing to riparian deterioration.

In response to a comment from the Nevada Department of Animal Agriculture, the BLM indicated that it may consider removal of wild horses if conditions persist.  Refer to item 1 in Exhibit 3.

The Drought Monitor puts the project area in category D2, severe drought.

Persons who participated in the planning process have until September 30 to dispute the plan.

RELATED: Clifford Spring Exclosure Won’t Isolate Stone Cabin Horses.

Eighth Annual Devil’s Garden Roundup, Day 25

The incident started on August 27.

The documented capture total through September 20 is 177, including 74 stallions, 86 mares and 17 foals.

Youngsters represented 9.6% of the sample.

Of the adults, 46.3% were male and 53.8% were female.

The average daily take is 7.1.

A horse was dispatched on Day 18 for unspecified reasons, followed by another on Day 21, bringing the total deceased to 6.

The death rate is 3.4%.

Body condition scores were not given.

The number of animals shipped is not known.

The operation has liberated 2,124 AUMs per year.

The WHT is subject to permitted grazing.

RELATED: Eighth Annual Devil’s Garden Roundup, Day 15.

Who’s Advising Bobby Khan About Wild Horses?

The advocates asserted in the Nevada Current op-ed that “America’s wild horses have faced competition from livestock, unfair resource allocation, and shrinking habitat for generations,” which is a fair statement, but their solution is completely unrelated and can only make the problem worse.

Makes perfect sense once you realize they’re in the tank for the ranchers.

Bobby Khan, a candidate for the seat currently held by a co-founder of the pesticide caucus and author of the “Ground a Helicopter, Sterilize a Mare” Act, has proposed a five-step plan for resolving the issues.

1. End the Roundups.  “Halt helicopter roundups and stop funneling horses into holding facilities or auctions.”  The goal is to end the removals not the roundups.  Bait trapping and fertility control are alternate methods of removal.

2. Return Horses to the Wild.  “Reintroduce horses and burros to their designated lands where they legally belong.”  Not if they’re managed principally for livestock.

3. Herd Management Solutions.  This one wrecks the whole program: “Work with experts, ranchers and advocates to implement responsible herd management practices that protect horses and respect ranching interests.”  Resource management is a zero-sum game.  What you give to the ranchers must be taken from the horses.  This is why there so many in off-range holding.  Not compatible with item 2.

4. Cut Costs and Save Taxpayer Money.  “Replace costly confinement programs with humane, natural management that saves taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars annually.”  Probably a reference to fertility control, straight out of the advocates’ playbook.

5. Build Coalitions for Change.  “Partner with leaders, advocates, and public voices…to bring national attention and action to the issue.”  Enlarging the committee will not produce the required knowledge.

RELATED: Palomino Valley Horse Rally Won’t Break Any New Ground.

An Evening of Education and Advocacy for Wild Horses?

The event, organized by the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, is set for October 23 in Virginia City.

The topic is wild horse management on the Virginia Range.

They’ll sell the program as humane population reduction or wild horse conservation, but it’s really mass sterilization.

There’s nothing natural about it and it’s all based on myths propagated by bureaucrats, hunters and ranchers.

Palomino Valley Horse Rally Won’t Break Any New Ground

From the solutions page at Bobby Khan for Congress:

“He’ll fight to ban helicopter roundups, demand full transparency from the Bureau of Land Management, and push for humane, science-based herd management solutions. That includes fertility control, strategic rewilding, and support for sanctuaries and tribal partnerships doing the real work on the ground.”

Sounds just like the advocates.

RELATED: Political Rally at Palomino Valley Off-Range Corrals?

BLM Preparing to Rescind Public Lands Rule

Stakeholders said it created regulatory uncertainty, reduced access to public lands and undermined the multiple-use mandate established by Congress according to the news release.

A 60-day comment period began with publication of a notice in the Federal Register.

Wild horses fall under “historical values” in the definition of multiple use in FLPMA.

RELATED: Public Lands Rule Published.

If Wild Horses Had Principal Use of Cottonwood

The allotment was recognized for a virtual fencing project in this year’s rangeland stewardship award.

The Allotment Master Report puts it in the Maintain category.

The permittee receives 2,144 active AUMs on 16,689 public acres, equivalent to 179 wild horses, or 10.7 wild horses per thousand public acres, roughly the same stocking rate as the Virginia Range.

Your faithful public servants claim that public lands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand acres (25,500 animals on 25.6 million acres).

The advocates, defeated a long time ago, give their assent through their darting programs.

If the allotment was an HMA, the AML would be 17 and 162 wild horses would be consigned to off-range holding because of permitted grazing.

BLM allotments in the Nevada support livestock equivalent to 173,144 wild horses on 40,194,360 public acres, or 4.3 wild horses per thousand public acres.

Wild horses can be placed on public lands not identified for their use by acquiring base properties associated with grazing allotments and flipping the preference to horses.

RELATED: The Allotments Tell the Story: They’re Lying, All of Them.

2025 Stewardship Award Goes to Nevada Guest Ranch?

A representative of the BLM will present the award today to Cottonwood Ranch at the 57th annual meeting of the Public Lands Council, according to the announcement.

The owners have preference on the Cottonwood Allotment, managed by the Wells Field Office, and the Cottonwood Creek and Goat Creek Allotments, managed by the Jarbidge Ranger District.

The award pertains to virtual fencing on the BLM allotment.  Use of the technology on Forest Service lands was not disclosed.

The aim of the grazing program is to ensure that high net worth individuals receive generous government benefits, often at the expense of America’s wild horses, with no means testing and no expiration date.

RELATED: Winners of 2024 Stewardship Awards Announced.