Too much rain out west. Pine tree appeared to be leaning on 03/02/19, a few hours later it was on the ground. Short video posted to WHW YouTube channel.
Author: Western Horse Watchers
Bad Hair Day
Too much rain, too much humidity. Photo taken 03/03/19. BLM mustang adopted in 2015, mom and brother in background.
Barn Fire Kills Four Horses
A fire at Paint’d Horse Stables in Monroe, WA destroyed the main barn and arena on 02/28/19, claiming four horses, two tons of hay and some ranch equipment, according to a report posted today by KIRO-7 News in Seattle.
The facility rescues wild horses from the Yakama Indian Reservation that would otherwise go to slaughter.
The report did not indicate if the deceased animals were locked in stalls.
Sand Wash Stallions
On Sand Wash Basin HMA with Pam Rutherford, before the drought hit in 2018.
Back to the Badlands
On Theodore Roosevelt National Park with Badlands Gypsy. Photo exhibition set for 03/08/19 in Minneapolis.
RELATED: Horses of the Badlands.
UPDATE: See this story about the exhibit in the Hutchinson Leader.
IRRC Expands Propaganda
The remarks from 12:39 to 13:15 in this video demonstrate the arrogance of these people. Everybody bow to the public-lands ranchers, all hail the government serfs!
It’s not their land, it’s their birthright. Share it with anything but wild horses, notably absent in the film.
The aim of the Idaho Rangeland Resource Commission is not to inform and educate, but to brainwash and gloss over those parts of history they don’t want to remember, such as the rancher’s treatment of wild horses over the last hundred years.
Multiple Use Minute
To achieve a ‘thriving ecological balance’ with ‘other uses and values’ on this blog.
Sand Wash Mare Found Dead
The body was spotted near the edge of State Highway 318 in mid February, according to a report posted yesterday by the Craig Press. The cause of death is unknown.
The mare’s home range, in northwestern Colorado, was hit by drought last summer, but the horses survived on water hauled in by volunteers.
North Hills Gather Approved
Today the BLM authorized the removal of 213 wild horses from the North Hills JMA in southwestern Utah. The roundup would occur later this year.
The area, consisting of the North Hills HMA and North Hills WHT, is managed jointly by the BLM and Forest Service. It is northwest of Enterprise.
The roundup would restore a balance between the horses and other public land resources, according to the news release. Given that livestock grazing occurs on the HMA (but not on the WHT), those resources are probably cattle or sheep.
The distribution of AUMs among the inhabitants of the JMA was not provided in the announcement but odds are that the lion’s share goes to livestock, with some crumbs going to horses and wildlife.
Never mind that the land was set aside for the horses.
RELATED: Wild Horse Overpopulation?, Livestock Grazing in Utah.
UPDATE: Added chart from page 28 in the Decision Record.
Wild horse AUM consumption, pre-gather, is about 3,000 AUMs per year. Post-gather AUM consumption will be 500 AUMs annually, assuming forty horses remain on the HMA (which puts the herd in the ‘Not Genetically Viable’ category).
Alto Horses Get Warning Signs As SB158 Looms
Flashing beacons were installed along Highway 48 last month but legal protections for the horses could be severely eroded if the legislature allows the New Mexico Livestock Board to manage them. This story by Ruidoso News, posted today, has the details.
RELATED: Advocates Fight ‘Arrogant Special Interest Agency.’
Three Assateague Mares Missing in Latest Census
A report that appeared today in Delmarva Now says they are presumed dead.
No problems though, mares outnumber studs on the island by a margin of almost three to one according to the census from November 2018. Can’t possibly be related to the ‘humane management practices’ sanctioned by the Park Service and supported by most of the wild horse ‘advocates.’
The report also indicated that (only) four of the mares were in foal.
Public-Lands Ranching in Idaho
Video from BLM’s Rangeland Management page. Fun facts, with their timestamps:
- 600 cow/calf pairs graze on 50,000 acres (0:12)
- 20% of the forage is utilized (5:29)
Public lands in Idaho can sustain twelve cow/calf pairs per thousand acres at a 20% forage utilization rate, suggesting a carrying capacity of sixty cow/calf pairs per thousand acres.
However, public lands in the state can only support 1.5 wild horses per thousand acres, according to the Herd Management page.
Probably because climate and resources vary wildly from allotment to allotment, with wild horses finding themselves in one of the bad spots.
Ruhs Appointed Idaho State Director for BLM
Refer to this news release for his C.V. He spoke at the rancher-friendly Wild Horse and Burro Summit of 2017, birthplace of the infamous BLM Report to Congress.
Wild horses are allowed on 3.5% of the public lands managed by the BLM in Idaho.
Other mandated uses of those lands include livestock grazing, mining, conservation and recreation, according to the announcement.
Satellite Adoptions
Video posted in 2016 by the Michigan Farm Bureau about wild horse and burro adoptions at non-BLM facilities. A list of these events for 2019 can be found here.
Roundups drive the adoptions and ‘multiple use’ drives the roundups.
Which of these ‘other mandated uses,’ mentioned at 2:26, interferes most directly with the health and welfare of wild horses and burros?
a. Recreation
b. Oil and gas development
c. Livestock grazing
d. Wildlife
How many reports have you read about
- Wild horses being attacked by hikers and campers?
- Wild horses being slaughtered by oil companies?
- Wild horse herds being wiped out by wildlife?
The great destroyer is public-lands ranching, which explains the remark at 2:20 about no natural predators.
New Mexico State Senator Proposes Park for Wild Horses
See this report posted today by KRQE News in Albuquerque. Will it be subject to ‘other mandated uses?’
Sunday News Program Looks at Wild Horses
A segment yesterday on Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson briefly discussed the wild horse ‘problem’ in the western U.S. Although it did mention the costs of helicopter roundups and long-term holding, it did not consider ‘other mandated uses’ of the territory where the horses roam.
Much of the information was sourced from the BLM so, of course, the public-lands ranchers get a pass. No wild horse advocates were interviewed.
An aerial view of the Palomino Valley Off-Range Corrals appears at 1:27 and ranching shill Chris Stewart makes a few remarks at 2:26. The guy is bought and paid for.
At best, the piece is incomplete. At worst, it is biased against the horses.
RELATED: Wild Horse Overpopulation?
Wild Horse Adoption Next Month at Rock Springs, WY
Sixty wild horses will be available for adoption March 15 – 16 at the BLM Rock Springs Wild Horse Holding Facility on Lionkol Road. They were removed from the Green Mountain and Stewart Creek HMAs last summer as a part of the Red Desert gather.
Refer to this announcement for details.
Horses React to Audio of Waipio Valley Wild Ones
Memory card reached its limit while filming this on 02/22/19, but you get the idea.
Video of Waipio Valley horses posted to Mustang Monday, 02-25-19.
Mustang Monday
On the Big Island (Waipio Valley) with Christine Laria.
Economics of Wild Horse Gathers
Refer to the data and remarks in this post and this post.
- Cost to remove a horse from his home range, $400
- Cost to place him in long-term holding, $2 per day
- Revenue from selling his food to a public-lands rancher, $16 per year
Assumptions:
- Costs of transport and short-term holding ($5 per day) can be neglected
- Most horses removed from public lands won’t be adopted
- Fee for livestock grazing is $1.35 per AUM
The adoption assumption is based on a removal rate of 12,000 or more wild horses per year, which floods the program, as in 2018 (lands managed by BLM and USFS).
A wild horse consumes 12 AUMs annually, yielding payments to the government of $16 per year from the rancher to whom the unused forage is sold (12 times 1.35).
The annual cost of holding him in off-range pastures is $730 per year (2 times 365).
Note that $2 per day equals $60 per AUM. Are you seeing a problem here?
You’re spending $730 per year so you can collect $16 per year. This is how the mortgage deduction works on federal income taxes. Ditto for property taxes.
This is what the situation looks like on a cash flow diagram. There is no payout, no rate of return.
The BLM removed 846 wild horses last fall from the Warm Springs HMA. The diagram for that would look the same but the figures would be different.
The initial outlay would be -$338,000 (846 times 400), the annual expenditure for long-term holding would be -$617,000 per year (846 times 730) and the revenue from grazing would be +$13,000 per year (846 times 16).
The grazing fee would have to be raised to at least $65 per AUM to make the program economically viable (internal rate of return greater than zero), a 4,700 percent increase from the current amount.
