On Carova Beach, NC.  H/T Beach Realty & Construction / Kitty Hawk Rentals.

Most of the public comments were deferred to the end of the meeting.  All were directed to the ‘humane management’ of the Virginia Range mustangs.  The diversionary feeding project was not mentioned.

One person cited examples of zero population growth on HMAs in Colorado, Wyoming and Idaho, thanks to PZP.  She thinks it’s great.  So do the public-lands ranchers.

Another person mentioned the adverse reaction that can occur at the injection site of a contraceptive, acknowledging that it’s probably uncomfortable for the horses and provides bad optics for the public.  Yet, she is undeterred.

Did you know these ‘advocates’ name the horses?  That justifies everything.

A representative of Blockchains, LLC, largest landowner in the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center, also spoke in favor of PZP darting of the Virginia Range mares.  Was this based on first-hand knowledge of wild horse herds or was he just reading a script drafted for him by the wild horse ‘advocates’ the company has consulted?

Board members appeared to be unmoved by any of the comments.

RELATED: Nevada Board of Agriculture Meets this Week, NDA OKs Diversionary Feeding of Virginia Range Mustangs?

Helicopters, traps and contraceptives are needed to balance the wild horse population at Onaqui Mountain HMA with ‘other uses and values,’ according to a news release issued yesterday.

Sadly, they just can’t bring themselves around to admitting what those other uses are.

“Chronic wild horse overpopulation is damaging to the long-term health of wild horse herds, other wildlife and the land on which they all depend.”

An allotment map from 2011 suggests the HMA is subject to permitted livestock grazing.

Could it be that the horses are robbing too much forage from the public-lands ranchers?

Currently there are 586 horses on the 205,000 acre HMA, for a population density of 2.9 animals per thousand acres.  The herd is at 2.8X AML, with 376 ‘excess’ horses.

The agency that claims 2.9 horses per thousand acres is unsustainable allows 9.8 cow/calf pairs on public lands in the same state.

This is insane!  The land was set aside for wild horses.

The AML of 210 has nothing to do with the carrying capacity of the land.  It represents the forage loss the ranchers and their allies at the BLM are willing to tolerate.

Oddly enough, it usually works out to one animal per thousand acres.  Take the size of the HMA in acres and knock off the last three digits.  There’s your AML.

RELATED: Livestock Grazing in Utah, Population Densities on Western Rangelands.

Data from the BLM rangeland grazing page and wild horse management page in California:

• 6.1 million acres available to livestock
• 2.5 million acres available to horses and burros
• 472,000 AUMs available to livestock
• 2,200 wild horses and burros allowed

Assuming that livestock graze six months per year, the AUM figure yields 78,600 cow/calf pairs on public lands in the state (472,000 divided by 6).  The population density for these animals would be 12.9 cow/calf pairs per thousand acres (78,600 divided by 6.1 million times 1,000).

The population density for horses and burros is 0.9 animals per thousand acres (2,200 divided by 2.5 million times 1,000).

Land in California can support fourteen times as many cow/calf pairs as horses and burros (12.9 divided by 0.9).  On HMAs subject to grazing allotments, it’s the same land!

Given that horses graze twelve months per year, they would consume roughly 26,400 AUMs annually (2,200 times 12).  If they were at 4X AML they would consume less than one fourth of the forage allocated to livestock (4 times 26,400 divided by 472,000).

Even the casual observer should be able to look at these charts and realize that wild horse overpopulation is nothing more than a bullshit storyline intended to protect the ranching hegemony on western rangelands.

But the overpopulation narrative will continue, and most of the so-called advocates will demand more PZP for the horses, because nobody bothers to look at the data.

RELATED: Livestock Grazing in Nevada.

Over 500 horses from the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe were removed from public lands in northern Nevada earlier this month, according to a report published 12/12/18 by KOLO News in Reno.  They were returned to their owners.

The USFS said in a news release that the horses were competing with livestock and wildlife for forage and were damaging ecosystems, fences and stock-watering facilities.

Gather stats and daily reports can be found on this page.

Three wild burros were killed earlier today on Bullhead Parkway near Hillview Drive, according to a report in the Mohave Valley Daily News.  The area was the subject of a wild burro gather in June, 2108.

The animals may be coming out of the hills in and around Black Mountain HMA to escape colder temperatures.

RELATED: BLM to Remove Burros from Bullhead City, AZ.

Two youngsters groom each other on the Virginia Range, 06/15/18.

Their heads tell you there’s not much water in the tanks.  The handle on the yard hydrant is shut, even though a block of wood was installed on 11/16/18 to keep it open.

On the Salt River.  H/T makelafamily1999.

Virginia Range mustangs hang out at the stock tanks after getting a drink.

Take exit 32 on I-80 and travel south on USA Parkway.  There is another entrance a few miles to the west, exit 28.  The Google aerial image is terribly out of date.  Try Bing.

TRIC is at the northern end of the Virginia Range and is home to hundreds of wild horses, as well as the Tesla Gigafactory.

Weather was cold and damp but horses were spotted in the hills along Waltham Way and on both sides of USA Parkway.  Photos taken 12/08/18.

RELATED: Giga Ponies on a Cold Foggy Day.

Small band of Virginia Range mustangs grazing on a ridge about a mile from the Tesla Gigafactory (Tahoe Reno Industrial Center).  Filmed 12/08/18.