WHBAB Day 3: Achieve AMLs or Else

This story by The Salt Lake Tribune has a summary of today’s proceedings. Public comments were taken in the afternoon session. This was the final day of the meeting.

The enmity toward wild horses and burros was astonishing.

Multiple use was cited as the justification for a variety of activities on lands set aside for WHB, such as energy development, livestock grazing and timber harvesting. Except when adverse conditions are found, such as soil erosion and missing vegetation. Then it’s single use—all problems are caused by the horses.

Claims were made that AMLs represent the carrying capacity of the land. If that was true, there could be no livestock grazing on HMAs.

An argument was advanced that livestock can’t be removed from public lands because it would ruin the lives of the ranchers. Sadly, manufacturers of buggy whips, vacuum tubes and carburetors, along with their workers, were not available for comment.

Neither were the coal miners displaced by the wind farms of an earlier presentation.

BLM Seeks Nominations for RACs in Nevada

BLM has reopened the nomination period for vacant positions on three Resource Advisory Councils in Nevada. Refer to this news release for more information.

The Sierra Front-Northwestern Great Basin RAC, which serves Washoe, Humboldt, Pershing, Churchill, Storey, Douglas, Lyon, Mineral and Carson City counties, has an open position in the area of wild horses and burros.

Citizens on RACs provide input to the BLM in managing public lands for multiple uses.

USFS: Removing Modoc Wild Horses Good for Environment

An opinion piece that appeared yesterday in the Redding-based Record Searchlight was written by a spokesman for the USFS to ‘correct some inaccuracies.’ However, it fails to mention that the Devil’s Garden WHT falls within permitted livestock allotments.

So much for accuracy.

Removing wild horses from HMAs and WHTs is good for the public-lands ranchers, their overlords, cheerleaders and political allies.

That is the implication of other statements in the piece, such as ‘reducing competition for limited food, water, and habitat’ and ‘communities that also depend on these lands.’

WHBAB Day 2: Back to the ‘Fast Disappearing’ Days

The low water mark of the morning session came when Barry Perryman, a new member of the Advisory Board, suggested that the BLM find additional reasons to remove wild horses from public lands, such as the protection of threatened species (e.g., sage grouse or desert tortoise).

The highlight of the afternoon session was a remark by Ginger Kathrens, during a review of the BLM Report to Congress, that the proposed actions would take wild horse populations back to ‘fast disappearing’ levels, a reference to the preamble of the WHB Act of 1971.

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If your belief at the beginning of the day was that the BLM wants more players from Team H off the field and more players from Team L on, nothing was offered in the day’s proceedings to convince you otherwise.

WHB Coming to Odessa, TX

BLM will offer a total of 75 wild horses and burros for direct purchase at the Ector County Coliseum November 2 – 3, according to a news release posted today. The announcement did not indicate if any trainers would be available to explain the gentling process or demonstrate gentling techniques.

Go to Jail, Get a Horse

Fifteen saddle-started horses and two halter-started horses will be offered for adoption on 10/20/18 at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center near Carson City. Refer to this flyer for details. These horses were gathered from western rangelands by the BLM and trained by inmates at NNCC.

UPDATE: BLM issued this news release on 10/12/18.

Feinstein Tries to Stop Devil’s Garden Roundup

She knows how to do it.

Leak an embarrassing story about a central figure in the operation. Employers nowadays are obsessed with diversity and inclusion, so it’s entirely plausible that someone involved has engaged in lewd behavior.

Stop asking questions about the carrying capacity of the land, appropriate population levels, competition on public lands with privately owned livestock, and what steps will be taken to ensure the safety of the horses. Those topics are irrelevant.

See the report posted yesterday by The Sacramento Bee.

WHB Advisory Board Tours Onaqui Mountain HMA

The WHB Advisory Board meeting in Salt Lake City kicked off yesterday with a field trip to the Onaqui Mountain HMA. BLM staff hosted the tour, eager to associate any and all conditions with the horses. Refer to this report by Deseret News.

It’s like climate change. Whatever the perceived malady, blame it on the horses. Mud or no mud, vegetation or no vegetation, wildlife or no wildlife, ascribe it to the horses.

Don’t mention livestock, don’t mention multiple use.

Recite the wild horse narrative as often as possible.

Cover for the public-lands ranchers.

Polls show that 80% of Americans want these animals protected and preserved.

Do think that will have any effect on the anti-horse juggernaut that has rolled across western rangelands since Trump was elected?

Antelope / Goshute Roundups Make the Headlines

A syndicated report has been picked up by major news outlets regarding the second wild horse gather at the Antelope Valley and Goshute HMAs in eastern Nevada. Refer to this article in the Beaumont Enterprise for example. Here’s what they have in common:

Unquestioned acceptance of statements regarding wild horse populations
Erroneous reporting of the number of horses removed
Animal deaths not mentioned

Although the stories hint at the role of livestock in the debacle, they fail to acknowledge that all of this is happening on lands set aside for the horses.

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BLM Ends Antelope Valley and Goshute Gathers

Bait trapping ended 10/02/18, with 902 wild horses removed from the two HMAs, according to a news release issued today. Fifteen deaths were reported, leaving 887 animals to be shipped to the Indian Lakes Off-Range WHB Corrals in Fallon, NV, where they will be offered for adoption or transferred to segregated long-term holding.

Two horses were put down due to blindness.

Ten were put down due to emaciation and weakness.

Three horses died after hitting panels (walls of the traps) and breaking their necks, sometimes referred to affectionately as ‘capture shock’ by those in the field.

All euthanized animals had been given a hopeless prognosis for recovery.

The announcement did not indicate if livestock were present on the HMAs and if they were also affected by inadequate food and water.

Colts Playing in Parking Lot

Youngsters being youngsters, somewhere near the Salt River. H/T Lil Dumplin.

Wild Horses Visit Stock Tanks During Construction

Small band on the Virginia Range arrives for a drink after a trench for the permanent water supply has been dug. Tank on the left has automatic refill. Second photo shows other visitors stopping by at night.

RELATED: Stock Tank Update.

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Multiple Use on Lands Set Aside for Horses and Burros

Suppose an area can support ten or more wild horses per thousand acres. The stated carrying capacity is one horse per thousand acres. The current population density is three horses per thousand acres.

Claims will be made that the area is overpopulated
Arguments will be made that excess horses must be removed
Meetings will be held to draft a management plan
Helicopters will be deployed
Horses will be gathered

Given that the area is now underpopulated, what do you suppose will fill the gap?

Wild Horse Caravan

These guys stopped by for a drink on 10/05/18 then headed southeast. They dropped the level in the tank around eight inches, easily 25 gallons! Video posted here.

WHB Advisory Board Meeting Starts Tomorrow

The meeting on Day 2 and Day 3 will be livestreamed according to a report posted yesterday by KSL in Salt Lake City.

The theme of the meeting will be wild horse and burro overpopulation. Not that it’s true, but an excuse is needed for removing more of these animals from lands set aside for them.

Who’s pushing that? The National Horse and Burro Rangeland Management Coalition, a livestock advocacy group. See this position statement in Ag Daily, posted 10/05/18.

“Overpopulation of horses and burros continues to threaten the health of our rangelands and negatively impacts the multiple-use of these public lands.”

Translation: Wild horses are burros are robbing us of forage that could be consumed by cattle and sheep. They have to go.

Mustang Monday

On McCullough Peaks HMA. H/T Karen King.

Virginia Range Bachelors Dodge Vehicles to Reach Water

At the intersection of Winters Parkway and Route 50, near Dayton, NV. One way to avoid this is to provide water up in the hills, a practice known as ‘diversionary watering.’

Language warning. H/T Miss Yvonne.

BLM Posts Agenda for WHB Advisory Board Meeting

Meeting will occur October 9 – 11 in Salt Lake City, agenda posted here.

Topics include:

Telling the truth about the carrying capacity of the land
Restoring zeroed-out lands to wild horses and burros
Allocating more land to the WHB program
Increasing AMLs
Introducing new ideas for keeping WHB on the range
Ending ‘humane management practices’ (contraception and sterilization)
Investigating misleading statements about WHB overpopulation
Raising grazing fees for livestock on public lands
Requiring labels on beef that indicate if it was produced on public lands
Educating the public about treatment of WHB on western rangelands
Publishing charts that show how forage is allocated on public lands
Reviewing upcoming AUM curtailments
Reviewing plans for restoring horses to areas impacted by fire and drought
Waiving property taxes on lands obtained for private sanctuaries
Omitting sales taxes on equipment and supplies purchased for sanctuaries
Investigating ties between the BLM, USFS and livestock industry
Exposing the media blackout regarding livestock on lands set aside for WHB
Discussing the constitutionality of FLPMA (federal ownership of land)
Nullifying the WHB Act

Not! None of these items are on the agenda.

Wild Horse Grazing Behavior

Virginia Range stallion grazing shortly after sundown on 10/05/18. Unfortunately, the video stops abruptly due to memory card capacity. He came in close after the camera quit, gentle as could be. Could have kissed him on the nose but did not. You guys are awesome! (His band, nearby, appears in this video.)

No Shoes Up Here

Virginia Range mustang grazing among juniper trees on 10/05/18. Although you may not see them at first, you can tell they’re in the area by the sound of their hooves knocking against the rocks as they move. Elevation 6500 feet.