Author: Western Horse Watchers

BLM Ends Owyhee Gather

Helicopter operations ended 10/04/18, with 1178 wild horses gathered from the Owyhee Complex.  Of these, 129 mares and 151 studs were returned to the range, with 127 of the mares treated with contraceptives (PZP).  Refer to the news release posted today.

The emergency roundup was a consequence of the Martin Fire.  The announcement did not indicate if any horses would be returned to the area when conditions improve.

Twenty five deaths were reported.  Nine horses were euthanized due to blindness.  A twenty year old mare was euthanized because she kicked through a panel after being treated with PZP, fracturing her left hind leg below the hock.

Horses not returned to the range were taken to the WHB Center at Palomino Valley, north of Reno, NV, where they will be readied for adoption, sale or long-term holding.

No livestock were affected by the roundup.

RELATED: Emergency Gather at Owyhee Complex Begins This Week.

Devil’s Garden Roundup In the Headlines

The Sac Bee report about the Devil’s Garden roundup (which starts next week) is all over the news, minus one teeny weeny detail, namely, that the horses have been robbing public-lands ranchers of their birthright: forage for cattle and sheep—on lands set aside for the horses.

Devils_Garden_News-1

BLM won’t talk about it.  USFS won’t acknowledge it.  Left-wing media outlets won’t cover it.  If conservatives were involved, they’d be attacking from all sides.

Public-lands ranchers get their sustenance from government.  They graze their livestock for pennies per day (the fee in 2018 is $1.41 per cow-calf pair per month).  Government spends tens of millions of dollars every year to remove other species that might interfere with the enterprise.

Their cheerleaders think you have a right to eat meat.

Their leading political ally received a grade of ‘D’ from Conservative Review.

The entire affair looks like one big welfare racket, propagated by liberals for the benefit of liberals.  So much for hard-working cowboys and rugged individualism.

RELATED: Not One Word About Livestock at Devil’s Garden WHT.

Not One Word About Livestock at Devil’s Garden WHT

An article posted yesterday by The Sacramento Bee about the upcoming removal of 1000 wild horses from the from the Devil’s Garden Plateau WHT does not mention that the entire territory falls within permitted grazing allotments.

This story was linked on Drudge so how many readers came away with the wrong impression?

The Forest Service argues the roundup is necessary to “allow range and riparian ecological conditions to recover, while also supporting wild horse herd health by reducing competition for limited food, water and habitat.”

Competition with whom?  The oil and gas industry?  Mining companies?  Can’t possibly be livestock and public-lands ranchers.  They are blameless, as always.

RELATED: Gather In Devil’s Garden WHT Starts Next Month.

County Seeks Input on Placitas Wild Horses

Residents of Sandoval County, NM have been asked to participate in an online survey about free-roaming horses near the town of Placitas.  Responses from individuals in that area will carry the most weight.

County staff have been working with the Bureau of Land Management and New Mexico Livestock Board to develop a management plan.  The goal is to “…truly and sustainably resolve the situation with the free roaming horses in Placitas.”  That the horses might be competing with cattle and sheep for food and water was not mentioned in the narrative.

What might the plan include and what would be the results?

  • Helicopter roundups – fewer horses on the range, breeding patterns altered
  • Bait traps – fewer horses on the range, breeding patterns altered
  • Fertility control – fewer horses on the range, breeding patterns altered
  • Sterilization – fewer horses on the range, breeding patterns altered
  • Euthanasia – fewer horses on the range, breeding patterns altered

The first three options don’t provide a lasting solution and are therefore eschewed by public-lands ranchers, their overlords, cheerleaders and political allies.

Hopefully, someone will come forward with a proposal that works to the benefit of the horses, not their enemies.

RELATED: Case Against Man Who Rescued Foal Dismissed, Mostly Pintos.

Columnist Opposed to Delays in Spay Research

The writer of an opinion piece that appeared yesterday in the Elko Daily Free Press argues that it’s impossible to say what’s best for wild horses until sterilization experiments are performed.

You can’t make assumptions about what’s best for them.  Theory and experience have no value.  Knowledge and facts are useless.  You have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it.

Better to cut the ovaries out of mares than to have foals born into a world of degraded ecosystems and endangered wildlife.  Spontaneous abortions, permanent injuries, infections and deaths are a just cost of doing business.

Let’s get the roundup back on track and ship those mares to Hines.

Anything for the public-lands ranchers.

RELATED: Consortium Files Lawsuit to Stop BLM Spay Research, BLM Hauls Water to Warm Springs Horses?

BLM Seeks Nominations for RACs in Oregon and Washington

BLM announced today that it has re-opened a call for nominations to open positions on five of its citizen-based advisory councils in the two states.  Category Two openings, for representatives of WHB organizations, appear in the John Day-Snake and Northwest Oregon RACs.

There are no Category Two openings in the Southeast Oregon RAC, which may cover many of the HMAs in the state.  Only a Category One position is available there, which is reserved for persons associated with public-lands ranching, mineral extraction and commercial recreation.

Refer to this news release for details.

RELATED: BLM Seeks Nominations for RACs.

Mustang Meg Checks on Oregon Wild Horses

Refer to this summary of her trip to the Palomino Butte, Stinkingwater, Kiger, Warm Springs and South Steens HMAs.  She reports that the horses looked good with a few exceptions and that water sources were low, typical for this time of year.  She noted that Warm Springs looked ‘ominously empty,’ as if it was a ‘ghost town.’

Not exactly what you’d expect to hear about areas that are overpopulated with wild horses, a claim repeated frequently by the BLM and public-lands ranchers.