Author: Western Horse Watchers

Resource Management Paradox

Rangeland health will deteriorate if wild horse populations exceed AML, which corresponds to one wild horse per thousand acres.

Rangeland health will not deteriorate if livestock do not exceed permitted levels, equivalent to seven wild horses per thousand acres.

Rangeland health can be maintained at 7X AML but not 2X or 3X AML.

Ask the advocates to explain it.

RELATED: Protecting Rangeland Health or Maximizing Rancher Prosperity?

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Protecting Rangeland Health or Maximizing Rancher Prosperity?

Two goals of resource management:

1. Keep wild horses at or below AML.

2. Keep livestock at or below permitted limits.

The first criterion corresponds to one wild horse per thousand acres (25,600 animals on 25.6 million acres according to the last page of the 2025 population dataset).

The second criterion is equivalent to seven wild horses per thousand acres.

These two figures suggest that public lands in the western U.S. can support many more wild horses than the government admits.

The advocates, long on zeal but short on truth, want you to focus on #1, an arbitrary value that feeds the overpopulation narrative and maximizes rancher prosperity while supplying a rationale for their darting programs.

If the goal was rangeland health, most acreage grazed by livestock, which includes areas identified for wild horses, would be in the Maintain category.

In reality, not even a third meets the requirements.

RELATED: Double Standard for Rangeland Health?

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Forest Service Issues Alert for Mono Lake Emergency Roundup

The closure notice runs from January 17 to January 27.

The operation will capture and remove up to 25 snow-bound horses located in the Inyo National Forest south of Mono Lake.

The original news release said nine.

Most of the closure area is in the Mono Mills allotment, which is permitted for sheep.

Links to the NEPA review and daily reports were not provided.

The grazing season and active AUMs are not known.

RELATED: Forest Service to Remove Nine Snow-Bound Horses.

UPDATE: Forest Service changed URL of closure notice from “baldy” to “bald.”

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

CRS Looks at Costs of Wild Horse and Burro Program

A report by the Congressional Research Service puts the cost of short-term holding at $6.00 per day and the cost of long-term holding at $2.35 per day.

For every AUM assigned to livestock in the lawful homes of wild horses, the government collects $1.35 from the permittee while it spends $70 to $180 to care for the horse displaced thereby.

Nobody in the private sector would do that.

If they really cared about costs, Congress would direct the government to put the horses back on the range and relieve the ranchers of their grazing permits, while making the necessary changes to the statutes.

The advocates would likely oppose the new policy.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Foal-Free Friday, Spending Your Money Wisely Edition

The explanatory statement for HR6938, a bill that will give the BLM a budget for FY26, indicates that the amount available for wild horse and burro activities, $144 million, includes up to $11 million for immunocontraceptive vaccine strategies.

The bill does not acknowledge that roughly one third of FY26 has already passed and that the department was funded during that time by a continuing resolution.

Helicopter roundups are the fastest and most efficient way of shifting resources from wild horses and burros to privately owned livestock.

In the preceding paragraph, the statement directs the agency to prioritize the analysis, review, processing and approval of grazing permits, as well as the administration of grazing permit renewals.

Given these priorities, which part of the new roundup schedule—not yet published—will receive the most attention, darting operations or motorized removal?

PREVIOUS: Foal-Free Friday, Systematic Removal Edition.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Forest Service to Remove Nine Snow-Bound Horses

They’re outside the Montgomery Pass WHT with limited food and water according to today’s news release.

They’ll be drawn into the trap with bait.

Operations will not be open to public observation.

They’ll be held at an undisclosed location until the next steps can be determined.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Chincoteague Mare Found Dead

She became trapped in mud according to a story by Shore Daily News.

The report did not indicate if she was pregnant.

The herd is known for its highly abnormal sex ratio and unprecedented birth rate, where a handful of stallions produced 103 foals in 2025—the result of social engineering by the saltwater cowboys.

FWS limits the population to 150.

RELATED: Trends in Chincoteague Pony Auction Results.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Court Sides with BLM in Winnemucca Appeal

The Ninth Circuit ruled today that the agency can continue to use the privately owned corrals, despite claims of pollution and inhumane conditions by Friends of Animals, according to a report by Courthouse News Service.

The November Facilities Report showed 3,210 wild horses at the ORC with a capacity of 4,000.

The BLM spends an estimated $6 million per year to care for those animals while it collects around $52,000 per year from public-lands ranchers grazing in their stead.

Nobody in the private sector would do that.

RELATED: FOA Returns to Court to Appeal Winnemucca Decision.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Double Standard for Rangeland Health?

Your faithful public servants claim that wild horse herds need to be kept at AML or less to achieve and maintain rangeland health.

That works out to one wild horse per thousand acres (25,600 animals on 25.6 million acres according to the last page of the 2025 population dataset).

Yet the Muddy Mountain allotment in Wyoming, grazed by Big Red Creek Ranch, carries livestock equivalent to 15.3 wild horses per thousand acres and it’s in the Maintain category!

Who should we believe?

Not the bureaucrats and not the advocates and not the ranchers.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

BLM Pulling Wild Horses from Hutchinson Correctional Facility?

The inmate training program will close at the end of February according to a report by KAKE News.

A representative of the Kansas Department of Corrections said the program had been defunded.

Western Horse Watchers was unable to find a statement from the BLM at its news site.

The November Facility Report put the Hutchinson population at 306 wild horses and 16 wild burros.

The move follows the closure of the inmate training program at Cañon City.

RELATED: Was Cañon City Closure Political?

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Casper Base Properties Available for $16.7 Million

Big Red Creek Ranch covers 2,130 deeded acres and 7,997 leased acres, including 4,363 BLM acres, with support for 500 cow-calf pairs.

The asking price is $7.5 million.

The listing does not provide a map of the deeded acreage and does not give the name of the attached allotment but Western Horse Watchers believes it’s Muddy Mountain.

Thieves Den Ranch covers 3,040 deeded acres and 5,441 leased acres, including 5,286 BLM acres, with support for 125 cow-calf pairs.

The asking price is $9.2 million.

The listing does not include a map of the deeded acreage but identifies the allotment as Posvar.

The allotment master report gives management status and active AUMs.

Big Red Creek meets three out of four requirements for a wild horse refuge.

Same for Thieves Den.

Muddy Mountain currently supports livestock equivalent to 15.3 wild horses per thousand public acres.

Posvar supports livestock equivalent to 7.5 wild horses per thousand public acres.

Your faithful public servants claim that public lands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand acres.

The advocates, unable to distinguish between an AUM and AML, underscore the narrative with their darting programs.

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: Key Indicators for New Wild Horse Preserves.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

The Perfect Gift for Your Wild Horse Valentine

The third edition of the National Pesticide Applicator Certification Manual should be available for sale this week—giving you plenty of time to order one for Valentine’s Day.

It’s a no-brainer.  What advocate isn’t striving to become a certified applicator of restricted-use pesticides?

Unfortunately, the publisher does not donate a percentage of the selling price to Rifles for WretchesTM or similar charity that equips the advocates with the tools of their trade.

RELATED: PERC Updates National Pesticide Applicator Certification Manual.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Would Owens Dugout Make a Good Wild Horse Refuge?

It’s too small but the permit is up for renewal according to a BLM news release.

The project description says the new permit would have the same livestock numbers, grazing periods, AUMs and terms as the existing permit.

The allotment master report puts it in the Improve category with 275 active AUMs on 2,155 public acres, equivalent to 10.6 wild horses per thousand public acres.

Your faithful public servants claim that public lands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand acres.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

HR6938 Advances in Senate

The bill cleared a procedural hurdle yesterday according to a report by The Hill.

The plan is to bring it to a floor vote and pass it without amendments this week.

The article said there appears to be enough support among the members to quash a filibuster and get it across the finish line.

The measure would give the BLM a budget for FY26.

Look for a new roundup schedule to drop shortly after that.

RELATED: BLM to Receive Full-Year Funding with 30% of FY26 Gone?

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.