The resolution was read the first time and referred to the Agriculture Committee according to the February 18 update.
RELATED: SCR 4006 Moves to House.
Author: Western Horse Watchers
EPA Updates RUP Report
How to Anger the Advocates
Leave comments on their Instagram and Facebook pages about repurposing grazing allotments as wild horse refuges or bringing AMLs in line with the total authorized forage, sometimes referred to as principal use.
RELATED: Starting a Nonprofit That Actually Helps Wild Horses.
Key Indicators for New Wild Horse Preserves
Ideally, you’d like to see forage availability above 60 and the stocking rate exceed five, as discussed previously.
| Forage availability (AUMs per thousand public acres) | Rating | Stocking rate (Wild horses per thousand public acres) |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 36 | Poor | Less than 3 |
| 36 t0 60 | Fair | 3 to 5 |
| More than 60 | Good | More than 5 |
You also want a land ratio above three.
| Land ratio (public acres to deeded acres) | Percent public lands | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Zero | Zero | Unacceptable |
| 1:1 | 50 | Unacceptable |
| 2:1 | 67 | Unacceptable |
| 3:1 | 75 | Barely acceptable |
| 4:1 | 80 | Good |
| 5:1 | 83 | Better |
| 6:1 or more | 86 or more | Best |
Sanctuaries consisting of deeded acreage only (no public lands) represent victory for the ranchers and failure for the horses.
RELATED: Scoping Out a New Wild Horse Refuge.
Mustang Monday
Horses have the day off. At Lake Pleasant HMA with Deb Moye.
Suitability of Allotments for Wild Horse Preserves
A first-pass assessment can be carried out if you know the forage availability or stocking rate, both of which can be determined from the Allotment Master Report at RAS.
Forage availability = Active AUMs ÷ Public acres × 1,000
Stocking rate = Forage availability ÷ 12
| Forage availability (AUMs per thousand public acres) | Rating | Stocking rate (Wild horses per thousand public acres) |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 36 | Poor | Less than 3 |
| 36 t0 60 | Fair | 3 to 5 |
| More than 60 | Good | More than 5 |
For example, the Wallrock Allotment in Oregon offers 6,656 active AUMs on 100,167 public acres according to the report.
That’s 66.4 AUMs per thousand public acres or 5.5 wild horses per thousand public acres, putting it in the Good category.
If the base property tied to the allotment was on the market, you might want to take a closer look.
The allotment supports livestock equivalent to 555 wild horses, which would be the carrying capacity of the new refuge, assuming no on-site hay production.
RELATED: Scoping Out a New Wild Horse Refuge.
SCR 4006 Moves to House
The resolution has been received from the Senate.
The House also has an Energy and Natural Resources committee, so it may land there.
RELATED: Senate Passes SCR 4006.
Scoping Out a New Wild Horse Refuge
Why would you spend $10 million for 5,000 deeded acres when you can spend $10 million for 5,000 deeded acres plus 25,000 public acres?
Base properties give you more value for your investment, get livestock off the public lands and put wild horses back on the range where they belong.
RELATED: Colorado Wild Horse Working Group Mulls New Refuge.
What Does Herd Implosion Look Like?
It’s not apparent to the untrained eye.
But it’s occurring across the American west, as the advocates sterilize the mares and birth rates fall irreversibly below death rates.
In this example from the Salt River, the white horse at 1:42 shows a subtle indicator of their involvement.
The Salt River Wild Horse Darting Group works closely with the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses.
RELATED: When Will PLC Endorse Salt River and Virginia Range Advocates?
When Will PLC Endorse Salt River and Virginia Range Advocates?
They’re using PZP to reduce wild horse populations, with the inevitable result of mass sterilization.
The technique was pioneered at Assateague Island, where, as of last year, the herd was still shrinking eight years after the darting program was shut off.
The advocates sell it as a humane alternative to motorized removal, claiming the pesticide is safe and reversible.
The Public Lands Council represents cattle and sheep producers who hold grazing permits on public lands across the western U.S.
Colorado Wild Horse Working Group Mulls New Refuge
The agenda from last week’s meeting indicates that Day 2 was devoted to consideration of a new preserve.
The legislature expects the group to identify and pursue long-term solutions for wild horses that are removed from federal horse management areas or held in federal facilities according to the Year One Report.
The best option is to acquire base properties tied to one or more grazing allotments, such as the ranch near Dinosaur, and flip the preference to horses.
The pattern has already been established by the Wild Horse Refuge.
Foal-Free Friday, Rangelands and Lovers Edition
Proponents of pesticides, helicopters and livestock will share a special moment today as they renew their vows of ranching superiority in the lawful homes of wild horses.
They may not always agree on fine points but a belief in the overpopulation narrative and the necessity of achieving AMLs helps them overcome their differences.
RELATED: Foal-Free Friday, Science-Based Conservation Edition.
Nuisance Roundup Coming to River’s Edge Golf Course?
A new project has been created in ePlanning but no documents have been posted.
The facility is in Needles, CA and the target is probably burros.
Senate Passes SCR 4006
The resolution was approved today according to the Day 25 floor calendar.
No roll call vote was reported.
RELATED: Committee Approves SCR 4006.
SB 2331 Fails in Senate
A motion to adopt the amendment carried yesterday by a voice vote but the bill was defeated today in its second reading by a 14-33 roll call vote.
RELATED: Committee Rejects SB 2331.
UPDATE: Results posted to Day 25 floor calendar.
Hinsdale Base Property Available for $10 Million
Black Ranch covers 3,710 deeded acres in northeastern Montana, with grazing privileges on 26,600 BLM acres and 4,680 state acres according to the agent’s listing.
The map indicates the BLM grazing preference is tied to the Upper Canyon Creek, MT04725 and Eagles Nest Coulee allotments, which offer a combined 4,346 active AUMs on 28,661 public acres, according to the allotment master report.
That’s equivalent to 362 wild horses or 12.6 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 (27,000 animals on 27 million acres).
The land ratio, using the agent’s data, is 7.2 public acres per deeded acre.
The ranch does not overlap any areas identified for wild horses.
The best option for wild horses removed from their lawful homes is to put them back on public lands at the expense of privately owned livestock.
This can be accomplished by acquiring base properties such as this one and flipping the grazing preference to horses.
The investment ratio would be $27,624 per rescued horse, assuming the ranch operated in self-sustaining mode.
On-site hay production would increase capacity, driving the investment ratio down.
The listing says the ranch supports 750 head for seven months per year but does not give the status of livestock during the off season. Normally the animals would retreat to the deeded acreage or rented pastures.
RELATED: Starting a Nonprofit That Actually Helps Wild Horses.
What Is a Constitutional Crisis?
It’s when conservatives expose decades of liberal corruption in the federal government.
RELATED: Elon Musk Is to Government as Dave Bowman Was to HAL.
Presentations from Wild Horse Summit Now Available
Videos have been rolling out at the Chasing Horses YouTube channel, the latest of which is the session on fertility control.
No videos from the conference have been posted to the Save Our Wild Horses YouTube channel.
Speaker bios can be found at the summit home page.
RELATED: Notably Absent from Wild Horse Summit.
Canyonlands Wild Burro Roundup Announced
The URL of the news release puts it at the BLM Announcements page but as of this evening it’s not there. Very strange.
The incident will begin on February 24 as scheduled.
The capture and removal goals are 100 each.
A helicopter will push the animals into the trap and operations will be open to public observation.
Burros identified for removal will be taken to the Axtell off-range corrals.
Daily reports will be posted to the gather page.
There are no plans to treat any of the jennies with fertility control pesticides and return them to the range.
The HMA can only support 100 burros on 77,311 public acres, equivalent to 50 wild horses or 0.6 wild horses per thousand public acres. The target stocking rate across all HMAs is one wild horse per thousand acres.
The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.
A one-day roundup last year took 46 burros off the range.
RELATED: Canyonlands Roundup Begins, Ends on Same Day.
BLM Releases Map Package
The app appears to be a streamlined version of the National Data Viewer, with a subset of its features, but real-time plotting of your position.
Refer to the news release for installation instructions.
Supported layers include:
- Surface management agency
- Public land survey system
- National recreation sites
- National conservation areas
Only the Navigation basemap is available.
The app does not show allotments, HMAs or WHTs, which would be nice if you’re exploring, trying to find wild horses or do your own land health assessments.
Western Horse Watchers Association 