He will replace Randy Moore according to a USDA news release.
RELATED: Leadership Positions Open at BLM and Forest Service.
Author: Western Horse Watchers
Canyonlands Roundup Ends
The incident concluded on February 28 with 85 burros captured, 82 shipped, none released and three dead.
There were no unaccounted-for animals.
The capture and removal goals were 100 each.
The death rate was 3.5%.
The average daily take was 17.0.
The capture total included 49 jacks, 32 jennies and four foals.
Youngsters represented 4.7% of the animals gathered, which may indicate a low—if not negative—herd growth rate.
Of the adults, 60.5% were male and 39.5% were female.
There were no plans to return any of the animals to the HMA, so the number removed fell short of the goal by 15.
Removed = Captured – Returned = 85 – 0 = 85
The operation supported three tenets of rangeland management.
RELATED: Canyonlands Wild Burro Roundup Announced.
Mustang Monday
On the Virginia Range with Jeff Martinez.
Colorado Wild Horse Working Group Calls Special Meeting
The group will convene on March 10 to discuss HB25-1283 according to an undated announcement.
BLM Puts NDV Off Limits?
The resource now requires a login.
Seems like the agency has become more secretive since the inauguration.
Every Day Is Horse Protection Day in the Wild Horse World
In the image below, an advocate protects wild horses on the Virginia Range.
Similar observances are held throughout the year at the Salt River, Spring Creek Basin, Pine Nut Mountains, Sand Wash Basin, Little Book Cliffs, McCullough Peaks, Cedar Mountain and Onaqui Mountain, just to name a few.
RELATED: National Horse Protection Day: Not What You Think It Is.
National Horse Protection Day: Not What You Think It Is
Refer to the AdvocateSpeak decoder. Words have different meanings in the wild horse world, so NHPD could be rebranded as:
- Interfering with the transmission of life day
- Nonmotorized removal day
- Help the advocates buy more pesticides day
- Managing principally for livestock day
- Protecting the ranchers day
- Off the range day
The governor of Colorado made it effective for an entire month.
Then he went back to scandalizing the faithful.
Nothing to Discuss at Currituck Wild Horse Advisory Board?
The February 20 meeting was cancelled but no reason was given.
The previous meeting was also cancelled.
The status of the darting program, composition of the herd and the size of the breeding population are not known.
Court Disputes Claim Regarding Alpine Wild Horse Removal
In his February 26 opinion, District Court Judge John Tuchi agreed that removal of wild horses from the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest without the proper notice frustrated the mission of the Salt River Wild Horse Darting Group but did not result in diversion of its resources as originally claimed.
The advocates have 14 days to amend their complaint, showing how actions by the Forest Service, or lack thereof, resulted in diversion of their resources, otherwise the case will be dismissed.
The Court did not question the group’s mission, which, according to the ruling, is to protect wild horses, manage them humanely and rescue them for placement in good homes, even though there is abundant evidence to the contrary.
They, in association with the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, are destroying the Salt River herd with PZP, a restricted-use pesticide that sterilizes females after five years of treatment.
The program is now moving into its seventh year.
RELATED: Advocates to ASNF: Let Us Fix Your Wild Horse Problem.
Foal-Free Friday, Backstopping the Advocates Edition
Predators are an essential part of PZP darting programs, as they take out any foals born to immunocompromised mares or those missed by the field workers.
The latest example occurred at the Salt River in Arizona.
The safety net is not as effective in areas subject to permitted grazing, where predators have been depopulated, mostly at the state level, to protect livestock.
A workaround is to create state-sponsored groups that recruit more volunteers and help them buy more pesticides.
Do not be deceived by the advocates and their celebrity spokesmen.
They are wiping out entire herds with mass sterilization and peddling the effort as wild horse conservation.
RELATED: Foal-Free Friday, Making Their Heads Explode Edition.
Canyonlands Roundup, Day 3
The incident started on February 24. Results through February 26:
- Scope: Canyonlands HMA
- Target: Burros
- AML: 100
- Pre-gather population: 208
- Type: Planned
- Method: Helicopter
- Goals: Capture 100, remove 100
- Captured: 52, up from 23 on Day 1
- Shipped: 49, up from zero on Day 1
- Released: None
- Deaths: 3, up from zero on Day 1
- Average daily take: 17.3
- Unaccounted-for animals: None
- Snippet from statute: It is the policy of Congress that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death
- Snippet from manual: To protect wild horses and burros from unauthorized capture, branding, harassment or death
The figures above are based on the daily reports.
Two jacks were dispatched on Day 2 because of tumors, followed by another on Day 3 for a missing eye, lifting the death rate to 5.8%.
The capture total includes 30 jacks, 21 jennies and 1 foal.
Youngsters represented 1.9% of the animals gathered.
Of the adults, 58.8% were male and 41.2% were female.
The location of the trap site is not known.
The name of the contractor was not provided.
There are no plans to treat any of the jennies with fertility control pesticides and return them to the range.
RELATED: Canyonlands Roundup Begins.
Leadership Positions Open at BLM and Forest Service
The BLM org chart shows a vacancy in the director’s slot.
A note from the Forest Service chief indicates he’s retiring effective March 3.
We don’t know what these agencies will look like in the future.
Cost cutting is often accompanied by restructuring.
BLM Issues CX for River’s Edge Burro Removal
There was no opportunity for public comment.
There was no news release.
The decision is final.
Actually, it’s subject to appeal. Refer to the documents in the project folder.
RELATED: Nuisance Roundup Coming to River’s Edge Golf Course?
Should SCR 4006 Refer to Cape Lookout as a Model for TRNP?
The resolution asks Congress to establish federal protections for wild horses at Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Congress established Cape Lookout in §459g of 16 USC 1 SUBCHAPTER LXIII.
Protections for the horses appear in §459g–4.
The AML is hard coded in §459g–4(b)(1). Probably not a good idea for TRNP.
Provisions for monitoring and reporting are worthy of consideration.
Entering into an agreement with a nonprofit would be a bad idea if the NGO was obsessed with pesticides and nonmotorized removal, as many are today.
The park should be exempted from the multiple use mandate which the bureaucrats interpret as ranching superiority in the lawful homes of wild horses.
Repatriation of the original wild horses, thought to be descendants of Sitting Bull’s ponies, should be a priority.
RELATED: SCR 4006 Introduced in House.
Shackleford Herd Grew Slightly in 2024
There were 119 horses on Shackleford Banks at the end of 2024 according to an undated report by NPS, up from 117 at the end of 2023.
The AML is 120 to 130, a narrow range that implies a small growth rate, tiny breeding population and massive interference in nature’s way.
Fourteen foals were born in 2024, for a birth rate of twelve percent.
Eleven horses died, so the population should have increased by three not two.
Curiously, the report for 2023 is 404.
Two cases of failure to thrive were reported, a condition that may indicate inadequate genetic diversity.
The herd consisted of 61% females and 39% males.
The unusual sex ratio is a result of long-term use of PZP, an ovary-killing pesticide.
Eight mares who had recent foals were treated in 2024. They contributed to the gene pool, now they will be sterilized, a standard practice in fertility control programs.
The number of nonviable mares in the herd was not given.
Annual reports are posted to the Cape Lookout wildlife management page.
RELATED: Shackleford Herd Shrinks by Seven in 2023.
Murderer’s Creek Roundup Ends
The incident, prompted by the Rail Ridge Fire, concluded on February 18 with 410 horses captured, 400 shipped, none released and ten dead.
There were no unaccounted-for animals.
The death rate was 2.4%.
The average daily take was 5.0.
The capture total, based on the daily reports, includes 148 stallions, 164 mares and 98 foals. The gather page indicates 150, 166 and 94.
Foals represented 23.9% of the total, consistent with a herd growth rate of 19% per year.
Of the adults, 47.4% were male and 52.6% were female, no indication of an abnormal sex ratio in the population at large.
There were no plans to treat any of the mares with fertility control pesticides and return them to the range.
No decisions have made regarding the long-term disposition of captured horses.
The status of livestock grazing in the burned area is not known.
SB 2331 Lives?
The measure failed in the Senate but has been taken up by the House Transportation Committee, with a hearing set for March 6.
Written testimony will be accepted until 8 AM.
RELATED: SB 2331 Fails in Senate.
Canyonlands Roundup Begins
The incident started yesterday as scheduled, with 23 burros captured, none shipped, none released and no deaths.
RELATED: Canyonlands Wild Burro Roundup Announced.
Advocates Bawling About Loss of Salt River Filly?
They’re celebrating! They rely on predators, illness and other natural causes to take out any foals that slip through their darting program, the goal of which is to prove that mass sterilization is a practical alternative to motorized removal.
RELATED: Salt River Darting Program by the Numbers.
Bill Targets Colorado Wild Horse Working Group?
HB25-1283, introduced yesterday, would repeal the wild horse project and transfer statutory duties concerning wild horses to the Department of Agriculture according to the bill text.
The measure, based in part on the group’s Year One Report, was referred to the House Agriculture, Water & Natural Resources Committee.
