Western Horse Watchers Association
Exposing the Hypocrisy, Lies and Incompetence of the Wild Horse Advocates
It’s not evident in this report by KOLO News.
Although they heard comments in opposition to the Washoe Lake fencing project, they are unlikely to change course.
After all, the man at the top is a public-lands rancher.
You can’t be telling the American people that public lands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand acres when the Virginia Range is carrying ten.
The biggest threat to those animals comes from the bureaucracy charged with protecting them according to a December 7 opinion piece in Townhall.
WARNING: The article has been tainted with links to the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses and the Property and Environment Research Center.
The approach seems reasonable. If you’re trying to reduce government waste, go after the programs that aren’t fulfilling their mandates.
But you can’t limit your analysis to things on the surface. The Wild Horse and Burro Program is a grazing program ancillary.
This is where conservatives will go all wobbly.
You don’t expect us to take those ranchers off the public lands?
Yeah we do. They’re a shining example of government dependence and redistribution of wealth.
Confine them to their base properties in a year-round off season and let them pay the going rate to feed their animals.
The problem is not the bureaucracy charged with protecting the horses and burros, it’s the special interests that have co-opted the bureaucracy charged with protecting them.
They have invaded the agency the same way cancer invades cells.
RELATED: What Are Musk and Ramaswamy Being Told About Wild Horses?
Forget about Napa and Sonoma. The best time to visit those wineries was in the 70s.
Same for the Bay Area.
Instead, drop by a nearby Walmart and try to buy socks and underwear without calling an attendant. You can’t, they’re behind glass doors.
Go to a Home Depot and see how many items are in locked cages.
Try to buy a gas trimmer or chainsaw. You can’t, they’re banned. Still available in Reno, a few hours to the east.
Check out the prices at Safeway.
While at Walmart and Home Depot, you might not notice the fastest shrinking demographic in the state—white folks.
This is what happens when you put liberals in charge.
Homes in established neighborhoods are well above $1 million. For real sticker shock, try North Bay or South Bay.
And the traffic. You are free to move about the area from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
On the bright side, Davis is only a few miles to the west—if you can get past the Yolo Causeway.
It’s home to the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, a leader in nonmotorized removal and fierce opponent of principal use.
Unfortunately, their 2022 Form 990, the most recent posted by the IRS, only gives a PO Box, not a street address.
Maybe they’ll have an open house or similar function. It’s a great opportunity to build rapport with the bureaucrats and ranchers while maintaining the illusion of support for America’s wild horses.
RELATED: Next WHBAB Meeting Set for Early January.
UPDATE: The Douglas County Assessor gives the address as 216 F St #131. Refer to APN 1322-00-002-067, one of the parcels in the land trust.
The incident started on November 29. Results through December 5:
The figures above are based on the daily reports.
The death rate is 2.2%.
The capture total includes 31 stallions, 39 mares and 19 foals.
Youngsters represented 21.3% of the animals gathered.
Of the adults, 44.3% were male and 55.7% were female.
Body condition scores were not given.
The location of the trap site was not disclosed.
The name of the contractor was not provided.
There are 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 horses, which means they could be treated or altered in off range holding, including the stallions.
The status of livestock grazing in the burned area is not known.
RELATED: Murderer’s Creek Roundup, Day 5.
A keyword search of the document yielded seven results for “In Favor” and sixty results for “In Opposition.”
The comments were received between November 27 and December 5.
The meeting starts today at 9:00 AM local time.
RELATED: NDA Posts Board of Agrigulture Meeting Attachments.
The advocates use your donations to buy pesticides.
They want to replace motorized removal with mass sterilization, abnormal sex ratios and faulty immune systems.
They oppose principal use, management at the minimum feasible level and nature’s way.
They care most about their standing with the bureaucrats and ranchers.
Why are you still giving them money?
Withholding your financial support is easy, sensible and costs nothing.
RELATED: Foal-Free Friday, Raising Them Right Edition.
The position is filled through job postings at USA Jobs according to Dorothea Boothe, Wild Horse and Burro Program Outreach Specialist.
The job title is Division Chief, not Director.
A 2021 handout suggests the On-Range and Off-Range Branch Chiefs report to the Division Chief, currently manned by Scott Fleur.
WHBAB meetings usually include updates from the two branches.
The Wild Horse and Burro Division, HQ-260, accomplishes its mission through the two branches, HQ-261 and HQ-262.
The handout provides an example of an adverse finding during field audits of darting teams (unlawful use of pesticides, failure to wear proper PPE).
The November 15 edition of Foal-Free Friday tells you where to report such incidents.
RELATED: Nominee for Director of Wild Horse and Burro Program?
The incident concluded on December 4 with 2,196 horses captured, 2,131 shipped, 39 released and 27 dead, according to figures in the sidebar.
The number of horses processed exceeded the number captured by one.
The daily reports indicate 2,130 shipped, making the numbers balance.
The number of horses removed was 2,157.
The capture and removal goals were 2,255 and 2,155, respectively.
The death rate was 1.2%.
The average daily take was 66.5.
The capture total included 804 stallions, 881 mares, and 511 foals.
Youngsters represented 23.3% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of 18% per year.
Of the adults, 47.7% were male and 52.3% were female, no indication of an abnormal sex ratio.
Two of the mares were not wild and were reunited with their owner.
Twenty-three mares were treated with GonaCon Equine. The number of doses and interval between them were not specified.
The Complex supports livestock equivalent to 3,730 wild horses, so it can never go below 4.2X AML. Some researchers claim that areas above AML are harmful to sage grouse.
Today’s news release said there was not enough water and/or forage to support the number of horses in the area.
The operation liberated 25,884 AUMs per year, giving new hope to the Triple B permittees.
RELATED: Triple B Roundup Announced.
The incident started on November 29. Results through December 3:
The figures above are based on the daily reports.
A stallion was dispatched on Day 2 for poor body condition, followed by a mare for a sudden leg fracture, bringing the death rate to 2.9%.
The capture total includes 25 stallions, 26 mares and 17 foals.
Youngsters represented 25% of the animals gathered.
Of the adults, 49% were male and 51% were female.
Body condition scores were not given.
The location of the trap site was not disclosed.
The name of the contractor was not provided.
There are 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 horses, which means they could be treated or altered in off range holding, including the stallions.
The status of livestock grazing in the burned area is not known.
RELATED: Murderer’s Creek Emergency Roundup in Progress.
The application may need some refinement, as discussed previously, but the concept remains: To place wild horses on public lands previously designated for livestock by acquiring base properties associated therewith and flipping the preference to horses.
RELATED: Role of Elko County in Killing Mustang Monument.
This 2016 report by KLAS News will get you up to speed.
RELATED: Nominee for Director of Wild Horse and Burro Program?
The meeting runs from December 12 to 13 and is open to the public.
An agenda was not provided.
The group supports three tenets of rangeland management.
The legislature expects it to make recommendations on humane, non-lethal alternatives for horses taken off range but most of the resources are devoted to helping the advocates buy pesticides and apply them on the range.
Nominated by whom? Ranchers?
Higher level positions require Senate confirmation but WHB Director may be a simple appointment?
You know a guy’s bad for wild horses when he has the backing of Elko County, a partner with the BLM in killing Mustang Monument.
RELATED: SHOCKER: Elko County Endorses Wild Horse Fire Brigade.
The incident started on November 2. Results through December 2:
The figures above are based on the daily reports.
The sidebar says 2,022 shipped. If that figure was used, there would be 95 unaccounted-for horses.
Two mares were dispatched for poor body condition on Day 30, lifting the death rate to 1.2%.
The capture total includes 790 stallions, 868 mares and 505 foals.
Youngsters represented 23.3% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of 18% per year. The Rule of 72 says the herd size will double in four years.
Of the adults, 47.6% were male and 52.4% were female, no indication of an abnormal sex ratio.
Body condition scores were not given.
The location of the trap site was not disclosed.
The name of the contractor was not provided.
Three HMAs are affected.
Twelve mares have been treated with GonaCon Equine. The plan calls for up to 50 to receive the pesticide and be returned to the range with up to 50 stallions.
The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.
Resources liberated to date:
The Complex supports livestock equivalent to 3,730 wild horses, so it will always be at 4.2X AML or higher.
RELATED: Triple B Roundup, Day 29.
The incident started on November 29, four days later than scheduled, with 18 horses captured, none shipped, none released and no deaths.
Results weren’t posted until today.
The trap(s) could have been set up earlier in the month but were not put into service until last week.
RELATED: BLM Closes Public Lands for Murderer’s Creek Roundup.
They want to replace motorized removal with mass sterilization, abnormal sex ratios and faulty immune systems.
They oppose principal use, management at the minimum feasible level and nature’s way.
Withholding your financial support is easy, sensible and costs nothing.
RELATED: Starting a Nonprofit That Actually Helps Wild Horses.
Attorneys for the Forest Service and Central Oregon Wild Horse Coalition appeared today before a three-member panel regarding a plan to remove at least half of the wild horses in the Big Summit WHT.
The plaintiffs claim that the range can support a much higher population than the government admits.
A story by Courthouse News Service said the court did not indicate when it would rule.
The Forest Service recently started work on a new facility that would hold wild horses removed from the area.
RELATED: Court Sides with Forest Service in Big Summit Legal Challenge.
The order covers about 18,800 acres in Grant County, OR and could extend through February 28 according to today’s news release.
No map was provided.
The incident was set to begin on November 25 but no animals have been captured.
The announcement may be an example of the new rule the agency imposed on itself in August.
The document was copied to the project folder today.
Comments will be accepted through January 2 according to the news release.
In Alternative 1, the Proposed Action, the BLM would award a five-year contract to pay for space, feeding, training and care of up to 200 wild horses and burros.
Alternative 2 would end the inmate training program, which started in 1988.
The facility held 141 horses and 8 burros as of September 23.
RELATED: Scoping Begins for Wyoming Honor Farm Contract Renewal.
The Animal Industry Report offers little if any new information about the Washoe Lake fencing project.
The botched rescue of 24 Virginia Range horses in August is recounted on page 2.
The report was posted to the BOA meetings page.
RELATED: NDA Schedules Fourth Quarter Board of Agriculture Meeting.
Western Horse Watchers Association 