The Army base is now Fort Johnson, not Fort Polk, according to a story by The Advocate of Baton Rouge, LA.

The number of horses remaining in the forest is unknown.

An advocacy group filed suit claiming the Army’s plan to eliminate the horses violates the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act but the courts ruled in favor of the military, who views the herd as trespass livestock.

Although the group rescued around 100 animals, they have separated the males from the females, suggesting there are no plans to preserve the resource.

RELATED: Louisiana’s Fort Polk Horses a Unique Genetic Resource?

The Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses oversees an innovative fertility control program on the Virginia Range according to an August 31 news flash distributed by Lucky Three Ranch.

It’s designed preserve the wild horse herd.

The advocates shoot the females with pesticide-laced darts.

After five years of treatment they become sterile.

The program is now in its sixth year.

The mares enjoy a well-deserved break from the demands of nursing and pregnancy, allowing them to maintain strong health and a steady weight.

The fillies, also targeted, thrive without the strain of early pregnancy, giving them the time they need to grow strong and healthy.

As the older horses die.

Does it make sense now?

Thank God for the wild horse advocates.

RELATED: Foal-Free Friday, Abandoning Principal Use Edition.

Yesterday’s news release says it’s over although some horses are still being sorted to determine which ones will receive fertility treatments, moved to different areas of the HMA or taken to a holding facility.

The gather page indicates 59 unaccounted-for animals.

A report by The Colorado Sun indicates that a mare, 24 years old and underweight—but with foal—was dispatched on Day 8 after she broke her leg.

The foal went to a local ranch.

The roundup is not over until the disposition of every captured animal is known.

RELATED: Little Book Cliffs Roundup, Day 7.

The system is down again.  None of the wild horse and burro pages, including ePlanning and the National Data Viewer, are responding.

The Decision Record authorizes Alternative A, the Proposed Action, described in Section 2.1 of the Final EA.

Management actions include forcible removal, sex ratio adjustment and fertility control over a ten-year period.

A roundup appears on the FY25 schedule with a start date of May 1.

Three HMAs are affected.

Up to 100 jennies will be returned to the range after treatment with GonaCon Equine.

The Complex is subject to permitted grazing.

The DR and EA can be found in the project folder on ePlanning.

RELATED: New Pest Control Plan for Alamo, Lake Havasu, Big Sandy Burros?

The incident started on September 11.  Results through September 17:

• Scope: Little Book Cliffs HMA
• Target: Horses
• AML: 150
• Pre-gather population: Unknown (not stated in news release)
• True AML: N/A (no livestock grazing)
• Type: Planned
• Method: Helicopter
• Goals: Gather 130, remove 100
• Captured: 134, up from 116 on Day 5
• Shipped: 78, up from 38 on Day 5
• Released: None
• Deaths: 2, up from zero on Day 5
• Average daily take: 19.1
• Unaccounted-for animals: 54

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

The helicopter was grounded on Day 7 due to weather, not because the capture goal had been reached.

Two horses were dispatched on Day 6 due to knee injuries, bringing the death rate to 1.5%.

The capture total includes 36 stallions, 78 mares and 20 foals.

Youngsters represented 14.9% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of nine to ten percent per year.

Of the adults, 31.6% were male and 68.4% were female, outside the expected range of variation from a random process centered at 50% males / 50% females.

Body condition scores were not given.

The location of the trap is not known.

Up to 20 mares will be treated with fertility control pesticides and be returned to the HMA with up to ten stallions.

The Draft EA for management actions in the HMA indicated on page 6 that the herd consisted of 203 horses, including 22 foals, as of September 2023.  Of the 181 adults, 33% were male and 67% were female.

The Final EA states on page 6 that the population in July 2024 was 222, including 29 foals, and that the 193 adults consisted of 42% males and 58% females.

Abnormal sex ratios are common in herds treated with PZP, a restricted-use pesticide that tricks the immune system into attacking the ovaries.

RELATED: Little Book Cliffs Roundup, Day 5.

A new project has been started in ePlanning but the document folder is empty.

The scoping period will begin on September 20.

The description indicates the Proposed Action will authorize the removal of wild burros from in and around the HMA over a ten-year period, reduce the population growth rate and address public safety concerns in the town of Beatty, NV.

Management actions will be captured in a new HMAP.

The National Data Viewer shows one overlapping allotment but does not indicate if pastures inside the HMA are in use.

The Allotment Master Report shows 1,926 active AUMs on 269,764 public acres with one permittee, the Nature Conservancy of Southern Nevada.

A September 12 story by the Pahrump Valley Times said the Town Advisory Board voted to send a letter to the BLM seeking removal of some of the animals.

They were the greatest threat before the fire, shooting the females, young and old, with pesticide-laced darts.

The September 16 update at InciWeb indicates no growth, with 85% containment.

The cause is still under investigation.

RELATED: Davis Fire Almost Subdued, Risk to Virginia Range Minimal.

The permits on these allotments, located in northeastern Nevada, are up for renewal.

Together, they offer 21,055 active AUMs on 130,698 public acres, according to the Allotment Master Report.

The AMLs are zero.  The nearest HA is Spruce-Pequop.

How many wild horses could the allotments support?

Using the principle of forage interchangeability, the True AML would be 21,055 ÷ 12 = 1,755, the number of horses the land could support if it was managed principally for them as specified in the original statute.

The stocking rate would be 1,755 ÷ 130,698 × 1,000 = 13.4 wild horses per thousand public acres.

Why is this important?

The bureaucrats and ranchers 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 advocates, defeated a long time ago, bolster the narrative with their darting programs.

If the allotments were an HMA, the AML would be 130 and 1,625 horses would be consigned to off-range holding because of permitted grazing.

BLM allotments in Nevada carry livestock equivalent to 173,144 wild horses on 40,194,360 public acres, or 4.3 wild horses per thousand public acres.

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, as American Prairie did for bison in Montana.

RELATED: The Allotments Tell the Story: They’re Lying, All of Them.

On the Bisti Badlands with Kenneth F. Thornton II.

The incident started on September 11.  Results through September 15:

• Scope: Little Book Cliffs HMA
• Target: Horses
• AML: 150
• Pre-gather population: Unknown (not stated in news release)
• True AML: N/A (no livestock grazing)
• Type: Planned
• Method: Helicopter
• Goals: Gather 130, remove 100
• Captured: 116, up from 26 on Day 3
• Shipped: 38, up from zero on Day 3
• Released: None
• Deaths: None
• Average daily take: 23.2
• Unaccounted-for animals: 78

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

The capture total includes 31 stallions, 66 mares and 19 foals.

Youngsters represented 16.4% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of 11% per year.

Of the adults, 32.0% were male and 68.0% were female, outside the range of variation expected from a random process centered at 50% males / 50% females.

Body condition scores were not given.

The location of the trap site is not known.

Up to 20 mares will be treated with fertility control pesticides and be returned to the HMA with up to ten stallions.

The Draft EA for management actions in the HMA indicated on page 6 that the herd consisted of 203 horses, including 22 foals, as of September 2023.  Of the 181 adults, 33% were male and 67% were female.

The Final EA states on page 6 that the population in July 2024 was 222, including 29 foals, and that the 193 adults consisted of 42% males and 58% females.

RELATED: Little Book Cliffs Roundup, Day 3.

Eleven animals were found dead near the Owls Hole Spring according to the September 11 news release.

Park rangers warned visitors not to touch or drink water in that area.

The September 14 update at InciWeb puts the burned area at 5,824 acres, same as yesterday, with 76% containment.

The map shows the potential for spread on the west side only.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

RELATED: Davis Fire Grows Slightly, Risk to Virginia Range Decreasing.

The incident started on September 11.  Results through September 13:

• Scope: Little Book Cliffs HMA
• Target: Horses
• AML: 150
• Pre-gather population: Unknown (not stated in news release)
• True AML: N/A (no livestock grazing)
• Type: Planned
• Method: Helicopter
• Goals: Gather 130, remove 100
• Captured: 26, up from 10 on Day 1
• Shipped: None
• Released: None
• Deaths: None
• Average daily take: 8.7
• Unaccounted-for animals: 26

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

The capture total includes 7 stallions, 15 mares and 4 foals.

Youngsters represented 15.4% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 31.8% were male and 68.2% were female.

Body condition scores were not given.

The location of the trap site is not known.

Up to 20 mares will be treated with fertility control pesticides and be returned to the range with up to ten stallions.

The Draft EA for management actions in the HMA indicated on page 6 that the herd consisted of 203 horses, including 22 foals, as of September 2023.  Of the 181 adults, 33% were male and 67% were female.

The Final EA states on page 6 that the population in July 2024 was 222, including 29 foals, and that the 193 adults consisted of 42% males and 58% females.

Abnormal sex ratios are a long-term consequence of PZP darting programs, in addition to female sterilization, conditions that the advocates gloss over with euphemisms such as “mares living longer” and “self-boosting mares.”

RELATED: Little Book Cliffs Roundup in Progress.

The incident will begin on October 1 according to today’s news release.

The capture and removal goals are 940 and 870, respectively.

The announcement does not indicate the method of capture but the FY25 schedule, just out, suggests helicopter.

Operations will be open to public observation.

The destination of animals identified for removal is not known.

A link to the daily reports was not provided.

The HMA covers 758,128 total acres on the CA-NV state line, including 635,356 public acres, and the management plan allows 758 horses and 116 burros.

The current population is thought to be around 1,800 wild horses and 140 wild burros.

The news release said that the horses were using more than their allocated share of the forage but did not say who gets the remainder.

Section 3.2.2 in the Final EA for management actions in the HMA indicates that cattle and sheep receive 26,644 AUMs per year while the horses and burros receive 9,792 AUMs per year according to section 1.2.

Thus the HMA supports livestock equivalent to 2,220 wild horses.

The True AML is 2,978, so it’s far from overpopulated.

The announcement should have said that the horses are trying to reclaim some of their food from the government dependents.

The September 13 update at InciWeb puts the size at 5,824 acres with 56% containment.

The east side, shown with a black border, has been contained according to the map.

This takes a little pressure off the horses and residents in that area.

The BLM land supports the Jumbo Allotment.

The Allotment Master Report puts it in the Custodial category with 755 active AUMs.

The Authorization Use Report shows a two-month grazing season and the livestock type is sheep.

RELATED: Crews Keep Davis Fire in Check.