Blue Wing Roundup, Day 9

The incident started on July 8. Results through July 16:

Scope: Blue Wing Complex
Target: Horses and burros
AML: 555 horses and 90 burros
Pre-gather population: 1,912 horses and 476 burros
Type: Planned
Method: Helicopter
Category: Cruel and costly (according to advocates)
Better way: Snuff out new life with PZP (according to advocates)
Goals
- Horses: Gather 1,373 and remove 1,333
- Burros: Gather 356 and remove 356
Captured
- Horses: 357, up from 255 on Day 7
- Burros: 360, no change from Day 7
Shipped
- Horses: 293, up from 97 on Day 7
- Burros: 353, no change from Day 7
Released
- Horses: 1, no change from Day 7
- Burros: None
Deaths
- Horses: 8, up from 5 on Day 7
- Burros: 8, no change from Day 7
Average daily take
- Horses: 39.7
- Burros: 40.9
Unaccounted-for animals
- Horses: 55
- Burros: -1
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

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

Horses

A stallion was dispatched on Day 8 because of a club foot, a mare was put down for a leg deformity and another stallion was killed because of a fractured shoulder, boosting the death rate to 2.2%.

The capture total includes 138 stallions, 144 mares and 75 foals.

Youngsters represented 21% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 48.9% were male and 51.1% were female.

Body condition scores were not given.

Burros

The capture goal has been reached.

More burros were processed than caught, throwing the numbers out of balance.

Captured – Shipped – Released – Dead = 360 – 353 – 0 – 8 = -1

The death rate is 2.2%.

The capture total includes 186 jacks, 152 jennies and 22 foals.

Youngsters represented 6.1% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 55% were male and 45% were female.

General

The location of the trap site is not known. Five HMAs are involved.

The Complex is subject to permitted grazing. Resources liberated to date:

Forage: 6,432 AUMs per year
Water: 5,360 gallons per day

The June 3 schedule indicates that 40 mares will be treated with a fertility control pesticide but this is not acknowledged at the gather page.

There are no such plans for the burros.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

RELATED: Blue Wing Roundup, Day 7.

Largest Wild Horse Eradication in History of WHB Act?

It’s not in Wyoming, it’s in Nevada, and the plaintiff should be the defendant.

Yesterday, the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses presented oral arguments in U.S. District Court against the Rock Springs RMP Amendments, according to a news flash distributed by Lucky Three Ranch.

The communiqué said the changes “represent the first time in the 53-year history of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act that the BLM has eliminated entire wild horse herds where sufficient habitat characteristics (i.e., forage, water, space, and cover) exist on public lands,” which is not true.

The agency has a long history of zeroing-out areas identified for wild horses and managing them principally for livestock. The Caliente, Blue Wing and East Pershing Complexes are three examples.

They don’t have enough forage, water, space and cover to sustain wild horses, supposedly, yet roundups are needed to keep the populations in check.

Moreover, the nonprofit, a leader in nonmotorized removal, claimed that, so far, it’s held off the largest wild horse eradication in the history of the Act, but needs your money to continue the fight.

Nonsense. The largest wild horse eradication in the American west is on the Virginia Range, where volunteers with CAAWH are sterilizing the mares with PZP, a restricted-use pesticide that tricks the immune system into attacking the ovaries.

The herd, now at risk of collapse, consists of approximately 3,500 horses, while Divide Basin and Salt Wells Creek contain 1,050 + 1,204 = 2,254 wild horses according to the 2024 population dataset.

Thus, CAAWH and its supporters are responsible for the greatest loss of America’s wild horses, not the BLM.

The judge should take this into consideration as he weighs the testimony of their attorneys.

Pesticide Pushers 07-17-23

It’s Official: South Steens Roundup Set for August 15

A helicopter will push the horses into the trap and the incident will be open to public observation according to today’s news release.

The HMA covers 134,459 total acres, including 127,608 public acres, in southeastern Oregon.

The current population is thought to be 781 adults and 165 foals.

The 304 horses allowed by plan receive 3,648 AUMs per year, compared to 10,299 AUMs per year for livestock.

The True AML is 1,162.

The stocking rate allowed by plan is 2.4 wild horses per thousand public acres.

The stocking rate at the True AML would be 9.1 wild horses per thousand acres, which brings more embarrassment to the bureaucrats and ranchers, who 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).

Horses identified for removal will be taken to the off-range corrals in Hines.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

PBS to Air Redford’s Film About Wild Horses

The broadcast premieres on PBS stations in New York, Philadelphia and Miami this month, followed by Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco in August according to today’s announcement.

Released in 2020, the documentary appeals to defeatists, pesticide pushers and ranching sympathizers, sometimes referred to as advocates, and a gullible public.

Subscribers to the overpopulation narrative will not go unsatisfied.

Advocates are the Predators 11-30-21

South Steens Gather Page Doubles as News Release?

The subtitle says “Today the Bureau of Land Management announced tentative plans to gather wild horses within and immediately adjacent to the Souths Steens Herd Management Area in southeast Oregon. A Determination of NEPA Adequacy is currently in progress and will determine gather implementation.”

The incident will be open to public observation unless the DNA, which was not announced, is successfully challenged.

The AML is 159 – 304.

The current population is 781 adults and 165 foals.

The June 3 schedule indicates that mares returned to the HMA will be treated with GonaCon but the DNA calls for PZP.

UPDATE: News release published day after gather page.

North Lander Roundup, Day 15

The incident started on July 1. Results through July 15:

Scope: North Lander Complex
Target: Horses
AML: 536
Pre-gather population: 3,035
True AML: 4,616
Type: Planned
Method: Helicopter
Category: Cruel and costly (according to advocates)
Better way: Sterilize mares with PZP (according to advocates)
Goals: Gather 2,766, remove 2,716
Captured: 2,247, up from 1,924 on Day 13
Shipped: 2,046, up from 1,661 on Day 13
Released: None
Deaths: 13, up from 10 on Day 13
Average daily take: 149.8
Unaccounted-for animals: 188

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

A mare died of a broken neck on Day 14 while being transported in a trailer. Another mare died of a brain aneurysm but no details were given. A foal was put down for a spinal deformity.

The death rate is 0.6%.

The capture total includes 876 stallions, 953 mares and 418 foals.

Youngsters represented 18.6% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of 13% per year. Land managers often use a growth rate of 20% per year to predict herd sizes and management actions.

Of the adults, 47.9% were male and 52.1% were female.

Body condition scores were not given.

The location of the trap site is not known.

The Complex is subject to permitted grazing. Resources liberated to date:

Forage: 26,964 AUMs per year
Water: 22,470 gallons per day

The June 3 schedule indicates that 20 mares will be treated with fertility control pesticides and returned to the range but this is not discussed at the gather page.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

RELATED: North Lander Roundup, Day 13.

Blue Wing Roundup, Day 7

The incident started on July 8. Results through July 14:

Scope: Blue Wing Complex
Target: Horses and burros
AML: 555 horses and 90 burros
Pre-gather population: 1,912 horses and 476 burros
Type: Planned
Method: Helicopter
Category: Cruel and costly (according to advocates)
Better way: Snuff out new life with PZP (according to advocates)
Goals
- Horses: Gather 1,373 and remove 1,333
- Burros: Gather 356 and remove 356
Captured
- Horses: 255, up from 94 on Day 5
- Burros: 360, no change from Day 5
Shipped
- Horses: 97, up from zero on Day 5
- Burros: 353, up from 303 on Day 5
Released
- Horses: 1, up from zero on Day 5
- Burros: None
Deaths
- Horses: 5, up from zero on Day 5
- Burros: 8, no change from Day 5
Average daily take
- Horses: 36.4
- Burros: 51.4
Unaccounted-for animals
- Horses: 152
- Burros: -1
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

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

Horses

A stallion was released (or escaped) on Day 7.

Two stallions were dispatched on Day 6, one due to injuries sustained in capture and the other due to a pre-existing condition. Two stallions and a mare were put down on Day 7 for pre-existing conditions, lifting the death rate to 2%. All would be alive today if there was no roundup.

The capture total includes 103 stallions, 99 mares and 53 foals.

Youngsters represented 20.8% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 51% were male and 49% were female.

Body condition scores were not given.

Burros

More burros were processed than caught, throwing the numbers out of balance.

Captured – Shipped – Released – Dead = 360 – 353 – 0 – 8 = -1

The death rate is 2.2%.

The capture total includes 186 jacks, 152 jennies and 22 foals.

Youngsters represented 6.1% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 55% were male and 45% were female.

General

The location of the trap site is not known. Five HMAs are involved.

The Complex is subject to permitted grazing. Resources liberated to date:

Forage: 5,208 AUMs per year
Water: 4,340 gallons per day

The June 3 schedule indicates that 40 mares will be treated with a fertility control pesticide but this is not mentioned at the gather page.

There are no such plans for the burros.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

RELATED: Blue Wing Roundup, Day 5.

Conflict of Interest at Colorado Wild Horse Working Group?

It’s probably an isolated case.

Donald Broom is a rancher and Moffatt County Commissioner according to his bio.

He manages Sombrero Ranches, “where he oversees the nation’s largest herd of broke horses, supplying riding stables, movie scenes and outfitters with ridable livestock.”

A search of the Operator Information Report at RAS linked Sombrero Ranches to authorization #0501087.

The Allotment Information Report tied the authorization to West Boone Draw and Thompson Basin, both in the Little Snake Field Office.

The National Data Viewer puts them on the west side of Sand Wash Basin.

The Allotment Master Report puts both in the Improve category.

The Authorization Use Report indicates that most of the AUMs go to domestic horses, with some to cattle.

Broom may not be the owner, but his personal fortune, and the profitability of his employer, may be inversely related to the number of wild horses in and around the HMA.

Thus, they’d want the herd minimized, which may be consistent with the aim of the committee but not the people of Colorado.

Western Horse Watchers does not know if the allotments were always permitted for horses or if Sombrero had to go through the planning process as American Prairie did for bison in Montana.

Mustang Monday

In eastern Kentucky, probably, with Fishin’ with Tate.

What You Can Do to Help America’s Wild Horses

Tell your U.S. representative (you have one) and senators (you have two) to

Confine the ranchers to their base properties in a year-round off season
Give the horses principal use of all areas identified in 1971
Restore the Wild Horse and Burro Act to its original form
Vote against any measure authorizing or expanding the use of fertility control

Tip for building wealth: Don’t give a penny to the advocates. They protect the ranchers, not the horses.

Pesticide Pushers 07-13-23

North Lander Roundup, Day 13

The incident started on July 1. Results through July 13:

Scope: North Lander Complex
Target: Horses
AML: 536
Pre-gather population: 3,035
True AML: 4,616
Type: Planned
Method: Helicopter
Category: Cruel and costly (according to advocates)
Better way: Sterilize mares with PZP (according to advocates)
Goals: Gather 2,766, remove 2,716
Captured: 1,924, up from 1,640 on Day 11
Shipped: 1,661, up from 1,461 on Day 11
Released: None
Deaths: 10, no change from Day 11
Average daily take: 148.0
Unaccounted-for animals: 253

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

The death rate is 0.5%.

The capture total includes 760 stallions, 812 mares and 352 foals.

Youngsters represented 18.3% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of 13% per year.

Land managers often use a growth rate of 20% per year to predict herd sizes and management actions.

Of the adults, 48.3% were male and 51.7% were female.

Body condition scores were not given.

The location of the trap site is not known.

The Complex is subject to permitted grazing. Resources liberated to date:

Forage: 23,088 AUMs per year
Water: 19,240 gallons per day

The June 3 schedule indicates that 20 mares will be treated with fertility control pesticides and returned to the range but this is not discussed at the gather page.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

RELATED: North Lander Roundup, Day 11.

Blue Wing Roundup, Day 5

The incident started on July 8. Results through July 12:

Scope: Blue Wing Complex
Target: Horses and burros
AML: 555 horses and 90 burros
Pre-gather population: 1,912 horses and 476 burros
Type: Planned
Method: Helicopter
Category: Cruel and costly (according to advocates)
Better way: Snuff out new life with PZP (according to advocates)
Goals
- Horses: Gather 1,373 and remove 1,333
- Burros: Gather 356 and remove 356
Captured
- Horses: 94, up from zero on Day 3
- Burros: 360, up from 308 on Day 3
Shipped
- Horses: None
- Burros: 303, up from 108 on Day 3
Released
- Horses: None
- Burros: None
Deaths
- Horses: None
- Burros: 8, up from 6 on Day 3
Average daily take
- Horses: 18.8
- Burros: 72.0
Unaccounted-for animals
- Horses: 94
- Burros: 49
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

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

Horses

Capture began on Day 5.

The capture total includes 39 stallions, 36 mares and 19 foals.

Youngsters represented 20.2% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 52% were male and 48% were female.

Burros

A jenny died of colic on Day 5. Location unknown.

Another jenny was found dead in a truck when it arrived at Indian Lakes.

The death rate is 2.2%.

The capture total includes 186 jacks, 152 jennies and 22 foals.

Youngsters represented 6.1% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 55% were male and 45% were female.

General

The location of the trap site was not given. Five HMAs are involved.

The Complex is subject to permitted grazing. Resources liberated to date:

Forage: 3,288 AUMs per year
Water: 2,740 gallons per day

The June 3 schedule indicates that 40 mares will be treated with a fertility control pesticide but this is not mentioned at the gather page.

There are no such plans for the burros.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

RELATED: Blue Wing Roundup, Day 3.

Project 2025 Targets America’s Wild Horses and Burros?

Many of the advisors in the Trump administration were rats.

They’re still rats, intent on sabotaging a second administration or advancing an agenda that’s not compatible with conservative principles, so it’s understandable that his supporters would want to screen them out now along with their nefarious ideas.

That’s the goal of Project 2025: To have the right people in the right place with the right ideas, starting on Day 1.

Chapter 16 in the policy agenda covers the Department of the Interior.

It was written by William Perry Pendley, a controversial figure from the first administration and a defender of government dependency and redistribution of wealth, ideas championed by the Left.

On page 9 of the pdf he describes wild horses and burros as western icons.

On page 10 they’re tough issues.

A few paragraphs later they’re an existential threat.

On page 12: “For decades, Congress watched as these herds overwhelmed the land’s ability to sustain them, crowded out indigenous plant and other animal species, threatened the survival of species listed under the Endangered Species Act, invaded private and permitted public land, disturbed private property rights, and turned the sod into concrete.”

“There are 95,000 wild horses and burros roaming nearly 32 million acres in the West—triple what scientists and land management experts say the range can support. These animals face starvation and death from lack of forage and water.”

“This is not a new issue—it is not just a western issue—it is an American issue.”

Nonsense. It’s an issue for a special interest, a select group that profits from cheap feed on government lands.

Wild horses and burros interfere with the process.

“Congress must enact laws permitting the BLM to dispose humanely of these animals.”

Are these the views of the project organizers?

Why do they allow this thinly veiled attempt to push leftist ideals?

Pendley was one of the rats and should not be allowed anywhere near a second Trump administration.

As for the public-lands ranchers, they’ve spent years trying to portray themselves as symbols of freedom, ruggedness and self-reliance.

That image needs to be demolished along with their influence at DOI.

Symbols of Independence 07-04-24

CBD Targets Arizona Allotments

The complaint alleges that permitted grazing in three BLM allotments has threatened endangered species in riparian areas along the Big Sandy River.

The news release said the agency’s failure to control illegal grazing turns streams and streamside habitats into trampled cesspools.

The allotments overlap the Big Sandy HMA, an area set aside for wild burros.

Those animals were not named in the suit and the announcement suggested they had only a minor role in the damage.

The National Data Viewer shows the arrangement.

The Allotment Master Report puts all three in the Improve category.

Chincoteague Pony Swim Set for July 24

The auction occurs on July 25 and the return swim happens the next day according to a story by Chesapeake Bay Magazine.

The herd consists of roughly 150 adult wild ponies and 60 to 70 foals living on the Virginia side of Assateague Island, not to be confused with the Maryland side, where death has overtaken life thanks to the Montana Solution.

Download the poster at fire company home page.

Foal-Free Friday, Inmates Running the Asylum Edition

Look at the bios for the Colorado Wild Horse Working Group.

TJ Holmes, head darter in charge at Spring Creek Basin
Judy Cady of Friends of the Mustangs, purveyor of pesticides at Little Book Cliffs
Kathy DeGonia, one of the GonaCon gals at Piceance East Douglas
Stella Trueblood, PZP fanatic at Sand Wash Basin
Tessa Archibald, trained PZP darter
Sandra Hagen Solin, representative of CAAWH, a leader in mass sterilization

The group also includes bureaucrats, ranchers and ranching sympathizers.

The horses don’t have a chance.

Do you think anybody on the team would put forward a motion to buy a base property and repurpose its allotment for wild horses?

Working Together for a Horse-Free Future 12-21-22

North Lander Roundup, Day 11

The incident started on July 1. Results through July 11:

Scope: North Lander Complex
Target: Horses
AML: 536
Pre-gather population: 3,035
True AML: 4,616
Type: Planned
Method: Helicopter
Category: Cruel and costly (according to advocates)
Better way: Sterilize mares with PZP (according to advocates)
Goals: Gather 2,766, remove 2,716
Captured: 1,640, up from 1,317 on Day 9
Shipped: 1,461, up from 1,138 on Day 9
Released: None
Deaths: 10, no change from Day 9
Average daily take: 149.1
Unaccounted-for animals: 169

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

The death rate is 0.6%.

The capture total includes 636 stallions, 703 mares and 301 foals.

Youngsters represented 18.4% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of 13% per year.

Land managers often use a growth rate of 20% per year to predict herd sizes and management actions.

Of the adults, 47.5% were male and 52.5% were female.

Body condition scores were not given.

The location of the trap site is not known.

The Complex is subject to permitted grazing. Resources liberated to date:

Forage: 19,680 AUMs per year
Water: 16,400 gallons per day

The June 3 schedule indicates that 20 mares will be treated with fertility control pesticides and returned to the range but this is not discussed at the gather page.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

RELATED: North Lander Roundup, Day 9.

Blue Wing Roundup, Day 3

The incident started on July 8. Results through July 10:

Scope: Blue Wing Complex
Target: Horses and burros
AML: 555 horses and 90 burros
Pre-gather population: 1,912 horses and 476 burros
Type: Planned
Method: Helicopter
Category: Cruel and costly (according to advocates)
Better way: Snuff out new life with PZP (according to advocates)
Goals
- Horses: Gather 1,373 and remove 1,333
- Burros: Gather 356 and remove 356
Captured
- Horses: None
- Burros: 308, up from 144 on Day 1
Shipped
- Horses: None
- Burros: 108, up from zero on Day 1
Released
- Horses: None
- Burros: None
Deaths
- Horses: None
- Burros: 6, up from zero on Day 1
Average daily take
- Horses: Zero
- Burros: 102.7
Unaccounted-for animals
- Horses: Zero
- Burros: 194
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

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

Horses

No horses have been caught.

Burros

A jenny was found dead in a trailer on Day 2 and four animals were dispatched for pre-existing conditions.

A jack was put down on Day 3 for severe arthritis, boosting the death rate to 1.9%.

The capture total includes 159 jacks, 132 jennies and 17 foals.

Youngsters represented 5.5% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 54.6% were male and 45.4% were female.

General

The location of the trap site was not given. Five HMAs are involved.

The Complex is subject to permitted grazing. Resources liberated to date:

Forage: 1,848 AUMs per year
Water: 1,540 gallons per day

The June 3 schedule indicates that 40 mares will be treated with a fertility control pesticide but this is not mentioned at the gather page.

There are no such plans for the burros.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

RELATED: Blue Wing Roundup in Progress.

South Steens DNA Out for Public Review

The document asserts that the 2015 EA for pest control and resource enforcement fully covers the Proposed Action, which will take 90% of the horses off the HMA and return a small subset, including mares treated with PZP, leaving the remnant at low end of AML.

The current population is thought to be 889.

The roundup is on the June 3 schedule with a start date of August 15.

Comments will be accepted through July 19.

The draft DNA was copied to the project folder in ePlanning.