White Mountain Roundup, Day 3

The incident started on August 15.  Results through August 17:

  • Scope: White Mountain HMA
  • Target: Horses
  • AML: 300
  • Pre-gather population: 791
  • True AML: 1,889 (300 + 19,063 ÷ 12)
  • Type: Planned
  • Method: Helicopter
  • Category: Cruel and costly (according to advocates)
  • Better way: Shoot the mares with pesticide-laced darts (according to advocates)
  • Goals: Gather 586, remove 586
  • Captured: 436, up from 144 on Day 1
  • Shipped: 304, up from zero on Day 1
  • Released: None
  • Deaths: 8, up from zero on Day 1
  • Average daily take: 145.3
  • Unaccounted-for animals: 124

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

Four horses were intentionally killed on Day 2 for leg deformities.  Four more were dispatched on Day 3 for pre-existing conditions, bringing the death rate to 1.8%.

The capture total includes 161 stallions, 198 mares and 77 foals.

Youngsters represented 17.7% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of 13% per year.

Of the adults, 44.8% were male and 55.2% were female.

Body condition scores were not given.

The location of the trap site is not known.

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

  • Forage: 5,232 AUMs per year
  • Water: 4,360 gallons per day

There are no plans to treat any of mares with fertility control pesticides and return them to the range.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

RELATED: White Mountain Roundup Begins.

White Mountain HMA with Allotments 07-04-24

Lake Havasu Roundup Ends

The incident concluded on August 14 with 110 burros captured, 109 shipped, none released and one dead.

There were no unaccounted-for animals.

The daily reports indicate 108 burros shipped, leaving one unaccounted-for animal.

The capture and removal goals were 100 each.

The death rate was 0.9%.

The average daily take was 13.8.

The capture total included 44 jacks, 56 jennies and 10 foals.

Youngsters represented 9.1% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 44% were male and 56% were female.  These proportions are consistent with a random process centered at 50% males / 50% females.

The July 31 schedule classified the roundup as an emergency but the gather page said nuisance.

RELATED: BLM to Remove Burros Near Lake Havasu City.

Coalition Appeals Rock Springs RMP Decision

Attorneys for the American Wild Horse Campaign, Animal Welfare Institute, Western
Watersheds Project and three individuals gave notice on August 16 to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit according to a news release by AWI.

Earlier in the week Judge Kelly Rankin affirmed the BLM’s plan to remove 5,000 wild horses and eliminate two million acres of their habitat in the Wyoming Checkerboard.

RELATED: Court Upholds Rock Springs RMP Amendments.

Sulphur Roundup, Day 4

The incident started on August 13.  Results through August 16:

  • Scope: Sulphur HMA
  • Target: Horses
  • AML: 250
  • Pre-gather population: 606
  • True AML: 1,105
  • Type: Planned
  • Method: Helicopter
  • Category: Cruel and costly (according to advocates)
  • Better way: Shoot mares with pesticide-laced darts (according to advocates)
  • Goals: Gather 420, remove 360
  • Captured: 203, up from 89 on Day 1
  • Shipped: 131, up from zero on Day 1
  • Released: None
  • Deaths: 1, no change from Day 1
  • Average daily take: 50.8
  • Unaccounted-for animals: 71

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

The Day 2 report indicated more foals captured than mares but the actual values are probably 11 and 7, not 11 and 17.

The death rate is 0.5%.

The capture total includes 68 stallions, 97 mares and 38 foals.

Youngsters represented 18.7% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 41.2% were male and 58.8% were female.

Body condition scores were not provided.

The location of the trap site was not given.

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

  • Forage: 2,436 AUMs per year
  • Water: 2,030 gallons per day

The July 31 schedule indicates that 30 mares will be treated with GonaCon Equine and be returned to the range with 30 stallions.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

RELATED: Sulphur Roundup in Progress.

Sulphur HMA with Allotments 08-11-24

Foal-Free Friday, Aiding and Abetting the Ranchers Edition

You could argue that the advocates have abandoned the idea of principal use and have accepted the goal of ranching superiority in the lawful homes of wild horses, sometimes referred to as achieving and maintaining AMLs.  Examples include:

  • Reinforcing policies and plans that drive the removals
  • Monitoring for humane treatment during the removals
  • Picking up the pieces after removals
  • Developing alternate methods of removal
  • Lobbying for alternate methods of removal
  • Lying about alternate methods of removal

Whether it’s HMAPs, videos of abuse during roundups or legislation that promotes the use of pesticides, the wild horse and burro program still operates as a grazing program ancillary, keeping the pests in check so ranchers can access most of their food.

Stay away from the advocates, they are the old guard, leaders of the blind, irrelevant.

RELATED: Foal-Free Friday, Right Versus Wrong Edition.

Moment When Supporter Realizes She's Been Duped 08-14-24

Court Upholds Rock Springs RMP Amendments

A story by E&E News indicates that cases brought by the following groups were dismissed yesterday by the U.S. District Court of Wyoming.

The full article is available to subscribers only.

But a link to the court’s order was provided, which you can read in its entirety.

RELATED: What If the Rock Springs HMAs Were Zeroed Out with Pesticides?

BLM Won’t Let Advocates Haul Water to Muddy Creek Horses?

So says the writer of an August 14 letter to The Salt Lake Tribune.

More horses have been seen near the dried-up pond because they don’t have the strength to make it to the next water source.

To her credit, she did not call for greater use of pesticides to solve the problem, as most advocates do, some of whom landed 24 Virginia Range mustangs in the Carson City prison last week in their failed attempt to rescue them from a construction site.

We still don’t know if the pond was on public or private land, if it was dug by livestock operators, and how it is filled.

RELATED: BLM Dispatches Mom-Baby Pair at Muddy Creek.

Lake Havasu Roundup, Day 6

The incident started on August 7.  Results through August 12:

  • Scope: West of Havasu HMA, north of Lake Havasu City
  • Target: Burros
  • AML: None
  • Pre-gather population: Unknown
  • Type: Nuisance
  • Method: Bait
  • Goals: Gather 100, remove 100
  • Captured: 90, up from 71 on Day 3
  • Shipped: 48, up from 21 on Day 3
  • Released: None
  • Deaths: 1, no change from Day 3
  • Average daily take: 15.0
  • Unaccounted-for animals: 41

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

The death rate is 1.1%.

The capture total includes 29 jacks, 51 jennies and 10 foals.

Youngsters represented 11.1% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 36.3% were male and 63.8% were female.

The location of the trap site is not known.

The July 31 schedule classifies the roundup as an emergency but the gather page says nuisance.

The BLM asserted that an EA from 2008 fully covers the removal.

RELATED: Lake Havasu Roundup, Day 3.

Lake Havasu City 08-05-24

Black Rock Desert Closing for Burning Man

The first part of the closure went into effect on July 25 and runs through September 28, according to the BLM news release.

Phase 2, affecting a wider area, begins on August 19 and runs through September 7.

Refer to the closure map for boundaries.

Black Rock City, “a temporary metropolis dedicated to community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance,” opens on August 25.

The incident was marred last year by rain that turned the playa into a quagmire.

Marietta Roundup Announced

The incident will begin on or about August 20 according to today’s news release.

The capture goals are 31 wild horses and 290 wild burros.

The removal goals are identical, meaning there are no plans to return any of the animals to the HMA.

The current population is thought to be 378 burros and 31 horses.

A helicopter will push the animals into the trap and operations will be open to public observation.

The HMA covers 66,045 total acres southeast of Hawthorne, NV, including 64,466 public acres, according to the 2024 population dataset.

The 104 burros allowed by plan require 624 AUMs per year.

The AML for horses is zero.

Burros identified for removal will be taken to the Axtell off-range corrals.

Horses identified for removal will be shipped to the off-range corrals in Palomino Valley.

Marietta is exempt from permitted grazing although last year the BLM looked at reactivating the Bellville allotment, among others, which overlaps the southern half of the HMA, but then cancelled the project earlier this year.

Marietta HMA with Allotments 08-12-24

WHB Manual Explains Current Management Practices

Apparently, the bureaucrats have taken matters into their own hands, ignoring the will of the people.  (It’s not unprecedented, look at the southern border.)

According to the statute: It is the policy of Congress that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death.

According to the manual: To protect wild horses and burros from unauthorized capture, branding, harassment or death.

An example of unauthorized capture would be person who took a wild horse or burro off the public lands for his personal use or profit.

Unauthorized harassment might correspond to persons who threw rock at them or chased them with ATVs.

The Jakes Valley shootings would be an example of unauthorized death.

Refer to any roundup or darting program for examples of authorized capture, branding, harassment and death.

Authorized by the bureaucrats, that is, not the American people.

McCullough Peaks Darting-1