TIME Looks at Wild Horse Politics

The BLM has been captured by the cattlemen according to the June 3 report.

They look at the horses as pests, something to get rid of, and something that infringes on the ranchers.

So do the advocates and their political allies, not mentioned in the article.

They want to get rid of them with PZP, a restricted-use pesticide that tricks the immune system into destroying the ovaries.

Better Way 10-25-23

“Despite the mythologies of the West, herd management is done more by aircraft than lasso these days. And it’s often handled by the same companies intent on making room for their own cattle to roam, a twisted insiders’ game that lets the giant mega-ranchers cash in not just on flying the helicopters that clear the area, but then again with pennies-on-the-dollar deals to allow private cattle and sheep to graze on public lands.”

“The money behind it seems like a loop between bureaucrats, ranchers, and their helicopter pilots in a closed system that nefariously protects cattle and sheep at the expense of horses.”

Nobody wants to pick a fight with the ranchers, especially in an election year.

They have strong sympathy among voters, which should be easy to change.

Public-lands ranching is government dependency and redistribution of wealth, hallmarks of socialism, which most Americans reject.

No more gravy train, no more sucking on the government teat.

PSA 12-07-19

Mustang Monday

At Grayson Highlands State Park with the Traveling Tierneys.

Volunteers Continue Pahrump Fence Repair

The project started in May near the intersection of Roadrunner Road and Highway 160.

NDA Extends Virginia Range Mass Sterilization Program

The Animal Industry Report for the June 4 BOA meeting indicates on page two that the agency entered into a sixth-year non-exclusive cooperative agreement running from May 1, 2024 through April 30, 2025.

The Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses operates the search-and-destroy mission on their behalf.

Protect Wild Horses from Advocates 08-29-21

With a dwindling breeding population and growing number of nonviable mares, the tipping point is now within reach, where a decreasing birth rate cannot keep up with an increasing death rate, and the herd slides into irreversible decline like Assateague Island.

This is what the advocates bring to the table, a strategy that appeals only to hunters, ranchers, bureaucrats and their lunatic followers.

RTF Still Looking for Pesticide Pusher, Ranching Sympathizer

The listing on High Country News expired but it’s now running on the Conservation Job Board.

Imagine that, they’re soliciting an exterminator on a conservation web site.

Maybe they should hire a recruiter to poach one from the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses or an affiliate.

Pesticide Pushers 07-17-23

Socialist Media Update for May 2024

Traffic from Facebook and Twitter accounted for 5.0% of the total during the month, down considerably from the same period two years ago.

Did you know the stocking rate of the grazing program is seven times higher than that of the wild horse and burro program?

To put the wild horse and burro program on par with the grazing program, you’d have to increase the AML from approximately 27,000 to nearly 189,000.

You didn’t hear that from the advocates.

Western Horse Watchers brings you the truth about wild horses, resource management and the Love Triangle on America’s public lands.

Traffic from Socialist Media May 2024 06-01-24

Battle of the Thumbs Raging on YouTube

As of this evening, there were ten likes and a 40% favorable rating, suggesting there were fifteen dislikes.

The video was published on May 26 and subscribers were not notified.

What’s Next for TRNP Horses?

A story by KFYR News says “the park service has agreed to leave the horses where they are and to follow their existing environmental assessment,” which means they’ll enforce the current management plan, limiting the herd to 60 or less.

This is like throwing a fresh piece of meat to the advocates.

Getting Rid of Wild Horses Is Our Job 10-14-23

SOWH Releases Videos from Reno Conference

If the keynote address is any indication, you didn’t miss much.

Instead of condemning the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses and its mass sterilization program on the Virginia Range, there was praise for its good work (19:33).

Instead of trying to change the system (22:24), change the statute, restoring it to its original form.

Regarding the Veterans for Pesticides Act (25:00), you can reduce the need for helicopters by clearing the land of privately owned livestock, allowing the herds to fill their niche and manage themselves. Funny how the advocates won’t talk about that.

As of today, the channel contains eleven videos.

Foal-Free Friday, Point of No Return Edition

With the darting program now in its sixth year, presumably, many of the Virginia Range mares are now at risk of sterility.

The dwindling breeding population will not be able to keep up with deaths and the herd will implode, just like Assateague Island.

This is the promise of nonmotorized removal, the final solution.

Virginia Range Darting Program Now in Its Sixth Year?

As of today, the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses has not posted the Year 6 Agreement with NDA to its darting resources page.

The summary for Year 5, which ended on April 30, has not been posted to the monthly reports page.

Let Us Fix Your Wild Horse Problem 02-18-23

With many of the mares at risk of sterility, now is the time to finish the herd off and win the approval of the bureaucrats and ranchers.

Price of Hay Eases Slightly?

A bale of alfalfa-grass mix sold for $30 today, 20 bales minimum, down from $34 in March.

The feed store did not indicate if this was a special offer or the new rate.

A horse would need around five bales per month, putting the cost of feed at $150 per AUM.

The poor ranchers, forced to live in multi-million-dollar base properties, pay $1.35 per AUM on public lands managed by the BLM and Forest Service.

Three years ago, before Bidenomics kicked in, the same bale fetched $19.

RELATED: Price of Hay Defies Gravity.

Putting Wild Horses on Par with Privately Owned Livestock

The BLM allows 23,866 wild horses and 2,919 wild burros on 26,917,766 public acres according to the 2024 population dataset.

That’s equivalent to 23,866 + 2,919 ÷ 2 = 25,326 wild horses on 26,917,766 public acres.

As reported on April 22, the agency authorizes privately owned livestock equivalent to 1,023,481 wild horses on 145,895,940 public acres.

To match the stocking rate and resource loading of the grazing program, the wild horse and burro program would have to satisfy the following relationship:

x ÷ 26,917,766 = 1,023,481 ÷ 145,895,940

Solving for x, the new AML would be 188,832.

The current wild horse and burro population, equivalent to 66,236 wild horses, is well within this limit.

Why are the advocates working with the bureaucrats to take the numbers lower?

They have a shared vision
They view these animals as pests
They want the ranchers to win

Why are you still giving them money?

Thriving Ecological Balance-3

New Report Ties Poor Rangeland Health to Permitted Grazing

Today’s news release indicates that 44 million acres do not meet BLM’s minimum standards, with livestock being the primary cause, either in whole or in part.

PEER Rocky Mountain Director Chandra Rosenthal noted that an estimated 1.5 million cattle forage BLM lands compared to fewer than 75,000 wild horses.

As reported by Western Horse Watchers on April 22, the agency authorizes livestock equivalent to 1,023,481 wild horses on 145,895,940 public acres in ten western states, or seven wild horses per thousand public acres.

The agency allows 26,785 wild horses and burros on 26,917,766 public acres, according to the 2024 population dataset, or one such animal per thousand public acres.

Which species has the larger footprint and potential for rangeland degradation?

The current wild horse and burro population is equivalent to 66,236 wild horses, or 2.5 wild horses per thousand public acres.

You’d need to increase the wild horse population to 188,424 to have the same resource loading as privately owned livestock.

Caliente Roundup, Day 43

The incident started on April 16. Results through May 23:

Scope: Caliente Complex
Target: Horses
Type: Planned
Method: Bait
Goals: Gather 350, remove 350
Captured: 252, up from 224 on Day 38
Shipped: 207, no change from Day 38
Released: None
Deaths: 9, up from 7 on Day 38
Average daily take: 5.9
Unaccounted-for animals: 36

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

A stallion was dispatched on Day 39 due to blindness.

Another stallion was dispatched on Day 42 due to injuries sustained in capture, sorting or holding, boosting the death rate to 3.6%.

The capture total includes 102 stallions, 110 mares and 40 foals.

Youngsters represented 15.9% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of eleven percent per year.

Of the adults, 48.1% were male and 51.9% 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: 3,024 AUMs per year
Water: 2,520 gallons per day

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

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

RELATED: Caliente Roundup, Day 38.

Bordo Atravesado Roundup, Day 28

The incident started on May 1. Results through May 28:

Scope: Bordo Atravesado HMA
Target: Horses
Type: Planned
Method: Bait
AML: 60
Estimated population: 276
Goals: Gather 235, remove 225
Captured: 213, up from 173 on Day 24
Shipped: None
Released: None
Deaths: 7, up from 5 on Day 24
Average daily take: 7.6
Unaccounted-for animals: 206

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

Two horses died on Day 27 due to injuries sustained in capture, sorting or holding, lifting the death rate to 3.3%. No details were given.

To date, only one death has been attributed to pre-existing conditions.

The capture total includes 106 stallions, 81 mares and 26 foals.

Youngsters represented 12.2% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of seven percent per year.

Of the adults, 56.7% were male and 43.3% were female.

Body condition scores were not given.

The location of the trap site is not known.

The status of captured animals has not been disclosed.

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

Forage: 2,556 AUMs per year
Water: 2,130 gallons per day

Ten mares will be treated with GonaCon Equine, a fertility control pesticide, and be returned to the range according to the latest schedule.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

Wildfire Threatens Salt River Wild Horses?

So says a report by KPHO News of Phoenix.

There is no greater danger to the herd than Simone Netherlands, interviewed for the story, and her band of merrymen, who are sterilizing the mares with PZP, an ovary-killing pesticide.

Florida Rep Introduces Bill to Conserve Wild Horses?

The Wild Horse Integrity and Slaughter Prevention Act would reduce adoption wait times and criminalize the transfer of wild horses and burros to foreign jurisdictions for commercial processing, according to a story dated May 28 by The Floridian.

The relationship to the SAFE Acts (House | Senate) is unknown.

The wait time for adoption may refer to titling, which currently requires a year.

The measure likely corresponds to HR 8541, introduced on May 23 and referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.

To the advocates, conservation denotes mass sterilization with ovary-killing pesticides.

Montgomery Pass EA Out for Public Review

The Proposed Action, discussed in Section 2.2 of the Draft EA, would immediately remove wild horses outside the WHT, using helicopters and/or baited traps.

The current population is thought to be 699 according to today’s news release.

The project area covers BLM and Forest Service lands around Mono Lake, some of which are subject to permitted grazing.

Although the announcement seeks comments on the Environmental Assessment, the project ties them to a cover letter dated May 28.

The participation period closes June 26.

CBD Brings Another Complaint Against Salt River Horses

The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a second lawsuit against the Forest Service seeking a drastic reduction of the population according to a story dated May 28 by KPNX News of Phoenix.

A link to the complaint was not provided.

Personnel with the Salt River Wild Horse Darting Group are reducing the population with PZP, a pesticide that tricks the immune system into destroying the ovaries.

Simone Neterlands with Darting Rifle 09-02-23