The Love Triangle never stops.

Velma’s first encounter with the mustangers occurred in the area but that’s not what makes it famous today.

It’s the site of the world’s largest darting program, where the advocates are trying to convince the bureaucrats and ranchers that they can be as ruthless as the helicopter pilots and wranglers.

Their duplicity is on full display in this rugged area, as they pummel their cherished wild horses with ovary-killing pesticides.

They are the old guard, snake oil salesmen, turncoats.

Their allies want the herd drastically reduced because it contradicts their lies about resource availability and carrying capacity.

RELATED: Goicoechea’s Focus on Virginia Range Not About Public Safety.

“A wild horse is just gonna do what a wild horse does,” according to herd manager and PZP darter Meg Puckett, “and it’s not really up to us to decide whether or not that’s good behavior or bad behavior.”

Not so fast, dear.

Like most advocates, you determined that procreation is a bad behavior and you tried to stop it.

Worse, the herd was designated as Critical/Nearly Extinct by the Equus Survival Trust as you pummeled the mares with ovary-killing pesticides.

Two years ago, the herd was at 106.  Today, it’s at 110, a 2% annual growth rate.

How many in the wild are female?  How many are still viable?  What’s the size of the breeding population?

The greatest threat to these animals is the advocates, not tourists, not climate change and not apples.

RELATED: Foal-Free Friday, Keeping You in the Dark Edition.

Because it didn’t do a very good job of correlating the observed facts.

The heliocentric model wasn’t perfect but it did a better job of explaining the motions of the heavenly bodies.

Euclidian geometry works well within the confines of the village but fails at larger distances because the surface of the earth is curved.

Likewise, the sperm-blocking theory of PZP doesn’t do a good of correlating the observed facts, especially the skewing of sex ratios in favor of females, and therefore deserves a fair share of skepticism.

Better yet, it should be tossed out along with its adherents in favor of the ovary-killing theory, which is not perfect but does a better job of explaining the observed facts.

RELATED: Sperm-Blocking Theory Doesn’t Account for Self-Boosting Mares.

The paper posted an editorial today, written by the publisher, claiming that roundups are necessary to preserve not only the horses but also our public lands.

Wild horses can’t be legally hunted and there aren’t enough natural predators to combat their growing populations.  Without the BLM’s diligent work to achieve an appropriate management level, these wild herds can increase rapidly and public lands can be overwhelmed by the demand for forage and water.

What about the six allotments that overlap the HMA?

How much forage do the ranchers receive?

What happened to the predators?

Why is the AML so small?

The HMA is managed primarily for animal agriculture.

The darting program protects the ranchers.

The roundup protects the ranchers.

Depredation protects the ranchers.

The AML protects the ranchers.

But there’s not one word in the commentary about the ranchers.

Shame on you Megan Barton!

RELATED: Advocates Bawling About Loss of McCullough Filly?

The ovary-killing theory does.

It explains why the Assateague herd isn’t growing.

It also explains why recovery time goes up the longer they’re on it.

After five years, they don’t recover, they’re self-boosting.

The sperm-blocking hypothesis was cooked up so the advocates could sell the pesticide as a safe, reversible vaccine.

For a discussion of the adverse effects of PZP, go to page 30 in this report.

RELATED: If PZP Is Reversible, Why Hasn’t Assateague Herd Rebounded?

The Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, a leader in nonmotorized removal, reported today that 82 mares received 82 doses of PZP during the month, 17 given as a primer and 65 as a booster.

Over the life of the program, which began in 2019, the advocates have pumped 8,609 doses of the pesticide into 1,994 mares.

Two foals were born and one died of unspecified causes.

The current population is thought to be 3,465 with 342 horses listed as missing, compared to 3,471 with 336 listed as missing in December.

Goal for February: “Continue to maximize booster treatments to mares across the Virginia Range before spring breeding season to prevent pregnancies, and continuing to allow for humane population decrease.”

Not discussed in the report:

• Long-term population goal
• Size of breeding population
• Loss of genetic diversity
• Changes in death rate and sex ratio
• Unlawful use of pesticides

PZP tricks the immune system into attacking the ovaries, resulting in sterility after five years of treatment.

The report will be submitted to the Nevada Department of Agriculture.

RELATED: Virginia Range Darting Update for December 2023.

He didn’t see his shadow according to a report by AP News.

Actually, it doesn’t matter.  We know they’re defeatists, pesticide pushers and ranching sympathizers.

“As you start reducing the amount of available space and forage, then you need to manage the numbers to fit what’s available for the horses.”

That’s what the bureaucrats have been doing for 50 years and instead of opposing it, the advocates go along with it.

Why are you still giving them money?

The Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, a leader in nonmotorized removal, publishes monthly reports for the Virginia Range darting program, which they share with the Nevada Department of Agriculture.

The report for January should post next week.

What is the size of the breeding population?

How many mares are still viable?

What is the sex ratio?

They have the information but they don’t say.

Accountability to the public is lacking in this and other such programs.

When the long-term effects become apparent, the herds will be lost forever.

RELATED: Foal-Free Friday, All Zeal but No Truth Edition.

Her freedom and safety have been safeguarded thanks to the pioneering fertility control program, according to a January 31 news flash distributed by Lucky Three Ranch.

The advocates have determined that three foals are enough and her contribution to the genetic diversity of the herd is adequate.

So now they’re going to sterilize her with an ovary-killing pesticide, which they describe as a lifeline.

Won’t you give them $30 so they can buy another dose of the miraculous vaccine?

Curiously, they didn’t refer to it as reversible.

These frauds care far more about their standing with the bureaucrats and ranchers than they do about wild horses.

RELATED: CAAWH Admits Virginia Range Mares Are Sterile?

The anchors at FOX5 News got the story right but the headline is a bit confusing.

Now others will come forward claiming responsibility for the shootings?

If the advocates got rid of them with PZP, would you still be upset?

RELATED: Vehicles-of-Interest Identified in Clark Mountain Burro Shooting.

Traffic from Facebook and Twitter accounted for 2.1% of the total during the month as the advocates tried desperately to insulate their little fiefdoms from the truth.

They are the old guard, part of the problem, irrelevant.

Western Horse Watchers is not on socialist media and never will be.

RELATED: Socialist Media Update for December 2023.

They teamed up with Cowboy State Daily in an article dated January 29 to mislead readers about management practices in the HMA, the lawful home of wild horses.

Fertility control, described as “shooting mares with darts containing birth control medication,” has been implemented there for years according to Angelique Rea.

At McCullough Peaks, the darts contain PZP, a restricted-use pesticide that tricks the immune system into attacking the ovaries.  It’s not a medication.

Rae said the BLM failed to provide evidence of rangeland degradation and that removing the horses because they’re above AML is not reason enough.

Yes, it is.

The AML represents a limit on forage available to the horses, not the forage available in the HMA or the number of horses it can actually support.

The roundup will remove the pests and protect the ranchers.

The forage assigned to livestock would support an estimated 535 wild horses, on top of the 140 allowed by plan.

The advocates are silent about this.

Sandy Sisti, a PZP darter and ranching sympathizer, noted that the herd is aging out, a codeword for dying off.

She said the birth control has spared mares the rigors of pregnancy and delivering foals (an essential part of their existence), so they’re living longer.

That’s a codeword for abnormal sex ratio.

These buffoons, and others like them, are sterilizing the mares and driving the breeding population into the single digits, which spells disaster for the herd.

RELATED: Cause of McCullough Roundup Death Revealed.

Charity is not in their wheelhouse.

Previous remarks can be found in the Index under Microcasts.

RELATED: What Charitable Purpose Do the Advocates Serve?

They should be in the Yellow Pages under Exterminators.

A 501(c)(3) organization must be operated exclusively for exempt purposes, which include relief of the poor, the distressed, or the underprivileged; advancement of religion; advancement of education or science; erecting or maintaining public buildings, monuments, or works; lessening the burdens of government; lessening neighborhood tensions; eliminating prejudice and discrimination; defending human and civil rights secured by law; and combating community deterioration and juvenile delinquency.

They describe their illicit darting programs as humane and their efforts as conservation, not because they are, but to hang onto their tax-exempt status.

File under: Charlatans.

The advocates have a better way to get rid of wild horses and the BLM should embrace it, according to a letter signed by Dina Titus and Steve Cohen.

“The continued implementation of a robust and humane fertility control strategy of reversible immunocontraceptive vaccines is critical to maintaining healthy herd populations and minimizing the need for future human intervention.”

Massive human intervention is needed for the first five years of any darting program, as the foot soldiers pummel the mares with ovary-killing pesticides, but after that most of them will be sterile and the herds will implode.

The letter was embedded in story dated January 26 by KLAS News and was no doubt inspired by the lunatics who call themselves advocates.

The 17 horses dispatched for pre-existing conditions were killed because they were deemed unadoptable, not because they couldn’t survive in the wild.  They’d be alive today if there was no roundup.

As usual, Titus and her supporters ignore the mismanagement of resources in the lawful homes of wild horses.

AMLs are small relative to the available forage because the bureaucrats have assigned most of it to the public-lands ranchers.

That’s what drives the roundups.  The herds are never allowed to fill their niche and manage themselves.

The advocates cooperate in the destruction.

RELATED: FY24 to See More Horses and Burros Off the Range Than On?

The event was announced in a January 20 news flash distributed by Lucky Three Ranch.

As a public service, your host has peeled away the veneer, revealing the vision and mission of this shady group and its supporters.

It’s a herd you want to avoid.

The advocates lecture us about family and freedom, yet wherever they’re involved the mares are barren, the herds are shrinking and the ranchers are winning.

RELATED: Assessing the Risk of Sterility in PZP Darting Programs.

The EPA registers pesticides and their use on specific pests and under specific circumstances.  For example, “Pesticide A,” registered for use on apples, may not be used legally on grapes, or an insecticide registered for “outdoor use” may not legally be used inside a building.

Therefore, Zonatstat-H, which is registered for use on female horses and burros capable of doing environmental damage, may not be legally used on herds that __________.

a.) Are overpopulated

b.) Pose safety hazards to motorists

c.) Interfere or could interfere with animal agriculture

d.) All of the above

e.) None of the above.

The correct answer is d, meaning that PZP darting programs, which cause more long-term harm than roundups, are unlawful, should be stopped immediately and their organizers investigated by federal law enforcement.

RELATED: Multiple Use Applies to Public Lands, Not Registered Pesticides.

They protect the ranchers, not the horses.  Don’t give them a penny!

Sorry boys, it’s been nice but it hasn’t been real nice.  Your sacred status on America’s public lands has been reviewed and found to be, well, inconvenient.

That’s the message in Section 3.11.4.2 of the Draft EIS for the Libra Solar Project southeast of Yerington, NV.

The facility will appropriate 1,722 acres in the Gray Hills allotment and 3,419 acres in the Perry Springs-Deadman allotment, resulting in the loss of 218 AUMs per year.

That’s equivalent to 18 wild horses running free in the allotments.

Why not do that and avoid all the mess?

The Allotment Master Report puts Gray Hills and Perry Springs in the Maintain category, offering a combined 6,065 active AUMs on 158,468 public acres, or 38.3 AUMs per year per thousand public acres, equivalent to 3.2 wild horses per thousand public acres.

This brings more embarrassment to the bureaucrats and ranchers, who insist that public lands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand acres.

Figure 3.11-2 in the EIS shows water sources for Gray Hills originating southeast of the proposed plant in an area that turns out to be the Wassuk HMA.  Another example of resources taken from the horses for the benefit of the ranchers.

If the bureaucrats are willing to subordinate the ranchers to their agenda of weakness and vulnerability—the goals of green energy—you can be sure the horses don’t have a chance.

The advocates won’t complain because they vote for it.

There won’t be much pushback from farm bureaus, stockgrower’s associations and cattlemen’s groups because they’re also run by left-wing kooks.

The EIS and related documents have been copied to the project folder in ePlanning.

Comments will be accepted through March 4 according to the news release.

RELATED: How Is Solar Energy Like Wild Horses?