Between four and six foals are born each year and the herd now numbers less than 100, according to a story dated March 27 by The Virginian-Pilot.

This is frightening.

The on-range population was 106 a year ago.

A herd of that size should produce 15 to 20 foals per year.

“We cannot afford to lose horses due to human-caused problems,” wrote herd manager Meg Puckett in a post on socialist media.  “They face so many challenges to their survival that are beyond our control…”

Nonsense!  She is the greatest threat to the herd, and her ruinous darting program, which was suspended in 2022 due to concerns about the long-term effects of PZP, a restricted-use pesticide that destroys the ovaries of mares in four to five years.

You only need to look at the herd on the Maryland side of Assateague Island to see where this is going.

RELATED: Advocates, Not Climate Change, to Destroy Currituck Herd.

The agency has awarded two grants totaling more than $4.7 million to accelerate the placement of excess animals into private care, according to today’s news release.

The Mustang Heritage Foundation received approximately $4 million and Mustang Champions received $750,000.

Use of the term “excess” reinforces the overpopulation narrative.

If ranchers operating in areas identified for wild horses and burros were confined to their base properties, all of the off-range corrals and long-term pastures could be emptied, several times over.

Huge savings can be realized by ending public-lands ranching, not by removing these animals from their lawful homes.

RELATED: New Grants Available for Wild Horse and Burro Management.

So says the writer of a column in today’s edition of The Intercept.

The ill-advised plan for achieving and maintaining AMLs, which are small relative to the available resources, was a bonanza for the public-lands ranchers.

Contrary to what you read in the article, the BLM knows how much food and water are available on the acreage it manages, and most of these have been assigned to privately owned livestock through the planning process, even in areas designated for wild horses.

Although many advocacy groups opposed the idea, today they are fierce supporters of tenet #3: Apply proven, safe and humane population growth suppression strategies to every herd that can be reached utilizing trained volunteers, Agency staff, and animal health professionals, as individual HMAs dictate to prevent repeated gathers.

RELATED: Chris Stewart: The ‘Horse Guy.’

UPDATE: Link to Path Forward fixed.

The Utah Humane Society pledged $15,000 today, lifting the total to $37,500, according to a story by ABC4 News of Salt Lake City.

To date, no funds have been contributed from farm bureaus, stock grower’s associations or cattlemen’s groups.

RELATED: More on the Onaqui Poseurs.

The hypocrisy of the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses and the National Mustang Association, contributors to the $22,500 reward for information about the shootings, are well known and have been documented previously.

Of two other groups pledging financial support, the Onaqui Catalogue Foundation does not appear to be a 501(c)(3) non-profit while the Red Birds Trust is.

Both groups endorse the Montana Solution.

Bios of the Onaqui team begin with suggested pronouns, a big red flag.

Theresa Orison, treasurer, is “married” to Sue Robbins.

The Board at Red Birds includes Alisa Graham, treasurer, also “married” to a woman.

The groups know much about wild horses but little about permitted grazing, apparently.

Has their access to the herd and inside information from the BLM been purchased at the price of silence?

A coalition was formed and a reward was established before the agency went public with news of the incident.

RELATED: Reward Offered as Two Onaqui Stallions Found Dead.

Overpopulation.

Mistreatment during roundups.

Illness and death in off-range holding.

Adoptions resulting in abuse and slaughter.

Why do the advocates harp about these things?

Because they have a better way.

These problems could be avoided if there were no wild horses.

This of course means the Montana Solution.

There are no other options.

Sterility is the goal.

Ranching interests must prevail.

All roads lead to the Billings School of PZP Darting if you’re a wild horse advocate.

RELATED: Foal-Free Friday, Noticing Their Hypocrisy Edition.

The remains were discovered on March 19, according to a BLM news release.

Several poseurs joined the BLM in posting the $22,500 reward, including Suzanne Roy of the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, who said shooting these protected animals is a serious federal crime but did not acknowledge her role in the shooting of thousands of wild mares with a restricted-use pesticide.

Roy, of course, is trying to establish her bona fides with the bureaucrats and ranchers, hoping to become the dominant player in the wild horse removal industry.

The National Mustang Association runs cattle on a Utah allotment, consuming forage in areas set aside for wild horses.  Rock solid advocates, those guys, just like CAAWH and dozens of other charlatans.

Most of the wild horses were taken off the Onaqui Mountain HMA in a 2021 roundup and the advocates are now working diligently to make sure the herd never comes back.

A well-defined problem is half solved.  That may be true in some cases, but the other 50% comes from identification of causes, a concept that eludes the wild horse advocates.

For example, a column in today’s edition of The Nevada Independent indicates that tens of thousands of privately owned livestock graze on allotments overlapping the Pancake Complex in Nevada, an area identified for wild horses, yet only 638 such animals are allowed to live there.

This pattern occurs throughout the western U.S. not because the BLM failed to create HMAPs, as suggested by the author, but because it’s specified in the land-use plans.

HMAPs must comply with LUPs.  If the LUP assigns 84% of the authorized forage to privately owned livestock in an area set aside for wild horses, so will the HMAP.

Drilling and mining affect anywhere from a few acres to a few thousand acres, not mentioned by the writer, while public-lands ranching devours entire HMAs and beyond.  There’s no comparison.

As for the advocates, articles like this keep their base fired up and the donations rolling in, while accomplishing nothing useful for America’s wild horses.

RELATED: The Truth About HMAPs.

It defies the overpopulation and carrying capacity narratives.

You can’t be telling the American people that public lands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand acres (27,000 animals on 27 million acres) while the Virginia Range is carrying ten (3,000 animals on 300,000 acres).

It must be erased, and the advocates are eager to help.

The population target of 600 animals, mentioned at the March 7 hearing for SB90, means an 80% reduction in herd size, at least, exactly what Velma was trying to stop.

As for the advocates, they are fools.  Don’t give them a penny.

RELATED: Why Oppose SB90?

What would you say about an exterminator that urges you to write your elected officials demanding more and more funding for pest control, which he markets as protection?

Moreover, eradication of the pests from their lawful homes leaves more food and water for their enemies.

That’s the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, evident in this call to action on the propaganda page managed by Lucky Three Ranch.

Totally self-serving!

Nobody trumpets the overpopulation narrative like CAAWH.

File under: Charlatans.

Because it recognizes the Virginia Range as one of the largest humane management programs for wild mustangs, not the origin of Velma’s efforts to protect wild horses.

SB90 is the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses trying to draw attention to itself, to legitimize its anti-horse agenda, a disgrace to Velma’s legacy.

The darting program and those involved are to be eschewed, not glorified.

RELATED: Fur Flies at SB90 Hearing.

No power, no internet, no restoration date.

UPDATE: Back online, much sooner than expected.

Athens attorney Hal Wright may sue the Secretary of Interior, the regional National Park Service office in Atlanta and the state of Georgia, according to a story by The Brunswick News, claiming the horses are not equipped to live on a barrier island.

They compete with native species for a limited amount of food, including sea oats that help anchor sand dunes, and grasses in saltwater marshes, trampling the wetlands and turning the areas into mud pits.

Sound familiar?

Wright wants the Park Service to provide food, water and medical care for the horses.

He suggests darting the mares with a contraceptive and to round up the healthy younger animals and remove them from the island for adoption.

“Let the horses die out naturally and be gone,” he told the reporter, an approach favored by most wild horse advocates, including the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, its affiliates, offshoots and followers.

Last week, a manager with CAAWH described the poisoning of the Virginia Range mares as the world’s largest wild horse conservation program, in testimony before the Nevada Senate Committee on Natural Resources regarding SB90.

In the following video, the advocates see wild horse families being wild and free.

What do you see?

There are no foals, no families.

The natural order has been disrupted.

The mares have been poisoned with a restricted-use pesticide.

The average age of the herd is increasing, along with the death rate.

Females outnumber males by a growing margin.

The Salt River Wild Horse Darting Group is responsible for the destruction, and they want you to pay for it.

They receive support and encouragement from the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, a leader in the wild horse removal industry.

RELATED: Foal-Free Friday, Insulating You from the Truth Edition.

It’s the only item on the agenda.

The preamble designates the Virginia Range as one of the largest humane management programs for wild mustangs, an insult to Velma’s legacy.

Do you think she’d throw in with the advocates as they poison the mares with a restricted-use pesticide?

The Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses proudly supports the bill, according to a story by the Las Vegas Sun.

No surprise.  They are perpetrators of the destruction.

The darting program, now moving into its fifth year, has put many of the mares at risk of sterility.

The bureaucrats and ranchers are following the case with great interest.

RELATED: SB90 Dishonors Virginia Range and Velma’s Legacy.

Fragmented by what?  Livestock fencing?  Cattle guards?  Pasture rotation?

Areas identified for wild horses but subsequently zeroed out are now managed almost exclusively for livestock.

How can you be recognized as an authority on wild horses, raking in untold financial support, yet be so out of touch?

Livestock grazing represents one layer of forage demand on America’s public lands, followed by wild horses and wildlife.

To estimate the carrying capacity of an HMA or WHT, you have to determine the forage assigned to livestock and the number of wild horses displaced thereby.

The Socorro Field Office recently posted a Draft CX for the renewal of five grazing permits in western New Mexico.

Comments can be submitted at the project site through March 12.

Table 1 in the CX provides livestock types, grazing seasons and active AUMs.

The Allotment Master Report at RAS is not working so the management status and public acres were sourced from the Allotment Information Report.

The allotments are not contiguous and don’t overlap any HMAs, but you can still use the data for practice.

The weighted average forage density is 182.5 AUMs per year per thousand public acres, enough to support 182.5 ÷ 12 = 15.2 wild horses per thousand public acres, or 30.4 wild burros per thousand public acres.

Public lands in the western U.S. can only support one such animal per thousand acres according to the BLM (27,000 animals on 27 million acres).

The forage assigned to livestock would support an additional 6,172 ÷ 12 = 514 wild horses.

If the allotments coincided with an HMA that has an AML of 60, the True AML would be 574.

If the current herd was at 4X AML, there would be no excess horses in the HMA but the advocates would try to beat the population down with their favorite pesticide, because they want the ranchers to succeed, not the horses.

RELATED: AMLs and Carrying Capacities.

It’s not ground zero in the wild horse preservation movement.

It’s not the most glaring example in the western U.S. that contradicts the overpopulation narrative and statements by the bureaucrats and ranchers about how many wild horses the land can support.

Instead, the Virginia Range is one of the largest humane management programs for wild mustangs according to the bill text, a product of the Nevada Department of Agriculture and the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses.

Did you know that Velma Johnston advocated for humane management of wild horses, a euphemism for destroying their ovaries with a restricted-use pesticide?

A story posted yesterday by KOLO News said the Nevada Senate Committee on Natural Resources will consider the measure on March 7, consistent with the overview at NELIS.

What’s the major difference between roundups and fertility control programs?

The herds bounce back after roundups.

The advocates tell you that PZP is safe and reversible while GonaCon is a sterilant, but the only difference is timing: GonaCon sterilizes with one or two doses while PZP requires five or six.

Thus, the Montana Solution is to wild horses as the Final Solution was to Jews.

Gradual extermination of the pests.

The advocates refer to it as “a better way.”

The current lull in gather activity, and a roundup schedule dominated by fertility control programs, means the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, its affiliates, offshoots and supporters, are now the undisputed leaders in the wild horse removal industry.

Western Horse Watchers does not expect the pattern to continue, because the ranchers are impatient.

RELATED: Foal-Free Friday, Keeping Them Wild and Free Edition.

“They make us happy, we watch them grow, they have names, they have strong family bonds, we practice birth control and watch over them like mother hens.  They are magnificent creatures.”

As suggested by this letter to The Record-Courier of Minden, NV, they don’t see themselves as part of the problem.

RELATED: Advocates Upset as BLM Traps More Pine Nut Horses.