Western Horse Watchers Association
Exposing the Hypocrisy, Lies and Incompetence of the Wild Horse Advocates
Opinion
Here is the headline on Drudge. The link pointed to a story by CNBC.
They couldn’t agree on the best way to depopulate the planet?
UP NEXT: Tensions increase as government, ranchers and advocacy groups can’t agree on the best way to get rid of wild horses.
RELATED: Double Standards in the Wild Horse World.
Why would you want to do that?
So they can be moved from places where they’re not wanted.
Not wanted by whom? Most Americans want these animals protected.
Ranchers.
Where to?
Remote wilderness areas not particularly suited to livestock grazing.
Can you corroborate that?
Refer to this opinion piece dated April 30 in the Pagosa Daily Post and this column in the Ag Information Network.
Why can’t the horses be moved?
It’s not allowed per Section 1339 of the statute.
Would they be safe in their new homes?
Probably not. The writers speak for the ranchers, not the horses.
A trip to the feed store yesterday found empty slots where the dewormer used to be.
Other types, with different active ingredients, were available.
RELATED: FDA Warns Against Use of Ivermectin to Treat Covid.
If ranchers take voluntary non-use of their grazing allotments this year because of insufficient resources, what happens to their animals? Are they confined to deeded acres, known as base properties, and fed at the going rate?
If so, why can’t the ranchers do that year around?
RELATED: BLM Monitoring Dry Conditions in Northern California.
The comment period closed today. Public concerns have not been addressed and a decision has been not been reached. But apparently it’s a done deal.
The governor wants a solution that balances multiple uses, including forage for livestock and habitat for wildlife, according to a report in today’s edition of Sweetwater Now.
A pest control program for wild horses would meet the requirement—and satisfy the special interests that influenced or drafted the governor’s letter.
RELATED: Conflating Rock Springs RMP Amendments and Gather Plan?
Wild horses, like other animals, take their cues from their environment. If a herd is to regulate its own size, it needs a feedback loop that compares the current state of affairs to the desired state of affairs. The larger the gap, the greater the effort to close it.
Some observers have noted that roundups increase reproduction, which makes sense in view of the feedback model. The gap has increased and nature says ‘Fill your niche!’
If you drive a car, you’re already familiar with feedback loops.
The speedometer shows the current state. You compare that to the desired state—the speed limit—and act accordingly. If you’re merging onto a freeway, the gap is large so you ‘put the pedal to the metal.’
Now, suppose you step on the gas but nothing happens. Worse, suppose you hit the gas and the car slows down.
That’s what PZP does to the feedback loop.
A roundup tells the herd to hit the gas while the advocates are stepping on the brakes.
The helicopters and darts are flying not because the carrying capacity of the land has been exceeded but because the resource allocations have been violated. The horses are never allowed to seek their level.
RELATED: Wild Horses Living in Balance with Their Environment?
The agency will celebrate its diamond anniversary in 2021, according to a news release issued last week, with everyone invited to “reimagine your public lands.”
Some in the wild horse world may imagine that the milestone is really the 87th anniversary of the Grazing Service.
In a poll commissioned last year by The Cloud Foundation, 69% of respondents opposed the removal of wild horses from 1.5 million acres of public lands in southern Wyoming to accommodate the oil/gas and livestock industries, according to a report by Cowboy State Daily, an online news service.
The survey likely referred to the Rock Springs RMP amendments, which were instigated by grazing interests, not the oil and gas industry. Four HMAs are affected.
Release of those results coincided with the comment period for wild horse management actions in the same area, affecting five HMAs.
Although both projects target wild horses in the Wyoming Checkerboard, the distinction is not clear in the article.
RELATED: Public Review of Rock Springs Draft EA Ends This Week.
A wild horse herd increases from 200 to 300 animals in three years, a 14.5% annual growth rate. The government removes 100 horses at the end of year three, leaving 200 on the range.
Another herd has 200 wild horses and does not grow over the three year period, thanks to the advocates, who limit the birth rate. At the end of three years there are 200 horses on the range.
Both cases yield the same results. The government got rid of the horses with helicopters while the advocates got rid of them with contraceptives.
The first case is condemned while the second case is acclaimed.
That is the double standard.
Contraceptives can’t shrink a herd from 300 to 200 horses in three years.
They should let the ‘advocacy’ groups do that, according to a letter appearing in today’s online edition of the White Mountain Independent.
This is the double standard of the wild horse world.
The Salt River Wild Horse Management Group and the American Wild Horse Campaign did not team up to oppose the new Heber management plan. They have been in cahoots for several years, taking the Salt River herd from over 100 foals annually to the single digits in 2021.
The event, a population control technique, will be replaced by an online auction this year, according to a story by The Washington Post.
On the other side of the country, the Western States Horse Expo is still scheduled for June 11 – 13.
It’s the second lowest growth rate ever, according to a report posted yesterday by AP News, less than one percent per year (0.72% if you want to split hairs).
How much of the increase was due to illegal immigration?
Social Security is going bust because we’re aborting/contracepting/sterilizing ourselves out of existence.
The same mentality has carried over into the wild horse world, spearheaded by the ‘advocacy’ groups.
Refer to this job posting. Proficiency with a darting rifle not required.
A report by OBX Today says a colt and filly have been added to the herd, with breeding patterns controlled by the local ‘advocacy’ group.
Between four and six foals are born each year, according to the story, roughly equal to the expected number of deaths.
A herd of 100 would lose five horses every year, assuming a 5% death rate.
Left to themselves, a wild horse herd will usually grow.
RELATED: Another Currituck Foal, Wild Horse Growth Rates.
If you shot these horses with darts, you’d probably be charged with animal cruelty.
Not so for the PZP zealots.
They’ve denied about 600 lives this year on the Virginia Range, by their own estimation, pushing the birth rate below the death rate, assuming a 5% loss per year and initial herd size of 3,000. It’s the downslope in this chart.
If the government took 600 wild horses off the range in a roundup, there’d be outrage.
Not so for the PZP zealots. Herd contraction is bad, unless it’s done by them.
These people are getting rid of more wild horses than predators, motorists, drillers, miners and shooters ever could, second only to the government.
Don’t give them a penny.
RELATED: Cutting the Virginia Range Herd Down to Size.
He was reported missing yesterday, according to a story by the CBS affiliate in Denver.
Only four days old.
Rewards are being offered but no details were given.
There’s nothing to cheer about in the proposal, unless you’re a public-lands rancher, but it did out some of the bogus advocacy groups.
The plan will enforce resource allocations already on the books by removing 70% of America’s wild horses and burros from their home range.
RELATED: Cheerleader Groups Endorse New WHB Management Plan.
The site has reverted to mostly white space with a logo and video feed.
The link for creating new accounts is gone.
RELATED: Normal Ops at FRANK?
To receive funding, proposals solicited earlier this week for on-range projects must align with one or more the following requirements:
Nobody in the wild horse world is going to participate in these efforts, except for a few of the ‘advocacy’ groups (see this example).
Proposals would likely come from farm bureaus, stock grower’s associations and public-lands ranchers, who would benefit from the program.
If the goal is to protect wild horses and burros, why not consider these themes?
The total program funding is $500,000, ranging from $1,000 to $100,000 per project.
RELATED: Funding Available for WHB Protection Projects.
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