There must be a mistake.  A post from today appeared in Bing search results…today.

“We have spoken to the developers and it won’t happen again.”

A condition on some Herd Management Areas where a nominal amount of the available forage—at least 60%—is allocated to privately owned cattle and sheep, with the balance going to wildlife and free-roaming horses.

If this is true, why aren’t they calling for an end to public-lands ranching?  Instead of ‘Ten Years to AML,’ it’s ‘Cattle-Free by ’23.’

Refer to this story in Drovers, posted yesterday.  Those 237 horses were ‘relocated,’ not  ’rounded up’ or ‘removed from their home range.’

Changing the vocabulary and redefining terms, to hide something evil or unpleasant, are sure signs that liberals are involved.

Abortion is not baby murder, it’s ‘women’s health’ or ‘family planning.’

Shooting wild mares in the ass with contraceptive darts is not harassment, it’s ‘humane management.’

RELATED: Red Rock Gather Complete.

The Antelope Complex in eastern Nevada includes the Antelope HMA, Antelope Valley HMA, Goshute HMA and the infamous Spruce-Pequop HMA, site of a wild horse shooting in August 2018.

A roundup begins this week at the Antelope and Antelope Valley HMAs so let’s see how resources will be allocated once the gather plan has been fully implemented.

The ranchers and their allies want AMLs achieved ASAP, you know.

The complex, which covers 1,183,340 acres, has a combined AML of 789 wild horses, according to Table 1.  The forage demand would be 9,468 AUMs per year and the target population density would be 0.7 animals per thousand acres.

The average density for all HMAs is one animal per thousand acres.

The four HMAs are overlapped by 31 grazing allotments per Table 8.  The forage allocation for livestock inside the complex can be estimated as the sum of 31 AUM fractions, each based on the percentage of the allotment falling inside the complex.

For example, the Boone Springs allotment, which is permitted for 2,947 AUMs per year, lies entirely within the complex.  Therefore, it contributes 2,947 AUMs per year to domestic livestock grazing.  Only 5% of the Cherry Creek allotment falls within the complex, so it contributes just 454 AUMs per year to privately owned livestock.

The total forage contribution is 72,946 AUMs per year.

The AUM fractions can be converted to cow/calf pairs by dividing them by the annual grazing periods.  The Boone Springs allotment is active for five months.  Therefore, it can accommodate 2,947 ÷ 5 = 589 cow/calf pairs.  The Cherry Creek allotment, active for 12 months per year, can host 38 cow/calf pairs.  (Wild horses and cow/calf pairs are said to be equivalent in terms of their resource loading.)

The total number of cow/calf pairs is 10,429, which yields a planned population density of 8.8 cow/calf pairs per thousand acres.  (The weighted-average grazing period across all 31 allotments is 7 months per year.)

These figures are presented in the following charts.

Another fine example of ‘thriving ecological balance,’ on land set aside for the horses!

A Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), one of the steps in approving plans like this one, must pertain to everything but wild horses.

The forage allocated to livestock in those 31 allotments, 124,466 AUMs per year (inside and outside the complex), would support 10,370 wild horses, about 1/8 of those roaming freely on public lands in the western U.S.

That these and other lands can only support 27,000 wild horses and burros is pure BS.

RELATED: Roundup Starts Next Week in Lower Half of Antelope Complex.

The world is circling the drain because the Church is circling the drain.

The mission of the Public Lands Foundation, according to the statement on the first page of their Summer 2019 Newsletter, is to keep America’s public lands in public hands, which, of course, means keeping them in the hands of the federal government.

The belief is explained in a position statement.  Political orientation: Liberal.

The organization has many members who have retired from the BLM, according to the page with other position statements.  Where do they come down on other issues?

Centralized Government – PLF opposes the relocation of the BLM headquarters from Washington, D.C. to Grand Junction, CO, which is consistent with the principle of subsidiarity.  Political orientation: Liberal.

Climate Change – “…the warming of the Earth’s climate system is unequivocal as is now evident from observations of global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level,” according to their position statement.  Political orientation: Liberal.

Wind and Solar – PLF says they are needed to alleviate greenhouse gas emissions from traditional energy conversion technologies.  Political orientation: Liberal.

Illegal Immigration – PLF believes that policies should be changed so illegal aliens can enter the country legally “…through established ports of entry…instead of…crossing fragile public lands on foot and in vehicles.”  Political orientation: Liberal.

Public-Lands Ranching – PLF supports it.  They are as hostile to WHB as the ranchers, see item 7 on page 4 of their position statement.

Wild Horses and Burros – PLF believes the “WHB program is unsustainable” and that roundups should be increased “…to achieve AML as soon as practical, selling, without limitation, un-adopted WHBs that have been gathered.”

How would you classify the last two statements, given they were written by a left-leaning organization located just outside of Washington D.C.?  How closely do they correspond to the beliefs of current BLM administrators and staff?

Off-range corrals are flooded with wild horses and burros because the WHB Act no longer affords the protections sought by Velma.

The original Act, which passed unanimously in Congress, reflected the will of the American people.  The current Act reflects the will of the public-lands ranchers.

It’s time to boot the ranchers off public lands and restore the Act to its original form.

Let them buy their own land, like everybody else, pay market rates for grazing their livestock, and stop sucking on the government teat.

A story posted today by Oregon Public Broadcasting says it could happen as early as next month at the Off-Range Corrals in Hines.

“The BLM has long been under pressure to bring down horse herd numbers across 10 Western states,” according to the report, “without resorting to slaughter.”

So who’s applying the pressure?

Oil companies?

Mining companies?

Timber companies?

Nope, none of the above.  It’s all being done to please the public-lands ranchers, their overlords, cheerleaders and political allies.

RELATED: BLM Abandons Wild Horse Sterilization Research.

That’s what Ethan Lane, executive director of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the Public Lands Council, told a Senate Subcommittee on 07/16/19.  Refer to this story in the Natural Resource Report.

He said public lands in the western U.S. can only support 26,000 wild horses and burros, compared to the current population of 88,000 animals.

If that’s true, how do you explain the millions of privately owned cattle and sheep on those same lands?

There is no wild horse population crisis on western rangelands, only deceit and greed of the public-lands ranchers, their cheerleaders and political allies.

RELATED: Executive Summary of Senate Hearing on WHB Program.

If $1.35 per AUM (4.5¢ per day) is a fair price to charge the public-lands ranchers, why is the BLM paying $60 per AUM ($2 per day) for horses in long-term holding?

Probably because $60 represents the market rate, which means the ranchers are getting a sweetheart deal.  That needs to change because many of those horses were forced off the range to pacify the ranchers.

Given that roughly nine million AUMs are sold to the ranchers annually, the additional revenue—at a fee of $60 per AUM—would amount to $528 million per year, a nice offset to the costs of the WHB program.

RELATED: 2019 Grazing Fee Announced.

Several Palestinian delegates were invited to speak before the Subcommittee about the future of the Jewish state.  They recommended the following actions:

1. Get the occupiers off the disputed territory.
2. Give their land to us.
3. Declare the Resolution of 1971 null and void.

Jewish delegates were excluded from the hearing.  Rebuttals were not allowed and policies that benefit the Palestinians were not discussed.

Where’s the thriving ecological balance and multiple-use relationship?

How many senators will fall on their swords to advance the Palestinian cause?

A better option from a political viewpoint—one that may win more voter support—is to put the Palestinians out of business: End public-lands ranching.

RELATED: Senate Hearing Today on Future of WHB Program.

The Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests and Mining will meet at 2:30 PM EDT to consider options for long-term management of wild horses and burros on public lands in the western U.S.

Proceedings will be livestreamed on the committee’s web site, starting at approximately 2:15 PM, according to the announcement.

The witness list suggests that testimony will be heard mostly from representatives of the public-lands ranchers and individuals with sympathies thereto.

A fine example of government catering to a special interest against the wishes of the American people.

UPDATE: The archived webcast can be found on this page, hearing begins at 17:25.

The meeting concluded today.  In a nutshell, the task before the Board was to solve the Arab-Israeli conflict by only sanctioning the Israelis.

Public comments were heard after lunch.  Notably absent were representatives of oil, mining and timber companies.

• There were no hikers or campers complaining about wild stallions coming into their camps to steal mares
• There were were no roughnecks or pipefitters demanding that wild horse numbers be reduced to AML immediately
• There were no backhoe operators and truck drivers suggesting that ovaries be ripped out of mares to control herd size
• There were no riggers and loggers pushing for alternatives to nonlethal methods if population control is not achieved in a reasonable timeframe

But shills for the public-lands ranchers did all of those things.

Where’s the common ground, the two-state solution?

There isn’t any.

RELATED: WHBAB Day 2: Faulty Premise.

Much of the discussion today focused on getting wild horses and burros off western rangelands and what to do with them once they’re gone: Achieving AML, adoptions, sales, off-range holding, training, partnerships, volunteering.

Nobody wanted to talk about the driver of these things, namely, public-lands ranching, as if it was a given, self evident, unchanging.

Figures were presented on the land available to wild horses and burros and the number of them that it can support, but nobody could provide the number of AUMs allocated to domestic livestock on those same lands.

You can’t have a conversation about wild horses and burros on public lands without having a conversation about privately owned cattle and sheep.

This is the problem with the WHB program: Too many administrators have bought into the overpopulation narrative, not because it’s true but because they believe land set aside for horses and burros should be managed primarily for cattle and sheep.

RELATED: WHBAB Meeting Starts Today.

UPDATE: This syndicated report by AP News shows what’s being fed to the public.

News outlets are reporting a magnitude 7.1 earthquake—about five times stronger than the one that occurred yesterday—near Ridgecrest, CA, location of BLM’s Regional Wild Horse and Burro Corrals.

Earthquake scales are logarithmic.  Magnitude 7 is ten times stronger than magnitude 6 and 100 times stronger than magnitude 5.  The earthquake of July 4th had a magnitude of 6.4 (scale unknown) and the one on July 5th was reported as 7.1.  To compute the strength ratio, take the difference in magnitude and use it as an exponent of ten:

10 ^ (7.1 – 6.4) = 5.0

Note that the ‘strength’ of an earthquake depends on the method of measurement.

Same for any other physical quantity, such as global temperature, or the number of wild horses in the Twin Peaks HMA.

This is very important if you have an agenda: Change the method, get a new number.

RELATED: Earthquake Near WHB Corrals?

That’s what a public-lands rancher pays the federal government to graze a cow-calf pair on western rangelands for six months.

Try feeding your horse for that, or your cat.

The State Director in Utah for the Humane Society of the United States responded on Sunday to a critique in Deseret News about the ‘forward-thinking’ management plan for wild horses announced on 04/22/19.

It’s a win-win according to the letter:

• Large-scale roundups will be phased out in ten years
• Off-range corrals will be emptied
• Slaughter will be avoided

Yeah, because most of the horses will be gone and the remaining herds will be sterilized, temporarily or permanently.

Surrender to the cattlemen.  It’s the only viable solution, given the political realities.

Horse feathers!

Velma saved the mustangs.  It’s time to finish the job by saving their land.

End public-lands ranching, along with the massive bureaucracy that supports it.

RELATED: Save a Wild Horse: Don’t Give the ASPCA or HSUS a Penny.

A letter to the editor of High Country News, posted 06/24/19, says livelihoods are at risk because of unmanaged heavy grazing of wild horses and burros on public lands.

The process is turning them into deserts according to the writer.

Yep, it’s getting harder and harder to make a living off public lands in the western U.S., especially when the government spends tens of millions of dollars every year to make you as successful as possible on land you don’t own, almost as if you’re an illegal alien.

Livestock grazing on public lands is the most cost-effective wildfire prevention tool, according to Ethan Lane, executive director of the Public Lands Council and guest speaker at the mid-year conference of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association.

He noted that livestock consume large amounts of highly combustible grass and other forage at no cost to the taxpayers, but gave no indication that they might be a factor in overgrazing and rangeland degradation…at least not in the report by Capital Press.

You see, wild horses and burros are responsible for that.

Lane said that cattle grazing was not a significant contributor to global warming, suggesting that he believes in the hoax but doesn’t think the industry should be a target of the emissions police.

He indicated that there were 88,000 wild horses and burros on western rangelands and 50,000 in off-range facilities but did not mention they were outnumbered twenty to one by domestic livestock.

The forage allocated to privately owned cattle and sheep on public lands in the western U.S. (about nine million AUMs annually) would support at least 750,000 wild horses and burros, enough to empty all of those off-range facilities fifteen times over.

You want cost savings?  End public-lands ranching.