The bill would not significantly affect the park’s operations and staffing according to a cost estimate by the Congressional Budget Office.
Category: Range
On the range
BLM Publishes Callaghan Final Planning Documents
The Decision Record authorizes Alternative A, the Proposed Action, minus the IUDs and surgical sterilization.
The selected alternative, discussed in section 2.3 of the Final EA, also includes forcible removal to low AML, fertility control treatments and sex ratio skewing.
The new HMAP is presented in Appendix XIII.
All documents can be found in the project folder.
The news release did not indicate if the plan was subject to a 30-day appeal period but the DR suggests it is.
RELATED: Callaghan EA Out for Review.
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
A Century of Kicks
Route 66 turns 100 this year.
Sixty to seventy percent of travelers interviewed by the author of a new book point to Oatman as one of their favorite stops according to a story by KPNX News.
The report did not indicate if any visitors had been kicked by the burros.
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
Chincoteague Herd Loses Stallion and Mare
The stallion died of natural causes. He was not one of the top producers in 2025.
The mare slipped on ice and broke her neck.
The report by WBOC News did not indicate if any foals had been born in 2026.
Known for its abnormal sex ratio and unprecedented birth rate, the saltwater cowboys have engineered the herd for maximum revenue at the annual pony swim and auction.
RELATED: Chincoteague Mare Found Dead.
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
Moonfire Monday
He’s not supposed to be there.
He made the population larger, the opposite of what the advocates are trying to achieve with their mass sterilization program.
How much longer before they put his mom on GonaCon?
Hitting the population target and proving their pesticide prowess is job #1 at the Salt River.
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
Forest Service Abandoning Black Mountain WHT?
The herd is so small that it’s in danger of becoming extinct according to an article by the New Times of San Luis Obispo.
A retired ranger from the Los Padres National Forest, home of the WHT, said she’s recommending and hoping that the Forest Service lets it die out.
Western Horse Watchers was unable to find a map of the territory but believes it’s located at the northern end of the Santa Lucia Ranger District based on remarks about a radar dome on page 45 (55 in the pdf) of the land management plan for the forest.
The WHT is not subject to permitted grazing.
The Forest Service does not post AOIs for neighboring allotments so it’s not possible to determine if the target stocking rate (20 horses on 13,3215 public acres) is reasonable.
Objective LG 3 in the management plan says the WHT remains suitable and sustainable over the long term but that was from 2005.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
Wild Horse and Burro Adoptions and Sales Jumped in FY25
Despite cancellation of the AIP, 8,080 animals were placed into private care last year, up 20% from FY24, according to a BLM blog post.
The report did not indicate how many animals were removed from public lands during the same period and if the off-range inventory was rising or falling.
RELATED: Court Halts AIP.
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
Allotment Status in Carlsbad Field Office
The allotment information report at RAS yielded 275 allotments covering 1,964,564 public acres.
The system put 24% of the allotments in the Improve category along with 40% of the public acres.
Nearly 39% of the allotments and 54% of the public acres were in the Maintain category.
Approximately 36% of the active AUMs fell into Improve, with 58% in Maintain.
Results have been summarized in this table:
| Category | Allotments | Public Acres | Active AUMs | AUMs / 1000 Ac | Equiv Horses | Horses / 1000 Ac |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Custodial | 103 | 128,587 | 24,360 | 189.4 | 2,030 | 15.8 |
| Improve | 66 | 778,386 | 135,887 | 174.6 | 11,324 | 14.5 |
| Maintain | 106 | 1,057,591 | 222,252 | 210.1 | 18,521 | 17.5 |
| Tot / Avg | 275 | 1,964,564 | 382,499 | 194.7 | 31,875 | 16.2 |
The results suggest that forage production and carrying capacity are greatest where standards for rangeland health have been achieved.
The original dataset and pivot tables can be found in this spreadsheet.
RELATED: Abundant Forage in Carlsbad Field Office.
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
Wild Horses and Burros Threaten Red Rock Sunflower?
The story takes place in the Calico Basin of the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, west of Las Vegas.
Climate change, groundwater pumping and heavy visitor traffic aggravate the situation according to the news release.
A petition calls for protection of the flower as a threatened or endangered species.
The Red Rock HMA borders the project area, which includes deeded acreage, on the west side.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
Forest Service Lifts Salt River Closure Order
The termination order went into effect on January 28.
The notice was posted by AZDA not USFS.
RELATED: Virus Detected in Salt River Herd.
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
Volunteers Needed for WHBAB
The BLM and Forest Service seek nominations for six positions on the Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board, three currently vacant and three to become vacant in September, according to today’s news release.
The agencies will host a webinar on March 11 to explain the process.
Board members serve three-year terms and meet one to four times per year.
The last meeting was in January 2025.
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
Mustang Monday
Horses have the day off. At or near the Lake Pleasant HMA with Get Out And Go.
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
2026 Grazing Fee Announced
The new fee, effective March 1, is $1.69 per AUM, up from $1.35 in 2025.
The BLM news release said changes to the fee cannot exceed 25% of the previous year’s price, which is the case this year.
For comparison, the price of alfalfa-grass hay this week was $27 per bale, 20 bales minimum, putting the cost of feed at $135 per AUM (five bales per horse per month).
RELATED: CRS Publishes FAQ for Livestock Grazing on Public Lands.
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
Abundant Forage in Carlsbad Field Office
An environmental assessment for grazing permit renewals says in section 1.1 that the field office authorizes 380,544 active AUMs on 1,947,890 federal acres, equivalent to 16.3 wild horses per thousand federal acres.
Your faithful public servants claim that public lands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand acres.
The EA did not indicate how many of the acres were in the Improve category.
Comments on the project will be accepted through February 14.
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
Would O’Keeffe Individual Make a Good Wild Horse Preserve?
The BLM will extend the season of use by two months to test virtual fencing and targeted fall grazing according to yesterday’s news release.
The authorization use report shows the current season.
The allotment, located between the town of Adel and Beatys Butte HMA, offers 4,808 AUMs on 51,785 public acres, equivalent to 7.7 wild horses per thousand public acres.
The allotment master report puts it in the Improve category, probably because it’s in a priority management area for greater sage-grouse, not because of the exceptional stocking rate.
Your faithful public servants claim that rangeland health will suffer if wild horse populations exceed AML, which corresponds to a stocking rate of one wild horse per thousand acres.
There is only one permittee, suggesting that grazing privileges can be obtained through one base property, which may correspond to some or all of the private acreage inside the allotment.
With an estimated carrying capacity of 400 wild horses, the project might be worth a closer look—if the base property is offered for sale along with the permit.
Wild horses can be placed on public lands not identified for their use by acquiring base properties tied to grazing allotments and flipping the preference to horses.
The advocacy groups could have special funds for such efforts.
Instead, they use your donations to buy pesticides so they can beat the horse numbers down in favor of livestock.

RELATED: Key Indicators for New Wild Horse Preserves.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
BLM Monitoring the Situation at Alkali Hot Springs?
If you’re not up to speed on the case watch yesterday’s episode of Mustang Monday.
Nevada is a fence-out state.
The fence around the property should meet the requirements of NRS 569.431.
If the agency receives complaints about the horses and burros and determines that they’re damaging property or posing a safety hazard to the construction crew, it may order a roundup.
They won’t capture the animals and take them back to their HMAs.
They’ll be permanently removed from the range.
The property is not in an area identified for their use.
RELATED: Will Greenlink West Pass Through Alkali Hot Springs?

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Will Greenlink West Pass Through Alkali Hot Springs?
The right-of-way zigzags to the northwest about two miles west of Alkali according to map 11 in Attachment B, one of the appendices to the Final EIS.
The map shows a laydown yard in Goldfield but not Alkali.
RELATED: Wild Horses and Burros Losing Access to Alkali Hot Springs?

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Mustang Monday
An update from Alkali Hot Springs by Desert Water.
One of the horses gets caught in the new fence. Not pretty.
RELATED: Wild Horses and Burros Losing Access to Alkali Hot Springs?
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
Wild Horses and Burros Losing Access to Alkali Hot Springs?
A fence has been built around the property as a part of its conversion to a laydown yard for NV Energy’s Greenlink West project.
Runoff from the spring will go under the fence as shown in the following video but access to the other water holes will be cut off.
The Esmeralda County assessor does not show any sales history for the property.
The APN is 006-261-05 and the current owner is HRH NEVADA RESOURCES, LTD.
The parcel map shows one 80-acre tract, 1,320 ft × 2,640 ft, minus 3.48 acres for Silver Peak Road.
Most of the new transmission line will run across BLM land.
The Decision Record and Final EIS can be found in the NEPA review by clicking on the Documents link near the top of the page.
A map in the January construction report shows the portion near Alkali as Segment 2.
RELATED: Wild Horses and Burros at Alkali Hot Springs?
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
Would North Clarks Valley Make a Good Wild Horse Preserve?
The allotment is too small but nearly 1,500 acres will be treated for cheatgrass next year according to a BLM news release.
Your faithful public servants claim that rangeland health will deteriorate if wild horse populations exceed one animal per thousand acres but the allotment supports livestock equivalent to three wild horses per thousand acres and it’s in the Maintain category.
The Range Creek HMA, with a target stocking rate of 2.9 wild horses per thousand public acres, is a few miles to the east.
RELATED: Suitability of Allotments for Wild Horse Preserves.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
