The horses, many of them privately owned, roam on private property across nine counties in eastern Kentucky.  Video segues to 30-second ad at 1:52.

RELATED: Free-Roaming Horses of the Appalachian Coal Mines.

The self-annointed conservation group said today in a news release that it signed the letter endorsing the BLM’s increased use of roundups and fertility control for wild horse and burro management, noting the agency’s commitment to “gather and sterilize 22,000 wild horses and burros across the western U.S. in coming years,” which, of course, is wrong.

The goal is to capture 22,000 such animals in FY 2022 and remove 19,000 from their home range.

That’s between now and September 30.

They don’t even know what they’re supporting.

Western Horse Watchers was unable to determine if the group advocates for all wildlife, including wolves, mountain lions and coyotes, or only the species that fit their agenda.

The announcement indicated that horses and burros, as non-native invasive species, compete with native wildlife and can cause damage to resources and habitat, but was silent on the effects of other non-native species, such as privately owned cattle and sheep, which far outnumber the horses and burros and graze in the same areas.

RELATED: CSF Endorses FY 2022 Resource Enforcement Goals.

On Assateague Island with Margaret Long.

Now they have to be looking over their shoulders for the advocates.

They must sense that something is wrong.  There are few if any youngsters and the herd is getting smaller, not because of the Montana Solution, but because of predators.

RELATED: (Un)Intended Consequences of Wild Horse Management?

The herd will cross the channel in late July, followed by the pony auction, according to a story posted yesterday by Delmarva Now.

Curiously, the incident is not mentioned at the web site of the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company, managers of the herd.

RELATED: Chincoteague Pony Auction Sets Another Record.

Behind-the-scenes footage from the February 23 episode of NATURE, streaming through March 23.

RELATED: PBS to Look at American Horses.

Operations resumed on February 12, according to the gather page.  No activity has been reported since February 16.

Fifty five animals have been trapped to date, with none shipped and no deaths.

The capture and removal goals are identical, 80 each.

The cumulative total includes 38 jacks, 14 jennies and three foals.

Youngsters represented 5.5% of the burros captured.

Of the adults, 73.1% were male and 26.9% were female.

Body condition scores were not provided.

The location of the trap site was not specified.

Roughly half of the HMA is subject to permitted grazing, as shown on the Western Watersheds map, and the AML corresponds to about 28% of the authorized forage.

The incident was not announced at the BLM news site but it does appear on the FY 2022 roundup schedule.

Animals outside the HMA on private lands are targeted.

Last year, 481 animals were removed from the area, according to figures at the gather page.  The event has not been marked complete and no such announcement has been posted by the BLM.

The project appeared today at ePlanning.  No documents have been posted and there are no opportunities for public comments at this time.

An announcement soliciting public input for the scoping phase of the project may or may not be posted to the BLM news site.

The Complex includes three HMAs in western Utah.

The HMAs are subject to permitted grazing, as shown on the Western Watersheds map.

The Proposed Action would remove excess horses until the herds are at the low end of their AMLs and apply fertility control to reduce growth rates thereafter, according to the project description.

The incident began on February 20.  Gather stats through February 23:

• Target: Horses
• Type: Planned
• Method: Bait
• Captured: 15
• Average daily take: 3.8
• Capture goal: 70
• Removal goal: 39
• Returned: None
• Deaths: None
• Shipped: 13

The cumulative total includes 5 stallions, 8 mares and 2 foals.

Youngsters represented 13.3% of the horses captured, consistent with a growth rate of 8% per year.  Land managers often use a rate of 20% per year to predict herd sizes.

Of the adults, 38.5% were stallions and 61.5% were mares.

Body condition scores ranged from three to five.

The location of the trap site within the HMA was not provided.

Day 4 ended with two unaccounted-for animals.

The number of horses removed to date is 15.

Mares returned to the HMA will be treated with fertility control of unspecified type.

Other statistics:

• AML: 253
• Forage assigned to horses: 3,036 AUMs per year
• Pre-gather population: 224
• Forage liberated to date: 180 AUMs per year
• Water liberated to date: 150 gallons per day
• Forage assigned to livestock: 9,756 AUMs per year (estimated)
• Horses displaced from HMA by permitted grazing: 813
• True AML: 1,066
• Stocking rate at new AML: 6.9 wild horses per thousand public acres
• Horses displaced from HMA by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

RELATED: Challis Roundup in Progress.

The Park Service said in a news release yesterday that 121 horses were living on the barrier island at the end of 2021, up from 117 at the end of 2020.

The growth rate was 3.4%.

Eleven foals were counted and seven deaths were reported.

The average lifespan was eleven years and no mares were treated with contraceptives in 2021, according to the annual report.  Fertility control was introduced in 2000.

The herd was 39% male and 61% female, a characteristic observed in other areas where the Montana Solution has been applied for an extended period.

RELATED: Shackleford Herd Grows In Latest Census.

The House of Representatives is considering two bills that will force the BLM to keep the herds under control, according to a report posted today by Wyoming Public Media.

A spokesman for the Wyoming Farm Bureau pointed to adverse impacts on large game and sage grouse, even though its mission is to promote farming and ranching.

A reader of the February 17 opinion piece in the Reno Gazette Journal about saving western rangelands notes the arbitrary nature of AMLs and the artificial prices paid by ranchers in a column posted February 22.

RELATED: Save the Land Not the Horses!

The incident began on February 20, according to the gather page.  Eight horses have been captured as of Day 2, with eight shipped and no deaths.

RELATED: Challis Roundup Pending.

Back to Assateague Island with td adventures.  The video owners told Western Horse Watchers in a YouTube comment that they saw no foals during their two-week stay.

Refer to this report by OBX Today.

As the advocates get rid of the horses, other animals move in to fill the void.

Ever notice that?

Filmed on the Virginia Range.

Studs on the Virginia Range can’t understand why their mares aren’t bearing any fruit.

Last horse picked up by this camera was on December 6.  None seen since.

The BLM says roundups are necessary and humane, but more and more members of Congress aren’t buying it, according to the communications director of the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses in a column posted this evening by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Western Horse Watchers hopes that more and more Americans aren’t buying their anti-horse agenda, aimed at replacing helicopter roundups with fertility control programs.

They don’t oppose the removals, only the way they are carried out.  They, and their army of volunteers, are stooges for the public-lands ranchers.

RELATED: Group Uses Pancake Deaths to Sell Montana Solution.

The forage assigned to livestock inside the allotments is known but the forage assigned to livestock inside the HMA is not known.

The preliminary EA is still months away, as noted yesterday, so how do you answer the question?

The management plan assigns 26,337 AUMs per year to livestock across four allotments covering 398,222 public acres, as computed in the post, or 66.1 AUMs per thousand acres per year.

That resource would support 66.1 ÷ 12 = 5.5 wild horses per thousand acres, on top of the 0.9 wild horses per thousand acres allowed by plan.

The total authorized forage inside the HMA, neglecting wildlife, should be able to support 0.9 + 5.5 = 6.4 wild horses per thousand acres, assuming the resource is evenly distributed across the parcels.

The HMA covers 411,636 acres, which may include some non-BLM lands, but a quick estimate of the True AML, the number of animals the HMA could support if it was managed principally for wild horses, is 6.4 × 411,636 ÷ 1,000 = 2,634.

The number horses displaced from the HMA by privately owned livestock is 5.5 × 411,636 ÷ 1,000 = 2,264, about 4.5% of those in off-range holding.

The difference between the two figures, 2,634 – 2,264 = 370 is slightly less than the current AML of 390 due to rounding errors.

In general,

True AML = Current AML + Horses displaced by permitted grazing

RELATED: Cedar Mountain Allotments.

The original inhabitants, thought to be descendants of Sitting Bull’s horses, were removed from the park over 20 years ago.

The current inhabitants are now test subjects for a drug that may act as a sterilant, according to a story by KX News of Bismarck, ND.