Table 7 in the Draft EA for resource enforcement actions identifies six grazing allotments that intersect the HMA.

Although the project was sponsored by the Black Rock Field Office, three of them are administered by the Humboldt River Field Office, so you have to run the Allotment Master report in RAS twice [Part 1, Part 2].

How do you find other field offices?  Look on a BLM Nevada map for the Winnemucca District, which was cited in the EA.

Most of the data were sourced from the AM reports, except the percentages inside the HMA, which were given in Table 7.

Three of the allotments are in the Improve category, along with 79% of the public acres.

Forage production in the allotments averages 37.7 AUMs per thousand acres per year, compared to 9.8 AUMs per thousand acres per year for wild horses inside the HMA, suggesting that the land could support more than the 217 horses allowed by plan.

The forage assigned to livestock inside the HMA, 7,394 AUMs per year, is 2.8 times higher than the forage assigned to horses, establishing the HMA as one of the milder cases of wild horse mismanagement.

Ratios of four to eight are often encountered, telling you that the HMAs are not managed principally for wild horses, as specified in the statute.

The calculated allotment area falling inside the HMA, 274,555 acres, is slightly larger than the 264,974 acres assigned to the HMA in Table 1 of the EA.

RELATED: Draft EA for Jackson Mountains Gather Plan Out for Review.

At Sand Wash Basin HMA with Dawn Morrow.

Helicopters will be flying in a few days but the advocates have already done some of the heavy lifting.

The news release dated August 26 by Return to Freedom indicates that hundreds of wild horses have been eliminated “with safe, proven and humane fertility control.”

The announcement says nothing about livestock grazing in the HMA and the large amount of forage assigned thereto.  Why aren’t they telling you about that?

Why aren’t they standing up to the ranchers and their allies in government?

The government will permanently remove 82% of the horses in the area, due to a temporary change in the weather, but a recent video suggests the narrative is false.

With the horses gone, what do you suppose will return to normal as quickly as possible?

RELATED: Return to Freedom Backpedals on Sand Wash Roundup?

The festival would normally be kicking off this weekend in the Black Rock Desert northeast of Gerlach, NV, surrounded by wild horses.

The BLM issued temporary restrictions for the area on August 18, effective through October 31.

RELATED: Burning Man Scrubbed.

A preliminary environmental assessment for resource enforcement actions in the Jackson Mountains HMA was released yesterday for public comment.  The EA was posted with other project documents in ePlanning.

The Proposed Action features gathers to low end of AML, fertility control, IUDs, sex ratio skewing and sterilization of mares, according to Section 2.2.

The plan will be effective for ten years.

The HMA covers 264,974 acres in northern Nevada and the 217 horses allowed by plan receive 2,604 AUMs per year.  The stocking rate allowed by plan is 0.8 wild horses per thousand acres.

The population as of July was thought to be 1,018 per Table 1.

Table 7 shows six grazing allotments that overlap the HMA, along with the percentages falling within.

Comments can be submitted in writing or by email through September 26.

The incident began on August 2.  Gather stats through August 27:

• Horses captured: 1,940, up from 1,718 on Day 24
• Average take: 74.6 horses per day
• Capture goal: 2,200
• Removal goal: 2,200
• Returned: 0
• Deaths: 10, up from 9 on Day 24
• Shipped: 1,809, up from 1,558 on Day 24

A stallion was lost on Day 25 due to injuries sustained in the gather.  The death rate is now 0.5%.

Foals accounted for 17.0% of the horses gathered.  Of the adults, 42.8% were male and 57.2% were female.

Body condition scores were not reported.

The location of gather operations has not been specified.  Four HMAs are involved.

Day 26 ended with 121 unaccounted-for animals.

To date, 690 stallions and 921 mares have been captured, which may or may not reflect the distribution of males and females in the Complex.

Other statistics:

• AML: 789 (across four HMAs)
• Forage assigned to horses: 9,468 AUMs per year
• Pre-gather population: 6,032 plus foals
• Forage liberated to date: 23,280 AUMs per year
• Water liberated to date: 19,400 gallons per day
• Forage assigned to livestock: 72,946 AUMs per year (estimated)
• Horses displaced from HMAs by livestock: 6,079 (12% of off-range holding)
• True AML: 6,868

RELATED: Antelope Roundup Day 24.

He was freed by the advocates and walked away, but later collapsed, according to a story posted this morning by WRAL News of Raleigh, NC.

No longer able to stand, the advocates somehow got him into a trailer and took him to their rescue, where he was put down after treatment.

The case follows another from last month where a mare survived for a year with a leg injury, but was lost after the advocates got involved.

Meanwhile, they’re pumping the mares full of PZP, despite these deaths, and the threat of large-scale losses from hurricanes, as happened to the Cedar Island herd in 2019.

The resolution moved from the Rules Committee to the Natural Resources and Water Committee on August 25, according to the latest status.

No hearings have been scheduled.

The measure would urge the federal government to declare a moratorium on wild horse and burro roundups.

RELATED: AJR-5 Moves to State Senate.

The incident starts on September 1 and will be carried out on a emergency basis, due to insufficient food and water.  The capture goal is 783 wild horses, with 733 removed.

The pre-gather population is thought to be 896, with 362 horses allowed by plan.

Helicopters will push the horses into the traps and the operation will be open to public observation.

Mares returned to the HMA will be treated with fertility control according to the news release but no details were given.

The HMA intersects four grazing allotments and the management plan allocates roughly 79% of the forage to privately owned livestock.  Western Horse Watchers does not know if 82% of those animals will be removed from the HMA in response to a temporary change in the weather, referred to by some as a ‘megadrought.’

Captured animals will be taken to the off-range corrals in Cañon City.

Gather stats and daily reports will be posted to this page.

RELATED: Sand Wash Decision Reached.

The roundup ended with 401 horses captured, three deaths and 398 shipped.

The plan was to put 30 horses back on the HMA, including 18 mares treated with GonaCon, but the gather page shows none.

There may be a 30-day waiting period before the second dose, which may act like a sterilant, can be applied.

RELATED: Stinkingwater Roundup Starts in Two Weeks.

It’s been on back order for several months according to a report posted yesterday by WPTV News of West Palm Beach.

They are signatories to the rancher-friendly ‘Path Forward.’  Why would they oppose the removal of 82% of the wild horses in any HMA?

This is not the time for government to target wild horse herds “that have had a more than five-year investment in a fertility control program,” according to the news release.

Last year, volunteers darted 300 mares in the HMA “with safe, proven and humane fertility control.”

Meanwhile, the management plan assigns 79% of the authorized forage to privately owned livestock—on land set aside for the horses.

These people are clueless.  They are a voice for the ranchers, not the horses.  Why are you still giving them money?

The incident began on August 2.  Gather stats through August 25:

• Horses captured: 1,718, up from 1,575 on Day 22
• Average take: 71.6 horses per day
• Capture goal: 2,200
• Removal goal: 2,200
• Returned: 0
• Deaths: 9, no change from Day 22
• Shipped: 1,558, no change from Day 22

The death rate declined slightly to 0.5%.

Foals accounted for 18.0% of the horses gathered.  Of the adults, 42.8% were male and 57.2% were female.

Body condition scores were not reported.

The location of gather operations has not been specified.  Four HMAs are involved.

Day 24 ended with 151 unaccounted-for animals.

The gap between males and females can’t be explained by a simple random process centered at 50% males / 50% females with n = 1,408 adults.  The expected range of variation can be found with basic statistical formulas.

To date, 603 stallions and 805 mares have been taken from the Complex.  The sex of the foals was not provided.

Other statistics:

• AML: 789 (across four HMAs)
• Forage assigned to horses: 9,468 AUMs per year
• Pre-gather population: 6,032 plus foals
• Forage liberated to date: 20,616 AUMs per year
• Water liberated to date: 17,180 gallons per day
• Forage assigned to livestock: 72,946 AUMs per year (estimated)
• Horses displaced from HMAs by livestock: 6,079 (12% of off-range holding)
• True AML: 6,868

RELATED: Antelope Roundup Day 22.

The map on page 2-34 of the 1992 Three Rivers RMP (page 62 in the pdf) shows two grazing allotments inside the HMA, #7019 and #7021.

They cover 71,648 public acres, according to the Allotment Master report, very close to the 71,554 acres shown for the HMA on page 2-43 of the RMP.

Both are in the Improve category.

The HMA, outlined in brown, appears to be 100% subject to permitted grazing.

The allotments may pre-date the HMA and may have provided a basis for establishing the HMA boundary, which may or may not correspond to the area where horses were found in 1971.

The 64 horses allowed by plan receive 768 AUMs per year, while livestock receive 1,188 + 1,618 + 1,396 = 4,202 AUMs per year.

Would you say the HMA is managed principally for wild horses?  Would you call this a thriving ecological balance?  Livestock receive 5.5 times more forage than the horses.

Are the advocates trying to convince you that the horses are the problem and that the government should be getting rid of them with PZP, not helicopters?

If so, you might want to find a better source of information about wild horses.

RELATED: Palomino Buttes Emergency Roundup Starts Next Week.

An estimated 220 wild horses will be removed from the HMA, starting on August 30, due to inadequate food and water.

A helicopter will push the horses into the traps.  The incident will be open to public observation, according to the news release.

The HMA covers 71,554 acres near Burns, OR and has a forage allocation is 768 AUMs per year, as shown on page 2-43 of the Three Rivers RMP (page 71 in the pdf).  The AML is 64 and the stocking rate allowed by plan is 0.9 wild horses per thousand acres.

The pre-gather population is thought to be around 427.

The map on page 2-34 of the RMP (page 62 in the pdf) suggests that the HMA intersects two grazing allotments, #7019 and #7021.

An EA was not prepared for the roundup and Western Horse Watchers could not find an older one in ePlanning, so more research will be needed to assess the forage allocations and allotment conditions.

Captured animals will be taken to the off-range corrals in Hines.

Gather stats and daily reports will be posted to this page.

The incident ended on August 21 with 213 horses captured, 211 shipped and one death, according to figures at the gather page.

The final number of unaccounted-for animals was one.

The goal was 320 horses captured and 296 removed.

RELATED: Conger Emergency Roundup Starts Next Week.

The incident began on August 2.  Gather stats through August 23:

• Horses captured: 1,575, up from 1,491 on Day 20
• Average take: 71.6 horses per day
• Capture goal: 2,200
• Removal goal: 2,200
• Returned: 0
• Deaths: 9, up from 6 on Day 20
• Shipped: 1,558, up from 1,467 on Day 20

Three foals were put down on Day 21 due to pre-existing conditions, raising the death rate to 0.6%.

Foals accounted for 18.4% of the horses gathered.  Of the adults, 42.2% were male and 57.8% were female.

Body condition scores were not reported.

Day 22 ended with 8 unaccounted-for animals.

The gap between males and females continues to increase.  The observed percentages can’t be produced by a random process centered at 50% males / 50% females with n = 1,285 adults.  The expected range of variation is found with basic statistical formulas.

To date, 542 stallions have been taken from the Complex, with 743 mares.  The sex of the foals was not provided.

Other statistics:

• AML: 789 (four HMAs involved)
• Forage assigned to horses: 9,468 AUMs per year
• Pre-gather population: 6,032 plus foals
• Forage liberated to date: 18,900 AUMs per year
• Water liberated to date: 15,750 gallons per day
• Forage assigned to livestock: 72,946 AUMs per year (estimated)
• Horses displaced from HMAs by livestock: 6,079 (12% of off-range holding)
• True AML: 6,868

RELATED: Antelope Roundup Day 20.

When the roundup ended, the government admitted that its narrative was false.

Was it an attempt to shield the public-lands ranchers from the effects of a temporary change in the weather?

Refer to this column in today’s edition of CounterPunch.

Western Horse Watchers believes the forage allocation to livestock—19,592 AUMs per year—represents a resource assigned to the ten allotments that intersect the HMA, not the amount of that resource inside the HMA.  Some of those AUMs are outside, and, technically, off limits to wild horses.

Unfortunately, the BLM did not provide the percentages of the allotments inside the HMA, so a ‘Short End of Stick’ report is not possible.

A guesstimate of the horses displaced by livestock, and the True AML, were computed in this post about the Onaqui allotments.

The True AML represents the number of wild horses or burros that an area can support if it was managed principally for those animals, as specified in 16 USC 30.

RELATED: Onaqui Debate Simmers.

The incident began on August 15.  Gather stats through August 21:

• Horses captured: 401, up from 364 on Day 5
• Average take: 57.3 horses per day
• Capture goal: 420
• Removal goal: 390
• Returned: 0
• Deaths: 3, up from 2 on Day 5
• Shipped: 398, up from 362 on Day 5

Western Horse Watchers misread the report for August 19: It said gather operations ended early, not that they were over.  The final day was August 21.

A stallion was put down on Day 6 due to blindness, lifting the death rate to 0.7%.

Foals accounted for 25.7% of the horses gathered.  Of the adults, 44.6% were male and 55.4% were female.

Body condition scores were fours and fives.

Day 7 ended with no unaccounted-for animals.

Other statistics:

• AML: 80
• Forage assigned to horses: 960 AUMs per year
• Pre-gather population: 449
• Forage liberated to date: 4,812 AUMs per year
• Water liberated to date: 4,010 gallons per day
• Forage assigned to livestock: 8,455 AUMs per year (estimated)
• Horses displaced from HMA by livestock: 705
• True AML: 785

RELATED: Stinkingwater Roundup Day 5.

The management plan for Beatys Butte HMA allows a stocking rate of 0.6 wild horses per thousand acres at the upper end of AML.  Anything above that will degrade the land.

The management plan at Stinkingwater HMA allows 0.9 wild horses per thousand acres but anything more will degrade the range, or so we’re told.

The management plan at Sand Wash Basin HMA allows a generous 2.3 wild horses per thousand acres but anything higher is not sustainable.

The target rate across all HMAs is one wild horse per thousand acres (27,000 animals on 27 million acres).  The on-range population of 85,000 must be reduced immediately to save the land from total destruction.  The stocking rate has exceeded the limit by a factor of three!

The management plan at Beatys Butte allows a stocking rate of 6.9 cow/calf pairs per thousand acres, twelve times higher than the rate for horses, as shown in this report.

The management plan at Stinkingwater allows a stocking rate of 15.5 cow/calf pairs per thousand acres, sixteen times higher than the rate for horses, as shown in this report.

The management plan at Sand Wash Basin allows 16.2 cow/calf pairs per thousand acres, seven times higher than the rate for horses, as shown in this report.

Given that livestock usually don’t graze on entire allotments but in subsets known as pastures, the short-term rates are even higher.

Wild horses are destroying the range at stocking rates in the low single digits, but double-digit stocking rates for livestock are not?

You can’t have it both ways.

This would explain why almost 60% of the BLM grazing land in ten western states, most of it off limits to wild horses, does not meet standards for rangeland health.