Near the Salt River with Paul Garvey.

SORRY, THE PERVERTS AT GOOGLE SENT YOU TO THE WRONG PAGE.

The Palomino Valley Off-Range Holding Facility, destination of wild horses removed from public lands, is about 20 miles north of Sparks on the east side of Highway 445.

The valley, which extends to the southeast, was the site of a rocket engine testing facility owned by the Rocketdyne division of North American Aviation in the 1960s, according to a document provided by the Palomino Valley General Improvement District.

The BLM corrals, not there at the time, are at the intersection of Ironwood Road and Pyramid Highway (445) in the following map.  Ironwood Road may have been moved slightly to the south to eliminate the jog and accommodate a larger holding facility.

The Nevada Field Laboratory, as it was called, was decommissioned in 1970.  Engines for the Gemini and Apollo spacecrafts, tested there, eventually put Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon in 1969 and returned them safely to earth.

A 2014 report by USA Today describes the facility, as well as some of the environmental issues that were found as the area transitioned to a housing development.

A few artifacts remain.  The exhaust tubes, mentioned in the story, are still there.  They were built in Area B of the map above.  Today, the land is owned by Boeing.

Plans for the Valley, post-Rocketdyne, never fully materialized.  Most of the roads are not paved but many of the parcels are 40 acres in size or larger.

Two years ago, a roundup in the area resulted in controversy when privately owned horses were captured and never returned.

UPDATE: More photos of the Rocketdyne facility can be found in this online gallery by the Reno Gazette Journal.

The history brief by NPS shows a population of about 40 horses in 1975 and 155 in 1986.

Plugging those numbers into the growth rate spreadsheet shows the herd was expanding at an average rate of 13.1% per year.

RELATED: Assateague Herd Rebounds in Latest Census.

The Park Service counted 78 horses on the Maryland side of the island in March, up from 73 a year ago, according to a story by WJLA News of Arlington, VA.  The findings were released on socialist media.

The fertility control program was shut off in 2016 but the herd has continued to decline, as seen in this history brief by NPS.  The chart shows an average growth rate of about 13% per year between 1975 and 1986, before the program was started.

The survey found 27 males and 51 females this year, suggesting that the breakdown by sex may be inching closer to normal.

The expected range of variation from a simple random process centered at 50% males / 50% females, with a herd size of 78, is 25.8 to 52.2.  The observed numbers of males and females fall within these limits so the results could be attributed to chance.

Last year’s results were outside of limits.

The increase in herd size this year was due to a larger number of males.

The expected range of variation must be determined by calculation, using basic statistical formulas, where n = 78 and p-bar = .5.

RELATED: Assateague Herd Declines in Latest Census.

The incident started April 3 in the Horse Pasture, North Unit, according to a story posted today by KX News of Bismarck, ND.

The wild horses of TRNP live in the South Unit.

At the Salt River Horse Exhibit with Scouts Trail.

Meanwhile, back on the Virginia Range, the fertility police spent the weekend cleaning their darting rifles, getting ready for another season of population suppression.

Both programs are sponsored by the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses.

You can’t have government telling the people that the land can only support one wild horse per thousand acres when the Virginia Range is carrying ten.

RELATED: Saving the Salt River Horses by Getting Rid of Them.

This story by KGAB AM 650 of Cheyenne includes a panoramic video of some wild horses but does not say where in the state it was filmed or when.

The snowpack in the Northern and Central Sierra peaked at 70 percent of average but rainfall is below 50 percent of average, according to a report by the Department of Water Resources dated April 2.

Given that weather systems generally move from west to east, what does that portend for wild horses and burros living in Nevada, Utah and beyond?

The filly is #3 for 2021, according to a report by WAVY News of Portsmouth, VA.

Breeding patterns are determined by the local ‘advocacy’ group, not the horses.

RELATED: New Currituck Foal Confused About Mom?

The government opted for Alternative 1, the Proposed Action, according to the document issued today.

The decision is subject to a 30-day appeal period and the initial roundup would not occur before September.

The gather plan, valid for ten years, includes fertility controls and sex ratio skewing.

The project area is about 90 miles east of Fallon, NV, according to the news release.

RELATED: New Desatoya Gather Plan Available for Review.

The resolution was introduced February 1.  Now in committee.

It would urge the federal government to declare a moratorium on all wild horse and burro roundups and would urge the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service to restore wild horses and burros to their legal areas throughout California.

The writer of an open letter in the Pagosa Daily Post has the answer: Relocate wild horses from areas where they are in conflict with livestock (which is most of them) to remote wilderness areas that are unsuited for livestock grazing.

Although the letter was addressed to DOI Secretary Haaland, she probably doesn’t have the authority to carry it out per Section 1339 of the statute.

Section 1333(a) refers to public lands that sustain existing herds (in 1971) of wild free-roaming horses and burros as “sanctuaries for their protection and preservation.”

On the Salt River with Tina Wooten.

The management plan assigns 363 × 12 = 4,356 AUMs per year to the horses at the upper end of the AML.

The Draft EA for resource enforcement actions in the HMA provides data for livestock grazing in Table 2.1.  Additional information was obtained from the Allotment Master report in RAS.

Livestock receive 19,758 AUMs per year per Table 2.1.  The total authorized forage inside the HMA is 4,356 + 19,758 = 24,114 AUMs per year, neglecting wildlife.

That means the horses can consume up to 18% of the authorized forage, sometimes referred to as ‘their food.’

The proposed action will gather the HMA to the lower end of the AML, leaving around 163 horses.  Growth of the herd will be minimized with contraceptives.

The remaining horses will require 163 × 12 = 1,956 AUMs per year, just eight percent of the authorized forage, on land set aside for them.

AUM curtailments, if any, can be relaxed after the roundup, as forage consumed by ‘excess’ horses shifts back to the ranchers.  This ‘thriving ecological balance’ should prevail for many years, thanks to the fertility control program and its adherents.

The forage assigned to livestock would support an additional 1,645 wild horses, for a True AML of 363 + 1,645 = 2,008.

The current population of 828 is well within this range.

If the HMA was managed principally for wild horses, per the original statute, there would be no need for a roundup and fertility control program.

RELATED: Comments Invited on Draft EA for Sand Wash Gather Plan.

BLM released a preliminary environmental assessment yesterday for wild horse management actions in the Sand Wash Basin HMA over a ten-year period.

The Proposed Action features gathers to the low end of the AML and fertility control treatments to reduce the herd’s growth rate.  Injections could be administered by the automatic darting machine introduced last year, according to the narrative on page 11 of the EA (page 15 in the pdf).

The project area extends well beyond the HMA, as shown on the map in Appendix A.

HMAs to the north have been targeted by the Rock Springs gather plan.

The HMA covers 157,730 acres in northwestern Colorado, including 154,940 acres managed by the BLM.  The AML is 163-362.  The stocking rate at the high end of the AML is 2.3 wild horses per thousand acres.

The current population is thought to be 828 wild horses, according to the news release.

The HMA is subject to permitted livestock grazing, per Table 2.1 in the EA.

The EA says that the nuisance gather started in January is still in progress.

Comments will be accepted through May 2.

BLM requests public input regarding future wild horse management actions in the North Lander Complex, according to a news release issued yesterday.  The land can’t support the current number of horses plus other mandated uses.

The Complex includes four HMAs and covers about 375,000 acres east of Lander, WY.

The AML is 536 and the target stocking rate is 1.4 wild horses per thousand acres.

The current population is thought to be around 1,600 wild horses.

Roundups would be used to achieve the AML.  Methods for slowing growth rates could include castrating or vasectomizing stallions, sex ratio skewing, intrauterine devices for mares and GonaCon, a fertility control drug.

Western Horse Watchers was unable to find the project in ePlanning.

Resource allocations and management priorities, not mentioned in the announcement, can be assessed when an environmental assessment is released.  Presumably, the HMAs are subject to permitted livestock grazing.

Comments can be submitted by email through April 30.

Animal Protection New Mexico has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of those responsible, according to a report by AP News.

Their remains were found near the town of Cloudcroft, in the Lincoln National Forest.

The story did not say if they were free-roaming horses, which are found in the area.

RELATED: Free-Roaming Horses of Lincoln National Forest.

BLM announced yesterday the availability of a preliminary environmental assessment for wild horse and burro management actions in the Lake Mead Complex near Las Vegas, NV.

The Proposed Action, described in Section 2.2.2 of the EA, features roundups over a ten year period and fertility control vaccines.  All wild horses would be removed from the Complex and burros would be removed to the lower end of their AML.

The Complex includes three herd areas near the state line.  The BLM map shows HMAs inside the HAs but the EA says only one of them has an AML.  Refer to Section 4.3.1.5.

Livestock grazing is not allowed inside the Complex, according to Section 3.1, but the grazing status of surrounding lands was not given.  A keyword search of the EA yielded no occurrences of ‘AUM.’

The AML for wild horses is zero in all three areas.  The AML for burros is zero in Muddy Mountains and El Dorado, and 98 in Gold Butte, per Section 1.2.  However, the HMA page for Muddy Mountains shows an AML of 50.

The aimed-at stocking rate at Gold Butte is 98 ÷ 178,000 × 1,000 = 0.6 wild burros per thousand acres, equivalent to 0.3 wild horses per thousand acres.  The target stocking rate across all HMAs is one wild horse per thousand acres.

A draft FONSI has been posted with the project documents.

Comments will be accepted through April 30.

The story has been picked up by AP News.  The plan calls for the removal of 3,500 wild horses from five HMAs near Rock Springs, WY.

Another gather plan was announced today, affecting four HMAs east of Lander, WY.

RELATED: Aim of Rock Springs Gather Plan.