The incident began on January 16.  Gather stats through January 21:

• Target: Horses
• Type: Planned
• Method: Helicopter
• Captured: 147, up from 93 on Day 3
• Average daily take: 24.5
• Capture goal: 233
• Removal goal: 150
• Returned: 2, up from zero on Day 3
• Deaths: 2, up from 1 on Day 3
• Shipped: 83, up from 9 on Day 3

A stallion was euthanized on Day 5, lifting the death rate to 1.4%.

The cumulative total includes 67 stallions, 61 mares and 19 foals.

Youngsters represented 12.9% of the horses captured, consistent with a herd growth rate of 8% per year, assuming a 5% death rate.

Of the adults, 52.3% were stallions and 47.7% were mares.

Body condition scores were not reported.

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

Two stallions, each blind in one eye, were returned to the HMA on Day 4.  Blindness is usually a fatal flaw for captured horses.

The number of animals shipped includes nine privately owned horses returned to their owner on Day 3.

Day 6 ended with 60 unaccounted-for animals.

Other statistics:

• AML: 180
• Forage assigned to horses: 2,160 AUMs per year
• Pre-gather population: 277
• Forage liberated to date: 1,740 AUMs per year
• Water liberated to date: 1,450 gallons per day
• Forage assigned to livestock: 9,608 AUMs per year (estimated)
• Horses displaced from HMA by permitted grazing: 801
• True AML: 981
• Stocking rate at new AML: 6.1 wild horses per thousand acres
• Horses displaced from HMA by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

RELATED: Desatoya Roundup Day 3.

The incident began on January 11.  Gather stats through January 20:

• Target: Horses
• Type: Planned
• Method: Helicopter
• Captured: 852, up from 713 on Day 7
• Average daily take: 85.2
• Capture goal: 2,060
• Removal goal: 2,030
• Returned: 4, no change from Day 7
• Deaths: 10, up from 9 on Day 7
• Shipped: 797, up from 588 on Day 7

One horse was euthanized on Day 8.  The death rate is 1.2%.

The cumulative total includes 357 stallions, 383 mares and 112 foals.

Youngsters represented 13.1% of the horses captured, consistent with a herd growth rate of 8% per year, assuming a 5% death rate.

Of the adults, 48.2% were stallions and 51.8% were mares.

Body condition scores were not reported.

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

Day 10 ended with 41 unaccounted-for animals.

The number of horses removed to date is 848.  Mares returned to the Complex will be treated with population suppression of unspecified type.

Other statistics:

• AML: 638 (across two HMAs, one WHT and one HA)
• Forage assigned to horses: 7,656 AUMs per year
• Pre-gather population: 3,244
• Forage liberated to date: 10,176 AUMs per year
• Water liberated to date: 8,480 gallons per day
• Forage assigned to livestock: 43,344 AUMs per year (estimated)
• Horses displaced from Complex by permitted grazing: 3,612
• True AML: 4,250
• Stocking rate at new AML: 3.5 wild horses per thousand acres
• Horses displaced from Complex by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

RELATED: Pancake Roundup Day 7.

An announcement appeared yesterday on the BLM news site but now it’s gone.

The project can be accessed at ePlanning, which includes the news release.

The Proposed Action, discussed on page 9 of the EA (page 10 in the pdf), features helicopter roundups, sterilization of up to 95% of captured stallions and returning them to the Complex, IUDs for mares returned to the Complex, treatment of captured mares with GonaCon Equine including those receiving IUDs and skewing the sex ratios to 60% males and 40% females.

Four HMAs would be targeted over a ten-year period: Conant Creek, Rock Creek, Dishpan Butte and Muskrat Basin.  Data for the HMAs are presented in Figure 1.

The Western Watersheds map shows the project area.  All four HMAs are subject to permitted grazing.  Refer to data in Table 2 of the EA.

The news release described the combined AML as “the point at which the wild horse population is consistent with the land’s capacity to support it and other mandated uses of those lands,” code words for privately owned livestock, so the unstated purpose of the project is resource enforcement—get rid of the horses so the ranchers can access all of the AUMs on their permits.

Comments can be submitted online and will be accepted until February 18.

Changes to forage allocations in the Complex cannot be accomplished through a pest control program.  Don’t ask a highway patrol officer to change the speed limit.

The management plan must be amended, which is outside the scope of the project.

RELATED: Scoping for North Lander Gather Plan Begins.

UPDATE: January 20 news release restored.

The roundup was an overwhelming success, according to a BLM spokesman interviewed for a story published today by Cowboy State Daily.

Predictably, Suzanne Roy of the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses said it was a waste of taxpayer money and that the government should be getting rid of the horses with “humane, scientific management,” which she referred to a few weeks ago as the Montana Solution.

The death rate was 0.9%, not 0.009% as stated in the article.

RELATED: Rock Springs Roundup Over?

The gather page says operations concluded on January 17, with 4,161 horses captured, 580 returned and 37 dead.  No activity has been reported since.

An announcement has not appeared at the BLM news site.

The number of animals shipped was not provided.  The total, based on the daily reports, was 3,605.

The number of animals returned cannot be correlated with figures in the daily reports.

The results don’t balance:

4,161 – 580 – 37 – 3,605 = –61

More horses were processed than captured.

The number of horses removed was

4,161 – 580 = 3,581

The capture goal was 4,400 and the removal goal was 3,500.

The pre-gather population was thought to be 5,105, compared to a combined AML of 2,145 for the five HMAs involved—which are managed primarily for livestock.

The advocates wanted the government to cancel the roundup and get rid of the horses with PZP, oblivious to the lopsided resource allocations that put ranching interests far above those of the horses.

The incident was a likely precursor to the Rock Springs RMP Amendments, which will close three of the HMAs and downsize a fourth.

Little Colorado, the fifth HMA subject to the roundup, was not included in the proposed amendments, as it has already been, in effect, zeroed out.

RELATED: Rock Springs Roundup Starts in Two Weeks.

The incident began on January 16.  Gather stats through January 18:

• Target: Horses
• Type: Planned
• Method: Helicopter
• Captured: 93, up from 24 on Day 1
• Average daily take: 31.0
• Capture goal: 233
• Removal goal: 150
• Returned: None
• Deaths: 1, none reported on Day 1
• Shipped: 9, none reported on Day 1

A mare was euthanized on Day 3.  The death rate is 1.1%.

The cumulative total includes 42 stallions, 38 mares and 13 foals.

Youngsters represented 14.0% of the horses captured, consistent with a herd growth rate of 9% per year, assuming a 5% death rate.

Of the adults, 52.5% were stallions and 47.5% were mares.

Body condition scores were not reported.

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

Day 3 ended with 83 unaccounted-for animals.

The nine privately owned horses returned to their owner on Day 3 were placed into the Shipped category.

Other statistics:

• AML: 180
• Forage assigned to horses: 2,160 AUMs per year
• Pre-gather population: 277
• Forage liberated to date: 1,116 AUMs per year
• Water liberated to date: 930 gallons per day
• Forage assigned to livestock: 9,608 AUMs per year (estimated)
• Horses displaced from HMA by permitted grazing: 801
• True AML: 981
• Stocking rate at new AML: 6.1 wild horses per thousand acres
• Horses displaced from HMA by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

RELATED: Desatoya Roundup in Progress.

The Pequop Conservancy sold the property, which straddles I-80 about 60 miles east of Elko, NV, to Ruby IVFR Holdings in the fall of 2021, according to a report posted yesterday by the Elko Daily Free Press.

The deeded acres may consist of checkerboard lands in the highway corridor, similar to the Rock Springs HMAs in Wyoming.  Refer to the image at 1:30 in the following video.

The ranch is north of the Spruce-Pequop HMA, site of the wild horse shootings in 2018 and part of Madeleine Pickens’ Mustang Monument.  Click on map to open in new tab.

The story did not indicate if free-roaming horses are found in and around the ranch.

The privately held acres may qualify as a base property that secures grazing preference to the West Big Springs Allotment.  The permittee is 333 Ranch, which may be a third-party producer of hay and range-fed beef.

Although much of this post is speculation, the price tag tells you that the entrance fee to the world of public-lands ranching is not cheap.

NOTE: The markings on the door and tailgate of the truck at 3:19 indicate 333 Ranch.

The incident began on January 11.  Gather stats through January 17:

• Target: Horses
• Type: Planned
• Method: Helicopter
• Animals captured: 713, up from 514 on Day 4
• Average daily take: 101.9
• Capture goal: 2,060
• Removal goal: 2,030
• Returned: 4, up from zero on Day 4
• Deaths: 9, no change from Day 4
• Shipped: 588, up from 309 on Day 4

No animals were captured on Day 5.

The death rate is 1.3%.

The cumulative total includes 296 stallions, 320 mares and 97 foals.

Youngsters represented 13.6% of the horses captured, consistent with a herd growth rate of 8% per year, assuming a 5% death rate.

Of the adults, 48.1% were stallions and 51.9% were mares.

Body condition scores were not reported.

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

Day 7 ended with 112 unaccounted-for animals.

The number of horses removed to date is 709.  Mares returned to the Complex will be treated with population suppression of unspecified type.

Other statistics:

• AML: 638 (across two HMAs, one WHT and one HA)
• Forage assigned to horses: 7,656 AUMs per year
• Pre-gather population: 3,244
• Forage liberated to date: 8,508 AUMs per year
• Water liberated to date: 7,090 gallons per day
• Forage assigned to livestock: 43,344 AUMs per year (estimated)
• Horses displaced from Complex by permitted grazing: 3,612
• True AML: 4,250
• Stocking rate at new AML: 3.5 wild horses per thousand acres
• Horses displaced from Complex by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

RELATED: Pancake Roundup Day 4.

They are usually buried six to eight feet deep and unless you were there during construction, the only indication you have of their existence is the occasional surface marker or casing vents at road crossings.  A clear-cut strip through a wooded area may be another indication.

The two markers on the right in this image are casing vents.  Third from right is a marker for aerial patrols.  The other four provide a general location of the pipeline and usually include warnings to “Call before you dig.”

The advocates are always looking for new ways to divert your attention from the two greatest threats to our wild horses: Themselves and the public-lands ranchers.

RELATED: Advocate Blames Roundups on Pipelines, Mines!

The incident started on January 16, according to the gather page, with 24 horses captured, none shipped and no deaths.

RELATED: Desatoya Roundup Announced.

Near the Salt River with John Fliss StellarChi.

Operations resumed on January 6.  Gather stats through January 16:

• Target: Horses
• Type: Planned
• Method: Helicopter
• Captured: 4,045, up from 3,686 on Day 99
• Average daily take: 39.7
• Capture goal: 4,400
• Removal goal: 3,500
• Returned: 580, no change from Day 99
• Deaths: 37, up from 33 on Day 99
• Shipped: 3,476, up from 3,222 on Day 99

One horse died on Day 101 of unspecified causes and three others were put down due to club feet.  The death rate is 0.9%.

The total includes 1,555 stallions, 1,653 mares and 837 foals.  The gather page shows 1,554 stallions and 1,640 mares.

Foals represented 20.7% of the horses captured.  Of the adults, 48.5% were male and 51.5% were female.

The percentage of foals is consistent with a herd growth rate of 16% per year, assuming a 5% death rate.

Body condition scores were not reported.

Gather activity has moved to White Mountain and Little Colorado but the location of the trap site was not specified.

The number of horses shipped has not been included in the cumulative totals and the figure above is based on the daily reports.

If 4,032 horses have been captured as stated at the gather page, 3,476 have been shipped and 37 have died, the maximum number of horses that could be returned to the area is 519, not 580 as stated in the cumulative totals.  The numbers don’t balance.

The number of horses removed to date, based on the cumulative totals, is 3,452, about 99% of the project goal.

Other statistics:

• AML: 2,165 (across five HMAs)
• Forage assigned to horses: 25,980 AUMs per year
• Pre-gather population: 5,105
• Forage liberated to date: 42,444 AUMs per year, adjusted for horses returned
• Water liberated to date: 35,370 gallons per day, adjusted for horses returned
• Forage assigned to livestock: 191,791 AUMs per year (estimated)
• Horses displaced from HMAs by livestock: 15,982 (32% of off-range holding)
• True AML: 18,147

RELATED: Rock Springs Roundup Day 99.

A few weeks ago, the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses joined forces with the Animal Welfare Institute to sponsor a petition asking the BLM to cancel the roundup and get rid of the horses with PZP, described euphemistically as “managing these historic wild horses humanely in the wild with proven fertility control.”

Who benefits as wild horses are removed from the range?  The public-lands ranchers, of course, but that was omitted from the petition.

Now, in a new commentary published today by the Casper Star-Tribune, Roy appears to side with groups that seek the removal of livestock from areas identified for wild horses, even though her organization refused to sign a letter last year requesting the Secretary of the Interior to do exactly that.

RELATED: Signatories of Rock Springs Petition Duped by Advocates?

The AML is 638, so that’s it, right?

The Complex can only support 638 wild horses if you assign 85% of the authorized forage to privately owned cattle and sheep.

Tables 3 – 6 in the Final EA for resource enforcement actions provide data for livestock AUMs inside the Complex, which were summarized in this post.  The numbers in the Preliminary EA carried over to the Final EA with no changes.

Livestock receive 43,344 AUMs per year inside the Complex, assuming the resource is evenly distributed across the allotments.

That forage would support an additional 43,344 ÷ 12 = 3,612 wild horses.

The True AML, the number of horses the Complex could support it it was managed principally for wild horses, as specified in the original statute, is 638 + 3,612 = 4,250.

The pre-gather population of 3,244 is well within this range.

The number of horses displaced by permitted grazing represents about 7% of those in off-range holding.

If public-lands ranching was ended in this and fifteen other such areas, all of those horses could be returned to the range.

The ranchers, bureaucrats and advocates don’t want you knowing any of this because it torpedoes the justification for their roundups and fertility control programs.

RELATED: Pancake Roundup Announced.

The incident began on January 11.  Gather stats through January 14:

• Target: Horses
• Type: Planned
• Method: Helicopter
• Animals captured: 514, up from 157 on Day 1
• Average daily take: 128.5
• Capture goal: 2,060
• Removal goal: 2,030
• Returned: None
• Deaths: 9, up from 2 on Day 1
• Shipped: 309 (none shipped on Day 1)

A stallion died unexpectedly on Day 2 and a mare was put down.  Three horses were euthanized on Day 3 followed by two on Day 4.  The death rate is now 1.8%.

The cumulative totals include 213 stallions, 233 mares and 68 foals.

Youngsters represented 13.2% of the horses captured, consistent with a herd growth rate of 8% per year, assuming a 5% death rate.

Of the adults, 47.8% were stallions and 52.2% were mares.

Body condition scores were not reported.

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

Day 4 ended with 196 unaccounted-for animals.

The number of horses removed to date is 514.  Mares returned to the Complex will be treated with population suppression of unspecified type.

Other statistics:

• AML: 638 (across two HMAs, one WHT and one HA)
• Forage assigned to horses: 7,656 AUMs per year
• Pre-gather population: 3,244
• Forage liberated to date: 6,168 AUMs per year
• Water liberated to date: 5,140 gallons per day
• Forage assigned to livestock: 43,344 AUMs per year (estimated)
• Horses displaced from Complex by permitted grazing: 3,612
• True AML: 4,250
• Stocking rate at new AML: 3.5 wild horses per thousand acres
• Horses displaced from Complex by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

RELATED: Pancake Roundup in Progress.

Comments will be accepted until February 11, according to Thursday’s news release, and can be submitted by email, as explained in the project description.

Table B2 in the EA indicates that the Proposed Action, discussed in Section 2.2, would affect 4.8 acres of the Diamond Hills North HMA and 0.3 acres of the Diamonds Hills South HMA, displacing 1/200th of a wild horse at typical stocking rates.

The total surface disturbance is 26.9 acres, as detailed in Table 2-1.

Losses attributable to permitted grazing, which affects entire HMAs and beyond, are far greater.

The Proposed Action includes 4.3 acres of the Red Rock Allotment, per Table B2.

RELATED: Wildcatters Heading to Diamond Hills North HMA?

Film from the Pancake roundup, which the advocates will use to justify their ruinous darting programs, is the centerpiece of this story by KLAS News of Las Vegas.

Of greater concern is the deceit of those who claim to represent America’s wild horses but are actually voices for the public-lands ranchers.

Operations resumed on January 6.  Gather stats through January 13:

• Type: Planned
• Method: Helicopter
• Horses captured: 3,686, up from 3,552 on Day 96
• Average daily take: 37.2
• Capture goal: 4,400
• Removal goal: 3,500
• Returned: 580, up from 488 on Day 96
• Deaths: 33, up from 24 on Day 96
• Shipped: 3,222, up from 3,152 on Day 96

A mare was put down on Day 97 due to bad knees.  Three horses were euthanized on Day 98 due to broken legs and emaciation.  Five more were eliminated on Day 99 due to bad knees and club feet.

All survived the chase and would be alive today if the roundup had been called to off.

The death rate has climbed from 0.7% on Day 96 to 0.9% on Day 99.  The death rate since the incident resumed is 3.0%.

The total includes 1,432 stallions, 1,502 mares and 752 foals.  The gather page shows 1,429 stallions and 1,489 mares.

Foals represented 20.4% of the horses captured.  Of the adults, 48.8% were male and 51.2% were female.

The percentage of foals is consistent with a herd growth rate of 15% per year, assuming a 5% death rate.

Body condition scores were not reported.

Gather activity has moved to White Mountain and Little Colorado but the location of the trap site was not specified.

The number of horses shipped has not been included in the cumulative totals and the figure above is based on the daily reports.

If 3,671 horses have been captured as stated at the gather page, 3,222 have been shipped and 33 have died, the maximum number of horses that could be returned to the area is 416, not 580 as stated in the cumulative totals.  The numbers don’t balance.

The number of horses returned to the range has grown by 20 since Day 96 but the jump was not explained in the daily reports.

The number of horses removed to date, based on the cumulative totals, is 3,163, about 90% of the project goal.

Other statistics:

• AML: 2,165 (across five HMAs)
• Forage assigned to horses: 25,980 AUMs per year
• Pre-gather population: 5,105
• Forage liberated to date: 38,136 AUMs per year, adjusted for horses returned
• Water liberated to date: 31,780 gallons per day, adjusted for horses returned
• Forage assigned to livestock: 191,791 AUMs per year (estimated)
• Horses displaced from HMAs by livestock: 15,982 (32% of off-range holding)
• True AML: 18,147

RELATED: Rock Springs Roundup Day 96.

For a quick estimate, convert the livestock AUMs inside the HMA to wild horses and add the result to the AML.

Livestock receive 3,646 AUMs per year inside the allotment and the allotment is about three times larger than the HMA, so the forage assigned to livestock inside the HMA should be about 3,646 ÷ 3 = 1,215 AUMs per year, assuming the resource is evenly distributed across the parcel.

That forage would support an additional 1,215 ÷ 12 = 101 wild horses, for a True AML of 35 + 101 = 136.

The stocking rate at the new AML would be 5.8 wild horses per thousand acres, or 172 acres per horse.

The target rate across all HMAs is one wild horse per thousand acres, because they are managed primarily for livestock.

RELATED: Spanish Ancestry Found in Carter Reservoir Mustangs.

Tests indicate the herd may have the highest percentage of individuals with ancient Spanish-Iberian DNA of any herd in the western U.S. investigated to date, according to an EIN news release dated January 13.

The HMA straddles the CA-NV state line and lies mostly within the Sand Creek grazing allotment, as shown in the Western Watersheds map.

The 35 horses allowed by plan in the HMA receive 420 AUMs per year, while livestock in the allotment, which is about three times larger than the HMA, receive 3,646 AUMs per year, according to the Allotment Master report.

RELATED: Nuisance Roundup Announced for Carter Reservoir HMA.