Western Horse Watchers Association
Exposing the Hypocrisy, Lies and Incompetence of the Wild Horse Advocates
On the range
That’s right, they’re gathering, not being gathered. Warm temperatures have lured the horses out of the woods where they shelter from cold winter winds, and into the path of recreational vehicles, according to a report posted this morning by AP News.
RELATED: Helicopter Finds Winter Hideout of Corolla Wild Horses.
On the Salt River with Ryan Marsh.
The roundup announced last week at Eagle HMA, the largest of the three HMAs in the Eagle Complex, will achieve a thriving ecological balance on the affected lands.
Sounds great, but what does that mean in terms of the numbers?
The HMA (not the Complex) contains 670,000 acres according to Table 1 in the final EA and has an AML of 210, for an aimed-at population density (stocking rate) of 0.3 horses per thousand acres.
Because they graze twelve months per year, the forage requirement for the 210 horses allowed by plan is 2,520 AUMs per year.
The next step is to estimate the forage allocated to livestock inside the HMA, the number of cow/calf pairs allowed on the HMA and the cow/calf density in the HMA, to be compared to the same figures for horses.
The HMA intersects nine grazing allotments. The size of the allotments, their grazing seasons, the portions inside the HMA and the historical forage consumption are given in Table 3.2 of the EA.
The permitted AUMs, not given in the table, were estimated from historical use.
For example, the average use at Wilson Creek is 20,408 AUMs per year, which corresponds to 45% of the permitted AUMs. Therefore, the estimated forage consumption allowed by plan on that allotment is 20,408 ÷ .45 = 45,351 AUMs per year.
Likewise for the other allotments. Those figures are shown in red on the following spreadsheet.
The Wilson Creek permittee(s) would have to place 3,779 cow/calf pairs on the allotment to graze off 45,351 AUMs in 12 months (45,351 ÷ 12), for a stocking rate of 3.5 cow/calf pairs per thousand acres (3,779 ÷ 1,090,414 × 1,000).
Given that 47% of the allotment lies within the HMA, the estimated forage available to livestock inside the HMA is 45,351 × .47 = 21,315 AUMs per year, which would feed 1,776 cow/calf pairs over a 12 month grazing season (21,315 ÷ 12).
The total calculated acreage inside the HMA is very close to the 670,000 acres contained by the HMA, so little if any of the HMA is not subject to permitted livestock grazing.
The total estimated forage available to livestock inside the HMA is 25,739 AUMs per year, which would support 2,286 cow/calf pairs over a weighted average grazing season of 11.3 months.
The EA notes on page 24 that “wild horses are present year-round and their impacts to rangeland resources cannot be controlled through establishment of a grazing system, such as for livestock.” Apparently, the writers didn’t notice that the cattle are on the land for roughly the same amount of time!
The estimated stocking rate allowed by plan for livestock inside the HMA is 3.4 cow/calf pairs per thousand acres.
These figures are compared in the following charts.
The thriving ecological balance is not a balance at all. Perhaps the BLM should refer to it as the thriving ecological bias (in favor of privately owned cattle and sheep).
The cattle allowed on the HMA each year are probably worth over $2 million, assuming that half of them ship to slaughter, versus a forage cost of $35,000 at current prices.
The forage allocated to livestock on the HMA would support an additional 2,145 wild horses (25,739 ÷ 12), for an AML of 2,355.
Even in the face of these results, the PZP zealots will spend the weekend cleaning their darting rifles, because they do not want to know the truth about America’s wild horses.
RELATED: Hypothesis, Reiterated, Public-Lands Ranching Is Big Business.
The remains of eight horses were found yesterday in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, near the town of Heber-Overgaard, according to a report posted this evening by KPNX News of Phoenix, AZ.
The deaths were caused by gunshots.
RELATED: Heber Shooting Update.
The organization said yesterday that the BLM violated the public’s First Amendment rights by not announcing the roundup until Thursday and not allowing the public to observe the operation until the second day.
A letter was sent to the BLM asking for a delay, according to a story by AP News.
Workers will start the second phase of the project on Monday. The fence will prevent wild horses from crossing the Bush Highway and will keep livestock from mingling with the horses, according to a report posted today by AP News.
The first phase, which began in November, ended yesterday.
BLM reported that 162 studs, 187 mares and 48 foals had been gathered, as of 01-09-20, with no animals returned to their home range.
The contractor captured more mares than studs but does that result point to anything unusual or can the difference be attributed to chance?
The sex of the foals was not given so their number should be omitted from the total.
The expected proportion of mares and studs is .50 (50%), but that is a property of an indefinitely large number of horses.
The observed proportions are .464 for studs and .536 for mares, with n = 349.
The range of variation attributable to chance can be computed from basic statistical formulas, where p-bar = .50 and n = 349. The observed proportions fall within the calculated limits of .420 and .580, so these results don’t point to anything unusual.
That doesn’t mean the contractor wasn’t asked to alter the herd in some manner, such as skewing the sex ratio of the herd in favor of studs, only that there’s no evidence of that in these data.
Bachelor bands may blend with family bands in a helicopter roundup, resulting in a more-or-less even distribution of males and females in the traps.
Any sex ratio skewing would have to be accomplished by selective return.
RELATED: Seaman Roundup Continues.
They’re usually seen on the north end of town, according to a report posted today by the Pahrump Valley Times, but recently the animals have been grazing on the south end of the valley, near Highway 160 between Homestead Road and Calvada Boulevard.
An animal control officer for Nye County said that motorists should be aware of the free-roaming equines. “All we try to do is keep them off the highway.”
RELATED: Picnic at Pahrump.
The director of a rescue tasked with removing up to 4,000 burros from the park says his organization can do it if it’s allowed enough time and if other state and federal agencies cooperate, according to a report posted today by the Las Vegas Sun.
Although the burros compete with desert bighorn sheep for food and water, as the story suggests, they are not the primary threat to those animals. The PLRs claim that title.
RELATED: NPS Says Death Valley Burros Have to Go.
BLM announced today that approximately 1,700 excess horses will be gathered from the Eagle Complex on the Nevada-Utah border, starting January 13. Around 1,600 horses will be permanently removed from their home range and 100 will be returned, including 50 mares that have been treated with contraceptives.
The roundup will be carried out with helicopters and will be open to public observation.
The Complex includes the Eagle, Choke Cherry and Mount Elinor HMAs. The BLM map provides greater detail.
The current population in the Complex is 2,484 wild horses, including the 2019 foal crop, and the AML is 265.
An emergency gather occurred at the Eagle HMA in September, 2018.
Captured animals will be taken to the Palomino Valley off-range corrals about 20 miles north of Sparks, NV.
All three HMAs are subject to permitted livestock grazing, according to section 3.3.5 of the final Environmental Assessment for the roundup.
Gather stats and daily reports will be posted to this page.
Forty six excess horses were captured in the first two days of the operation, which resumed on January 6. One death was reported.
Thea area was zeroed out for horses in 2008 because “it no longer met the criteria for maintaining a thriving ecological balance with multiple uses,” according to the BLM.
RELATED: Seaman Roundup to Resume Next Week.
Douglas County Commissioners proclaimed their support yesterday for humane management of the horses, according to a report by Carson Now, which includes fencing to keep them out of neighborhoods and roadways, fertility control and selective removal from their home range.
Almost certainly the move was prompted by the roundup in late November of 21 Fish Springs horses on private property.
RELATED: Fish Springs Context.
Near the Phon D. Sutton recreation area with NarrowRoadJourneys.
Originally posted on 01-04-20.
1. What is the annual forage requirement for horses on an HMA with an AML of 256?
2. How many cow/calf pairs would that forage support in a six month grazing season?
3. How much would a public-lands rancher pay for that forage (at current prices)?
4. What is the approximate size of the HMA?
5. Estimate the total forage available to livestock and horses on the HMA.
“But the land was set aside for the horses!” What does that have to do with anything?
A report posted yesterday by The Ely Times says the greatest threat to the state’s desert bighorn sheep is bacterial pneumonia, which has destroyed entire herds statewide.
The EIS from yesterday’s post on domestic sheep grazing in Colorado noted in Section 3.1.1.1. that
…the preponderance of current scientific literature establishes that Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep and domestic sheep should not share the same space at the same time due to potential for disease transmission.
Section 3.1.1.2. states that
Historic population declines [in RM bighorn sheep] are attributed to over hunting, parasites, disease, competition with domestic livestock for forage, and competition with humans for space…but mortality resulting from epizootic pneumonia is thought to be the primary cause of the historical decline and currently remains the primary factor limiting bighorn sheep recovery.
Could privately owned sheep affect the health of wild sheep in Nevada? How might the bighorns come in contact with those animals?
The action proposed by the BLM in the Colorado EIS (Alternative A), which was based on permittee applications, is not the preferred action (Alternative C), which would reduce the risk of contact between domestic sheep and Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep.
On the Virginia Range with Andrea Bates.
Last week the BLM issued the final Environmental Impact Statement for grazing permit renewals in southwestern Colorado. Refer to Figure 1-A on page 6 of the document for a map of the project area.
Public comments can be submitted through February 10, according to the news release, at which time a decision will be rendered. A 15-day protest period will then commence, followed by a 30-day appeal period for the final decision.
The EIS considered five alternatives, including the termination of grazing on all nine allotments. Wild horses and burros are not allowed on those lands (denoted by a red border in the following map), although the tiny Spring Creek Basin HMA is about 50 miles to the west (blue border).
Although wild horses are not involved, management of western rangelands is always of interest, because privately owned livestock might be treated differently than the horses.
Table 2.1-1 in the EIS, for the proposed alternative, gives the size of the allotments, the available forage and the grazing periods. Those data were copied into a spreadsheet so the population densities (stocking rates) can be determined.
The Cox Park allotment was omitted because it is small and only 51% on public lands.
The American Flats allotment included six horses (domestic), equivalent to 30 sheep, for a total of 580 such animals.
Although the allotments are permitted for sheep, converting them to cow/calf pairs puts the numbers into familiar territory and allows a direct comparison to stocking rates for wild horses.
Given that one cow/calf pair is equivalent to five domestic sheep, in terms of its resource requirements, the 1,230 sheep at American Lake convert to 246 cow/calf pairs.
Likewise for the other allotments.
The densities are reported in animals per thousand acres. Note the huge advantage of livestock compared to wild horses, the same pattern seen at Challis HMA. The target density for horses across all HMAs is one (27,000 animals on 27 million acres).
Folks, this is why the ranchers have to rotate pastures: They load these animals onto the land at rates that would destroy it in a matter of months.
It’s rape and pillage but they try to sell it as environmental stewardship.
1. What is the annual forage requirement for horses on an HMA with an AML of 256?
2. How many cow/calf pairs would that forage support in a six month grazing season?
3. How much would a public-lands rancher pay for that forage (at current prices)?
4. What is the approximate size of the HMA?
5. Estimate the total forage available to livestock and horses on the HMA.
The acting director of the BLM will retain that role until April 3, according to a report posted today by Federal Times. At that time his appointment can be extended again or the President can nominate him or another individual permanently to the position.
RELATED: Greatest Threat to Public Lands: Wild Horses and Burros.
These Virginia Range mustangs were the last ones seen on days in 2019. They have probably moved to lower elevations or the lee side of the mountains.
Western Horse Watchers Association 