On Sand Wash Basin HMA with Mike Mack.

An Animal Unit Month (AUM) is the amount of forage consumed by one wild horse or one cow/calf pair in one month.  It also represents the amount of forage consumed by two wild burros or five sheep in one month.

The Appropriate Management Level (AML) corresponds to the number of wild horses or burros allowed in a given area by plan.

AMLs are usually not specified for cattle and sheep.

Wild horses and burros graze twelve months per year.  To convert horse AMLs to AUMs, multiply the AMLs by twelve.

Wild Horse AUMs = AML × 12

The Challis HMA, in the news recently, has an AML of 253.  The forage allocation for horses there would be 3,036 AUMs per year.

To convert burro AMLs to AUMs, multiply the AMLs by twelve and divide by two.

Wild Burro AUMs = AML × 12 ÷ 2

At the Twin Peaks HMA, 116 wild burros are allowed by plan.  The forage allocation for those animals would be 696 AUMs per year.

If you know the AUMs and want to determine the AMLs, just reverse the math.

Wild Horse AML = AUMs ÷ 12

Wild Burro AML = AUMs ÷ 12 × 2

The AUM budget for horses at Warm Springs HMA is 2,424 AUMs per year, therefore the AML must be 202.  It has nothing to do with the carrying capacity of the land.

RELATED: What Do the AUM Numbers Tell You About an HMA?

Paragraph 9 of Section 102 in the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, the statute that codified ‘multiple use’ and authorized helicopter roundups of federally protected horses and burros, requires that:

The fee for livestock grazing on western rangelands is currently $1.35 per AUM, updated annually according to a formula in the Public Rangelands Improvement Act.

Last month, however, ranchers in New Mexico bid $35 to $43 per AUM to graze eight parcels on withdrawn lands near Alamogordo.

If that is the going rate, then the U.S. is not receiving fair market value for the use of public lands in the western U.S., in defiance of FLPMA.

If the fee was increased by $40 per AUM—in line with market rates—the U.S would receive an additional $360 million per year, a nice offset to the cost of warehousing wild horses and burros, who were forced off their home range at the behest of the ranchers.

The Platero Project, a venture of HSUS aimed at reducing the number of burros on Black Mountain HMA, pledged $32,500 to the Clark Mountain reward to hasten the arrest and conviction of the person(s) who reduced the size of that herd.

You can’t make this stuff up!

HSUS was one of the signatories to the ill-conceived ‘Path Forward,’ which will remove 70% of America’s wild horses and burros from western rangelands.

These people, most of them liberals, think fertility and reproduction are among the world’s greatest problems (especially in homo sapiens).  They are on the same side of the debate as the public-lands ranchers, differing only in methodology.

RELATED: The ‘Path Forward’ is Wrong.

BLM said today that 365 wild horses would be gathered from the Challis HMA in central Idaho, beginning on or about November 5, with 244 permanently removed.

Mares returned to the range will be treated with contraceptives, according to the news release.  The announcement did not indicate of any of the studs would be gelded.

The roundup will be carried out with helicopters and will be open to public observation.

The HMA covers 168,720 acres and has an AML of 253, for an aimed-at population density of 1.5 wild horses per thousand acres.  The target density across all HMAs is one animal per thousand acres.

The HMA intersects seven grazing allotments, according to Section 3.8 of the final Environmental Assessment for the HMA Management Plan.  Table 2 in Appendix G indicates that the entire parcel is subject to domestic livestock grazing.

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

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

The announcement this week regarding WHB adoptions in FY 2019 stated that 46,000 wild horses and burros were currently in off-range corrals and long-term pastures.

Let’s collect some numbers that appeared on these pages over the last two weeks for wild horses displaced by domestic livestock on lands set aside for the horses.

• Antelope Complex, four HMAs, 10,370 horses
• Triple B Complex, four HMAs, 4,099 horses
• Five other HMAs recently in the news, 8,127 horses

These thirteen HMAs could support an additional 22,596 wild horses, but they can’t, because of the livestock.

That is, roughly half of the wild horses in off-range holding can be accounted for by misappropriation of forage on just 13 HMAs.

How is that possible?

Refer to CFR 4710.3-2: Your government gave itself the power to decide if lands set aside for wild horses and burros will be managed principally for wild horses and burros, in defiance of the original WHB Act.  All but four of the 177 HMAs are not.

The ‘Path Forward‘ is wrong.  It’s aimed at symptoms, not causes.  You don’t have a wild horse problem on western rangelands, you have a ranching problem.

The enterprise needs to be ripped out by the roots, along with those engaged in it.

Refer to this story by KOLO News of Reno, NV, posted last night.

RELATED: ‘Horse Rich’ Forum to Push ‘Path Forward.’

BLM announced today that wild horse and burro adoptions in FY 2019 reached their highest level in fifteen years, attributing the jump to the $1,000 incentive and a greater number of adoption events across the country.

The number of animals placed into private care in FY 2019 was 54% larger than FY 2018, according to the news release.

The wild horse outplacement program helps other users of public lands enjoy the full benefit of their permitted AUMs.

RELATED: Adoption Incentive and the IRS.

Refer to this news release, posted today.  As reported last week, several new pledges have been received, the largest of which was for $32,000 from the Roy Dunlap Spay & Neuter Foundation.

The reward is available to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for the shooting deaths of 46 wild burros on the north side of I-15 in southern California, near the Nevada border.

RELATED: Clark Mountain Reward Increases to $100K.

A temporary barrier installed after hurricane Dorian destroyed its predecessor, was removed yesterday, according to a story by The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk, VA.

The fence, installed after the storm to keep wild horses away from populated areas, also killed salt-water fish, so it was taken down.

Horses that roam into town will be escorted out by a local advocacy group.

RELATED: Dorian Lets Corolla Wild Horses Visit Town.

The contracted part of the operation ended on October 8, according to the daily reports, with 911 excess horses removed from their home range.  Eleven deaths were reported (1.2%) and 17 animals were returned to the HMAs.

Body condition scores were not given.

The removal of horses outside the HMAs began on October 17, using BLM’s equipment and personnel.

The forage allocated to domestic livestock in the Antelope Complex, which includes the HMAs affected by this roundup, would support over 10,000 wild horses.

The ‘Path Forward‘ is clearly wrong.  The problem is public-lands ranching.

RELATED: Roundup Starts Next Week in Lower Half of Antelope Complex.

UPDATE: The reports said 946 horses gathered, not 918, minus seven from phase two, minus 17 returned, for a total of 922 removed in phase one.

The panel discussion tomorrow at the Nevada Museum of Art will focus on the ‘Path Forward,’ a plan to remove 75% of the wild horses on western rangelands and slow or stop the growth of the remaining herds, according to a story posted yesterday by KOLO News of Reno.

The goal of the forum is to ‘inform’ the public about the ‘benefits’ of the proposal.

The meeting organizer said she wants those in attendance “to come away with enough information to contact our congressional leadership and let them know what they think of the measure moving through Washington.”

RELATED: Horse Rich Dirt Poor.

Some Virginia Range mustangs gather briefly at the water tanks on 10-02-19.

The roundup ended 10-02-19, with 154 wild horses removed from the HMA.  One death was reported and no horses were returned to their home range.

A filly was put down on 09-30-19 due to injuries sustained during the roundup.

Body condition scores were 4’s.

Captured animals were taken to an off-range facility in Axtell, UT.

RELATED: Range Creek Gather This Month.

On the Pine Nut Mountains Herd Area with Lauri Duke.

Some Virginia Range mustangs make a pit stop on 10-02-19.

The gather ended on September 30, with 690 excess burros removed from their home range.  One death was reported (0.1%) and no animals were returned to the HMA.

A 20+ year old jack was put down due to a qualifying defect.  Survivors were taken to the off-range corrals in Axtell, UT.

RELATED: Bullfrog Gather in Progress.

The operation concluded on October 12, with 100 excess horses and 176 excess burros removed from their home range.  Four deaths occurred (1.4%), according to the daily reports, and no animals were released back to the HMAs.

One nine year old mare died of a broken neck and three other horses, older, were put down due to qualifying defects.

Helicopter roundups, prohibited by the original WHB Act, allow these operations to be carried out with brutal efficiency.  The wranglers hired for the work refer to the on-range casualties as ‘capture shock.’

RELATED: Buffalo Hills / Granite Range Roundups Begin Next Week.

Scuffle at Sand Wash Basin HMA, by Susan Hutchinson.  Bachelors?

UPDATE: How many people will look at this and say “OMG they’re going to kill each other!”  Nonsense.  The wild horse hate groups know most people don’t understand horses and use imagery like this to gin up support for their removal from public lands in the western U.S.  The opening scene in Horse Rich & Dirt Poor is one example.

Trailcam photos of some Virginia Range mustangs coming in for a drink of 09-21-19.