Virginia Range mustang grazing among juniper trees on 10/05/18.  Although you may not see them at first, you can tell they’re in the area by the sound of their hooves knocking against the rocks as they move.  Elevation 6500 feet.

A bit timid at first, as they check out new things, but they come in, drink and leave, all in the space of three or four minutes.

An article posted yesterday by The Sacramento Bee about the upcoming removal of 1000 wild horses from the from the Devil’s Garden Plateau WHT does not mention that the entire territory falls within permitted grazing allotments.

This story was linked on Drudge so how many readers came away with the wrong impression?

The Forest Service argues the roundup is necessary to “allow range and riparian ecological conditions to recover, while also supporting wild horse herd health by reducing competition for limited food, water and habitat.”

Competition with whom?  The oil and gas industry?  Mining companies?  Can’t possibly be livestock and public-lands ranchers.  They are blameless, as always.

RELATED: Gather In Devil’s Garden WHT Starts Next Month.

Residents of Sandoval County, NM have been asked to participate in an online survey about free-roaming horses near the town of Placitas.  Responses from individuals in that area will carry the most weight.

County staff have been working with the Bureau of Land Management and New Mexico Livestock Board to develop a management plan.  The goal is to “…truly and sustainably resolve the situation with the free roaming horses in Placitas.”  That the horses might be competing with cattle and sheep for food and water was not mentioned in the narrative.

What might the plan include and what would be the results?

• Helicopter roundups – fewer horses on the range, breeding patterns altered
• Bait traps – fewer horses on the range, breeding patterns altered
• Fertility control – fewer horses on the range, breeding patterns altered
• Sterilization – fewer horses on the range, breeding patterns altered
• Euthanasia – fewer horses on the range, breeding patterns altered

The first three options don’t provide a lasting solution and are therefore eschewed by public-lands ranchers, their overlords, cheerleaders and political allies.

Hopefully, someone will come forward with a proposal that works to the benefit of the horses, not their enemies.

RELATED: Case Against Man Who Rescued Foal Dismissed, Mostly Pintos.

Horses being horses on Sand Wash Basin HMA.  H/T Mike Mack.

The survey has been complicated by similarity of the horses and movement from one band to another.  Refer to this FB post by NPS for details.

RELATED: Update on Shackleford Horses.

BLM announced today that it has re-opened a call for nominations to open positions on five of its citizen-based advisory councils in the two states.  Category Two openings, for representatives of WHB organizations, appear in the John Day-Snake and Northwest Oregon RACs.

There are no Category Two openings in the Southeast Oregon RAC, which may cover many of the HMAs in the state.  Only a Category One position is available there, which is reserved for persons associated with public-lands ranching, mineral extraction and commercial recreation.

Refer to this news release for details.

RELATED: BLM Seeks Nominations for RACs.

Unfortunately, tanks were not on float control when these photos were taken.

An eighteen year old band stallion named ‘Sir Gruff’ was killed Tuesday evening around 7:30 pm local time, near the entrance to the barrier island.  Officials did not know if speed was a factor but an investigation is underway.  Refer to this report posted today by the Maryland Coast Dispatch.

Filmed 05/24/18 on Sand Wash Basin, before the drought set in.  H/T Mike Mack.

RELATED: Volunteers Keep Sand Wash Horses on the Range.

On the Salt River, east of Phoenix, AZ.  H/T Roamancing Travel.

Ahead of the Street Vibrations Rally in Reno, NV.  H/T Go Travel On The Cheap.

On the Salt River, September, 2018.  H/T Randy Anagnostis.

Refer to this summary of her trip to the Palomino Butte, Stinkingwater, Kiger, Warm Springs and South Steens HMAs.  She reports that the horses looked good with a few exceptions and that water sources were low, typical for this time of year.  She noted that Warm Springs looked ‘ominously empty,’ as if it was a ‘ghost town.’

Not exactly what you’d expect to hear about areas that are overpopulated with wild horses, a claim repeated frequently by the BLM and public-lands ranchers.

Wild horses grazing on the banks of the Verde River near Rio Verde, AZ.  This river ties into the Salt River about ten miles to the south.  H/T Dennis Bickers.

NPS reported on Saturday that the horses survived Hurricane Florence but the census was not complete.  Refer to this story posted yesterday by WNCN-TV in Raleigh, NC, as well as this FB post by the NPS.

RELATED: Field Survey of Shackleford Horses in Progress.

On the Salt River.  H/T Califwatcher.

The lawsuit filed by The Cloud Foundation and others is over.  The hearing set for 09/28/18 did not happen.  The horses are safe for now.  Refer to this report, posted today in the Casper Star Tribune.  The court blocked the roundup, which would have been effected by bait traps, because it would cause permanent damage to the genetic lines of the herd.

RELATED: Judge Orders Two Week Delay in Pryor Mountains Gather.

At the V&T Railroad station in Virginia City.  H/T Auntie Doni.

RELATED: All Aboard!

The BLM has re-opened a request for nominations to certain Resource Advisory Councils that provide recommendations to the agency on the use of public lands, according to a notice that appeared today in the Federal Register.

The RACs must represent the various interests associated with the management of those lands, which may include HMAs.  Membership falls into three categories.

Holders of federal grazing permits are in Category One and wild horse and burro organizations are in Category Two.

The priority/weight/rank of each category was not explained in the announcement.

BLM State Offices should issue news releases in the next few days providing additional information for submitting nominations, with specifics about the number and categories of positions available for the RACs in each state.