On White Mountain HMA (Pilot Butte Wild Horse Scenic Tour).

Short one from Theodore Roosevelt National Park, South Unit.  Filmed 07/22/18.

RELATED: Horses of the Badlands.  Other videos from TRNP posted to the Index under ‘Mustang Monday.’

Virginia Range mustang looks back, as if calling to other band members.  Elevation 6500 feet.  Most land is privately owned.

This has been in the news for a few days but was not formally acknowledged by the BLM until yesterday.  Bait trapping will be used beginning in late August, to remove up to 60 horses from the Little Bookcliffs Wild Horse Range near Grand Junction, CO.

Overpopulation was cited as the reason for the gather.  Horses younger than five years of age will be the focus of the operation.

Captured animals will be taken to a BLM facility in Cañon City, CO, where they will be checked by a veterinarian and prepared for adoption.

Little Bookcliffs Wild Horse Range is one of just three areas in the western U.S. managed primarily for wild horses.  Livestock grazing does not occur there.

The post-gather population density, based on 130 horses remaining and 36,113 acres of land available for grazing, is 3.6 animals per thousand acres, considerably higher than the national average of one animal per thousand acres on BLM-managed lands.  But it’s one of the smaller HMAs managed by the agency.

A page for viewing day-by-day gather statistics has not been created as of today.

See also this report in The Daily Sentinel posted 07/27/18.

On the Pony Express Trail, which passes through the Onaqui Mountain HMA.  Video is a bit jumpy but tolerable.  H/T Janice Vander Molen.

RELATED: Story of the Onaqui Horses.

A spokesperson for the Pine Nut Wild Horse Advocates said the planned roundup of wild horses on the Pine Nut Mountain Herd Area won’t happen, according to a report published yesterday in Nevada Appeal.

BLM argued there is not enough food and water to support the 78 horses that currently roam there and was preparing to remove all but 26.  The Herd Area covers more than 100,000 acres, which means the post-gather population density would be less than 0.26 animals per thousand acres, almost nothing.

See also this story in Carson Now, posted 07/27/18.

RELATED: One if by Helicopter, Two if by Trap.

Camping on the barrier islands of Maryland.  H/T Cassidy Sienna.

Mustangs on the Virginia Range, 06/15/18.  Ten animals per thousand acres up there, compared to one animal per thousand acres on lands managed by the BLM.  The carrying capacity of the land might be higher than previously thought.

It’s a 24-mile long gravel road that runs along the southern border of White Mountain HMA, beginning at Green River, WY.  Refer to this page for directions.  The area is marked by numerous Herd Areas (red borders), where wild horses were found in 1971 (when the WHB Act became law), but today have no AMLs and are not managed for horses.  Were they zeroed out to make room for livestock grazing?

Pilot Butte, seen in the following video, was a landmark used by pioneers in their westward migration.  Horses roaming the hills are remnants of that era.

BLM announced today that gather operations would commence next week on the Bible Springs Complex and Sulphur HMA in southwestern Utah.  The complex includes the Four Mile, Bible Springs and Tilly Creek HMAs.  The news release included the Blawn Wash region in the complex, but it is a herd area north of Four Mile.

The gather will be open to public observation.

Captured animals will be taken to an off-range facility in Axtell, Utah, where they will be checked by a veterinarian and prepared for adoption.  Gather stats can be found on this page.

The four HMAs cover 427, 349 acres and have a combined AML of 420, for a target population density of one animal per thousand acres.

The news release did not indicate if dry conditions were a factor in the decision to remove horses and if livestock were present on the HMAs and surrounding lands.

In southern Colorado, near the Sanchez Reservoir?  Feeding wild horses not recommended.

RELATED: Wild Horse Mesa.

Virginia Range bachelors thunder by on 06/29/18.

BLM announced today that it had ended bait-trapping operations at the Bullfrog HMA, with 404 wild burros removed from public and private lands near Beatty, NV.

Gather stats indicated two deaths, but details were not provided.  The number of burros remaining was not given.

Animals were shipped to an off-range facility in Axtell, UT, where they will be seen by a veterinarian and prepared for adoption.

RELATED: BLM to Gather Burros from Bullfrog HMA Starting Next Week.

The dispute between advocates and the BLM continues, regarding the disposition of wild horses in the Pine Nut HMA / Fish Springs HA near Carson City, NV.  WHB Specialist John Axtell said the BLM prefers to bait-trap the animals but will use helicopters if advocates “get in the way.”

Refer to the story posted yesterday by Nevada Appeal.  Every photo therein shows the horses behind fences.  Why is that?  To keep them away from busy roads?  Or away from food and water (that belongs to, ahem, cough-cough, livestock)?

The horses are no longer self-reliant.

Those in the photos look fine.  Presumably, the photos were taken during the six-hour field trip and not pulled from a file.

The stated AML of 179 applies to the Pine Nut HMA.  Does the stated population of 775 horses correspond to the HMA or the HA?  Probably the latter.  There is no AML for herd areas.  The figures should be reported on a consistent basis.

Assuming the HA (red and blue borders in the map) is twice the size of the HMA (blue border), maybe a bit larger, the total available land is about 210,000 acres.  That gives a population density of 3.7 animals per thousand acres.

A few miles to the north, on the Virginia Range, the population density is 10 animals per thousand acres and the horses up there look good.  (Look at the photos posted on these pages since mid June.  Go to the index and scroll down to ‘Virginia Range.’)

RELATED: Opponents of Fish Springs Roundup Protest in Reno.

The burro struck by an arrow in Reche Canyon, south of San Bernardino, CA, was captured yesterday and is receiving treatment, according to a report posted 07/23/18 by KTLA 5 News in Los Angeles.

Authorities are still searching for the shooter.  The reward for information on the person or persons responsible has been increased to $2000.

RELATED: Wild Burro Hit in Ear with Arrow.

New toy for the range, South Steens HMA in this example.  Nice way to monitor horse populations vis-à-vis livestock.  Looks like the cattle are winning.

Rewards totaling $20,000 have been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) who started the Martin Fire.  See the BLM news release dated 07/20/18.  Over 435,000 acres were involved in the incident, which began on the evening of 07/04/18 approximately seven miles north of Paradise Valley, NV.  Winds pushed the flames eastward for 50 miles.  Investigators have determined that it was man-caused.

Almost certainly the fire crossed the Little Owyhee HMA, and probably reached into the Owyhee HMA, although it was not mentioned in the news release.  BLM will likely assess its impact on horses, livestock and wildlife.

A wild horse was captured earlier this month in the Ochoco National Forest, near Prineville, OR, because he lost his hear of humans.  He had been coming to a campground for a year or more, and was fed, petted and groomed.  When the campers departed, he sought food from others and the companionship of their horses, putting both at risk.

The only way to resolve the situation was to remove him to a life of captivity.

See this report, posted today by KMTR-16, the NBC affiliate in Eugene, OR.  Note the guidelines for camping and recreating around wild horses.

Consensus among the investigators is the cause of the illness is in something the horses are eating, such as toxins from mold spores.  Tissue samples from a euthanized horse have been sent to Cornell University for evaluation.  The affliction appears to be fatal.

See this report in the Hawaii Tribune-Herald dated 07/23/18.

RELATED: Mysterious Illness Affecting Wild Horses on Big Island.

See the report from Fox News posted today on the drought in the southwestern U.S.

Good survey of the current situation and they didn’t blame it on global warming.