The allotment information report at RAS yielded 275 allotments covering 1,964,564 public acres.

The system put 24% of the allotments in the Improve category along with 40% of the public acres.

Nearly 39% of the allotments and 54% of the public acres were in the Maintain category.

Approximately 36% of the active AUMs fell into Improve, with 58% in Maintain.

Results have been summarized in this table:

Category	Allotments	Public Acres	Active AUMs	AUMs / 1000 Ac	Equiv Horses	Horses / 1000 Ac
Custodial	103	128,587	24,360	189.4	2,030	15.8
Improve	66	778,386	135,887	174.6	11,324	14.5
Maintain	106	1,057,591	222,252	210.1	18,521	17.5
Tot / Avg	275	1,964,564	382,499	194.7	31,875	16.2

The results suggest that forage production and carrying capacity are greatest where standards for rangeland health have been achieved.

The original dataset and pivot tables can be found in this spreadsheet.

RELATED: Abundant Forage in Carlsbad Field Office.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

The story takes place in the Calico Basin of the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, west of Las Vegas.

Climate change, groundwater pumping and heavy visitor traffic aggravate the situation according to the news release.

A petition calls for protection of the flower as a threatened or endangered species.

The Red Rock HMA borders the project area, which includes deeded acreage, on the west side.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

The termination order went into effect on January 28.

The notice was posted by AZDA not USFS.

RELATED: Virus Detected in Salt River Herd.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

The BLM and Forest Service seek nominations for six positions on the Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board, three currently vacant and three to become vacant in September, according to today’s news release.

The agencies will host a webinar on March 11 to explain the process.

Board members serve three-year terms and meet one to four times per year.

The last meeting was in January 2025.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Horses have the day off.  At or near the Lake Pleasant HMA with Get Out And Go.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

The new fee, effective March 1, is $1.69 per AUM, up from $1.35 in 2025.

The BLM news release said changes to the fee cannot exceed 25% of the previous year’s price, which is the case this year.

For comparison, the price of alfalfa-grass hay this week was $27 per bale, 20 bales minimum, putting the cost of feed at $135 per AUM (five bales per horse per month).

RELATED: CRS Publishes FAQ for Livestock Grazing on Public Lands.

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An environmental assessment for grazing permit renewals says in section 1.1 that the field office authorizes 380,544 active AUMs on 1,947,890 federal acres, equivalent to 16.3 wild horses per thousand federal acres.

Your faithful public servants claim that public lands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand acres.

The EA did not indicate how many of the acres were in the Improve category.

Comments on the project will be accepted through February 14.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

The BLM will extend the season of use by two months to test virtual fencing and targeted fall grazing according to yesterday’s news release.

The authorization use report shows the current season.

The allotment, located between the town of Adel and Beatys Butte HMA, offers 4,808 AUMs on 51,785 public acres, equivalent to 7.7 wild horses per thousand public acres.

The allotment master report puts it in the Improve category, probably because it’s in a priority management area for greater sage-grouse, not because of the exceptional stocking rate.

Your faithful public servants claim that rangeland health will suffer if wild horse populations exceed AML, which corresponds to a stocking rate of one wild horse per thousand acres.

There is only one permittee, suggesting that grazing privileges can be obtained through one base property, which may correspond to some or all of the private acreage inside the allotment.

With an estimated carrying capacity of 400 wild horses, the project might be worth a closer look—if the base property is offered for sale along with the permit.

Wild horses can be placed on public lands not identified for their use by acquiring base properties tied to grazing allotments and flipping the preference to horses.

The advocacy groups could have special funds for such efforts.

Instead, they use your donations to buy pesticides so they can beat the horse numbers down in favor of livestock.

RELATED: Key Indicators for New Wild Horse Preserves.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

If you’re not up to speed on the case watch yesterday’s episode of Mustang Monday.

Nevada is a fence-out state.

The fence around the property should meet the requirements of NRS 569.431.

If the agency receives complaints about the horses and burros and determines that they’re damaging property or posing a safety hazard to the construction crew, it may order a roundup.

They won’t capture the animals and take them back to their HMAs.

They’ll be permanently removed from the range.

The property is not in an area identified for their use.

RELATED: Will Greenlink West Pass Through Alkali Hot Springs?

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The right-of-way zigzags to the northwest about two miles west of Alkali according to map 11 in Attachment B, one of the appendices to the Final EIS.

The map shows a laydown yard in Goldfield but not Alkali.

RELATED: Wild Horses and Burros Losing Access to Alkali Hot Springs?

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An update from Alkali Hot Springs by Desert Water.

One of the horses gets caught in the new fence.  Not pretty.

RELATED: Wild Horses and Burros Losing Access to Alkali Hot Springs?

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

A fence has been built around the property as a part of its conversion to a laydown yard for NV Energy’s Greenlink West project.

Runoff from the spring will go under the fence as shown in the following video but access to the other water holes will be cut off.

The Esmeralda County assessor does not show any sales history for the property.

The APN is 006-261-05 and the current owner is HRH NEVADA RESOURCES, LTD.

The parcel map shows one 80-acre tract, 1,320 ft × 2,640 ft, minus 3.48 acres for Silver Peak Road.

Most of the new transmission line will run across BLM land.

The Decision Record and Final EIS can be found in the NEPA review by clicking on the Documents link near the top of the page.

A map in the January construction report shows the portion near Alkali as Segment 2.

RELATED: Wild Horses and Burros at Alkali Hot Springs?

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The allotment is too small but nearly 1,500 acres will be treated for cheatgrass next year according to a BLM news release.

Your faithful public servants claim that rangeland health will deteriorate if wild horse populations exceed one animal per thousand acres but the allotment supports livestock equivalent to three wild horses per thousand acres and it’s in the Maintain category.

The Range Creek HMA, with a target stocking rate of 2.9 wild horses per thousand public acres, is a few miles to the east.

RELATED: Suitability of Allotments for Wild Horse Preserves.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

The incident concluded on January 30 with 180 horses captured, 173 shipped, one released and seven dead.

The capture goal was 182.

A stallion escaped from the trap on the final day but this is not reflected in the data.

180 ≠ 173 + 7 + 1

The death rate was 3.9%.

The capture total consisted of 87 stallions and 93 mares.

No foals were caught.

The average daily take was 36.

The operation liberated 2,148 AUMs per year for other mandated uses of public lands.

There were no plans to treat any of the mares with fertility control pesticides and return them to the range, a huge disappointment to the advocates.

RELATED: Jakes Fire Emergency Roundup Announced.

UPDATE: The February 3 news release does not provide any new information.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

Nine wild horses have been found dead in the Black Mesa Ranger District according to a report by KNAU News.

A news release by ASNF confirms the $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

RELATED: TIME Looks at Heber Wild Horse Shootings.

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The incident started on January 26.

• Scope: Snowstorm Mountains and Little Humboldt HMAs
• Target: Horses
• Type: Emergency
• Method: Helicopter
• Better way: Beat the populations down with ovary-killing pesticides*
• Capture goal: 182
• Removal goal: 182
• Captured: 154
• Shipped: 147
• Released: None
• Deaths: 7
• Average daily take: 38.5
• Unaccounted-for animals: None

*According to advocates.

Results for Days 3 and 4 were not posted until today.

All deaths were intentional, the result of pre-existing conditions.

The death rate is 4.5%.

The capture total includes 76 stallions and 78 mares.

No foals have been caught.

The location of the trap site is not known.

The name of the contractor was not given.

The operation has liberated 1,848 AUMs per year.

RELATED: Jakes Fire Roundup Begins.

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Remnants of the old spa are on deeded acreage in the Montezuma Allotment, between the Paymaster and Montezuma Peak HMAs.

The PLSS layer in the ArcGIS Viewer indicates the property covers two 40-acre parcels in section 26 of T1S R41E, MDB&M.

The spa is in the southwest quadrant of the easterly parcel.

The allotment master report puts forage availability on the public lands at 13.6 AUMs per year per thousand public acres, barely enough to support one wild horse or two wild burros per thousand acres.

The landscape and animals are documented in this video by Windy Bill.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

W Bar Ranch covers 23,894 total acres according to the agent’s listing, including 1,618 deeded acres, 2,390 state acres and 19,886 BLM acres.

The numbers are very close to those in the allotment master report for Cornucopia Ranch, located a few miles south of Piñon, NM.

The allotment is currently permitted for cattle according to the authorization use report, with a twelve-month grazing season.

The permittee receives 5,032 active AUMs per year, enough to support 419 wild horses.

The stocking rate would be 21.1 wild horses per thousand public acres, despite claims by your faithful public servants that public lands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand acres.

The land ratio is good, 17 public acres per deeded acre.

The property might be suitable as a wild horse refuge, saving taxpayers 419 × 6 × 365 = $917,610 per year.

The simple payout period would be 4.4 years.

Wild horses can be placed on public lands not identified for their use by acquiring base properties tied to one or more grazing allotments and flipping the preference to horses.

The advocates could be investing in such projects, which would likely gain value over time, instead of wasting your donations on programs that benefit ranchers.

RELATED: Key Indicators for New Wild Horse Preserves.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

The allotment contains an area identified for wild horses, which is unacceptable.

The ArcGIS Viewer shows the arrangement.

About 70% of the HA is managed principally for livestock.

Horses are tolerated in the HMA, the remaining piece in the northeast corner.

The allotment offers 8,279 active AUMs on 68,879 public acres according to the allotment master report, equivalent to ten wild horses per thousand public acres.

Your faithful public servants claim that public lands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand public acres.

You don’t need to buy the base property to put wild horses back in the HA.

You just need to rid the bureaucracy of ranchers and ranching sympathizers and overturn the planning process that zeroed it out.

The advocacy groups could have special funds to acquire base properties not associated with HMAs and WHTs, opening up new spaces on public lands for wild horses.

Instead, they use your donations to buy pesticides so they can beat the horse numbers down in favor of livestock.

RELATED: Suitability of Allotments for Wild Horse Preserves.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.

The incident started yesterday as advertised, with 60 horses captured, none shipped, none released and one dead.

RELATED: Jakes Fire Emergency Roundup Announced.

► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.