Buffalo Hills Comment Period in Progress

The cover letter offers two options: By mail or by email, due by October 31.

Comments are not being taken online at the project site in ePlanning.

The roundup, billed as Catch-Treat-Release on the FY25 schedule, would require temporary holding of at least 90 days if the mares receive two doses on GonaCon.

Anything less constitutes unlawful use of the pesticide.

UPDATE: BLM acknowledged ongoing comment period in October 7 news release.

Sand Wash Roundup, Day 47

The incident started on August 19. Results through October 4:

Scope: Sand Wash Basin HMA
Target: Horses
AML: 362
Pre-gather population: 409
True AML: 1,764
Type: Planned
Method: Bait
Goals: Gather 60, remove 45
Captured: 10, up from 6 on Day 17
Shipped: 10, up from 6 on Day 17
Released: None
Deaths: None
Average daily take: 0.2
Unaccounted-for animals: None

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

No activity was reported between September 4 and October 3.

The Day 46 report gave the total only, no breakdown. Results were calculated from Day 16 and the figures in the sidebar.

The capture total includes 3 stallions, 6 mares and 1 foal.

Youngsters represented 10% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 33.3% were male and 66.7% were female.

Body condition scores were not given.

The location of the trap site is not known.

Up to 15 mares will be treated with PZP and be returned to the range according to the FY25 schedule.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

RELATED: Sand Wash Roundup in Progress.

Piute Mountain Roundup, Day 122

The incident started on May 31. Results through September 29:

Scope: Piute Mountain HA
Target: Burros
Type: Emergency
Method: Bait
Goals: Gather 50, remove 50
Captured: 47, up from 41 on Day 27
Shipped: 47, up from 41 on Day 27
Released: None
Deaths: 1, no change from Day 27
Average daily take: 0.4
Unaccounted-for animals: -1

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

No activity was reported between June 28 and September 29.

The animal put down on Day 27 was included in the shipping total, throwing the numbers out of balance.

The capture total includes 29 jacks, 15 jennies and 3 foals.

Youngsters represented 6.4% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 65.9% were male and 34.1% were female.

There are no plans to treat any of the jennies with fertility control pesticides and return them to the range.

The HA has no AML and is subject to permitted grazing. Resources liberated to date:

Forage: 282 AUMs per year
Water: 235 gallons per day

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

Any Livestock Grazing During Twin Peaks Roundup?

The grazing seasons of one or more pastures in the following allotments include October 1, the start date of the roundup, according to the Authorization Use Report:

Twin Springs
Observation
Deep Cut
Spanish Springs IND
Twin Buttes
Spanish Springs AMP
Shinn Peak

In short, seven out of nine allotments are active.

RELATED: Best Use of Twin Peaks AUMs?

Twin Peaks Roundup, Day 3

The incident started on October 1. Results through October 3:

Scope: Twin Peaks HMA
Target: Wild horses
AML: 758 horses (and 116 burros)
Pre-gather population: 1,800 horses (and 140 burros)
Type: Planned
Method: Helicopter
Category: Cruel and costly (according to advocates)
Better way: Shoot mares with pesticide-laced darts (according to advocates)
Capture goal: 940
Removal goal: 870
Captured: 260, up from 46 on Day 1
Shipped: 95, up from 35 on Day 1
Released: 1, up from zero on Day 1
Deaths: 2, up from zero on Day 1
Average daily take: 86.7
Unaccounted-for animals: 162
Snippet from statute: It is the policy of Congress that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death
Snippet from manual: To protect wild horses and burros from unauthorized capture, branding, harassment or death

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

The sidebar at the gather page says 266 captured.

Two mares were dispatched on Day 3 for blindness in one eye, bringing the death rate to 0.8%.

The Day 3 report also indicated that the door on a trailer came open as horses were being moved from the capture site to temporary holding, resulting in nine falling out.

They ran to the top of a hill and were not recaptured, yet the sidebar says one released.

The capture total includes 91 stallions, 126 mares and 43 foals.

Youngsters represented 16.5% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 41.9% were male and 58.1% were female.

Body condition scores were not given.

The trap is in the North Observation home range, which may correspond to one of the grazing allotments.

The number of animals removed depends on the number released. Up to 30 mares will be treated with GonaCon Equine and be returned to the range with up to 42 stallions according to the FY25 schedule.

RELATED: Twin Peaks Roundup Begins.

Foal-Free Friday, Good News and Bad News Edition

The bad news: Horses die. If there are no new foals, the herds will vanish.

The good news: You are in control. Don’t give the advocates a penny, they have nothing to offer America’s wild horses.

Pesticide Pushers 07-17-23

City Council to TRNP: Drop the Pesticides and Roundup

The Medora City Council passed a resolution on October 1 urging the park to halt wild horse removals and fertility controls until experts fully assess and provide a report on the genetic viability of the herd, according to a story by INFORUM.

The park’s interim superintendent said the roundup will provide genetic information that is crucial for managing the herd.

Buffalo Hills EA Refers to Old GonaCon Registrations

Discussion of the pesticide begins at the bottom of page 21 in the Final EA (page 29 in the pdf).

To wit, “GonaCon-Equine is approved for use by authorized federal, state, tribal, public and private personnel, for application to wild and feral equids in the United States (EPA 2013, 2015).”

The 2013 and 2015 versions were superseded by a 2017 amendment that changed the interval between primer and booster from 30 days to 90 days.

The BLM has adhered to 30 days, representing unlawful use of the product.

If the DNA is put out for public review, you could argue that the EA does not adequately cover the Proposed Action, as claimed therein.

Indian Lakes Public Tours Set for October 25

The tours, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, can accommodate 20 people each and will last about two hours, according to a BLM news release.

Wild horses are held at the facility not because the land can’t support them, but because the bureaucrats have assigned most of their food to the public-lands ranchers.

The advocates ratify and reinforce the practice with their darting programs.

Buffalo Hills Wild Horses Better Off Than Permittees

The HMA, a subset of the allotment, offers 314 × 12 = 3,768 AUMs per year on 125,207 public acres, or 30.1 AUMs per year per thousand public acres.

The allotment offers 4,114 AUMs per year on 440,982 public acres, or 9.3 AUMs per year per thousand public acres.

If wild horses had principal use of the HMA, a feature of the original statute but opposed today by most advocates, the AML would increase by 9.3 × 125,207 ÷ 1,000 ÷ 12 = 97, assuming the resource is evenly distributed across the allotment.

Buffalo Hills DNA Out for Public Review?

The project status says public scoping but the plan has already been determined.

The Draft DNA asserts that a 2017 EA adequately covers the Proposed Action, discussed in Section A.

Up to 235 wild horses and 33 wild burros would be captured by helicopter.

Approximately 100 mares would be treated with GonaCon Equine and be returned to the HMA with 103 stallions.

The remaining horses and all burros would be removed.

The HMA is on the east side of Twin Peaks and inside the Buffalo Hills Allotment.

As of today, Western Horse Watchers has not seen a BLM news release marking the beginning of a comment period.

The DNA said the Stockade Canyon fire burned 14% of the HMA in July but did not indicate if livestock grazing had been curtailed due to the loss of forage.

A roundup appears on the FY25 schedule with a start date of November 15.

Twin Peaks Roundup Begins

The incident started on October 1 with 46 horses captured, 35 shipped, none released and no deaths.

RELATED: Twin Peaks Roundup Announced.

Pesticide Pushers to Speak at TRI Wild Horse Conference

The Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, a leader in nonmotorized removal and staunch opponent of principal use, will explain what they are doing to ensure the safety of all employees and drivers at the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center, according to an announcement on Eventbrite.

The facility is the epicenter of their mass sterilization program. More horses are darted in that area than anywhere else on the Virginia Range.

The event, set for October 30, is sponsored by the Nevada Wildlife Alliance.

Pesticide Pushers 07-17-23

NPS Posts Backdated News Release for TRNP Roundup?

It’s dated September 27 but was not there when Western Horse Watchers checked the page on September 28.

An article by KX News indicates that the horses to be removed will be mares and their foals and yearlings.

Motorized Equipment Hearing Set for October 10

The Forest Service will host the meeting ahead of the Devil’s Garden and Montogomery Pass roundups according to a September 30 report by Sierra Daily News.

Western Horse Watchers is not aware of any hearings for nonmotorized removal, the domain of the advocates.

McCullough Peaks Darting-1

Mustang Monday

At the Salt River with Mommabird Arizona.

If Wild Horses Had Principal Use of East and West Y U Bench et al

The allotments overlap an area known as Y U Bench near Cody, WY, where livestock fencing was modified to facilitate pronghorn migration.

They offer 3,793 active AUMs on 35,181 public acres, according to the Allotment Master Report.

Y U Bench Allotment Calcs 09-29-24

The forage assigned to horses is zero.

How many wild horses could live there?

Using the principle of forage interchangeability, the True AML would be 317, the number of horses the land could support if it was managed principally for them as specified in the original statute.

The stocking rate would be nine wild horses per thousand public acres.

Why is this important?

The bureaucrats and ranchers claim that public lands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand acres (27,000 animals on 27 million acres).

The advocates, defeated a long time ago and now in their camp, reinforce the narrative with their darting programs.

If the allotments were an HMA, the AML would be 35 and 282 horses would be consigned to off-range holding because of permitted grazing.

BLM allotments in Wyoming carry livestock equivalent to 158,425 wild horses on 17,312,214 public acres, or 9.2 wild horses per thousand public acres.

Wild horses can be placed on public lands not identified for their use by acquiring base properties associated with grazing allotments and flipping the preference to horses, as American Prairie did for bison in Montana.

Park Service to Remove Bison and Horses from TRNP?

The incident will begin on October 5, according to a report by KFYR News, with 400 bison captured and 200 removed.

On October 18, 200 wild horses will be captured and 15 removed.

A helicopter will push the animals into the traps and operations will not be open to public observation.

Western Horse Watchers was unable to find an announcement at the TRNP news page.

A link to the NEPA analysis covering the action was not given.

The location of gather stats and daily reports is not known.

Fences Not the Only Problem at Y U Bench?

Volunteers with the Absaroka Fence Initiative and nearby community modified over two miles of barbed wire fence on Y U Bench southeast of Cody, WY to facilitate the migration of the Carter Mountain pronghorn herd, according to a BLM news release.

The changes maintain functionality for livestock grazing.

The offending allotment was not identified.

The National Data Viewer shows numerous allotments in and around Y U Bench, all in the Cody Field Office.

Western Horse Watchers searched the Allotment Master Report for parcels containing “Bench” and selected five.

South YU Bench
Lower YU Bench
YU Bench East
YU Bench West
Bench

The report puts all of them in the Improve category, another indication that our stewards of the public lands are not taking their responsibilities seriously.

The event was covered by the Cody Enterprise in a September 12 article, but nobody explained why the permittees aren’t accountable for wildlife-friendly fences.

Pronghorn Caught in Fence 09-28-24