Sixty to seventy percent of travelers interviewed by the author of a new book point to Oatman as one of their favorite stops according to a story by KPNX News.
The report did not indicate if any visitors had been kicked by the burros.
The stallion died of natural causes. He was not one of the top producers in 2025.
The mare slipped on ice and broke her neck.
The report by WBOC News did not indicate if any foals had been born in 2026.
Known for its abnormal sex ratio and unprecedented birth rate, the saltwater cowboys have engineered the herd for maximum revenue at the annual pony swim and auction.
The herd is so small that it’s in danger of becoming extinct according to an article by the New Times of San Luis Obispo.
A retired ranger from the Los Padres National Forest, home of the WHT, said she’s recommending and hoping that the Forest Service lets it die out.
Western Horse Watchers was unable to find a map of the territory but believes it’s located at the northern end of the Santa Lucia Ranger District based on remarks about a radar dome on page 45 (55 in the pdf) of the land management plan for the forest.
The WHT is not subject to permitted grazing.
The Forest Service does not post AOIs for neighboring allotments so it’s not possible to determine if the target stocking rate (20 horses on 13,3215 public acres) is reasonable.
Objective LG 3 in the management plan says the WHT remains suitable and sustainable over the long term but that was from 2005.
Despite cancellation of the AIP, 8,080 animals were placed into private care last year, up 20% from FY24, according to a BLM blog post.
The report did not indicate how many animals were removed from public lands during the same period and if the off-range inventory was rising or falling.
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 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).
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.
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.
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.
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.