There were 60,055 wild horses and 2,973 wild burros in off-range holding according to the April Facility Report.

Table 8 in the 2021 EA for pest control and resource enforcement in the Adobe Town, Salt Wells Creek, Great Divide Basin, White Mountain and Little Colorado HMAs gives the estimated active AUMs for livestock in these areas, summarized below.

Little Colorado was not part of the dispute with the Rock Springs Grazing Association and does not appear in the consent decree but was included in the EA.

Nearly 16,000 wild horses have been displaced from the HMAs because of permitted grazing, about 26.6% of the horses in off-range holding.

None of the HMAs are overpopulated from a forage viewpoint.

The True AMLs represent the number of horses the HMAs could support if they were managed principally for them.

The advocates, instead of working for principal use as Velma and the 92nd Congress intended, have concluded that the ranchers should receive the lion’s share of the resources and that the horses would be better off if they weren’t even born.

RELATED: Rock Springs RMP Amendments Cleared for Implementation.

Beware of the wild horse advocates!

RELATED: Mass Sterilization OK if Done with PZP.

The incident started on July 1.  Results through July 5:

• Scope: North Lander Complex
• Target: Horses
• AML: 536
• Current population: 3,035
• True AML: 4,616
• Type: Planned
• Method: Helicopter
• Category: Cruel and costly (according to advocates)
• Better way: Mass sterilization with PZP (according to advocates)
• Goals: Gather 2,766, remove 2,716
• Captured: 823, up from 573 on Day 3
• Shipped: 591, up from 386 on Day 3
• Released: None
• Deaths: 3, up from 2 on Day 3
• Average daily take: 164.6
• Unaccounted-for animals: 229

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

A stallion was dispatched on Day 4 due to a fractured neck.

The death rate is 0.4%.

The capture total includes 334 stallions, 333 mares and 156 foals.

Youngsters represented 19% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of 14% per year.

Land managers often use a growth rate of 20% per year to predict herd sizes and management actions.

Of the adults, 50.1% were male and 49.9% were female.

Body condition scores were not given.

The location of the trap site is not known.

The Complex is subject to permitted grazing.  Resources liberated to date:

• Forage: 9,876 AUMs per year
• Water: 8,230 gallons per day

The June 3 schedule indicates that 20 mares will be treated with fertility control pesticides and returned to the range but this is not discussed at the gather page.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

RELATED: North Lander Roundup, Day 3.

In their bid to win the approval of the bureaucrats and ranchers. the advocates have gone “all in” for the Montana Solution, hoping the collapse of the Salt River and Virginia Range herds will finally convince them that the pesticide is a viable alternative to motorized removal.

The tipping points should be reached this year.

They’re not trying to slow population growth as in the old days, but to erase entire populations through mass sterilization.

The absence of foals is just a symptom.

The Maryland side of Assateague Island shows what can be accomplished in the long run but they can’t take credit for it.

RELATED: Foal-Free Friday, Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics Edition.

Yesterday’s announcement said the current population was 791, compared to an AML of 205-300, so 586 excess horses have to go.

A helicopter will push them into the trap and they’ll be taken to the off-range corrals at Wheatland or Rock Springs.

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

The HMA covers 391,868 total acres, including 207,372 public acres, most of them in the Wyoming checkerboard.

The news release did not indicate if operations would be open to public observation.

As of today, a gather page has not been created.

The HMA intersects the Lombard, Highway Gasson and Rock Springs allotments.

RELATED: White Mountain Decision Issued.

The BLM has determined that there are 586 excess horses in the HMA, home of the Pilot Butte Wild Horse Scenic Tour.

The Proposed Action, described in Section A of the DNA Worksheet, calls for gather and removal via helicopter, with roping or bait-trapping as needed.

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

The agency reviewed previous planning documents and concluded they adequately analyzed the impacts associated with the Proposed Action.

The DR was copied to the project folder along with the FONSI and DNA Worksheet.

The HMA overlaps the Lombard, Highway Gasson and Rock Springs allotments.

It was not zeroed-out in the Final Rock Springs RMP Decision.

RELATED: Comments Invited on DNA for White Mountain Roundup.

The allotment, located northeast of Rock Springs in the Wyoming checkerboard, offers 836 active AUMs on 12,968 public acres, according to the Allotment Master Report.

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 836 ÷ 12 = 70, 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 70 ÷ 12,968 × 1,000 = 5.4 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 give their assent through their darting programs.

If the allotment was an HMA, the AML would be 13 and 57 horses would be consigned to off-range holding because of permitted grazing.

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

RELATED: The Allotments Tell the Story: They’re Lying, All of Them.

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

• Scope: North Lander Complex
• Target: Horses
• AML: 536
• Current population: 3,035
• True AML: 4,616
• Type: Planned
• Method: Helicopter
• Category: Cruel and costly (according to advocates)
• Better way: Sterilize mares with PZP (according to advocates)
• Goals: Gather 2,766, remove 2,716
• Captured: 573, up from 383 on Day 1
• Shipped: 386, up from zero on Day 1
• Released: None
• Deaths: 2, up from zero on Day 1
• Average daily take: 191.0
• Unaccounted-for animals: 185

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

A mare was dispatched on Day 2 due to a fractured head and a foal was put down because of malformed vertebrae in the neck.

The death rate is 0.3%.

The capture total includes 227 stallions, 240 mares and 106 foals.

Youngsters represented 18.5% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 48.6% were male and 51.4% were female.

Body condition scores were not given.

The location of the trap site is not known.

The Complex is subject to permitted grazing.  Resources liberated to date:

• Forage: 6,876 AUMs per year
• Water: 5,730 gallons per day

The June 3 schedule indicates that 20 mares will be treated with fertility control pesticides and returned to the range but this is not discussed at the gather page.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

RELATED: North Lander Roundup Begins.

The Center for Biological Diversity says the herd should be no larger than 50 according to a story by ABC15 News of Phoenix.

The current population is slightly over 300.

The advocates say the herd should contain at least 200 wild horses, so they’re the good guys, right?

Only if you think mass sterilization is good for the herd.

The darts mentioned in the article contain PZP, a restricted-use pesticide that tricks the immune system into attacking the ovaries.

Damage begins with the first injection and proceeds to sterility after five years of treatment.

The mares will be sterile halfway into the ten-year program, which occurs this year.

The goal of 200 will be reached in a few more years but the decline won’t stop there.

The herd on the Maryland side of Assateague Island, where the same pesticide was applied, is still shrinking eight years after the darting program was shut off.

Fifty will look good as the herd disappears into the sunset.

The Salt River Wild Horse Darting Group is a puppet of the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, a leader in nonmotorized removal.

RELATED: Salt River Advocates Suffering from Mental Illness?

The incident will begin on or about July 8 according to today’s news release.

The plan targets 1,373 wild horses and 356 wild burros for capture and removal.

Helicopters will push the animals into the traps and operations will be open to public observation.

The announcement does not indicate if any of the mares will be treated with fertility control pesticides but the June 3 schedule puts the figure at 40.

The Blue Wing Complex consists of five HMAs, a subset of the land designated in 1971.

The National Data Viewer shows the arrangement.  Click on image to open in new tab.

Animals identified for removal will be taken to the off-range corrals in Fallon with some of the burros going to Axtell.  Both facilities are privately owned.

The Complex lies within the Blue Wing – Seven Troughs Allotment, which offers 20,316 active AUMs on 1,192,778 public acres, or 17 AUMs per year per thousand public acres.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

RELATED: Scoping Begins for Blue Wing HMAP.

The incident started today as scheduled, with 383 horses captured, none shipped, none released and none dead.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

RELATED: Best Use of North Lander AUMs?

Taxpayers spend around $5 per day for a horse in short-term holding, so if he receives one AUM, enough to keep him on the range for a month, taxpayers save $150, or $1,800 per year.

The government loses the grazing value of that forage, equal to $1.35 per month or about $16 per year.

Now scale it up.

The BLM gave 48,964 AUMs per year to privately owned livestock in the Complex, thereby consigning 4,080 wild horses to off-range holding.

If the forage was shifted back to the horses, meaning they had principal use of the land as specified in the original law, taxpayers would save 4,080 × 1,800 = $7,344,000 per year, while the BLM forfeits 4,080 × 16 = $65,280 per year in grazing fees.

The net benefit exceeds $7 million per year, to be achieved by confining the ranchers to their base properties in a year-round off season.

RELATED: If Wild Horses Had Principal Use of North Lander Complex.

On the Salt River with Walking with a Wookie.

On June 11, your host sent the public affairs specialist at the Southern Nevada District Office a link to the 2017 labeling amendment seeking comment on current practices, which violate the Directions for Use.

The minimum interval between treatments is now 90 days although the agency consistently adheres to previous versions which said 30 days.

For example, go to Section 2.3.3.3 of the Draft EA for management actions in the Little Book Cliffs HMA.  The citations refer to the 2013 registration and 2015 amendment, but not the 2017 update.

RELATED: Red Rock Mares Returned to HMA, Now Crime Scene.

The incident concluded on June 29 with 382 horses captured, 371 shipped, none released and 11 dead.

The capture and removal goals were 350 each.

There were no unaccounted-for animals.

The death rate was 2.9%.

The capture total included 162 stallions, 157 mares and 63 foals.

Youngsters represented 16.5% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 50.8% were male and 49.2% were female.

No mares were treated with fertility control pesticides and returned to the range.

The Complex consists of nine former HMAs now managed principally for livestock.

RELATED: Caliente Roundup Announced.

UPDATE: The BLM news release did not indicate that the roundup ended with 9.1% overreach and why it was needed in an area unfit for wild horses.

There are no statements by the big-name advocacy groups in this article by Cowboy State Daily but there are a few remarks that need clarification.

1. The BLM estimates that 3,045 mustangs live there.  The gather page puts the figure at 3,035.

2. Animals identified for removal will be taken to the BLM’s long-term holding facility near Wheatland.  It’s a short-term facility.

3. The BLM considers 320 horses to be an adequate number, as the area’s designated maximum carry capacity is about 500 mustangs.  The first number corresponds to the low end of AML, the point where ranching superiority in the Complex is achieved.

4. Wild horse advocates, among them Riverton native Jim Brown, think that’s a ridiculously low number.  Correct, AMLs are small relative to the available resources because the HMAs are managed primarily for livestock.

5. Many claim that using helicopters to drive mustangs is needlessly cruel.  Those making the allegations want to get rid of them with PZP, a restricted-use pesticide that tricks the immune system into attacking the ovaries.

6. Brown said the original intent was that cattle and sheep grazing would not be allowed on HMAs but the act was tweaked in 1975 to allow livestock grazing.  The original statute was amended in 1976 by FLPMA concerning motorized removal and again in 1978 by PRIA, which introduced AMLs.  The concept of multiple use was overhauled by FLPMA.

7. It’s like the original law has disappeared, the horses are not the main occupants of the HMAs.  Correct, the current statute no longer affords the protections sought by Velma and the 92nd Congress.

8. The population numbers aren’t arbitrary, they’re set according to the carrying capacity of the land the horses inhabit.  Nonsense.  The carrying capacity of the North Lander Complex is north of 4,600.  The current population is well within this limit.

9. The ideal carrying capacity for mustangs takes into consideration the health of not only the horses, but other wildlife species they share the range with.  The horses have been marginalized by the bureaucrats in favor of the ranchers.  There’s nothing in the current statute that says AMLs must correspond to 20% of the authorized forage or less but that’s how the system operates.

10. The mustangs have no natural predators.  Because wildlife agencies got rid of them to protect the ranchers.

11. The horses in the North Lander area are all in excellent health.  Of course, the Allotment Master Report tells you there’s plenty of food in the Complex, enough to support an additional 4,080 wild horses!

12. The BLM is focused on the long-term health of the land and the mustang herds and doesn’t see mustangs and livestock grazing as being at odds.  Really?  The two are head-to-head competitors in a zero-sum game.

RELATED: If Wild Horses Had Principal Use of North Lander Complex.

The six allotments that coincide with the four HMAs offer 48,964 active AUMs on 337,999 public acres, equivalent to 4,080 wild horses on 337,999 public acres, or 12.1 wild horses per thousand public acres.

This brings more embarrassment to the bureaucrats and ranchers, who claim public lands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand acres (27,000 animals on 27 million acres).

The AML is 536.

The pre-gather population is 3,035.

What can you conclude?

• The True AML is north of 4,600
• The Complex is not overpopulated
• There is no justification for a fertility control program
• Over 4,000 horses are rotting in off-range holding because of permitted grazing
• This is some of the most productive land in the American west
• The Complex is managed primarily for livestock
• The advocates are full of crap

Wild horses can have principal use of the Complex—as Velma and the 92nd Congress intended—by confining the ranchers to their base properties in a year-round off season.

RELATED: Ranchers Staging Sheep Ahead of North Lander Roundup?

The news release includes a link to the complaint, which alleges, among other things, that cattle and sheep in the HMA receive 26,644 AUMs per year, while horses and burros receive 9,792 AUMs per year.

The forage allocations tell you the HMA can support many more horses and burros than the bureaucrats admit but most have been consigned to off-range holding because of permitted grazing.

The incident is on the schedule with a start date of September 1.

Unlike most advocacy groups, Friends of Animals is not obsessed with fertility control pesticides.

RELATED: Pesticide Pushers Complain about Loss of Twin Peaks Foals!