Western Horse Watchers Association
Exposing the Hypocrisy, Lies and Incompetence of the Wild Horse Advocates
On the range
How would you classify the following statements?
Hint: None are statistics.
RELATED: Foal-Free Friday, Protecting the Gravy Train Edition.
So says a news release published this morning.
The allotments that overlap the four HMAs in the Complex are:
The National Data Viewer shows the arrangement. Click on image to open in new tab.
The boundaries of the allotments coincide roughly with those of the HMAs.
Sheep are allowed in Rim Pasture and Conant Creek Common, according to the Authorization Use Report. The other four are cattle only.
Two areas in Rim Pasture have turnout dates of June 1, which may correspond to the trailers mentioned in the news release.
The Allotment Master Report provides management status and active AUMs.
Horses in the Complex receive 6,432 AUMs per year while livestock receive 48,964 AUMs per year.
The horses have been trying to reclaim some of their food from the ranchers and that is the driver of the roundup.
RELATED; Coalition Starts Online Protest of North Lander Roundup.
The incident started on May 31. Results through June 26:
The figures above are based on the daily reports.
No activity was reported between June 13 and June 26.
A burro was dispatched for a pre-existing condition on Day 27. No details were given.
Dead animals are usually not shipped but the total indicates it was, throwing the numbers out of balance.
The capture total includes 26 jacks, 13 jennies and 2 foals.
The HA has no AML and is subject to permitted grazing. Resources liberated to date:
The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.
RELATED: Piute Mountain Roundup, Day 14.
The incident concluded on June 24 with 240 horses captured, 201 shipped, 31 released and eight dead.
There were no unaccounted-for animals according to these figures.
The daily reports indicate 238 horses captured.
The death rate was 3.3%.
Foals represented 11.7% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of seven percent per year.
Of the adults, 56.1% were male and 43.9% were female.
The May 16 report said 18 jennies were treated with fertility control of unspecified type, but no burros were caught.
The June 14 report said 31 animals were released, but their sex was not specified.
The June 3 schedule said ten animals would be treated with GonaCon Equine.
So the horses released probably included mares that received two doses of the pesticide less than 90 days apart, violating the directions for use in the 2017 labeling amendment.
The post-gather population probably isn’t much larger than 31, given that the pre-gather population was thought to be around 230.
The double-dose of GonaCon may mean the herd gets smaller for a few years if it recovers at all, giving the permittees primary use of the HMA.
If you want to understand the enmity between the public-lands ranchers and wild horses, read the county’s news release dated June 24.
Better yet, read the June 11 letter from the Board to the BLM.
Western Horse Watchers estimates that sixty to seventy percent of the county is public lands, mostly BLM and USFS, and most of that acreage is subject to permitted grazing, based on the arrangement in the National Data Viewer and Western Watersheds map.
The HMA is close to the northern edge, denoted by red arrows.
RELATED: Turmoil at Little Book Cliffs?
The incident started on March 5 when an officer with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department buried a dead horse in a shallow grave by a busy road, according to a story by Fox News of Las Vegas.
A second horse was injured and unable to move.
They were found on lands managed by the BLM near the town of Cold Creek, NV and were likely associated with the Wheeler Pass HMA.
The incident started on April 16. Results through June 23:
The figures above are based on the daily reports.
No activity was reported on Days 67 and 68.
The capture goal has been achieved with 4.3% overreach.
The death rate is 2.7%.
The capture total includes 157 stallions, 148 mares and 60 foals.
Youngsters represented 16.4% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of eleven percent per year.
Of the adults, 51.5% were male and 48.5% 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:
There are no plans to treat any of the mares with fertility control pesticides and return them to the range.
The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.
RELATED: Caliente Roundup, Day 65.
On the Virginia side of Assateague Island with Bethany Farris.
Received this alert today.
The site identified in the notification says the evacuation was lifted at 6:39 PM.
The allotment, in the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument, offers 15,081 active AUMs on 186,082 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 15,081 ÷ 12 = 1,257, 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 1,257 ÷ 186,082 × 1,000 = 6.8 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 reinforce the narrative with their darting programs.
If the allotment was an HMA, the AML would be 186 and 1,071 horses would be consigned to off-range holding because of permitted grazing.
BLM allotments in Arizona carry livestock equivalent to 53,662 wild horses on 10,090,546 public acres, or 5.3 wild horses per thousand public acres.
RELATED: The Allotments Tell the Story: They’re Lying, All of Them.
The incident started on April 16. Results through June 19:
The figures above are based on the daily reports.
No activity was reported on Day 62.
A filly was dispatched on Day 63 due to a fractured leg.
The death rate is 2.9%.
The capture total includes 150 stallions, 138 mares and 56 foals.
Youngsters represented 16.3% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of eleven percent per year.
Of the adults, 52.1% were male and 47.9% 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:
There are no plans to treat any of the mares with fertility control pesticides and return them to the range.
The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.
RELATED: Caliente Roundup, Day 61.
Guest Patrick Springer recalls their history as well as the recent effort by NPS to remove them from the park.
Springer appeared in the 2011 documentary “Nokota Heart.”
RELATED: TRNP a Wild Horse Melting Pot?
The allotment, on the east side of the Mormon Mountains HA in Nevada, offers 3,458 active AUMs on 57,700 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 3,458 ÷ 12 = 288, 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 288 ÷ 57,700 × 1,000 = five 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 58 and 230 horses would be consigned to off-range holding because of permitted grazing.
BLM allotments in the state carry livestock equivalent to 173,144 wild horses on 40,194,360 public acres, or 4.3 wild horses per thousand public acres.
RELATED: The Allotments Tell the Story: They’re Lying, All of Them.
The incident started on May 1. Results through June 14:
The figures above are based on the daily reports.
No details were given for the horses released.
The death rate is 3.4%.
The capture total includes 115 stallions, 91 mares and 28 foals.
Youngsters represented 12.0% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of seven percent per year.
Of the adults, 55.8% were male and 44.2% were female.
Body condition scores were not given.
The location of the trap site is not known.
The destination of shipped animals was not stated.
The HMA is subject to permitted grazing. Resources liberated to date:
Ten mares will be treated with GonaCon Equine, a fertility control pesticide, and be returned to the range according to the latest schedule.
The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.
RELATED: Bordo Atravesado Roundup, Day 41.
The FY24 regular season resumes on July 1, after a hiatus for foaling season, with a quadruple-HMA roundup in central Wyoming.
The areas of interest are Conant Creek, Dishpan Butte, Muskrat Basin and Rock Creek.
The current population is thought to be 3,035 wild horses, compared to an AML of 536.
The news release did not mention
The announcement said the AML was scientifically determined, which is misleading.
Resource availability was scientifically determined, but apportionment was arbitrary.
Horses identified for removal will be taken to the Wheatland off-range corrals.
Gather stats and daily reports will be posted to this page.
The incident supports three tenets of rangeland management.
RELATED: Coalition Starts Online Protest of North Lander Roundup.
The incident started on May 31. Results through June 13:
The figures above are based on the daily reports, which now include details for jacks, jennies and foals.
No activity was reported on Days 9, 10, 11 and 12.
The capture total includes 25 jacks, 8 jennies and no foals.
The HA has no AML and is subject to permitted grazing. Resources liberated to date:
The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.
RELATED: Piute Mountain Roundup, Day 8.
At the south end of Walker Lake with kingcidtravels.
Horses might be from the Wassuk HMA, a few miles to the west.
Images of foals will be disturbing to most advocates.
The incident started on April 16. Results through June 15:
The figures above are based on the daily reports.
The only horse captured on Day 59 was a foal. No details were given.
The death rate is 2.9%.
The capture total includes 129 stallions, 128 mares and 50 foals.
Youngsters represented 16.3% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of eleven percent per year.
Of the adults, 50.2% were male and 49.8% 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:
There are no plans to treat any of the mares with fertility control pesticides and return them to the range.
The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.
RELATED: Caliente Roundup, Day 55.
Initially, the advocates peddled the Montana Solution as a way to slow population growth and reduce the need for roundups.
That didn’t win the approval of the bureaucrats and ranchers.
Today, they sell it as mass sterilization, not by their words but by their deeds, hoping to convince the decision-makers that ovary-killing pesticides are a viable alternative to motorized removal.
They’ve always known that PZP is not reversible after five years of treatment and privately point to Assateague Island as an example of what can be achieved long term but conceal this truth from their unwitting donors.
With the Salt River and Virginia Range herds on the verge of collapse, the advocates may soon be in a position to spread the poison to other areas.
RELATED: Foal-Free Friday, Race to the Bottom Edition.
A new project has been created in ePlanning and one document is available for review.
The Complex, located south of Eureka, NV, includes the Sand Springs West HMA, Pancake HMA, Jakes Wash HA and Monte Cristo WHT.
The comment period runs from June 13 to July 15 according to the news release.
The new HMAP will support three tenets of rangeland management.
RELATED: Pancake Ruling Helps Advocates, Not Wild Horses.
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