Category: Range

On the range

Black Mountain Gather Ops End with 15% Overreach

The report for January 24, Day 16 of the roundup, said “Gather goal met,” which would be true if the target was 1,150, but the goal was 1,000.

As of today, there are 184 unaccounted-for animals.

Some will be shipped to Florence and some will be returned to the HMA following treatment with Zonastat-H, a fertility control pesticide endorsed by most advocates.

RELATED: BLM Overreach at Black Mountain Roundup?

East Pershing Roundup, Day 27

The incident began on December 28.  Results through January 23:

The figures in this post are based on the daily reports, not the totals posted by the BLM.

Helicopters did not fly on Day 27.

The death rate is 1.1%.  All deaths are chargeable to the roundup.

The capture total includes 726 stallions, 811 mares and 218 foals.  The sidebar at the gather page says 805 mares captured.

Youngsters represented 12.4% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of seven percent per year.

Of the adults, 47.2% were male and 52.8% were female, no evidence of an abnormal sex ratio.

The name of the contractor was not given and the location of the trap site was not disclosed.

Body condition scores averaged 3 on Day 26.

The sidebar puts the total shipped at 1,728.

The Complex is managed primarily for animal agriculture.  The National Data Viewer shows habitat loss and grazing allotments.  Click on image to open in new tab.

*According to advocates.

East Pershing Complex with Allotments 12-30-23

Day 27 ended with 6 unaccounted-for animals.  The totals at the gather page show two more horses processed than captured.

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

Other statistics:

  • Forage liberated to date: 21,024 AUMs per year
  • Water liberated to date: 17,520 gallons per day
  • Horses allowed by plan: 555
  • Pre-gather population: 3,375
  • Forage assigned to horses: 6,660 AUMs per year
  • Forage assigned to livestock: Not determined
  • Horses displaced from Complex by permitted grazing: Not determined
  • True AML: Not determined
  • Stocking rate at new AML: Not determined
  • Horses displaced by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

Overpopulation means more horses than allowed by plan, not necessarily more horses than the land can support.

The ability of the Complex to sustain wild horses has been limited by the bureaucrats, who have assigned most of their food to the public-lands ranchers.

Refer to these reports for an indication of the problem:

RELATED: East Pershing Roundup, Day 25.

Black Mountain Roundup, Day 15

The incident started on January 9.  Results through January 23:

  • Target: Burros
  • Method: Helicopter
  • Type: Planned
  • Category: Cruel and costly*
  • Goals: Gather 1,000, remove 960
  • Better way: Get rid of them with PZP, let the ranchers have most of the resources*
  • Captured: 1,112, up from 986 on Day 13
  • Shipped: 900, up from 772 on Day 13
  • Released: None
  • Deaths: 2, no change from Day 13
  • Average daily take: 74.1
  • Unaccounted-for animals: 210

The figures in this post are based on the daily reports, not the totals in the sidebar.

The capture goal has been exceeded by 11.2%.

The death rate is 0.2%.

The capture total includes 445 jacks, 505 jennies and 162 foals.

Youngsters represented 14.6% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 46.8% were male and 53.2% were female.

The name of the contractor was not given and the location of the trap site was not disclosed.

The HMA is subject to permitted grazing.

  • Forage liberated to date: 6,672 AUMs per year
  • Water liberated to date: 5,560 gallons per day

The National Data Viewer shows habitat loss and overlapping allotments.  Click on map to open in new tab.

The management plan assigns 2.5 times more forage to livestock than the burros.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

*According to advocates

RELATED: Black Mountain Roundup, Day 13.

Black Mountain HMA with Allotments 12-20-23

BLM, Permittee to Test Virtual Livestock Fencing

The project would implement virtual fencing in the Board Corral Allotment on the west side of Sheldon NWR to obtain a more uniform distribution of cattle and reduce grazing pressure on seeps, springs and wet meadow resources.

According to Section 3.1.1 in the Draft EA, livestock continually congregate, trample and utilize riparian areas and springs on the allotment.  Many forgeable upland areas in the South Use Area receive little to no use due to water constraints, lack of boundaries and cattle attraction to the riparian corridor.

Under the Proposed Action, the BLM would purchase the base stations and the permittee would rent or purchase the livestock collars.

The allotment, in the Improve category, offers 690 active AUMs on 15,330 public acres, or 45.0 AUMs per year per thousand public acres, equivalent to 3.8 wild horses per thousand public acres.

Despite this, land managers insist that public lands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand public acres (27,000 animals on 27 million acres).

The allotment overlaps the north end of the Massacre Lake HA, an area identified for wild horses but managed principally for livestock.

The EA was copied to the project folder with related documents.

Comments will be accepted through January 31.

RELATED: Virtual Fences Coming to a Pasture Near You?

Board Corral Allotment with HMAs 01-23-24

East Pershing Roundup, Day 25

The incident began on December 28.  Results through January 21:

The figures in this post are based on the daily reports, not the totals posted by the BLM.

A stallion was put down on Day 24 due to a poorly healed nose injury, followed by another stallion and filly for blindness, lifting the death rate to 1.2%.  They’d be alive today if there was no roundup.

The capture total includes 699 stallions, 774 mares and 204 foals.  The sidebar at the gather page says 768 mares captured.

Youngsters represented 12.2% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of seven percent per year.

Of the adults, 47.5% were male and 52.5% were female, no evidence of an abnormal sex ratio.

The name of the contractor was not given and the location of the trap site was not disclosed.

Body condition scores ranged from 3 to 5 on Days 24 and 25.

The sidebar puts the total shipped at 1,480.

The Complex is managed primarily for animal agriculture.  The National Data Viewer shows habitat loss and grazing allotments.  Click on image to open in new tab.

*According to advocates.

East Pershing Complex with Allotments 12-30-23

Day 25 ended with 176 unaccounted-for animals.

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

Other statistics:

  • Forage liberated to date: 20,088 AUMs per year
  • Water liberated to date: 16,740 gallons per day
  • Horses allowed by plan: 555
  • Pre-gather population: 3,375
  • Forage assigned to horses: 6,660 AUMs per year
  • Forage assigned to livestock: Not determined
  • Horses displaced from Complex by permitted grazing: Not determined
  • True AML: Not determined
  • Stocking rate at new AML: Not determined
  • Horses displaced by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

Overpopulation means more horses than allowed by plan, not necessarily more horses than the land can support.

The ability of the Complex to sustain wild horses has been limited by the bureaucrats, who have assigned most of their food to the public-lands ranchers.

Refer to these reports for an indication of the problem:

RELATED: East Pershing Roundup, Day 23.

Black Mountain Roundup, Day 13

The incident started on January 9.  Results through January 21:

  • Target: Burros
  • Method: Helicopter
  • Type: Planned
  • Category: Cruel and costly*
  • Goals: Gather 1,000, remove 960
  • Better way: Thin the herd with PZP, let the ranchers have most of the resources*
  • Captured: 986, up from 833 on Day 11
  • Shipped: 772, no change from Day 11
  • Released: None
  • Deaths: 2, up from 1 on Day 11
  • Average daily take: 75.8
  • Unaccounted-for animals: 212

The figures in this post are based on the daily reports, not the totals in the sidebar.

A jack was put down on Day 12 due to a leg injury.

The death rate is 0.2%.

The capture total includes 404 jacks, 442 jennies and 140 foals.

Youngsters represented 14.2% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 47.8% were male and 52.2% were female.

The name of the contractor was not given and the location of the trap site was not disclosed.

The HMA is subject to permitted grazing.

  • Forage liberated to date: 5,916 AUMs per year
  • Water liberated to date: 4,930 gallons per day

The National Data Viewer shows habitat loss and overlapping allotments.  Click on map to open in new tab.

The management plan assigns 2.5 times more forage to livestock than the burros.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

The incident will likely conclude tomorrow.

*According to advocates

RELATED: Black Mountain Roundup, Day 11.

Black Mountain HMA with Allotments 12-20-23

Black Mountain Roundup, Day 11

The incident started on January 9.  Results through January 19:

  • Target: Burros
  • Method: Helicopter
  • Type: Planned
  • Category: Cruel and costly*
  • Goals: Gather 1,000, remove 960
  • Better way: Beat the population down with PZP, let the ranchers have their way*
  • Captured: 833, up from 662 on Day 9
  • Shipped: 772, up from 449 on Day 9
  • Released: None
  • Deaths: 1, no change from Day 9
  • Average daily take: 75.7
  • Unaccounted-for animals: 60

The figures in this post are based on the daily reports, not the totals in the sidebar.

Helicopters did not fly on Day 11 due to maintenance.

The death rate is 0.1%.

The capture total includes 345 jacks, 375 jennies and 113 foals.

Youngsters represented 13.6% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 47.9% were male and 52.1% were female.

The location of the trap site was not disclosed.

The HMA is subject to permitted grazing.

  • Forage liberated to date: 4,998 AUMs per year
  • Water liberated to date: 4,165 gallons per day

The National Data Viewer shows habitat loss and overlapping allotments.  Click on map to open in new tab.

The management plan assigns 2.5 times more forage to livestock than the burros.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

The incident will likely conclude in three days.

*According to advocates

RELATED: Black Mountain Roundup, Day 9.

Black Mountain HMA with Allotments 12-20-23

East Pershing Roundup, Day 23

The incident began on December 28.  Results through January 19:

The figures in this post are based on the daily reports, not the totals posted by the BLM.

A mare and stallion were dispatched on Day 22 for pre-existing conditions, followed by another stallion on Day 23, lifting the death rate to 1.1%.

The capture total includes 644 stallions, 706 mares and 185 foals.  The sidebar at the gather page says 700 mares captured.

Youngsters represented 12.1% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of seven percent per year.

Of the adults, 47.7% were male and 52.3% were female, no evidence of an abnormal sex ratio.

The location of the trap site was not given.

Body condition scores ranged from 3 to 5 on Days 22 and 23.

The sidebar puts the total shipped at 1,394.

The Complex is managed primarily for animal agriculture.  The National Data Viewer shows habitat loss and grazing allotments.  Click on image to open in new tab.

*According to advocates.

East Pershing Complex with Allotments 12-30-23

Day 23 ended with 123 unaccounted-for animals.

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

Other statistics:

  • Forage liberated to date: 18,384 AUMs per year
  • Water liberated to date: 15,320 gallons per day
  • Horses allowed by plan: 555
  • Pre-gather population: 3,375
  • Forage assigned to horses: 6,660 AUMs per year
  • Forage assigned to livestock: Not determined
  • Horses displaced from Complex by permitted grazing: Not determined
  • True AML: Not determined
  • Stocking rate at new AML: Not determined
  • Horses displaced by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

Overpopulation means more horses than allowed by plan, not necessarily more horses than the land can support.

The ability of the Complex to sustain wild horses has been limited by the bureaucrats, who have assigned most of their food to the public-lands ranchers.

Refer to these reports for an indication of the problem:

RELATED: East Pershing Roundup, Day 21.

Black Mountain Roundup, Day 9

The incident started on January 9.  Results through January 17:

  • Target: Burros
  • Method: Helicopter
  • Type: Planned
  • Category: Cruel and costly*
  • Goals: Gather 1,000, remove 960
  • Better way: Beat the population down with PZP, let the ranchers have their way*
  • Captured: 662, up from 443 on Day 7
  • Shipped: 449, up from 314 on Day 7
  • Released: None
  • Deaths: 1, up from zero on Day 7
  • Average daily take: 73.6
  • Unaccounted-for animals: 212

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

A burro was dispatched on Day 9.  No details were given.

The death rate is 0.2%.

Youngsters represented 13.3% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 51.2% were male and 48.8% were female.

The location of the trap site was not disclosed.

The HMA is subject to permitted grazing.

  • Forage liberated to date: 3,972 AUMs per year
  • Water liberated to date: 3,310 gallons per day

The National Data Viewer shows habitat loss and overlapping allotments.  Click on map to open in new tab.

The management plan assigns 2.5 times more forage to livestock than the burros.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

*According to advocates

RELATED: Black Mountain Roundup, Day 7.

Black Mountain HMA with Allotments 12-20-23

East Pershing Roundup, Day 21

The incident began on December 28.  Results through January 17:

The figures above are based on the daily reports, not the totals posted by the BLM.

A stallion was dispatched on Day 21 for club feet.

The death rate is 1.0%.

The capture total includes 601 stallions, 630 mares and 157 foals.  The sidebar at the gather page says 624 mares captured.

Youngsters represented 11.3% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of six percent per year.

Of the adults, 48.8% were male and 51.2% were female, no evidence of an abnormal sex ratio.

The location of the trap site was not given.

Body condition scores ranged from 3 to 5 on Days 20 and 21.

The Complex is managed primarily for animal agriculture.  The National Data Viewer shows habitat loss and grazing allotments.  Click on image to open in new tab.

*According to advocates.

East Pershing Complex with Allotments 12-30-23

Day 21 ended with 98 unaccounted-for animals.

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

Other statistics:

  • Forage liberated to date: 16,620 AUMs per year
  • Water liberated to date: 13,850 gallons per day
  • Horses allowed by plan: 555
  • Pre-gather population: 3,375
  • Forage assigned to horses: 6,660 AUMs per year
  • Forage assigned to livestock: Not determined
  • Horses displaced from Complex by permitted grazing: Not determined
  • True AML: Not determined
  • Stocking rate at new AML: Not determined
  • Horses displaced by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

Overpopulation means more horses than allowed by plan, not necessarily more horses than the land can support.

The ability of the Complex to sustain wild horses has been limited by the bureaucrats, who have assigned most of their food to the public-lands ranchers.

Refer to these reports for an indication of the problem:

RELATED: East Pershing Roundup, Day 19.

BLM to Extend Pryor Mountain Land Withdrawal

The action will protect wild horse and wildlife habitat within the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range for an additional 20-year term, according to a notice appearing this morning in the Federal Register.

The original withdrawal occurred under Public Land Order No. 7628.

The National Data Viewer puts the affected parcels at the southern end of the WHR.

Persons wishing to submit comments must send them in writing to the Billings Field Office as described in the announcement.

Pryor Mountain Land Withdrawl 01-17-24

How Is Solar Energy Like Wild Horses?

The BLM announced today the beginning of a public scoping period for the Pinyon Solar Project west of Maricopa, AZ.

The news release was the only document copied to the project folder.

The map at ePlanning puts the project area, which consists of 1,730 acres of public land, at the edge of the Sonoran Desert National Monument.

The National Data Viewer puts it inside the Conley Allotment.

The allotment offers 4,158 active AUMs on 90,946 public acres, or 45.7 AUMs per year per thousand public acres, according to the Allotment Master Report.

Therefore, the facility will take an estimated 45.7 × 1,730 ÷ 1,000 = 79 AUMs per year out of action for the life of the project, assuming the resource is evenly distributed across the allotment.

That’s like turning six to seven wild horses loose in the allotment to rob forage from the poor rancher!

Livestock grazing inside the NM was authorized by the BLM in a 2020 decision.

Pinyon Solar Project with Allotments 01-16-24

Black Mountain Roundup, Day 7

The incident started on January 9.  Results through January 15:

  • Target: Burros
  • Method: Helicopter
  • Type: Planned
  • Category: Cruel and costly*
  • Goals: Gather 1,000, remove 960
  • Better way: Eradicate the herd with PZP, let the ranchers have their way*
  • Captured: 443, up from 284 on Day 5
  • Shipped: 314, up from 199 on Day 5
  • Released: None
  • Deaths: None
  • Average daily take: 63.3
  • Unaccounted-for animals: 129

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

Youngsters represented 14.0% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 55.1% were male and 44.9% were female.

The location of the trap site was not disclosed.

The HMA is subject to permitted grazing.

  • Forage liberated to date: 2,658 AUMs per year
  • Water liberated to date: 2,215 gallons per day

The National Data Viewer shows habitat loss and overlapping allotments.  Click on map to open in new tab.

The management plan assigns 2.5 times more forage to livestock than the burros.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

*According to advocates

RELATED: Black Mountain Roundup, Day 5.

Black Mountain HMA with Allotments 12-20-23

East Pershing Roundup, Day 19

The incident began on December 28.  Results through January 15:

The figures above are based on the daily reports, not the totals posted by the BLM.

Helicopters did not fly on Day 18.

The trap site has been moved to a new but undisclosed location.

The death rate is 1.0%.

The capture total includes 531 stallions, 578 mares and 136 foals.  The sidebar at the gather page says 572 mares captured.

Youngsters represented 10.9% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of five to six percent per year.

Of the adults, 47.9% were male and 52.1% were female, no indication of an abnormal sex ratio.

The Complex is managed primarily for animal agriculture.  The National Data Viewer shows habitat loss and grazing allotments.  Click on image to open in new tab.

*According to advocates.

East Pershing Complex with Allotments 12-30-23

Day 19 ended with 114 unaccounted-for animals.

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

Other statistics:

  • Forage liberated to date: 14,904 AUMs per year
  • Water liberated to date: 12,420 gallons per day
  • Horses allowed by plan: 555
  • Pre-gather population: 3,375
  • Forage assigned to horses: 6,660 AUMs per year
  • Forage assigned to livestock: Not determined
  • Horses displaced from Complex by permitted grazing: Not determined
  • True AML: Not determined
  • Stocking rate at new AML: Not determined
  • Horses displaced by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

Overpopulation means more horses than allowed by plan, not necessarily more horses than the land can support.

The ability of the Complex to sustain wild horses has been limited by the bureaucrats, who have assigned most of their food to the public-lands ranchers.

Refer to these reports for an indication of the problem:

RELATED: East Pershing Roundup, Day 17.

How Many Wild Horses Can the North Stillwater HMA Support?

It’s the third of three HMAs in the East Pershing Complex, now subject to the largest roundup of FY24.

The HMA covers 178,927 total acres, including 176,800 public acres, and the 205 horses allowed by plan receive 2,460 AUMs per year.

The stocking rate allowed by plan is 1.2 wild horses per thousand public acres, in line with the target rate across all HMAs of one wild horse per thousand acres (27,000 animals on 27 million acres).

Table 8 in the Final EA for pest control and resource enforcement in the Complex shows seven allotments that intersect the HMA.

Three Field Offices are involved:

  • Humboldt River – Pleasant Valley, Rawhide, Rochester, Jersey Valley
  • Mount Lewis – South Buffalo
  • Stillwater – Copper Kettle, Boyer Ranch

Three more steps are needed to determine the carrying capacity.

The overlap percentages in the table seem reasonable based on the arrangement in the National Data Viewer, except for Boyer Ranch and Copper Kettle.

The estimated overlaps for those two allotments are 20% and 25%, not 91% and 94% per table 8.  These values will be used in the calculations.

The Allotment Master Report at RAS provides management status, acreage and active AUMs, with three iterations required (HRFO | MLFO | SFO).

North Stillwater Allotment Calcs 01-14-24

Approximately 41% of the public acreage does not meet standards for rangeland health.

The allotments offer a weighted average 34.6 AUMs per year per thousand public acres, not very attractive from a ranching viewpoint.

The management plan assigns an estimated 4,212 AUMs per year to livestock inside the HMA, assuming the resource is evenly distributed across the allotments.

The number of wild horses displaced from their lawful home by permitted grazing is therefore 4,212 ÷ 12 = 351.

The True AML is 205 + 351 = 556, the number of horses the HMA could support is it was managed principally them as specified in the original statute.

As of today, it’s managed primarily for livestock.

The new AML can be achieved by confining the ranchers to their multi-million-dollar base properties in a year-round off season.

The private corrals operated by JS Livestock, destination of horses captured in the roundup, demonstrate the feasibility of this idea.

Instead of allowing the horses to fill their niche on public lands, the bureaucrats cram them into taxpayer-supported feedlots, while giving most of their food and water to the government dependents.

As a result, the agency collects 4,212 × 1.35 = $5,686 per year from ranching activity inside the HMA, while it spends 351 × 5 × 365 = $640,575 per year to care for the horses displaced thereby.

Would you say that’s a wise use of the public lands?

None of this is necessary according to the advocates.  Just beat the horse populations down with ovary-killing pesticides and let the ranchers have their way.  Problem solved.

RELATED: How Many Wild Horses Can the Augusta Mountains HMA Carry?

North Stillwater HMA with Allotments 01-14-24