The HMA covers 32,666 total acres in eastern Oregon, including 28,331 public acres, according to the 2023 HA/HMA Report.

The 56 horses allowed by plan receive 672 AUMs per year.

The stocking rate allowed by plan is two wild horses per thousand public acres.

The land must be able to produce at least 23.7 AUMs per year per year per thousand public acres to sustain the horses.

Can it produce more?

The HMA intersects one allotment.

Chapter IIIB in a 2011 EA for pest control and resource enforcement identifies it as Burnt Flat.

Table 2 says 99% of the allotment is inside the HMA, which seems reasonable based on the arrangement in the National Data Viewer.

The allotment boundary includes some private lands the HMA does not.

The Allotment Master Report provides management status, acreage and active AUMs.

Although it’s in the Improve category, the allotment offers an estimated 3,824 AUMs per year to livestock inside the HMA, compared to 672 AUMs per year for wild horses.

How is that possible?  It’s the same land!

A guiding principle in developing the land-use plan, apparently, was that the ranchers would prosper, not the horses, even though it’s the lawful home of wild horses.

The forage assigned to livestock would support 318 wild horses, on top of the 56 allowed by plan, for a True AML of 374.

This would be achieved by confining the permittee to his base property in a year-round off season.

The stocking rate at the new AML would be 13.2 wild horses per thousand public acres.

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

As for costs, the BLM collects 3,824 × 1.35 = $5,162 per year from ranching activity inside the HMA while it spends 318 × 5 × 365 = $580,350 per year to care for the horses displaced thereby.

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

RELATED: How Many Wild Horses Can the Kiger HMA Support?

Near the Lower Salt River with markstorto.

A defining characteristic of families is offspring but you won’t find any in this area thanks to the advocates.

The incident started on January 22.  Results through February 24:

• Scope: McCullough Peaks HMA
• Target: Horses
• Method: Bait
• Type: Planned
• Goals: Gather 80, remove 35
• Captured: 37, up from 34 on Day 32
• Shipped: 9, up from 3 on Day 32
• Released: 27, up from 26 on Day 32
• Deaths: 1, no change from Day 32
• Average daily take: 1.1
• Unaccounted-for animals: Zero

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

The Day 33 report said two more horses were removed, bringing the total to ten.

The capture-to-remove ratio is 3.7:1, compared to a target of 2.29:1.

Some animals may have been caught more than once.

The death rate is 2.7%.

The location of the trap site was not disclosed.

The HMA is subject to permitted grazing.

• Forage liberated to date: 120 AUMs per year
• Water liberated to date: 100 gallons per day

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

An estimated 535 wild horses have been displaced from their lawful home by permitted grazing, making the True AML almost five times higher than the current AML.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

RELATED: McCullough Roundup, Day 32.

Zonastat-H, an ovary-killing pesticide also known as PZP and the Montana Solution, is on page 31 of the February 15 report.

It’s a key ingredient of nonmotorized removal, which the advocates peddle as humane management.

For more information about RUPs, and the unlawful use thereof, go to this page.

RELATED: Test Your Knowledge of RUPs.

The bill would prioritize the recruitment of military veterans to become certified applicators of fertility controls for free-roaming horses and burros.

Contrary to what’s stated in this article by WDBJ News of Roanoke, VA, it’s been stalled in committee since introduction.

Poisoning mares with ovary-killing pesticides is not protection.

It’s good for the ranchers, not the horses.

Teaching veterans to eradicate the animals that supposedly heal them is a terrible disservice to our fighting men and women.

Hopefully the bill will term out with the 118th Congress later this year.

RELATED: Veterans Against Mustangs Act Reintroduced in House.

The incident started on January 22.  Results through February 22:

• Scope: McCullough Peaks HMA
• Target: Horses
• Method: Bait
• Type: Planned
• Goals: Gather 80, remove 35
• Captured: 34, up from 14 on Day 20
• Shipped: 3, no change from Day 20
• Released: 26, up from 10 on Day 20
• Deaths: 1, no change from Day 20
• Average daily take: 1.1
• Unaccounted-for animals: 4

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

The Day 32 report said four more horses were removed, bringing the total to eight.

The capture-to-remove ratio is 4.25:1.  The target rate is 2.29:1.

Some horses may have been captured more than once.

The death rate is 2.9%.

The location of the trap site was not disclosed.

The HMA is subject to permitted grazing.

• Forage liberated to date: 96 AUMs per year
• Water liberated to date: 80 gallons per day

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

An estimated 535 wild horses have been displaced from their lawful home by permitted grazing, making the True AML almost five times higher than the current AML.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

RELATED: McCullough Roundup, Day 20.

Peak foaling season runs from March 1 through June 30 so roundup activity will be light for the next four months.

Refer to the schedule for more information.

Nonmotorized removal, the domain of the advocates, has no off season.

The incident started today as scheduled, with 46 burros captured, 46 shipped, none released and no deaths.

There was no news release.

The capture and removal goals were 40 each.

The Day 1 report did not provide the number of jacks, jennies and foals.

Those figures will be posted on February 26.

RELATED: BLM Publishes Canyonlands Final Planning Documents.

UPDATE: The capture total included 29 jacks, 17 jennies and no foals.

The advocates say we need to come together to accomplish something useful for wild horses.

That means throwing in with defeatists, pesticide pushers and ranching sympathizers.

The right thing to do is give them the boot, the old guard, teachers of the law, leaders of the blind.

RELATED: Foal-Free Friday, Passing the Torch Edition.

The incident started on February 5.  Results through February 20:

• Scope: Lake Pleasant HMA
• Target: Burros
• Type: Planned
• Method: Bait trap
• Goals: Gather 400, remove 400
• Captured: 101, up from 55 on Day 10
• Shipped: 93, up from 28 on Day 10
• Released: None
• Deaths: 4, up from zero on Day 10
• Average daily take: 6.3
• Unaccounted-for animals: 4

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

Activity has been occurring almost every day but updates are not.

Two deaths were reported on Day 15 and two on Day 16.  Two were accidental and two were intentional.  The sidebar only shows two deaths.

The death rate is 4%.

The capture total includes 46 jacks, 42 jennies and 13 foals.

Youngsters represented 12.9% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 52.3% were male and 47.7% were female.

The HA and HMA are the same size.  The area is subject to permitted grazing.

• Forage liberated to date: 606 AUMs per year
• Water liberated to date: 505 gallons per day

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

The roundup will remove animals that are damaging private property and creating a public safety hazard, purposes for which PZP was not authorized.

The incident supports three tenets of rangeland management.

RELATED: Lake Pleasant Roundup, Day 10.

The HMA covers 30,305 total acres in eastern Oregon, including 19,998 public acres, according to the 2023 HA/HMA Report.

The 82 horses allowed by plan receive 984 AUMs per year.

The stocking rate allowed by plan is 4.1 wild horses per thousand public acres, four times higher than the target rate across all HMAs of one wild horse per thousand acres.

There are three layers of forage demand in the HMA: Wildlife, wild horses and privately owned livestock.

To estimate the carrying capacity, calculate the forage assigned to livestock, add the result to the allocation above and convert the total to wild horses.

In their zeal to install humane management wherever possible, the advocates ignore the livestock layer because it’s incompatible with the overpopulation narrative, which they ratify with their darting programs.

Chapter IIIB in a 2011 EA for pest control and resource enforcement discusses two allotments that overlap the HMA: Smyth-Kiger and Happy Valley.

Table 2 indicates that 77% of Smyth-Kiger falls within the HMA, which seems reasonable based on the arrangement in the National Data Viewer.

The table indicates that 32% of Happy Valley is inside the HMA but the NDV suggests it’s closer to 60% so that figure will be used in the calculations.

The Allotment Master Report provides management status, acreage and active AUMs.

Both allotments are in the Improve category.

The estimated forage assigned to livestock inside the HMA is 3,031 AUMs per year, equivalent to 252 wild horses.

The True AML would be 82 + 252 = 334, the number of horses the HMA could support if it was managed principally for them as specified in the original statute, to be achieved by confining the ranchers to their base properties in a year-round off season.

The stocking rate at the new AML would be 16.7 wild horses per thousand public acres.

This brings more embarrassment to the bureaucrats who claim that public lands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand acres as noted above.

The BLM collects 3,031 × 1.35 = $4,092 per year from ranching activity inside the HMA while it spends 5 × 252 × 365 = $459,900 per year to care for horses displaced thereby.

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

RELATED: Pest Control Plan for Kiger and Riddle Mountain HMAs Stalled?

The incident is on the latest schedule with a start date of August 15.

The capture and removal goals are 586 each.

There are no plans to treat any of the mares with fertility control pesticides and return them to the HMA, which differs slightly from the action authorized in 2021.

In that scenario, 478 wild horses would be captured, 358 would be removed and 120 would be treated with pesticides and returned to the HMA.

Western Horse Watchers suspects the deviation from the original plan triggered the NEPA review.

Comments will be accepted through March 22 according to today’s news release.

The DNA worksheet was copied to the project folder in ePlanning.

The HMA, home of the Pilot Butte Wild Horse Loop, is subject to permitted grazing.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

On the Maryland side of Assateague Island with Matthew Olson.

The scoping period closed four years ago.

As of today, the project folder contains only the scoping letter.

The previous plan was approved in 2011.

The two HMAs are on the February 1 roundup schedule with start dates of September 1 and September 10.

They are subject to permitted grazing.

The last roundup was in 2015.

RELATED: Kiger Scoping Period Comes and Goes, No News Release.

The BLM reported that 16 jacks and 26 jennies had been captured through Day 10 of the Lake Pleasant roundup.

Do those results look like they came from a population that’s 50% males / 50% females?

The observed proportions are 38.1% male and 61.9% female.

The answer must be determined by calculation, using a basic statistical formula that accounts for random variation.

In this example p-bar = .5 and n = 42.

The calculated range of variation is .269 (26.9%) to .731 (73.1%), which includes the observed values, so there is no evidence that the population is not 50% males / 50% females.

The East Pershing roundup took 1,082 stallions and 1,245 mares off the range (as well as 365 foals).

Do those data look like they came from a herd that’s 50% males / 50% females?

The observed proportions are .465 and .535, and the calculated limits are .469 and .531, so there is some evidence of an abnormal sex ratio.

The problem often occurs in herds subject to the Montana Solution, which the advocates dismiss as mares living longer.

The incident started on February 5.  Results through February 14:

• Scope: Lake Pleasant HMA
• Target: Burros
• Type: Planned
• Method: Bait trap
• Goals: Gather 400, remove 400
• Captured: 55, up from 29 on Day 6
• Shipped: 28, up from zero on Day 6
• Released: None
• Deaths: None
• Average daily take: 5.5
• Unaccounted-for animals: 27

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

The capture total included 16 jacks, 26 jennies and 13 foals.

Youngsters represented 23.6% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 38.1% were male and 61.9% were female.

The HA and HMA are the same size.  The area is subject to permitted grazing.

• Forage liberated to date: 330 AUMs per year
• Water liberated to date: 275 gallons per day

Data quality has been good.

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

The roundup will remove animals that are damaging private property and creating a public safety hazard, purposes for which PZP was not authorized.

The incident supports three tenets of rangeland management.

RELATED: Lake Pleasant Roundup, Day 6.

The original solicitation dated October 2 produced insufficient applications for the natural resources position so a second call for nominations will appear tomorrow in the Federal Register, according to an unofficial pre-publication notice.

The Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board meets one to four times per year and members serve without compensation.

RELATED: Another WHBAB Nomination Cycle Begins.

WARNING: This post will be disturbing to most advocates.

A new foal has been spotted according to a report dated February 13 by OBX Today.

His name is Eros and he’s about a week old.

His mom had a filly in 2021.

Offspring since then are not known.

The status of the darting program is not known.

The number of viable mares and the size of the breeding population are not known.

Birth rates and breeding patterns had been determined by the advocates, not the horses.

The herd was the subject of last week’s Foal-Free Friday.

A WHB Specialist used candy to show students at Duckwater Shoshone Elementary School the dangers of overgrazing by wild horses and burros, according to a story dated February 10 by KOLO News.

The herds increase every year, he told the class, and the amount of available forage, represented by Kit Kat bars, does not.  Too many animals degrade the range, impairing herd health.

The article follows a BLM news release dated February 8.

What he didn’t tell the kids was that there is another box of Kit Kats under the table that belongs to the horses but has been shifted by his co-workers to public-lands ranchers.

That might be good news to the kids because the Duckwater Reservation lies within the Duckwater Allotment and the tribe holds 24% of the active AUMs.

Also not mentioned in the article is that the reservation lies within the Pancake HMA, and there is considerable overlap between it and the allotment, so the discussion about overpopulation may be rooted in a conflict between horses and livestock.

The incident started on January 22.  Results through February 10:

• Scope: McCullough Peaks HMA
• Target: Horses
• Method: Bait
• Type: Planned
• Goals: Gather 80, remove 35
• Captured: 14, up from 11 on Day 5
• Shipped: 3, no change from Day 5
• Released: 10, up from 7 on Day 5
• Deaths: 1, no change from Day 5
• Average daily take: 0.7
• Unaccounted-for animals: 0

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

Activity since Day 5 consisted of three stallions captured and released.

The death rate is 7.1%.

The location of the trap site was not disclosed.

The HMA is subject to permitted grazing.

• Forage liberated to date: 48 AUMs per year
• Water liberated to date: 40 gallons per day

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

An estimated 535 wild horses have been displaced from their lawful home by permitted grazing, making the True AML almost five times higher than the current AML.

The roundup supports three tenets of rangeland management.

RELATED: McCullough Roundup, Day 5.