Owyhee Roundups in Progress?

A report by KIVI News says operations began today in the Black Mountain HTA* with one foal lost but, as of this evening, results have not been posted to the gather page.

In an effort to protect genetic viability, the BLM will reintroduce 38 mares treated with ovary-killing pesticides, according to the story.

Yep, you heard it here first.

*Herd Treatment Area.

RELATED: Owyhee Roundups Announced.

UPDATE: The gather page indicates 24 horses captured on Day 1, with 23 shipped, none released and one dead due to a broken neck.

West Douglas Roundup, Day 5

The incident started on September 1.

Sixteen horses were taken on Day 4, followed by 12 on Day 5, bringing the total to 93.

The goal is 122.

None have escaped, 40 have been shipped and two were put down for preexisting conditions, leaving 51 unaccounted-for animals.

The death rate is 2.2%.

Foals represented 19.4% of the horses captured.

Of the adults, 53.3% were male and 46.7% were female.

Operations will likely conclude this week.

The HA, unfit for wild horses, supposedly, is managed principally for livestock, in defiance of the original statute.

RELATED: West Douglas Roundup, Day 3.

West Douglas HA with Allotments 08-28-23

Devil’s Garden Roundup Begins

The incident started yesterday as scheduled, with 15 horses captured and no deaths.

Body condition scores ranged from 4.5 to 5, suggesting they’re not starving.

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

You Could Have Made a Killing this Weekend at Burning Man

While everyone else was trying to get out, you could have rolled in with a truckload of Muck Boots.

Muck Boots Classic 09-05-23

Valley Vet has them for $110 per pair but what would they fetch under conditions of rain and mud in the middle of nowhere?

The Man Won’t Burn this Year at Burning Man?

The playa is now a mudhole, thanks to storms that rolled through starting on Friday.

Normally the problem is dust.

Nevada is the driest state in the nation so three months’ worth of rain in the valley may amount to an inch or less.

Most precipitation occurs in the mountains, with snowmelt feeding creeks and ponds.

Exodus starts today at noon local time, with “Leave No Trace” difficult to achieve.

The event occurs every summer on BLM land northeast of Gerlach.

The reporter in Wadsworth may be standing along State Route 447, the hopping-off point from I-80.

Curiously, the bonfire, if it occurs, will be watched by thousands of climate alarmists as it spews greenhouse gasses and particulates into the air.

Mustang Monday

In Fernley, NV, northeast corner of the Virginia Range, with Desert Explorer 302.

As the advocates expand their darting program into this area, the horses may feel safer in town than on the range.

The cremello at 0:26 may have been hit.

West Douglas Roundup, Day 3

Five horses were taken on Day 2, followed by 34 on Day 3, bringing the total to 65.

No horses have escaped, none have been shipped and no deaths have been reported.

There were no unaccounted-for animals.

Foals represented 20% of the horses captured.

Of the adults, 56% were male and 44% were female.

With a capture and removal goals of 122, the incident is approximately 53% complete.

The HA is managed principally for livestock, in defiance of the original statute.

West Douglas HA with Allotments 08-28-23

West Douglas Roundup in Progress

The incident started today as scheduled, with 26 horses captured, none shipped, none released and no deaths.

New Pest Control Plan for Alamo, Lake Havasu, Big Sandy Burros?

A new project was opened in ePlanning yesterday but no documents were posted.

Three HMAs are affected.

The National Data Viewer shows habitat loss and livestock encroachment.

Tracy Wilson, defeatist, pesticide pusher and ranching sympathizer with the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, a leader in nonmotorized removal, said of a similar problem on the Virginia Range “As you start reducing the amount of available space and forage, then you need to manage the numbers to fit what’s available for the horses.”

The statement, and its underlying beliefs, easily translate to wild burros.

Picacho Roundup in Progress

The incident started on August 24.

As of August 26, 38 burros have been captured and 38 have been shipped, with none released and no deaths.

The location of the trap site was not given.

Two areas on the California side of the Colorado River are targeted.

Owyhee Roundups Announced

The incident will begin on September 6 according to yesterday’s news release.

Three HMAs in western Idaho are affected.

The capture goal is 220 and the removal goal is 142.

Up to 38 mares will be treated with GonaCon Equine, a fertility control pesticide, and be returned to the area with up to 40 stallions.

Helicopters will push the horses into the traps and operations will be open to limited public observation. (For a discussion of observation difficulties, watch this video.)

Captured animals will be taken to the off-range corrals in Boise.

Gather stats and daily reports should be posted to the Idaho gather page but as of this morning a link has not been added.

The Owyhee HMAs are managed primarily for animal agriculture, denoted by green in the following map, the #1 driver of wild horse removals.

Drilling and mining affect anywhere from a few acres to a few thousand acres while permitted grazing devours entire HMAs and beyond.

RELATED: Owyhee Decision Published.

Public Meetings for Rock Springs RMP Update Announced

Dates and locations are given in this BLM news release.

Online attendance was not offered.

The project anticipates, but does not control or evaluate, changes to HMAs affected by the RSGA consent decree.

BLM to Remove All Remaining Horses from West Douglas HA

It’s not managed for wild horses due to limited food and water, according to a news release dated August 28, but it’s overlapped by an allotment that offers 82.2 AUMs per year per thousand public acres, equivalent to 6.8 wild horses per thousand public acres.

The HA, listed as West Douglas Creek in the 2023 HA/HMA Report, covers 127,649 total acres, including 122,909 public acres in western Colorado.

The AML is zero.

Most of the horses were removed in a 2021 roundup.

Roughly one out of three died the following year in off-range holding.

Now, they’re coming for the remnant.

The incident, set to begin on September 1, will be carried out with helicopters and will be open to public observation.

It is on the July 13 schedule.

The current population is thought to be 122 according to the gather page.

Captured animals will be taken to the Cañon City off-range corrals, site of the 2022 virus outbreak that proved fatal only to West Douglas horses.

Mustang Monday

At Theodore Roosevelt National Park with The Cookin’ Camper.

Pariahs in their Lawful Homes

There are no voices for the horses in this story by The Nevada Independent about the Antelope-North roundup, not even the advocates.

Livestock in the Antelope Complex (North + South) receive over seven times more forage than the horses.

That resource would support over 6,000 horses, on top of the 789 allowed by plan.

You don’t have a wild horse problem, you have a resource management problem.

Areas identified for wild horses are managed primarily for cattle and sheep.

Overpopulation means they’re trying to reclaim some of their food from the poor ranchers.

Their punishment is to waste away in feedlots, the domain of animal agriculture.

RELATED: Antelope Roundup North Over.

CAAWH Publishes Virginia Range Darting Resources

Your host is not sure if the materials were intended for public consumption but the page is working as of this morning.

Links in the following comments include local versions in case the site goes dark.

Of immediate interest is the current agreement [local] between NDA and CAAWH which includes a stipulation for reductions in herd size over the 12-month period, contradicting a goal in the Darting SOP [local] about stabilizing population growth.

Progress reports, monthly and yearly, were posted to a separate page.

The Year 4 Report [local], covering 2022-2023, indicates 1,225 mares received 1,691 doses of PZP, a restricted-use pesticide.

One hundred and forty two foals were born during the period, with two removed and 41 deceased or missing and presumed dead.

With the reduction in birth rates, coupled with the activity of predators, many herd treatment areas experienced a population decline.

VR Reduction in Birth Rates 08-26-23

With a population of 3,507 confirmed living horses, the birth rate is four percent, too low to sustain the current herd. It is declining as the bureaucrats desire.

A list of approved properties for darting [local] was also provided.

Curiously, the page has a list of training materials, including a link to literature at the Billings School of PZP Darting and Public Deception with password!

Training Materials 08-26-23

The final link to The Pinto Post, a monthly newsletter that covers the incredible work of the many wild horse organizations in the area, is not correct but you can reach it here.

Dust-Up in the Desert Set for September 7

A debate between Scott Beckstead, director of campaigns for Animal Wellness Action, and Nevada State Senator Ira Hansen will begin at 6:00 PM Pacific time at the Elko Convention Center, according to an EIN news release dated August 25.

Dust-Up in the Desert 08-25-23

The event can be viewed online. Registration is required.

Hansen, a voice for rural areas in the state, led the opposition to SB90 earlier this year.

Beckstead disputes his claims, arguing that substandard conditions on Nevada public lands are caused by hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep, not wild horses.

A video of the debate will be posted to the AWA YouTube channel.