Forest Service Mulls Wild Horse Removal at Mount Charleston?

Although there are no plans in place or a timeline for managing them, the agency says they’re outside their designated territory and they contribute to negative visitor impacts and unsafe interactions with wildlife.

That has the locals riled up and they’ve started a petition asking the Forest Service to establish an educational program to dissuade the public from feeding and petting them.

Those results will be presented to the Forest Service on May 30 according to a story by KTNV News of Las Vegas.

The Spring Mountains NRA, where the animals reside, is surrounded by BLM lands identified for wild horses and burros.

Spring Mountains NRA with HMAs 04-27-24

Lake Pleasant Roundup Ends

The incident concluded on April 20 with 401 burros captured, 397 shipped, none released and four dead according to figures on the sidebar.

The capture and removal goals were 400 each.

A freeze-marked horse was also caught and returned to its owner.

Data quality was poor.

The capture total included 178 Jacks, 186 jennies and 37 foals.

The daily reports indicated 161 jacks, 181 jennies and 37 foals, for a total of 379, with more animals processed than captured.

The death rate was 1% according to figures in the sidebar.

Foals represented 9.2% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 48.9% were male and 51.1% were female.

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

The roundup supported three tenets of rangeland management.

RELATED: Lake Pleasant Roundup Begins, No News Release.

Foal-Free Friday, Selecting for Weakness Edition

From time to time, you hear about the birth of a foal in an area where the advocates are working vigorously to snuff out new life.

Simone Neterlands with Darting Rifle 09-02-23

They usually rely on predators to take out any youngsters that slip through their darting programs but those who survive may have faulty immune systems.

PZP tricks the immune system into attacking the ovaries.

The pesticide works best (sterilizes faster) on mares with strong immune systems.

They don’t bear fruit, while the immuno-compromised females keep producing foals who inherit that trait.

A herd being treated with PZP undergoes selective breeding for weak immunity, which puts the population—what’s left of it—at risk for disease and ultimately, extinction.

RELATED: Foal-Free Friday, Advocates, Assateague and Amnesia Edition.

Caliente Roundup, Day 9

The incident started on April 16.  Results through April 24:

  • Scope: Caliente Complex
  • Target: Horses
  • Type: Planned
  • Method: Bait
  • Goals: Gather 350, remove 350
  • Captured: 103, up from 91 on Day 7
  • Shipped: 82, no change from Day 7
  • Released: None
  • Deaths: 3, no change from Day 7
  • Average daily take: 11.4
  • Unaccounted-for animals: 18

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

The death rate is 2.9%.

The capture total includes 41 stallions, 48 mares and 14 foals.

Youngsters represented 13.6% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of eight percent per year.

Of the adults, 46.1% were male and 53.9% were female.

Body condition scores were not given.

The location of the trap site is not known.

The Complex is subject to permitted grazing.

  • Forage liberated to date: 1,236 AUMs per year
  • Water liberated to date: 1,030 gallons per day

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 7.

Caliente Complex with Allotments 03-28-24

Putting Lipstick on the Zonastat Pig

A study of the Virginia Range darting program has yielded surprising new findings according to a story dated April 23 by This Is Reno: Herd size goes down when you poison the mares with ovary-killing pesticides.

The low birth rate and high death rate have resulted in negative population growth, providing further evidence of the feasibility of PZP fertility control as a viable alternative to helicopter roundups, according to representatives of the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, a leader in nonmotorized removal.

The article did not mention that the herd on Assateague Island continues to shrink eight years after the darting program was shut off, a pattern that will likely unfold on the Virginia Range.

RELATED: Virginia Range Darting Update for March 2024.

Red Rock Roundup Announced

It’s on the schedule with a start date of April 1 but that’s been moved to April 24 according to today’s news release.

The incident will be carried out with baited traps and operations will not be open to public observation.

The capture goal is 112 wild horses and 70 wild burros, and the removal goal is 92 horses and 70 burros.

Up to ten mares with be treated with GonaCon Equine, a fertility control pesticide, before being returned to the range with up to ten stallions.

The current population is thought to be 114 wild horses and 191 burros, not including this year’s foal crop.

The HMA lies within the Spring Mountain HA and covers 161,969 acres total acres west of Las Vegas, including 157,443 public acres.

The management plan allows 27 wild horses in the area along with 49 wild burros.

Red Rock HMA with Allotments 04-23-24

The HMA is not subject to permitted grazing.

Animals identified for removal will be taken to the Ridgecrest Off-Range Corrals.

Gather stats and daily reports posted to this page.

An emergency roundup took 237 wild horses off the range in 2019.

Caliente Roundup, Day 7

The incident started on April 16.  Results through April 22:

  • Scope: Caliente Complex
  • Target: Horses
  • Type: Planned
  • Method: Bait
  • Goals: Gather 350, remove 350
  • Captured: 91, up from 73 on Day 5
  • Shipped: 82, up from 62 on Day 5
  • Released: None
  • Deaths: 3, up from 2 on Day 5
  • Average daily take: 13.0
  • Unaccounted-for animals: 6

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

A stallion was intentionally killed on Day 7 because of a missing eye, lifting the death rate to 3.3%.

The capture total includes 37 stallions, 42 mares and 12 foals.

Youngsters represented 13.2% of the animals gathered, consistent with a herd growth rate of eight percent per year.

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

Body condition scores were not given.

The location of the trap site is not known.

The Complex is subject to permitted grazing.

  • Forage liberated to date: 1,092 AUMs per year
  • Water liberated to date: 910 gallons per day

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 5.

Caliente Complex with Allotments 03-28-24

How Many Wild Horses Can Public Lands Really Support?

Land managers say they can only sustain one wild horse per thousand acres (27,000 animals on 27 million acres).

The Allotment Information Report at RAS provides acreage. management status and active AUMs for BLM allotments in ten western states.

Here is an overview of the dataset.

BLM Allotment Data Summary 04-22-24

Public lands in Arizona support livestock equivalent to 53,662 wild horses.

In California, they sustain livestock equivalent to 26,409 wild horses.

The total across all ten states is 1,023,481 wild horses.

On a per acre basis, Montana was highest and Nevada was lowest.

Overall, public lands in the western U.S. are supporting livestock equivalent to seven wild horses per thousand public acres.

Given that the HMAs are a subset of the allotments, with a few exceptions, they should be able to support an average of 1 + 7 = 8 wild horses per thousand public acres, eight times higher than the bureaucrats admit.

That works out to a capacity of 8 × 27,000,000 ÷ 1,000 = 216,000 wild horses, enough to empty all of the off-range corrals and long-term pastures several times over, at great savings to American taxpayers.

The loss in grazing fees would be negligible.

As it is, for every wild horse allowed on public lands in the western U.S., seven have been consigned to off-range holding because of permitted grazing.

NOTE ON METHODOLOGY: The active AUMs were found by adding the values in column Q of each worksheet.  The public acres were found by removing rows with duplicate entries in column A and adding the remaining values in column E.

RELATED: Why Are There So Many Wild Horses in Off-Range Holding?

Caliente Roundup, Day 5

The incident started on April 16.  Results through April 20:

  • Scope: Caliente Complex
  • Target: Horses
  • Type: Planned
  • Method: Bait
  • Goals: Gather 350, remove 350
  • Captured: 73, up from 64 on Day 3
  • Shipped: 62, up from 36 on Day 3
  • Released: None
  • Deaths: 2, no change from Day 3
  • Average daily take: 14.6
  • Unaccounted-for animals: 9

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

The death rate is 2.7%.

The capture total includes 28 stallions, 37 mares and 8 foals.

Youngsters represented 11.0% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 43.1% were male and 56.9% were female.

Body condition scores were not given.

The location of the trap site is not known.

The Complex is subject to permitted grazing.

  • Forage liberated to date: 876 AUMs per year
  • Water liberated to date: 730 gallons per day

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 3.

Caliente Complex with Allotments 03-28-24

BLM Cancels Marietta Grazing EA

This does not mean the idea is dead.

The project covered land health assessments for the Basalt, Belleville, Little Huntoon and McBride Flat Allotments to evaluate their potential for livestock grazing and other land uses.

Belleville overlaps the southern half of Marietta, which is managed principally for wild burros.

A subsequent effort, based on findings in the LHAs, may bring the project back to the planning process, resulting in the demotion of the WBR to an HMA, or even an HA, an outcome for which there is well-established precedent.

RELATED: Marietta Wild Burro Range to Become HMA?

Marietta WBR with Allotments 06-09-23

Lake Pleasant Roundup, Day 74

The incident started on February 5.  Results through April 18:

  • Scope: Lake Pleasant HMA
  • Target: Burros
  • Type: Planned
  • Method: Bait
  • Goals: Gather 400, remove 400
  • Captured: 353, up from 247 on Day 63
  • Shipped: 331, up from 180 on Day 63
  • Released: None
  • Deaths: 4, no change from Day 63
  • Average daily take: 4.8
  • Unaccounted-for animals: 18

The figures above are based on the daily reports.  The sidebar indicates 376 animals captured, including one freeze-marked horse.

The death rate is 1.1%.

The capture total includes 140 jacks, 176 jennies and 37 foals.

Youngsters represented 10.5% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 44.3% were male and 55.7% were female.

The location of the trap site was not given.

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

  • Forage liberated to date: 2,118 AUMs per year
  • Water liberated to date: 1,765 gallons per day

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

The roundup targets 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 63.

Lake Pleasant HMA with Allotments 02-06-23

Caliente Roundup, Day 3

The incident started on April 16.  Results through April 18:

  • Scope: Caliente Complex
  • Target: Horses
  • Type: Planned
  • Method: Bait
  • Goals: Gather 350, remove 350
  • Captured: 64, up from 29 on Day 1
  • Shipped: 36, up from zero on Day 1
  • Released: None
  • Deaths: 2, up from zero on Day 1
  • Average daily take: 21.3
  • Unaccounted-for animals: 26

The figures above are based on the daily reports.

A mare died of a fractured neck on Day 3.  Another mare was put down due to blindness in one eye, bringing the death rate to 3.1%.

The capture total includes 24 stallions, 33 mares and 7 foals.

Youngsters represented 10.9% of the animals gathered.

Of the adults, 42.1% were male and 57.9% were female.

The Complex is subject to permitted grazing.

  • Forage liberated to date: 768 AUMs per year
  • Water liberated to date: 640 gallons per day

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 Trapping Begins.

Caliente Complex with Allotments 03-28-24

Public Lands in Wyoming Can’t Support 9,435 Wild Horses?

That’s the estimated population in the state according to the 2024 HA/HMA Report.

The land-use plans allow 3,795 wild horses on 3,644,013 public acres, or approximately one wild horse per thousand public acres.

BLM allotments in the state offer 1,902,445 active AUMs on 17,312,214 public acres, according to the Allotment Information Report at RAS.

That means they’re supporting privately owned livestock equivalent to 158,537 wild horses on 17,312,214 public acres, or 9.2 wild horses per thousand public acres.

Why is this important?

The bureaucrats and ranchers tell us that public lands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand acres (27,000 animals on 27 million acres).

Given that the HMAs are a subset of the allotments, they should be able to support 10.2 wild horses per thousand public acres, or approximately 37,000 wild horses, four times higher than the current population.

For every wild horse allowed on Wyoming public lands, nine have been consigned to off-range holding because of permitted grazing.

The advocates use this disparity to peddle their fertility control programs, helping the bureaucrats realize their goal of ranching superiority in the lawful homes of wild horses.

NOTE: The active AUMs in the allotments can be found by adding the values in column Q of the unfiltered dataset.  The total public acres can be found by filtering the list for duplicate entries in column A and adding the remaining values in column E.

RELATED: Why Are There So Many Wild Horses in Off-Range Holding?

If Beaver Creek Was Managed Principally for Wild Horses

The AML would be 1,188 and the stocking rate would be 15.8 animals per thousand public acres.

The allotment, located northwest of Wells, NV, offers 14,258 active AUMs on 75,139 public acres, according to the Allotment Master Report.

Why is this important?

The bureaucrats and ranchers tell us 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 story with their darting programs.

If it was an HMA, the AML would be 75 and 1,113 horses would be consigned to off-range holding because of permitted grazing.

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

Beaver Creek Allotment 04-15-24