Removal of wild horses and burros from their lawful homes, by any means, supports these principles:

• Pest control
• Resource enforcement
• Rancher protection

1. Pest Control

Most HMAs are managed primarily for livestock.  The HAs are managed almost exclusively for livestock.  Horses and burros are a nuisance.  The advocates underscore this principle in their attempts to shrink the populations with pesticides.

2. Resource Enforcement

If the management plan assigns 80% of the forage in an HMA to livestock, horses and burros will be removed until the ranchers receive 80% of forage.  There is no statutory basis for such proportions, they are bureaucratic diktats.

3. Rancher Protection

Public lands in the western U.S. shall be managed not for the benefit of the American people, but for the benefit of a select few.  This is the prime directive, the goal of Tenets 1 and 2.  Collect a few million dollars per year in grazing fees for privately owned cattle and sheep while you spend tens of millions of dollars every year stockpiling wild horses and burros displaced thereby.  Stick taxpayers with the difference.

The incident began on November 8.  Results through November 24:

• Scope: Clan Alpine HMA
• Purpose: Pest control, resource enforcement, rancher protection
• Target: Horses
• Type: Planned
• Method: Helicopter
• Category: Cruel and costly*
• Better way: Poison mares with ovary-killing pesticides*
• Captured: 1,302, up from 1,198 on Day 15
• Average daily take: 76.6
• Capture goal: 1,594
• Removal goal: 1,381
• Returned: 1, no change from Day 15
• Deaths: 18, no change from Day 15
• Shipped: 1,102, up from 964 on Day 15

The sidebar shows two stallions released but only one was documented in the daily reports.

Two domestic horses were picked up on Day 16 and turned over to the state.

The death rate is 1.4%.

The capture total includes 525 stallions, 606 mares and 171 foals.

Youngsters represented 13.1% of the animals gathered, suggesting the herd is growing at a rate of eight percent per year.

Of the adults, 46.4% were male and 53.6% were female.

Body condition scores on Days 16 and 17 ranged from 3 to 4.

The HMA and surrounding lands are subject to permitted grazing.

*According to advocates.

Day 17 ended with 181 unaccounted-for animals.

To date, 81 mares have been treated with GonaCon Equine, a fertility control pesticide.

They will be returned the range with up to 121 stallions.

Other statistics:

• Forage liberated to date: 15,612 AUMs per year
• Water liberated to date: 13,010 gallons per day
• Horses allowed by plan: 979
• Pre-gather population: 1,661 plus this year’s foals
• Forage assigned to horses: 11,748 AUMs per year
• Forage assigned to livestock: 6,796 AUMs per year
• Horses displaced from HMA by permitted grazing: 566
• True AML: 1,545
• Stocking rate at new AML: 5.2 wild horses per thousand public acres
• Horses displaced by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

RELATED: Clan Alpine Roundup, Day 15.

An article published today by the Las Vegas Review-Journal says she was found on November 19 east of Lockwood, caught in an illegally set snare.

The Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, a leader in nonmotorized removal and operator of the Virginia Range darting program, offered a reward of $6,000.

The story did not indicate if the mare had been targeted by its field workers and if she had reached the point of no return.

The trap could have been set for other animals, as explained in an October 18 report by Nevada Current.

Your host found an old trap on the Virginia Range in July.

What CAAWH is doing to the herd is far more destructive than anything hunters or trappers have done.

On McCullough Peaks overpopulation.

RELATED: How Many Wild Horses Can McCullough Peaks Support?

No information was posted to the gather page until today.

The start date is unknown.

The incident was set to begin on November 20 with capture and removal goals of 140.

The sidebar indicates 56 horses captured, 56 shipped, none released and no deaths, along with 92 burros captured, 92 shipped, none released and no deaths.

There were no unaccounted-for animals.

Of the horses captured, 22 were stallions, 24 were mares and 10 were foals.

For the burros, 46 were jacks, 30 were jennies and 16 were foals.

The incident was not open to public observation.

RELATED: Centennial Roundup Announced.

The incident began on November 8.  Results through November 22:

• Scope: Clan Alpine HMA
• Purpose: Pest control, resource enforcement, rancher protection
• Target: Horses
• Type: Planned
• Method: Helicopter
• Category: Cruel and costly*
• Better way: Sterilize mares with pesticide-laced darts*
• Captured: 1,198, up from 1,062 on Day 13
• Average daily take: 79.9
• Capture goal: 1,594
• Removal goal: 1,381
• Returned: 1, no change from Day 13
• Deaths: 18, up from 13 on Day 13
• Shipped: 964, up from 922 on Day 13

Three horses were dispatched on Day 15 for blindness.  A stallion was put down because of a club foot and another for a fractured knee, lifting the death rate to 1.5%.

The capture total includes 481 stallions, 555 mares and 162 foals.

Youngsters represented 13.5% of the animals gathered, suggesting the herd is growing at a rate of eight to nine percent per year.

Of the adults, 46.4% were male and 53.6% were female.

Body condition scores on Days 14 and 15 ranged from 3 to 4.

The HMA and surrounding lands are subject to permitted grazing.

*According to advocates.

Day 15 ended with 215 unaccounted-for animals.

To date, 81 mares have been treated with GonaCon Equine, a fertility control pesticide.

They will be returned the range with up to 121 stallions.

Other statistics:

• Forage liberated to date: 14,364 AUMs per year
• Water liberated to date: 11,970 gallons per day
• Horses allowed by plan: 979
• Pre-gather population: 1,661 plus this year’s foals
• Forage assigned to horses: 11,748 AUMs per year
• Forage assigned to livestock: 6,796 AUMs per year
• Horses displaced from HMA by permitted grazing: 566
• True AML: 1,545
• Stocking rate at new AML: 5.2 wild horses per thousand public acres
• Horses displaced by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

RELATED: Clan Alpine Roundup, Day 13.

The executive director of FOAL sent a letter to the Cody Enterprise endorsing the roundup, noting that population control is a critical element to maintaining the health of the herd and the habitat.

The opinion was disclosed in a story posted today.

Removal of “excess” animals, combined with application of PZP and GonaCon Equine, will ensure the ranchers receive the lion’s share of the resources for many years to come.

RELATED: What the McCullough Advocates Are Trying to Protect.

This article by the Casper Star-Tribune features remarks from a PZP darter and a ranching sympathizer, both held up as voices for the horses.

The management plan assigns 3.9 times more forage to livestock than it does to wild horses, in the lawful home of wild horses.

As of today, the horses are consuming more than their allocated share of the forage, not more than the land can produce.

That is the meaning of overpopulation.

The BLM wants the resource allocations enforced with baited traps and pesticides while the advocates say the traps aren’t necessary, the pesticides will achieve the results by themselves.

Like the bureaucrats, they want the ranchers to prosper, not the horses.

A BLM spokesman said they’re just following the law that the American people through Congress have already established, which is not true.

There’s nothing in the current statute that says AMLs must correspond to 20% of the authorized forage or less.

Good grief, the term isn’t even defined!

AMLs are small relative to the available resources because the bureaucrats, who never have to face the voters, said so.

RELATED: CAAWH Worried about Viability of McCullough Herd?

UPDATE: In this video, the PZP darter is on the left and the ranching sympathizer is on the right.

The incident began on November 8.  Results through November 20:

• Scope: Clan Alpine HMA
• Purpose: Pest control, resource enforcement, rancher protection
• Target: Horses
• Type: Planned
• Method: Helicopter
• Category: Cruel and costly*
• Better way: Sterilize mares with pesticide-laced darts*
• Captured: 1,062, up from 1,010 on Day 11
• Average daily take: 81.7
• Capture goal: 1,594
• Removal goal: 1,381
• Returned: 1, no change from Day 11
• Deaths: 13, no change from Day 11
• Shipped: 922, up from 802 on Day 11

Data quality has been good.

The death rate is 1.2%.

The capture total includes 430 stallions, 490 mares and 142 foals.

Youngsters represented 13.4% of the animals gathered, suggesting the herd is growing at a rate of 8% per year.

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

Body condition scores on Days 12 and 13 ranged from 3 to 4.

The HMA and surrounding lands are subject to permitted grazing.

*According to advocates.

Day 13 ended with 126 unaccounted-for animals.

To date, 81 mares have been treated with GonaCon Equine, a fertility control pesticide.

Approximately 96% of captured stallions have been shipped, with 78% of captured mares, suggesting that they are being held on site, possibly awaiting a second dose, which is to be given no sooner than 90 days after the primer according to the label.

They will be returned the range with up to 121 stallions.

Other statistics:

• Forage liberated to date: 12,732 AUMs per year
• Water liberated to date: 10,610 gallons per day
• Horses allowed by plan: 979
• Pre-gather population: 1,661 plus this year’s foals
• Forage assigned to horses: 11,748 AUMs per year
• Forage assigned to livestock: 6,796 AUMs per year
• Horses displaced from HMA by permitted grazing: 566
• True AML: 1,545
• Stocking rate at new AML: 5.2 wild horses per thousand public acres
• Horses displaced by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

RELATED: Clan Alpine Roundup, Day 11.

On humane management.

RELATED: How Wild Horse Advocacy Really Works.

If adopted, temporary closure and restriction orders would no longer appear in the Federal Register and would instead be disseminated though modern communications channels such as socialist media.

These orders would go into effect upon signature, according to today’s news release.

When does the comment period start?

When the proposal is announced in the Federal Register.

At the Salt River with Mark Storto.

The absence of youngsters is not an accident.

The breeding population can be counted on one hand.

On multiple use.

RELATED: The Myth of Multiple Use.

The incident began on November 8.  Results through November 18:

• Scope: Clan Alpine HMA
• Purpose: Pest control, resource enforcement, rancher protection
• Target: Horses
• Type: Planned
• Method: Helicopter
• Category: Cruel and costly*
• Better way: Sterilize mares with pesticide-laced darts*
• Captured: 1,010, up from 832 on Day 9
• Average daily take: 91.8
• Capture goal: 1,594
• Removal goal: 1,381
• Returned: 1, no change from Day 9
• Deaths: 13, up from 12 on Day 9
• Shipped: 802, up from 590 on Day 9

A mare was dispatched on Day 11 for a prolapsed uterus.

The death rate is 1.3%.

The capture total includes 411 stallions, 470 mares and 129 foals.

Youngsters represented 12.8% of the animals gathered, suggesting the herd is growing at a rate of 8% per year.

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

Body condition scores were not given.

The HMA and surrounding lands are subject to permitted grazing.

*According to advocates.

Day 11 ended with 194 unaccounted-for animals.

To date, 81 mares have been treated with GonaCon Equine, a fertility control pesticide.

They will be returned the range with up to 121 stallions.

Other statistics:

• Forage liberated to date: 12,108 AUMs per year
• Water liberated to date: 10,090 gallons per day
• Horses allowed by plan: 979
• Pre-gather population: 1,661 plus this year’s foals
• Forage assigned to horses: 11,748 AUMs per year
• Forage assigned to livestock: 6,796 AUMs per year
• Horses displaced from HMA by permitted grazing: 566
• True AML: 1,545
• Stocking rate at new AML: 5.2 wild horses per thousand public acres
• Horses displaced by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

RELATED: Clan Alpine Roundup, Day 9.

The Day 9 crash that killed seven wild horses was the subject of a letter signed by Dina Titus but likely drafted or influenced by the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses.

It was included in a story dated November 17 by KLAS News.

The investigation should show how transportation incidents can be avoided through roundup alternatives like on-site fertility treatment.

The letter provides further evidence that CAAWH is in cahoots with the Democrat Party.

UPDATE: A report by KTVN News, complete with footage from CAAWH, leads to the same conclusion.

On the thriving ecological balance.

RELATED: Original WHB Act.

Bait trapping will begin the week of December 4, according to today’s news release.

The capture and removal goals, not specified in the announcement, are 235 and 225 according to the FY24 schedule.

The current population is thought to be around 230, suggesting that few horses will remain when the field work ends.

Operations will not be open to public observation.

The HMA covers approximately 19,600 acres in central New Mexico, east of Socorro.

The AML is 40 – 60.

The National Data Viewer shows the arrangement.  Click on image to open in new tab.

The stocking rate allowed by plan is 3.1 wild horses per thousand acres, three times higher than the target rate across all HMAs.

If the herd is managed according to plan (no more than 60 horses), genetic diversity will be inadequate.

The fertility control pesticides will make the breeding population even smaller.

The destination of captured animals was not given.

Gather stats and daily reports will be posted to this page.

RELATED: Bordo Atravesado Decision Signed But Not Announced.

The incident began on November 8.  Results through November 16:

• Scope: Clan Alpine HMA
• Purpose: Pest control, resource enforcement, rancher protection
• Target: Horses
• Type: Planned
• Method: Helicopter
• Category: Cruel and costly*
• Better way: Sterilize mares with pesticide-laced darts*
• Captured: 832, up from 601 on Day 7
• Average daily take: 92.4
• Capture goal: 1,594
• Removal goal: 1,381
• Returned: 1, up from zero on Day 7
• Deaths: 12, up from 8 on Day 7
• Shipped: 590, up from 467 on Day 7

A stallion was released (escaped?) on Day 6.

A stallion was dispatched on Day 9 for a broken neck.  Three mares were also put down because of eye issues.

The death rate is 1.4%.

The capture total includes 347 stallions, 378 mares and 107 foals.

Youngsters represented 12.9% of the animals gathered, suggesting the herd is growing at a rate of 8% per year.

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

Body condition scores were not given.

The HMA and surrounding lands are subject to permitted grazing.

*According to advocates.

Day 9 ended with 229 unaccounted-for animals.

On Day 7, 81 mares were treated with GonaCon Equine, a fertility control pesticide.

They will be returned the range with up to 121 stallions.

Other statistics:

• Forage liberated to date: 9,972 AUMs per year
• Water liberated to date: 8,310 gallons per day
• Horses allowed by plan: 979
• Pre-gather population: 1,661 plus this year’s foals
• Forage assigned to horses: 11,748 AUMs per year
• Forage assigned to livestock: 6,796 AUMs per year
• Horses displaced from HMA by permitted grazing: 566
• True AML: 1,545
• Stocking rate at new AML: 5.2 wild horses per thousand public acres
• Horses displaced by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

RELATED: Clan Alpine Roundup, Day 7.

His appointment was mentioned in the August 31 Animal Industry Report to the Nevada Board of Agriculture but no details were given.

Now, a Q&A dated November 16 by The Nevada Independent provides a few answers.

He will oversee the horses, fencing projects, contracts for darting and feeding, and will meet with the advocate groups.

The current population exceeds 3,500, compared to a target of 500.

Natural attrition will not achieve that number in a reasonable timeframe.

A long-term goal is to put more horses into good homes through a relocation process.

RELATED: What’s So Important about the Virginia Range?

On wild horse stocking rates.

RELATED: What’s So Important about the Virginia Range?