The incident started yesterday as advertised, with 59 horses captured, none shipped, none released and one dead.
RELATED: Nevada WHR Roundup Starts This Week.
Battle of the Adjectives
Which of these terms, when used by the advocates to describe wild horses, will convince you that removal by pesticides is better than removal by helicopters, that they really care about these animals and that you should shower them with your financial support?
RELATED: Adjectives for Equine Pests.
How Many Wild Horses Can the Sonoma Range HA Support?
It’s one of three areas identified for wild horses in the East Pershing Complex that’s now managed principally for livestock.
Table 9 in the Final EA for pest control and resource enforcement indicates eight allotments that overlap the HA.
The National Data Viewer suggests that roughly half of Thomas Creek is outside the HA so 50% was used for the amount of overlap instead of 100% as indicated in the table.
The other percentages look okay.
The Allotment Master Report provides management status, acreage and active AUMs.
Approximately 61% of the public acreage is in the Improve category.
The forage assigned to livestock inside the HA is 9,989 AUMs per year, enough to support 832 wild horses. The current AML is zero so the True AML would be 832.
The HA covers 212,587 total acres, including 150,095 public acres, so the stocking rate at the new AML would be 5.5 wild horses per thousand public acres.
An assumption in the calculations above is that forage is evenly distributed across the allotments. If 95% of Clear Creek is inside the HA, then so is 95% of the forage.
The base property tied to the Sonoma Allotment was on the market earlier this year for $11.2 million.
The base property tied to Clear Creek sold last year to J6 Ranches.
RELATED: Habitat Loss in the East Pershing Complex.
Clan Alpine Confusion
The daily reports stopped on November 28 with 257 unaccounted-for horses.
Yesterday a report for November 29 was added, indicating 69 horses shipped and one death.
That leaves 187 unaccounted-for animals.
The sidebar at the gather page shows the release of 68 stallions but that figure does not appear in the daily reports.
The incident has not been marked complete and there has been no news release.
RELATED: Status of Clan Alpine Roundup?
Foal-Free Friday, Surveying the Adjectives Edition
Which of these terms, when used by the advocates, helps you believe that they really care about wild horses and that they’d never do anything harmful to the herds?
a. Cherished
b. Beloved
c. Innocent
d. Treasured
e. Iconic
f. Majestic
If you chose any of these words, and offered your financial support thereby, the joke’s on you because they’re beating the populations down with ovary-killing pesticides so ranchers can access most of their food and water.
RELATED: Foal-Free Friday, Defunding the Advocates Edition.
BLM Going Dark on McGregor Grazing Results?
The 2023 auction was announced on September 7 but results have not been posted.
The 2022 auction was announced on September 6 and results were published on October 27.
An email inquiry sent on December 4 has not been answered.
Why would they want to hide the results?
Because they give insight on market conditions and going rates for livestock grazing, which dwarf the current fee of $1.35 per AUM, suggesting that it’s ridiculously low and that the American people are not receiving a fair return for the use of public lands.
This brings great embarrassment to the bureaucrats and ranchers.
RTELATED: Price of Hay Unchanged, Still Too High.
Habitat Loss in the East Pershing Complex
The Complex consists of six Herd Areas. Three have been taken away and a fourth has been cut in half, roughly, leaving three Herd Management Areas.
The missing HAs are unfit for wild horses, supposedly, but not for livestock.
The Complex is south of Winnemucca, NV.
RELATED: Introduction to the East Pershing Complex.
Letter to Santa
This undated letter was sent by a reader.
The linked video from the Twin Peaks HMA was posted 12 years ago, possibly on the eve of a roundup or shortly thereafter.
HO! HO! HO! You can have your wild horse and burro program as long as it doesn’t interfere with the grazing program.
Researchers to Study Mountain Lion Prey in Caliente Complex
The Nevada Department of Wildlife, in partnership with Utah State University and the U.S. Geological Survey, has approached the BLM about monitoring prey selection in two HAs that overlap or are near designated wilderness areas in southeastern Nevada.
The researchers suspect that predation behavior will change after a sudden decrease in the equine population, as would result from a roundup, shifting toward native species such as mule deer, elk and bighorns.
That would be unwelcome news for big game hunters.
Could it also shift to nonnative species, such as privately owned cattle and sheep?
The area is subject to permitted grazing.
The answers seem obvious: If you’re a mountain lion and you lose a major food source, you change your diet, move to another area or die.
The study is not consistent with the claim that wild horses have no natural predators.
Data will be collected with trailcams.
The Draft EA was the only document copied to the project folder.
Comments will be accepted through December 14.
RELATED: Caliente Complex in Pictures.
Court Dismisses Salt River Legal Action
The case brought earlier this year by the Center for Biological Diversity, Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife Conservation and the Arizona Wildlife Federation, alleging that wild horses were destroying the habitats of endangered species in the Tonto National Forest, has been tossed according to a report by KPNX News.
The decision does not protect the horses. It may have alleviated the risk of forcible removal, but nonmotorized removal by the Salt River Wild Horse Darting Group, an affiliate of the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, will continue.
The goal is to take the population of approximately 400 animals down to 200 in ten years, after which the mares will be sterile and the herd will be lost—forever.
RELATED: Coalition Sues Forest Service Over Salt River Horses.
Nevada WHR Roundup Starts This Week
The FY24 schedule shows a December 7 start date but today’s news release indicates December 8.
The plan calls for the capture of 350 wild horses, removal of 138, treatment of up to 106 mares with GonaCon Equine (a fertility control pesticide) and the return of 212.
The current population is thought to be 438, within the AML of 300 – 500.
The WHR lies within the Nevada Test and Training Range so the incident will not be open to public observation.
Animals designated for removal will be taken to the Ridgecrest off-range corrals.
The WHR covers 1,301,637 acres of military land southeast of Tonopah and is not subject to permitted grazing but surrounding lands are.
A roundup two years ago removed horses and burros from the area.
Virginia Range Darting Update for November 2023
The Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, a leader in nonmotorized removal, indicated in the November report that 162 mares received 162 doses of Zonastat-H during the month, 31 given as a primer and 131 as a booster.
Over the life of the program, which began in 2019, 1,978 mares have received an astonishing 8,399 doses of the ovary-killing pesticide.
Of the 175 foals born this year in the primary target zone, 90 have died, in some cases with the aid of predators.
The current population is thought to be 3,479 with 350 horses listed as missing, compared to 3,498 with 338 listed as missing in October.
A goal for December is to “Continue to maximize booster treatments to mares across the Virginia Range to prevent pregnancies, allowing for continued population reduction.”
Not discussed in the report:
- Long-term population goal
- Size of breeding population
- Loss of genetic diversity
- Herd demographics (average age of herd, sex ratio, percent foals)
- Changes in death rates
- Risk of sterility
The program is now in its fifth year and many of the mares are at the point of no return.
The report will be submitted to the Nevada Department of Agriculture.
The Virginia Range is subject to permitted grazing.
RELATED: Virginia Range Darting Update for October 2023.
Introduction to the East Pershing Complex
The largest roundup of FY24 is scheduled to begin on December 28, with 2,875 wild horses to be captured and removed.
As of today, the incident has not been announced by the BLM and a gather page has not been created.
The Complex, consisting of three HMAs and four HAs, may get its name from the county in Nevada where the action will occur.
The roundup aligns with three tenets of rangeland management:
- Pest control
- Resource enforcement
- Rancher protection
The advocates, defeated a long time ago and now desperate for a seat at the table, eagerly participate in the process.
Alternative B in the Final EA was authorized by the Humboldt Field Office in a 2018 Decision, minus the sterilization option.
You can find these documents in the project folder on ePlanning.
Figure 1 shows the HAs and HMAs.
Figure 2 shows the grazing allotments.
Section 3.12 in the EA discusses livestock grazing and resource apportionment.
How much forage has been assigned to the ranchers in the lawful home of wild horses?
Don’t look to the advocates for answers.
Why Did Western Horse Watchers Drop Its Subscribers?
Because of suspected involvement by some individuals in censoring the site.
The practice is still going on, stronger than ever, but at least your host not facilitating it.
BLM Retiree to Speak about Wild Horse Management
Idaho Fish and Game published the announcement on November 30 but shut down its web site on December 1 for a nonresident tag sale.
It’s back up and running today.
Synopsis:
- Horses bad
- Livestock good
The event will be held tomorrow evening at the Morrison Knudsen Nature Center in Boise starting at 6:30 PM.
Mustang Monday
At or near the Heber WHT with Russ Field.
CAAWH Rakes in $146,690 on Defund the Advocates Day
Every penny will support the fight for freedom and safety of America’s wild horses and burros, according to a news flash posted by Lucky Three Ranch.
This means poisoning the mares with ovary-killing pesticides so ranchers can access most of their food and water.
Wouldn’t you love to see their donor list?
RELATED: CAAWH Has No Scruples.
Price of Hay Unchanged, Still Too High
A bale of alfalfa-grass mix sold for $34 yesterday, 20 bales minimum, no change from last month.
The single-bale price was $35.
Although it’s off its high of $36 per bale earlier this year, it’s up 79% from the summer of 2021, when Bidenomics was unleashed on the American people.
An average horse would need around five bales per month, putting the cost at $170 per AUM.
The poor ranchers, forced to live in multi-million-dollar base properties, pay $1.35 per AUM to access forage on public lands.
Curiously, a headline today on Drudge says “Animal shelters across USA overflowing.”
RELATED: Cost of Hay Dropped Slightly!
How Much Private Land Do the Public-Lands Ranchers Control?
Nearly 120 million acres according to the Public Lands Council, with grazing privileges on more than 250 million acres managed by the USFS and BLM.
Consider the new off-range corrals north of Winnemucca.
If a private owner can care for 4,000 horses on 100 acres, the ranchers should be able to maintain 4.8 billion (4,800,000,000) cow/calf pairs on their deeded acreage.
There’s no need for permitted grazing!
Why do they want access to public lands? Why do they view it as their birthright?
Profit, greed. It’s a gravy train, a government giveaway.
They pay pennies on the dollar to feed their animals, compared to the Winnemucca corrals, which are subsidized by taxpayers.
Solution? Confine the ranchers to their (multi-million-dollar) base properties, which they’re already doing, but make the off-season twelve months per year and let them pay the going rate to feed their animals.
As a result, AMLs can be increased and the landmass identified for wild horses and burros in 1971 (around 53 million acres) can be managed principally for them, as specified in the original statute.
RELATED: Winnemucca Base Property Hits Market for $11.2 Million.
Western Horse Watchers Microcast #13
On livestock fencing.
Which side of this fence do you suppose the horses are on?
