Exposing the Hypocrisy, Lies and Incompetence of the Wild Horse Advocates
Gather stats through August 12:
All of the burros were gathered on August 12. One death occurred on August 12 but no details were given. Body condition scores were not provided.
Foals represented 19.8% of the horses captured.
The HMA is one of five assigned to the Blue Wing Complex.
RELATED: Shawave Roundup, Day 8.
Triple B / Maverick-Medicine HMAs
RELATED: Emergency Roundup Scorecard, August 10.
The fire has expanded eastward, now reaching county road 204, according to the map at InciWeb. Over 51,000 acres have been burned since July 31, compared to 36,500 acres yesterday. Containment holding at 7% along southern flank.
The 10 AM report said today’s conditions will likely result in high rates of spread.
The state will not be purchasing private parcels and mineral rights offered by Occidental Petroleum along the I-80 corridor, according to a syndicated report posted yesterday by The Salt Lake Tribune.
The area includes public lands affected by the Rock Springs RMP amendments.
The story did not indicate who submitted the successful bid or how the lands would be used but did note that they could be leased for grazing or alternate energy projects.
Approximately 600 animals will be removed from the Sulphur HMA beginning August 15, according to a BLM news release issued today.
The operation, to be carried out with helicopters, will be open to public observation.
The HMA covers 265,711 acres in western Utah and has an AML of 250, for an aimed-at stocking rate of 0.9 horses per thousand acres.
The announcement did not refer to the NEPA project that authorized the roundup, but this one, initiated in 2015, may be relevant.
Table 3.2 in the Final Environmental Assessment indicates that the HMA intersects nine grazing allotments. The total estimated forage available to livestock inside the HMA is 10,256 AUMs per year, compared to 3,000 AUMs per year for the horses.
The current population of 1,193 horses would consume 14,316 AUMs per year.
Captured animals will be taken to the off-range corrals in Axtell, UT.
A link to the gather stats and daily reports was generating an error message at the time this report went live.
It’s still moving to the north and east, according to the 11 AM report at InciWeb.
Total area burned increased to roughly 36,500 acres, up from 29,400 acres yesterday.
An article published earlier today by the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel says the Little Bookcliffs horses are not threatened at this time.
RELATED: Pine Gulch Fire Expands.
Helicopters were grounded over the weekend. Gather stats through August 10:
Mares outnumbered studs by 62. Foals represented 20.7% of the total.
The HMA, part of the Blue Wing Complex, covers 13% of the massive Blue Wing-Seven Troughs allotment but the horses receive just four percent of the authorized forage.
The operation started August 3 with the goal of removing 1,600 horses and 200 burros from the HMA and surrounding lands. The AML is 136 horses, burros not allowed.
RELATED: Shawave Roundup, Day 5.
Over 29,000 acres have burned since July 31, according to the 1 PM update at InciWeb, which includes a link to the latest map.
Containment holding at 7%, southern edge only. Southwest winds still driving flames to the northeast. Some residents asked to evacuate.
No immediate threat to Little Bookcliffs horses reported.
RELATED: Pine Gulch Fire Still Growing.
Triple B / Maverick-Medicine HMAs
RELATED: Emergency Roundup Scorecard, August 8.
The agency’s headquarters are now officially in Grand Junction, CO according to a news release issued today.
Near Mammoth Lakes, CA with Jay Wilson.
The analyst, looking at data from a process, faces two problems:
The statistical methods used by Western Horse Watchers are designed to minimize the losses from these mistakes. There are no probabilities, no underlying distributions.
The formulas help you decide, by calculation, if the results from a process should be attributed to chance or whether they should be associated with one or more assignable causes (nameable, knowable, findable).
Do these data look like they were produced by a simple random process?
If you’re talking about the Assateague herd, the answer is ‘No.’
Data from the recently concluded gather at Nevada WHR look like they were.
This doesn’t mean that wranglers weren’t on horseback cutting mares from the herd, to skew the sex ratio, there’s just no evidence of that in the data.
RELATED: A Lesson from Industrial Quality Control.
Containment has been established on the southern edge of the fire, according to the map at InciWeb (click to enlarge), the area closest to the Little Bookcliffs horses.
The 10 AM report says the blaze has consumed almost 24,000 acres and continues to be affected by low humidity and southwest winds.
The home page at InciWeb includes photos.
RELATED: Pine Gulch Fire Spreading.
BLM announced today that the operation concluded on August 8, with 126 wild horses removed. Three deaths occurred on August 7. Details can be found in the daily reports.
Foals represented 22% of the total.
The number of studs and mares found in the traps could be accounted for by a simple random process centered at 50% males / 50% females.
Southwest winds are driving it to the northeast, according to today’s report on InciWeb.
The blaze has consumed 20,000 acres and is zero percent contained.
RELATED: Pine Gulch Fire Burning North of Little Bookcliffs WHR.
The daily reports indicate 675 wild horses gathered through August 7. No burros have been captured and seven deaths have occurred (1%).
Foals accounted for 20.4% of the total.
On August 5, 44 mares were treated with contraceptives. A booster will be applied after 30 days, followed by return to the HMA.
The goal is remove 1,600 horses and 200 burros from the HMA, which represents about 28% of the land in the Blue Wing Complex.
RELATED: Shawave Roundup, Day 3.
Triple B / Maverick-Medicine HMAs
RELATED: Emergency Roundup Scorecard, August 6.
A complete census will take a while but initial observations suggest they all survived the storm, according to a story posted today by WCTI News of New Bern, NC.
The Cedar Island horses appeared to be OK, although the herd was thinned by 70% last year by Hurricane Dorian.
RELATED: Isaias Leaves OBX.
Refer to this guest column, appearing this morning in the Las Vegas Sun.
If you believe that most of the problems on public lands in the western U.S. are due to privately owned livestock, why would you promote a technology associated with wild horse overpopulation?
The writer cites AWHC’s war on the Virginia Range mustangs as a PZP success story, but does not mention the disastrous long-term effects of PZP on the Assateague herd or the recent court order requiring the EPA to reconsider its registration of the pesticide.
Extended use, necessary for maintaining AMLs, leads to sterilization. The horses are said to be ‘self boosting.’
PZP doesn’t protect wild horses, it prevents them.
While that might appeal to some, the idea does not have broad support among ranching interests because darted mares still eat. Removal, the centerpiece of the glorious ‘Path Forward,’ is still the best option.
RELATED: Management of Western Rangelands in 2018, Livestock Grazing in Nevada.
Refer to this press release by American Equine Awareness, issued yesterday.
Should Congress direct some of the money to a pilot program that tests the new system, so it can be refined for commercial use? Would the Rolling Stones support the idea?
The House spending bill, which includes the amendment, still has to be considered by the Senate.
RELATED: If the PZP Amendment Carries, How Will the Money Be Used?
