On the Stinkingwater and South Steens HMAs with Mustang Meg. (WHW does not agree with the remarks at the end of the video about contraceptives.)
Havasu Roundup Complete, No News Release
Bait trapping ended June 2, with 138 wild burros captured and removed, according to the gather page. No deaths were reported.
The animals were taken to the off-range corrals in Florence, AZ.
RELATED: Havasu Roundup Pending.
No Progress on Jackson Mountains Roundup?
Daily reports have not been posted to the gather page and the cumulative totals are zero.
The incident was set to begin on or about June 15.
RELATED: Jackson Mountains Emergency Roundup Starts Next Week.
Comments Invited on Confusion Wild Horse Gather EA
Yesterday the BLM announced the opening of a 30-day public comment period on a draft environmental assessment for management actions on the Confusion HMA in western Utah. The EA looks at the consequences of a proposed action along with those of one or more alternatives.
The HMA covers 235,005 acres in Juab and Millard counties, according to the EA, but the HMA page linked above says 293,665 acres. The area computed from the data in Table 3a of the EA is 270,574 acres. (WHW has asked the BLM which figure is correct.)
The maximum number of horses allowed by plan is 115, for an aimed-at stocking rate of 0.5 wild horses per thousand acres, based on the area in the EA. Recall the observation from April that stocking rates below one may indicate large amounts of forage diverted to privately owned livestock.
The management plan allocates an estimated 10,259 AUMs per year to livestock inside the HMA (88%), according to data in Table 3a, and 1,380 AUMs per year to wild horses (12%). The AUM distribution will change if the acreage numbers change.
Comments can be submitted online at the project documents page or by US Mail.
Shocker: TCF Pushes PZP in Latest Opinion Piece
Refer to this column in the Washington Examiner, just published. You just found out that four of the five bedrooms in your home are reserved for other mandated users.
Solution? Contraceptives.
Don’t you dare try to evict the squatters.
Shackleford Ponies Subject of Online Curriculum
WNCT News of Greenville, NC reported today that the Park Service has posted three lesson plans involving wild horses to its Cape Lookout web site. The curriculum, for teachers and homeschool parents, provides environmental education focused on the ponies of Shackleford Banks.
Pendley to Head BLM?
The President announced today his intent to nominate William Perry Pendley to be the director of the BLM, subject to confirmation, according to a BLM news release. He has been serving as acting director of the agency since July 2019.
More information in this report by The Hill.
Range Creek Roundup Starts Next Week
BLM said today that that approximately 125 wild horses will be gathered from the Range Creek HMA in Carbon County, UT, starting July 1. The operation will be carried out with helicopters and will be open to public observation.
The HMA covers 55,023 acres and has an AML of 125, for an aimed-at stocking rate of 2.3 wild horses per thousand acres.
The HMA intersects one grazing allotment, with 3,267 AUMs per year authorized across eight pastures. The amount of land falling within the HMA was not given in the EA.
Captured animals will be taken to the off-range corrals in Axtell.
Gather stats and daily reports will be posted to this page.
A roundup occurred on the HMA last September, with 154 wild horses removed.
The current population is thought to be 184, plus this year’s foal crop, according to the news release.
Nye County Commissioners Reject Helicopter Roundups
On June 16, County Commissioners approved a resolution opposing helicopter gathers of wild horses and burros within the borders of Nye County, NV, according to a story posted this morning by the Pahrump Valley Times.
The motion passed with all in favor.
The Stone Cabin, Reveille, Hot Creek, Saulsbury and Bullfrog HMAs can be found in Nye County, along with the Nevada WHR.
RELATED: Public Meeting This Week for Aerial Roundups in Nevada.
PLC Wants to Change Image of Public-Lands Ranching
The executive director of the Public Lands Council said earlier this week that public-lands ranching should be viewed as “a land-management tool to reduce fine fuels that lead to intense wildfires, as well as a tool to cultivate native grasses and reduce invasive species,” according to a report by Capital Press of Salem, OR.
She also claimed that “herd management areas are overstocked” and stakeholders in the west are very interested in additional funding for the WHB program.
Residents to Protest Currituck Wild Horse Tours
No looting and burning expected, just some yard signs over the July 4th weekend, according to a story published this morning by The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk, VA.
Wild horse tourism is a large part of Corolla’s economy. “People come specifically to see the horses. Visitors stay in rental houses and eat and shop locally.”
The horses roam on marshes and beaches north of town, near the Virginia border.
The barrier that keeps the horses away from town was damaged last September by Hurricane Dorian.
Comments Invited on Moriah Gather EA
BLM announced yesterday the beginning of a 30-day comment period on a draft environmental assessment for the removal of wild horses in and around the Moriah Herd Area in eastern Nevada.
The HA covers 55,300 acres on the Utah border and has no AML. Horses were found there in 1971 but the land is no longer managed for them.
The HA intersects five grazing allotments according to Section 3.2.9.1 of the EA, with cattle and sheep present most of the year.
Note 13 on page seven of the BLM map says “Unsuitable habitat – (unproductive land – inadequate forage),” yet the area can provide an estimated 4,034 AUMs per year to privately owned livestock, based on data in Table 4, enough to support 336 horses.
The current population in and around the HA is thought to be 714, including this year’s foal crop. The animals routinely move outside the HA in search of food and water.
All of the horses have been designated ‘excess’ and therefore subject to removal.
The Moriah HMA lost its HMA status in the 2008 Ely District Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan.
The roundup, when it occurs, will likely capture only 75% to 85% of the horses and follow-up actions may be necessary over the next ten years to achieve management objectives, according to section 2.2 of the EA.
Comments must be submitted by email or sent by US Mail to the Ely District Office.
An online form was not provided with the project documents.
WHBAB Meeting This Summer?
A search of the Federal Register yielded no results for 2020. The last meeting of the Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board was in October of 2019.
RELATED: WHBAB Rubber-Stamps ‘Path Forward?’
Public Meeting This Week for Aerial Roundups in Nevada
BLM said yesterday that the annual hearing for the use of aircraft and motor vehicles in managing wild horses and burros would be held in Battle Mountain June 25.
What if those attending said “We object.” What would that accomplish?
Roundups are effects, not causes. They are symptoms of the way public lands are managed. If you want change, you have to go after the causes.
The announcement said the state’s wild horse and burro population currently exceeds 51,500 animals, with 12,811 animals allowed by plan. Is that a problem?
The meeting should not be about what type of equipment is most effective in removing these animals from their home range, but why they are being removed from their home range and what can be done to stop it.
Devil’s Garden Horses Rehomed to Northern Colorado
The behavior praised in this video is the same one condemned on their home range.
Fuels reduction is a good idea, unless it’s on grazing allotments.
RELATED: Devil’s Garden Horses Get Short End of Stick.
Who Invented the Wild Horse Darting Machine?
Almost certainly it was somebody with ties to oil or mining companies.
Let’s take a look at the developer’s bios.
Oh crap, it was invented by a rancher.
Mustang Monday
On the Montgomery Pass WHT with K. E. Borrelli. Outing hosted by Rock Creek Pack Station. For a description of the WHT, go to page 629 in the final EIS for the Inyo National Forest Management Plan update. The Forest Service shows it on its map but does not provide a link for it.
Major Threat to Wild Horses?
Public-lands ranchers don’t hide their disdain for wild horses. The Public Lands Council, a cheerleader group attached to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, makes their position known on this page.
The American Petroleum Institute, a trade group for the energy industry, must have a similar page on its site. After all, oil and gas companies are major threats to wild horses according to some advocacy groups.
See if you can find it.
After that, please indicate
- How much forage has been lost to oil and gas exploration and production
- How many horses have been displaced from public lands by those operations
- How much AMLs can be increased by ending oil and gas production on those lands
What’s that? Still haven’t found that policy statement on the API web site?
RELATED: Where Are Your Figures?
Crowd Panics Currituck Foal
A colt separated from his mom was surrounded by onlookers on Friday, causing him to panic, according to a report posted today by The News & Observer of Raleigh, NC.
Remember, you should never approach wild horses—unless you’re stalking them with darting rifles, which the local ‘advocacy’ group does on a routine basis.
Rule of Four Accounts for Horses in Long-Term Holding
How many wild horses in long-term holding can be explained by the ‘rule of four?’
All of them. A quick estimate of the number of horses cheated out of spot on their home range by privately owned livestock is
27,000 × 4 = 108,000
If you removed domestic livestock from half of the HMAs, you could empty all of the off-range corrals and pastures.
But why stop there? Cattle and sheep belong on private land, not wild horses.
