Seventy five former wild horses and burros will be offered for direct purchase January 10th and 11th at the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Showgrounds, according to a news release issued today. The venue is roughly ten miles from the Mexican border. What could possibly go wrong for these animals?
Nevada Board of Agriculture Meets this Week
The Virginia Range mustangs are not on the agenda for the 12/12/18 meeting but they may be mentioned in the public comments. For example, concern for the diversionary feeding project and its long-term effects. Board members cannot respond to questions.
RELATED: NDA OKs Diversionary Feeding of Virginia Range Mustangs?
Mustang Monday
On the Salt River. H/T makelafamily1999.
Socks!
Virginia Range mustangs hang out at the stock tanks after getting a drink.
Tahoe Reno Industrial Center, Home of the Giga Ponies
Take exit 32 on I-80 and travel south on USA Parkway. There is another entrance a few miles to the west, exit 28. The Google aerial image is terribly out of date. Try Bing.
TRIC is at the northern end of the Virginia Range and is home to hundreds of wild horses, as well as the Tesla Gigafactory.
Weather was cold and damp but horses were spotted in the hills along Waltham Way and on both sides of USA Parkway. Photos taken 12/08/18.
RELATED: Giga Ponies on a Cold Foggy Day.
Wild Horse Preservation
These folks get it, these folks don’t. Any questions?
If you want to solve a problem, you have to understand the causes.
Public Service Announcement
Thank you for your attention.
Giga Ponies on a Cold Foggy Day
Small band of Virginia Range mustangs grazing on a ridge about a mile from the Tesla Gigafactory (Tahoe Reno Industrial Center). Filmed 12/08/18.
Colville Gather Announced
The Colville Tribes of northeastern Washington have issued an RFP to remove up to 1,500 wild horses from their reservation in the first quarter of 2019, according to a report that appeared yesterday in the Tribal Tribune of Nespelem, WA.
The goal of the roundup is to “…is to minimize the negative impacts of feral horses while maintaining a healthy and desirable population of approximately 50 to 200 of the highest quality, most desirable animals for use by the tribal membership.”
The report did not indicate if the gather would be open to public observation (probably not) and the disposition of captured horses.
Given that the area is only about 60 miles from the Canadian border, they may ship to slaughter, a common practice of their Yakama brothers to the south.
Silver King Update
Cumulative totals for the Silver King roundup, as of 12/06/18:
- 625 animals gathered
- 11 animal deaths
- 0 animals returned to range
The pre-gather population density, per the original announcement, was 2.1 horses per thousand acres, about one fourth the population density of livestock in Nevada.
The post-gather population density of 0.4 animals per thousand acres means the HMA will almost be a horse-free zone, good news for the public-lands ranchers.
RELATED: Silver King Progress Report.
Livestock Grazing in Nevada
Data from the BLM rangeland grazing page and wild horse management page in Nevada:
- 43 million acres available to livestock
- 15.6 million acres available to horses and burros
- 2 million AUMs available to livestock
- 12,811 wild horses and burros allowed
Assuming that livestock graze six months per year, the AUM figure yields 333,000 cow/calf pairs on public lands in the state (2 million divided by 6). The population density for these animals would be 7.7 cow/calf pairs per thousand acres (333,000 divided by 43 million times 1,000).
The population density for horses and burros is 0.8 animals per thousand acres (12,811 divided by 15.6 million times 1,000).
Land in Nevada can support ten times as many cow/calf pairs as horses and burros (7.7 divided by 0.8). On HMAs subject to grazing allotments (which is most of them), it’s the same land!
Given that horses graze twelve months per year, they would consume roughly 154,000 AUMs annually (12,811 times 12). If they were at 4X AML they would consume less than one third of the forage allocated to livestock (4 times 154,000 divided by 2 million).
Note that 4X AML represents almost two thirds of the wild horses and burros living on public lands managed by the BLM in the western U.S. Earlier this year the total number of horses and burros was around 82,000 but is probably less than 70,000 now thanks to the roundups.
Two thirds of America’s wild horses and burros consume one third of the forage assigned to livestock in just one state, which supports an observation made earlier on these pages that the lion’s share of resources goes to cattle and sheep on western rangelands. This is especially troubling on lands set aside for horses and burros.
The Virginia Range, on the western side of the state, has a population density of ten animals per thousand acres, maybe a bit more, providing further evidence that HMAs with densities of two or three animals per thousand acres are far from overpopulated.
RELATED: Livestock Grazing in Wyoming.
Public Service Announcement
Thank you for your attention.
Giga Horses
Aerial footage of some Virginia Range mustangs about two miles south of the Tesla Gigafactory, Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center. H/T Aden Klinger.
Assemblyman Introduces Bill to ‘Protect’ Wild Horses in CA
Refer to this report, posted yesterday by the Times of San Diego. Like most efforts in the wild horse world, it treats the symptoms but does not address the causes of declining wild horse populations on western rangelands, the greatest of which is public-lands ranching.
- Too far downstream in the process
- Focused on the outcomes
- Guarantees more horses will be removed from the range
The director of a national ‘advocacy’ group praised the action, stating that horses should be regarded as “…partners, companions and icons of the American West who must be treated humanely [i.e., darted with PZP], not brutally butchered to supply foreign horsemeat markets.”
She’s fully on board with the overpopulation narrative, a bullshit storyline that draws attention away from the truth.
RELATED: Public-Lands Ranching: How Bad Is It?, Stop the Roundups, Fertility Control is Better!
Rush Hour in Wyoming
In the southwestern part of the state, possibly Adobe Town HMA. H/T Rio Verde Westward Overland.
Livestock Grazing in Wyoming
Data from the BLM rangeland grazing page and wild horse management page in Wyoming:
- 17 million acres available to livestock
- 5 million acres available to horses (burros not reported)
- 1.9 million AUMs available to livestock
- 3,725 wild horses allowed
Assuming that livestock graze six months per year, the AUM figure yields 316,000 cow/calf pairs on public lands in the state (1.9 million divided by 6). The population density for these animals would be 18.6 cow/calf pairs per thousand acres (316,000 divided by 17 million times 1,000).
The population density for horses is 0.7 animals per thousand acres (3,725 divided by 5 million times 1,000).
Land in Wyoming can support 26 times as many cow/calf pairs as horses (18.6 divided by 0.7). In some cases, it’s the same land!
Given that horses graze twelve months per year, they would consume roughly 45,000 AUMs annually (3,725 times 12). If they were at 4X AML they would consume less than ten percent of the forage allocated to livestock (4 times 45,000 divided by 1.9 million).
On hearing these results, the PZP zealots cried out “Hurry, we must dart those mares!”
RELATED: Livestock Grazing in Utah.
Another Chincoteague Pony Dies of ‘Swamp Cancer’
Refer to this report posted today by WTKR News in Norfolk, VA. The ailment, formally known as pythiosis, has claimed two lives this year.
Pryor Mountains Adventures, Part 2
Sequel to Pryor Mountains video posted yesterday. Very clever scene in the editing room beginning at 7:22! H/T Bigfoot Dad Explores Montana.
RELATED: Pryor Mountains Adventures, Part 1.
Livestock Grazing in Utah
Data from the BLM rangeland grazing page and wild horse management page in Utah:
- 22 million acres available to livestock
- 2.5 million acres available to horses and burros
- 1.3 million AUMs available to livestock
- 1,956 wild horses and burros allowed
Assuming that livestock graze six months per year, the AUM figure yields 216,000 cow/calf pairs on public lands in the state (1.3 million divided by 6). The population density for these animals would be 9.8 cow/calf pairs per thousand acres (216,000 divided by 22 million times 1,000).
The population density for horses and burros is 0.8 animals per thousand acres (1,956 divided by 2.5 million times 1,000).
Land in Utah can support twelve times as many cow/calf pairs as horses and burros. In some cases, it’s the same land!
Given that horses and burros graze twelve months per year, they would consume roughly 24,000 AUMs annually. If they were at 4X AML they would consume less than one tenth of the forage allocated to livestock in the state.
Yet, the horses are overpopulated. They have to go. Livestock are blameless, always.
Pryor Mountains Adventures, Part 1
Hop in for a ride to the Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range on the Montana-Wyoming border, one of only three areas in the western U. S. managed primarily for horses, not livestock. Filmed in the summer of 2017. Features the cabin visited by Ginger Kathrens in the Cloud documentary. H/T Bigfoot Dad Explores Montana.
RELATED: Ride a Side-by-Side to See the Pryor Mountains Horses.
