Mustang Meg Checks on Oregon Wild Horses

Refer to this summary of her trip to the Palomino Butte, Stinkingwater, Kiger, Warm Springs and South Steens HMAs.  She reports that the horses looked good with a few exceptions and that water sources were low, typical for this time of year.  She noted that Warm Springs looked ‘ominously empty,’ as if it was a ‘ghost town.’

Not exactly what you’d expect to hear about areas that are overpopulated with wild horses, a claim repeated frequently by the BLM and public-lands ranchers.

No Roundup on Pryor Mountains This Year

The lawsuit filed by The Cloud Foundation and others is over.  The hearing set for 09/28/18 did not happen.  The horses are safe for now.  Refer to this report, posted today in the Casper Star Tribune.  The court blocked the roundup, which would have been effected by bait traps, because it would cause permanent damage to the genetic lines of the herd.

RELATED: Judge Orders Two Week Delay in Pryor Mountains Gather.

BLM Seeks Nominations for RACs

The BLM has re-opened a request for nominations to certain Resource Advisory Councils that provide recommendations to the agency on the use of public lands, according to a notice that appeared today in the Federal Register.

The RACs must represent the various interests associated with the management of those lands, which may include HMAs.  Membership falls into three categories.

Holders of federal grazing permits are in Category One and wild horse and burro organizations are in Category Two.

The priority/weight/rank of each category was not explained in the announcement.

BLM State Offices should issue news releases in the next few days providing additional information for submitting nominations, with specifics about the number and categories of positions available for the RACs in each state.