The Preliminary Environmental Assessment for the Blue Wing HMAP says on page 163 of the pdf that if some number of mares become sterile as a result of PZP treatment, that result would be consistent with the contraceptive purpose that motivates BLM’s use of the vaccine, and with Congressional guidance that condones such treatment in the management of wild horses and burros.
That statement makes the advocacy groups partners, not adversaries, of the bureaucrats and ranchers.
Mothers are almost as hard to find at the Salt River and Virginia Range as foals.
Referring to the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses as the nation’s leading wild horse protection organization is like claiming that Planned Parenthood is the nation’s premier right-to-life organization.
The news release says the AML will range from 100 to 140, compared to 50 to 140 at the WHT page, implying heavy use of fertility control pesticides.
The closer the range the lower the expected growth rate.
The project folder contains numerous documents, including the Final Environmental Assessment and Draft Decision.
The Decision Record would authorize a modified version of Alternative 4, presented in Chapter 2 of the EA.
The proposed HMAP and its variants are discussed in Appendix A.
The Alternative 4 HMAP (page 234 in the pdf) calls for an AML of 50 to 140.
The DR corroborates that range.
Western Horse Watchers cannot account for the range given in the news release.
Other features of the modified plan include
Bait trap removal, no helicopters
Use of PZP and GonaCon Equine
Monitoring for genetic diversity
Prohibition of IUDs
No skewing of sex ratios
Table 5 in the EA indicates that livestock in the JMA (HMA + WHT) receive 7,770 AUMs per year, while horses receive 1,680 AUMs per year at the high end of AML.
This yields a True AML of 140 + 7,770 ÷ 12 = 787, the number of horses the land could support if it was managed principally for them as specified in the original statute.
The problem is not inadequate fertility control, as the advocates would have you believe, but too many cow/calf pairs.
The gather page said “No decisions are being made at this time regarding the long-term disposition of horses gathered as part of this emergency action” but the Forest Service has apparently decided they will be put up for adoption according to a May 9 news release about a new HMAP for the WHT.
The roundup, prompted by the 2024 Rail Ridge Fire, cut the herd by 410.
The status of livestock grazing in the burned area is not known.
Like the NGOs behind it, the membership will not advocate for principal use and management at the minimum feasible level.
Instead, it will support the goal of ranching superiority in the lawful homes of wild horses, sometimes referred to as achieving and maintaining AMLs, but the weapon of choice will be pesticide-laced darts, not low-flying helicopters.
Moreover, they’ll argue that it’s not removal, even though the numbers go down just like they do in roundups.
The major difference is that the herds don’t bounce back.
A story by The Virginian-Pilot says the advocates will not be sharing the names of foals and will use more discretion when sharing the names of the adults, another indication they are worried about the viability of the herd, a problem they caused.
A herd of approximately 100 should produce around 15 foals per year, more than enough to overcome the loss of five to six adults to natural causes.
The low number of foals suggests the herd is shrinking, perhaps irreversibly.
You will never hear the advocates criticize PZP darting programs because their livelihoods as NGOs depends on them.
If the pesticide was taken off the market they’d have nothing, no reason to exist.
The herd has survived on its own for hundreds of years, as stated in the report, but it cannot survive the advocates and their stupid ideas.
The underlying belief of those involved is that that the horses and burros are pests and that the land should be managed primarily for livestock.
The advocates, facing great embarrassment, will switch to another brand of snake oil rather than admit their errors.
It is not possible to overestimate the stupidity and naivety of the wild horse advocates, with the exception of those colluding with the bureaucrats and ranchers.
In those cases, it’s easy to underestimate the depths they will plumb to deceive their supporters and the population at large.
The government will pay $1,000 to illegal aliens that leave the country voluntarily according to a report by AP News.
The story did not indicate if the migrants would receive $500 when they crossed the border and $500 if they stayed out for a year.
The status of compliance inspections is unknown.
Unlike the Adoption Incentive Program, payments are made in lieu of capture and are not available to those who would take the detainees from the government and escort them to Canada or Mexico.
The program is an important step in keeping Democrats away from the levers of power.
The change was mentioned in a response to comments in the Buffalo Hills DNA.
The January 21 labeling amendment allows the second dose to be given in as little as seven days after the first.
The effect of the change on treated animals is not known.
Although the 2017 labeling amendment changed the interval to 90 days, the BLM continued to refer to the 2013 and 2015 registrations in planning documents issued after that date and gave two doses 30 days apart to mares captured in roundups, which constitutes unlawful use of the pesticide.
If that sounds like an allegation of wrongdoing, it is.
Comments are due by June 4 according to the news release.
Alternative A, the Proposed Action, features
Implementation of a new HMAP
Removal of excess animals to low AML
Application of fertility control pesticides
Sterilizing up to one fourth of the herd
Skewing the sex ratio in favor of males
Development of a new water source
The proposed HMAP is discussed in Appendix XIII of the EA.
Section 2.4.2.2 refers to a 2025 labeling amendment for GonaCon Equine, which may have changed the interval between treatments from 90 days to seven, but Western Horse Watchers has not been able to find it at the EPA website.
The Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program applies to horses that are off the range or nearly so.
In effect, it ensures that burn victims receive the best possible care instead of figuring out how to have fewer fires.
It guarantees the removals will continue because it does not address their causes.
The advocates believe the problems can be avoided by not having any horses or not having them in sufficient numbers to protect herd health and genetic viability.
This photo, taken on May 2, helps you understand why the Virginia Range advocates are eager to beat the horse numbers down with ovary-killing pesticides.
The view is from the west side of the lake, looking east across the marsh to the Virginia Range.
The Jumbo Allotment is on the far side and Duck Hill borders it on the south.
The advocates want the ranchers to win but motorized removal is cruel and costly and somebody has to take care of the captured animals.
A better approach is to not have any horses at all, and mass sterilization is an effective way to achieve that.
The advocates can sterilize a mare for about $200 (six to seven doses of PZP).
The Allotment Master Report puts Duck Hill in the Improve category, does not meet one or more standards for rangeland heath, and Jumbo in Custodial, condition unknown.
It’s in the Improve category, one or more standards for rangeland health not met.
The management plan assigns no forage to wild horses.
How many could live there?
The forage assigned to livestock is equivalent to 300 wild horses, or 7.7 per thousand public acres.
Why is this important?
Your faithful public servants claim that rangelands in the western U.S. can only support one wild horse per thousand acres (25,500 animals on 25.6 million acres).
The advocates, defeated a long time ago, prop up the fairy tale with their darting programs.
If the allotment was an HMA, the AML would be 39 and 261 wild horses would be consigned to off-range holding because of permitted grazing.
Wild horses can be placed on public lands not identified for their use by acquiring base properties associated with grazing allotments and flipping the preference to horses.
Western Horse Watchers Association 