Download - BLM Forage Allocations in Wild Horse Herd Management Areas(1)

7/28/2019 BLM Forage Allocations in Wild Horse Herd Management Areas(1)

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Inequitable Allocation of Forage in Bureau of Land

Management Wild Horse Herd Management Areas

82.5% to livestock; 17.5% to wild horsesApril 2, 2013

OVERVIEW

The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign evaluated Bureau of Land

Management (BLM) data on forage allocations in 50 Herd Management Areas (HMAs)

where roundups were conducted between 2010 and 2012.

The survey found that the BLM allocates 82.5% of forage in designated wild horse

HMAs to privately-owned livestock, while just 17.5% of forage is allocated to wild

horses.

THE DATA

The data on forage allocations is presented below. It is taken from BLM Environmental

Assessments (EAs) for wild horse roundups conducted in 50 of the BLMs 179 existing

HMAs between 2010 and 2012. The HMAs were chosen for analysis based on the EAs

provision of detailed forage allocations data. The forage allocations are measured in

Animal Unit Months (AUMs). An AUM is the amount of forage needed to sustain one


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cow/calf pair, one horse, or five sheep for a month. The AUM allocations for wild horses

are based on the high Appropriate Management Levels (AMLs) for wild horses. This is

the maximum number of horses the agency allows in the HMAs.

WILD HORSE LIVESTOCK

HMA STATE HIGH AML AUMs AUMs

Swasey HMA UT 100 1200 7904

McCullough Peaks WY 140 1680 58433

Diamond NV 151 1812 8340

Diamond Hills

North NV 37 444 6593

Diamond Hills

South NV 22 264 3019

Murderers Creek OR 140 1680 2816

Buckhorn CA 85 1020 4796Coppersmith CA 75 900 4795

Little Humboldt NV 80 960 1490

Little Owyhee NV 298 3576 21684

Owyhee NV 231 2772 27212

Rock Creek NV 250 3000 16652

Snowstorm

Mountains NV 140 1680 8315

Challis ID 185 2220 11439

Triple B NV 518 6216 36,472

Maverick-Medicine NV 276 3312 11673Antelope Valley

Herd NV 27 324 5009

Frisco UT 60 720 4299

Wassuk HMA UT 165 1980 4274

Jackson Mountain NV 217 2604 7323

Desatoya

Mountain NV 180 2160 6769

Pryor Mountain MT 120 1440 0

Stone Cabin NV 364 4368 13985

Saulsbury NV 40 480 2239

Flanigan NV 124 1488 4710

Dogskin NV 15 180 4102

Granite Peak NV 18 216 6358

Pancake NV 493 5916 22247

Sand Springs West NV 49 588 477


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Jake Wash NV 0 0 8354

Piceance East

Douglas CO 235 2820 6935

Black Rock Range

East NV 93 1116 1326

Black Rock Range

West NV 93 1116 2244

Calico Mountain NV 333 3996 2373

Granite Range NV 258 3096 2175

Warm Spring

Canyon NV 175 2100 3272

Jackies Butte OR 150 1800 3997

Three Fingers OR 150 1800 3820

Bitner CA 25 300 3581

Fox Hog CA 220 2640 8384Wall Canyon CA 25 300 3234

High Rock CA 120 1440 3668

Nut Mountain CA 55 660 2446

Augusta Mountains NV 308 3696 6188

**ANTELOPE

COMPLEX NV 788 9456 56090

91536 431512

`

**Livestock allocation data provided for the entire complex, which includes four HMAs(Antelope, Antelope Valley, Goshute and Spruce Pequop).

Shaded areas represent HMAs that the BLM has grouped together into complexes.

Total Forage in AUMs allocated to livestock & wild horses: 523,048 AUMs.

ANALYSIS

This survey encompasses 30% of the BLMs existing HMAs. It clearly demonstrates that

the BLM consistently favors livestock over wild horses by allocating 82.5% of forage in

designated wild horses areas to livestock while allocating only 17.5% of forage to wild

horses. This preference for livestock occurs despite the fact that the BLM is mandated

by federal law to protect wild horses, whereas livestock grazing is authorized entirely at

the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior.


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Of the 245 million acres of public land managed by the BLM, 155 million is open to

livestock grazing (virtually all BLM land outside of Alaska). By contrast, wild horses are

restricted to just 26.9 million acres, which they must share with livestock.

Even though wild horses are restricted to a small fraction (11%) of BLM land, the agency

routinely allocates the vast majority of forage on this land to privately-owned livestock

instead of federally-protected wild horses.

This inequitable distribution of resources is the basis on which the BLM has set

Appropriate Management Levels (AMLs) for wild horses. AMLs do not reflect the

carrying capacity of the land for wild horses.Rather, the AMLs reflect the number of

wild horses that the BLM has decided to allow after giving away the majority of

forage resources to private livestock.

For example, in our survey of 50 HMAs, the average maximum allowable population forwild horses is 166 on an average HMA size of 249,000 acres. That is one horse per 1,500

acres or 2.3 square miles! Meanwhile, the average, annual equivalent of cows permitted

to graze per HMA is 9,380.

This survey puts BLMs claims of wild horse overpopulation in perspective. When the

wild horse population exceeds the artificially-low AMLs, the BLM claims the horses are

overpopulating. In reality, the wild horse population has only exceeded the artificial

management levels established by BLM based on the giveaway of the vast majority of

forage to livestock. In virtually every HMA, the number of livestock per HMA fare

exceeds the number of wild horses.

The BLMs preferential treatment of livestock costs taxpayers money. The BLM charges

ranchers $1.35 per AUM to graze livestock on private land. This is the lowest fee

allowable under federal law and a small fraction of market rate, thanks to our tax

subsidies. (The average monthly cost per head to graze livestock on private land is

$16.80.)

The BLMs grazing program costs $37.4 million in administrative fees only; the Center

for Biological Diversity estimates that the total cost to taxpayers for livestock grazing on

public land is $500 million.


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REFERENCES

Environmental Assessments for Wild Horse Gathers in:

Swasey HMA, 2012

McCullough Peaks HMA, 2012

Diamond Complex, 2012

Murderers Creek HMA, 2012

Buckhorn and Coppersmith HMAs, 2012

Owyhee Complex

Challis HMA, 2012

Triple B Complex

Frisco HMA

Wassuk HMA

Jackson Mountain HMA

Desatoya HMAPryor Mountains National Wild Horse Range

Stone Cabin Complex

Flanigan, Dogskin, Granite Peak HMAs

Pancake Complex

Piceance-East Douglas HMA

Tri-state Calico Complex

Jackies Butte HMA

Three Fingers HMA

High Rock Complex

Augusta Mountains HMAAntelope Complex

Public Lands Grazing Costs

Congressional Research Service:Grazing Fees: Issues and Overview (2012)

Center for Biological Diversity:Assessing the Full Cost of the Federal Grazing Program.
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