They have not been wiped out. They are all over the place out here in the west.

It's pretty easy to find and watch them.  Yes the BLM is removing lots of animals because the herds have over populated for the area. Remember out in these high desert area, it takes over 300 acre per animal to feed them.

 And if you mare is in season, Just hope she doesn't get drove off and stolen from your camp site

Drive down most back country roads and you can spot herds of mustangs or donkeys

I found it interesting that another article has arisen from this same issue

FOUNTAIN, Colorado – It was...

I'm sure it is considerably more than the cost of fuel.  They were paying a few hundred dollars each for the horses at auction and then transporting them and making a profit - so wild horses wouldn't be less than that. So, 1700 horses a few hundred thousand dollars?

Where do you often see wild horses in Colorado - or Utah even? Thanks.

hmmmmmm  my calculator says if $60 per head profit, then total profit on 1,700 head of horses would be $102,000.

I doubt the Mexican slaughterhouses are paying upwards of $410 per head, especially since the meat cannot be exported to Europe or Asia.

If I have offended, I apologize.

I hear there are feral herds forming all along the east coast states as people are simply turning them out.  Also heard there are loose horses in the Smoky Mountains and other national parks, same reason.

Oh, I wasn't offended.  I was just suprised at the idea that the killer buyers are not in the business for a profit and that they lose money when they don't make enough to pay for fuel expenses.

My numbers are the 350 (price normally paid at auction for slaughter horses) plus a guess on the normal profit if they pay for the horse, less a nominal amount I have been told was probably paid for the mustangs) 50 which equals 400.  Then I multiplied that 400 by the number of horses to arrive at my number.  I don't know that it's accurate, but it's probably not too far off. 

I don't see this as an issue of being pro or anti slaughter, but one of a corrupt government official giving a sweetheart deal to his friend.  They both appear to be violating the law, and the one is "investigating" the other.  Government corruption should be stopped when it is discovered whether you support horse slaughter ore not.

Horses are not bringing even $350 at auctions around here unless they are nice and broke to ride.  Minis are going for $25 to $50.  It is awful.

I totally agree with you that govt corruption must be stopped......

And the govt is 2-faced.....the BLM is rounding up with helicopters, using electric cattle prods and so forth.....while the USDA is hopping up and down on FLAT SHOD walking horses in addition to performance walking horses.  Makes no sense to me.

BTW, I'm not defending what the guy did. 1700 mustangs to one indivdual really does point at some kind of break in the system.

But the BLM is really struggling to get ride of excess mustangs.  Folks are willing to adopt young mustangs and work with them. But older horses stand in holding facilities across the country. My neighbor used to manage the Heriman facility here in Utah and had over 400 mustangs that he was feeding and caring for.  You can adopt a mustang for $125 and take a second for $50 equals about $200 for two mustangs or a $100 per horse.

Pretty much any of the mid elevation desert areas around state have wild herds. Just go out and look and you can find them. Of course they will be in the horse friendly areas vs the really rough areas. By that I mean, That if I'm seeing wild bighorn sheep, I'm not going to be seeing mustangs. They don't inhabit the same terrain.

They also don't seem to be migratory, So you don't find them in the high elevation areas that get snowed under. Or in areas where there is no water in the summer heat. They live in places where they can stay year round. Although it not unusual to see them travel 20 miles a day for water and feed.

The photos I posted are from the San Rafael Swell area of central Utah. There are also herds along the Utah Nevada state line. Pretty much North to South with the exceptons of the Salt flats.

Thanks for the information on the wild horses.  I read/heard somewhere that there was something special program where people could buy a mustang for $10 or something which was different from the other adoption fees I had heard.  I dont' remember where I saw that information though so who knows. 

At least Ken Salazar needs to stop threatening to hit his former constiuents :)  It sounded like an angry threat rather than just a by the way type of threat I would have expected.

Anyway, it probably won't ever go anywhere....just more of the same.

Let's see, Ranchers write a check to the Govt every year to run cows on public lands,  They are monitored to make sure they don't over graze the land. They have a very set specific time frame to be on the public lands. Often the grazing permits come with strings, The ranchers put in corrals, develop springs and pipe the water to tanks. The ranchers maintain these at their cost.  The ranchers put fences to control the grazing  and have to take the fences at the end of each grazing period. At the end of the grazing permit time, the cattle are rounded up and removed. They typically are not allows on the mountain during wet periods. Same goes for draughts where they are removed early if the grass growth is not meeting the normal expectations.  Ranchers are required to oversee and check their herds. Some on an almost daily basis. Requiring a cow handler to live amongst the herd to make sure they don't move off their lease, that they don't get into the ripparian zones along streams and cave in the banks etc.

Wild horses in contrast, stay on the land year round. have nobody controlling them, they go where they please, nobody is putting fences up to control them. There are no natural predators, no hunting season, it's against the law to chase or harass. I bet the Buffalo, Elk and Deer all wish they had it so good.

I enjoying seeing the wild mustangs. But I see no problem with the BLM managing the herds and removing excess animals. And if the public won't adopt them. Then I see no problem with them being sold for meat. If there is a market to buy/sell that. I don't agree with holding thousands of mustangs in holding areas because they were removed from public lands and the laws prevent us from doing anything but feed them.

It would be a great idea for the horse herds to be managed (not mismanaged), and the cost of ownership of so much land includes management of that land which includes management of the wildlife on it.

In our area,the federal leases to ranchers are pretty much a thing of the past.  My rancher friends hold a large federal lease(s) but have told me that there are no more leases being given - at least in that district.  If they do not maintain their lease or if it were to lapse, they could not release and they have been leasing for decades. 

Here you can't develop a water source legally without some right to that water, so that is another problem with cattle leases.  Different states and different forestry districts have different rules, but wildlife needs to be preserved and, to me, that includes wild horse herds.  What is the point of government ownership of land?  Is it to preserve the land? for recreation? for exploitation? what?  I guess that's the first question. 

If you have 10,000 private land owners and one here or there decides that the mustangs must go, that has a smaller impact than the federal government buying 80 - 90 percent of Nevada, and deciding to implement a policy to destroy the mustangs.  The impact of the federal government is completely different and the impact of a group of property owners who act independently. 

The federal government simply does not want to maintain the land and habitats that it owns.  That's the bottom line problem.  Whether it's pine beetles or mustangs, it comes down to the government's incompetence or laziness.

Here is a report on the round up going on in Utah this week.

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=23151676&nid=148&title=blm-continues-controversial-horse-round-up&s_cid=featured-3

I will just point out that here are enormous amounts of Western land owned by the Federal government. There are no property taxes paid on these lands. Add to that, the amount of land owned by state and local governments which also pay no property tax, and it's clear that wild horses are not the problem with reduced property tax revenues. Additionally, the government-owned land is no inhabited by income tax paying individuals and businesses.  I'm not here to argue the advantages and detriments of the extensive ownership of land by governments, but I do think that it is not the wild horses that are even a key ingredient in the money issues that you point out. 

Then, if you look at the national debt and the proposed unlimited future spending, well...the horses just don't amount too much in the grand scheme of things related to the financial future of this country.