BLM and the Cattle Industry vs. Wild Horses and Land Preservation

This article was on the editorial page of the South Bend Tribune and was written by Kaye Bauer, whose son has been in Nevada and Wyoming as a volunteer monitoring wild horse roundup and holding conditions. Below the article is a link to the National Sierra site about protecting our public lands and a link to Horse Power of Nevada, which has updated information about wild horses. Concerned citizens are encouraged to contact Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar at exec@ios.dio.gov.

Article published Feb 27, 2010
BLM destroying wild horse heritage
By KAYE BAUER
Heads down, spirits crushed, families separated and stallions struggling to escape, America's wild horses wait, imprisoned behind the steel bars and barbed wire of a Bureau of Land Management trap. They have been driven to exhaustion by helicopters, branded, trucked to temporary holding pens, many with little or no shelter, and eventually moved to adoption centers many miles away where they may be held for years.

The capture and maintenance of these mustangs and burros costs taxpayers $39 million dollars annually.

Rounding up these horses violates the Wild Horse Annie Act of 1971, which prohibits harassment and guarantees preservation of these national treasures on their home ranges.

Today, as the herds are decimated, the BLM is destroying the genetic viability of the mustangs whose history dates back to the Spanish conquistadors.In the most recent roundup in the Calico Complex, which is composed of five horse management areas in Nevada, 27 horses died and two foals were run so aggressively for 14 miles that their hooves were destroyed. Miscarriages occurred and weanlings less than 18 weeks of age were driven beyond endurance.

In 2007, the BLM's environmental assessment of the complex indicated a population of 761 horses. In 2009 the count was 2,523. This increase would be a biological miracle even ignoring the fact that PZP22, a contraceptive, had been administered to many of the mares. Some population estimates are computer generated and a number of equine biologists and ecologists insist that BLM management of the herds is unnecessary. They state that the horses naturally limit births during natural disasters such as drought and adjust their populations to carrying capacity of territories. Mountain lions, natural predators, are being eliminated today by hunting.

The BLM claim that the horses are starving and destroying their range is contradicted by observation and photographic evidence. Proof exists that the horses are in good condition.

Grazing habits of the mustangs actually preserve the land as opposed to the destruction inflicted by thousands of cattle inhabiting public lands. The horses are mobile, moving constantly. Cattle move slowly, trampling grazing areas, denuding the ranges and destroying plant life. Due to upper incisors, horses nip off plants above ground. Cattle uproot vegetation. Digestive systems of the horses allow rapid passage of partially reduced organic matter, thus contributing soil retaining moisture and nutrients necessary for plant growth.

What is prompting the government's removal of the horses and burros? Enter the cattle industry. The Government Accountability Office reported that the government spends $144 million annually to manage livestock on our public lands, but collects only $21 million in grazing fees. The majority of grazing fees are not deposited in the U.S. Treasury, but are diverted to a "Range Retirement Fund" to pay for infrastructures that support cattle grazing.Next, consider the Ruby Pipeline, a $3 billion natural gas delivery project which spans four states and runs through the middle of the Calico Complex. According to the organization Horse Power of Nevada, Ruby has offered to help the BLM minimize wild horse and burro grazing along their right of way and/or reduce wild horse populations. The pipeline may eliminate one of the summer sources of water remaining to the horses due to fencing erected by the BLM.

The mustangs are icons of American life. They represent freedom and our connection with the wilderness.. They do not belong to the government or to the cattle ranchers, They "belong" to the people. Thousands are calling for a moratorium on all roundups. Concerned citizens are contacting President Obama and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar at exec@ios.doi.gov.

BLM and the Cattle Industry vs. Wild Horses and Land Preservation

For more on this issue, see:

http://www.sierraclub.org/grazing/

http://www.nvhorsepower.org/