“Saving wild horses can save public lands” was a headline that caught my eye. Yes, I thought horses managed to the appropriate levels would save horses from starving/choking to death and save our rangelands from being overgrazed by excess horses. This is a headline I can agree with but sadly, the article, not so much. It was long on feelings and short on facts but the notion that always gets me is the one that “if we run off the cows we can leave the horses alone”. While I’m glad that the folks who shovel this load recognize that horses are running out of forage, it boggles my mind that the end game doesn’t seem to occur to them.
Here’s some rough math: There’s something like 2 million livestock AUM’s in Nevada and there’s something like 42,000 wild horses. Because they graze our rangelands year ’round that’s 504,000 AUM’s annually the first year. In 5 years when they’ve doubled in population, they’re at a million AUM’s, so in 10 years they’re at over 2 million. In a decade’s time they’ve taken all the AUM’s available and are still reproducing. Now we’re looking at 3 times as many horses to figure out what to do with. Not to mention what happens to wildlife, local communities, etc. “Cattlemen want horses gathered to make room for more cattle” is a similar position but as you’ll recall from last month’s rant it’s hogwash because the amount of AUM’s we have is pretty well set in stone.
Fortunately there’s a good plan in place to avoid this ecological nightmare. If it keeps getting the funding needed, we’ll see horses at appropriate management levels, that is, we’ll see them saved. Called “A Path Forward”, this plan is supported by real horse advocacy groups and conservation groups, along with cattlemen. Your Association has policy in favor of well-managed horse herds because horses are integral to our way of life. I’m proud of the effort put into this plan.
Two rants in a row, it was a long winter friends, back to sunny days next month.
Jon Griggs
President, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association