Refer to this letter by a reader of the St. George News, in response to the letter written by Rep. Chris Stewart and Sen. Mike Lee of Utah. The conversions from AUMs to cattle and sheep are not correct but it’s worth the read.
RELATED: Stewart and Lee: Pleaders for the Public-Lands Ranchers.
UPDATE: The AUM conversions would be correct if the cattle and sheep were on the range for one month per year, but six months might be a better estimate. If that’s true, a cow/calf pair would consume six AUMs annually and the total available AUMs should be divided by six to obtain the number of animals. Horse and burros are on the range year around and therefore the total available AUMs should be divided by 12 to obtain the equivalent number of animals. For example, 1.5 million AUMs would support 250,000 cow/calf pairs or 125,000 wild horses.
Western Horse Watchers Association 