Five areas were considered this week in a series of posts about the number of wild horses that have been displaced from public lands by privately owned livestock.
- Saylor Creek HMA – 933
- Warm Springs HMA – 1,616
- Devil’s Garden WHT – 1,309
- Silver King HMA – 2,004
- Twin Peaks HMA – 2,265
Yep, 8,127 wild horses have been denied a place on their home range by pro-ranching statutes and regulations of the federal government.
How many more HMAs would you have to look at to reach 50,000—the number of wild horses and burros languishing in off-range corrals and long-term pastures?
The government spends roughly $50 million every year to care for those animals, with the expectation of receiving just $12 million per year from the ranchers.
The ridiculous ‘Path Forward‘ will only make the situation worse.
There is no wild horse problem on western rangelands.
Public-lands ranching is rarely mentioned in news reports, such as this one, and most of allegations against the horses are aimed at getting them off the land—land that was set aside for them—so their food can be sold to the ranchers at fire-sale prices.
It’s a gravy train if ever there was one.
RELATED: Greatest Threat to Public Lands: Wild Horses and Burros.
Thanks for your perspective!
Certainly agree! Also to be limited is oil and gas
developments which damage our public lands as well. Habitat fragmentation from this kind
of development is so harmful to wildlife like sage grouse.