The addition of AMLs to the original Act put an end to the idea that areas identified for wild horses and burros would be devoted principally but not necessarily exclusively to their welfare.
This undefined concept has shifted large amounts of resources from wild horses and burros to privately owned cattle and sheep.
In this regard the truth is a bit technical and requires some basic analytical skills to articulate.
Today we recognize the importance of data in helping others understand how their public lands are managed.
For example, in the five HMAs subject to the Rock Springs roundup, livestock receive 7.4 times more forage than the horses. The forage assigned to livestock would support an additional 16,000 wild horses, for a True AML that exceeds 18,000.
There is no overpopulation and no justification for a roundup or darting program.
The horses displaced by livestock in these HMAs account for almost one third of those in off-range holding.
The advocates want you to follow the science (of population suppression) but they don’t want you to follow the math. They are servants of the public-lands ranchers.
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Western Horse Watchers Association 