The public-lands ranchers are students of history.
They’re not going to let another new world be overrun by horses that escape from explorers and settlers.
This time, they’re backing a plan that will assess the grazing potential of an area known as the Sea of Ubiquity, aptly named for a practice that occurs almost everywhere in the American west.
If detected, new legislation would protect the resources and reserve them for privately owned cattle and sheep.
Land would be divided into allotments, to be managed exclusively for livestock, and ranchers would be shielded from the realities of a free market.
Taxes would be increased to pay for the program, with cattlemen reaping the benefits.
Critics condemn the plan as redistribution of wealth, a product of left-wing ideology.
Supporting the effort are numerous advocacy groups, who are redesigning their darting rifles for the lower-gravity environment.
“We’ve had an uphill battle on earth,” said one of their members, “too may people want the horses to succeed, not the livestock.”
Another delegate who attended the press conference said “This is our chance to get out in front, to stop those mustangs before they get started, a goal we’ve always held but were afraid to discuss.”
“Public support would dry up,” she lamented.
Western Horse Watchers Association 