If the delegation is led by pesticide pushers and ranching sympathizers, the predominant constituency in wild horse advocacy, there will be no requests to
- Publish forage allocations and other pertinent data showing how wild horse and burro areas are managed by federal agencies
- Return all lands identified in 1971 to wild horses and burros
- Confine the ranchers to their base properties in a year-round off season, a practice they are already doing on a part-time basis
- Revise the RMPs to shift the forage in said lands back to the horses and burros
- Manage said areas principally for wild horses and burros as specified in the original statute
- Prohibit inconspicuous methods of removal, such as bait trapping and on-range darting with fertility control pesticides
Instead, you’ll hear complaints about
- Drilling and mining, which affect anywhere from a few acres to a few thousand acres, while permitted grazing devours entire HMAs and beyond
- Helicopter roundups, if used for forcible removal but not for catch-treat-release
- Violations of CAWP
- Lack of HMAPs
The advocates will call for an end to the roundups but not the removals, pushing instead for innocuous methods that achieve the same results as helicopters.
RELATED: Wild Horse Lobby Day Set for Next Week.
Western Horse Watchers Association 