There are no voices for the horses in the 26-minute audio segment, only defeatists, pesticide pushers and ranching sympathizers.
There are, however, some tall tales you might find interesting, starting at 7:44.
Everybody should read the WHB Act (8:42). Even though it no longer affords the protections sought by Velma. Like the 2019 “Path Forward,” it’s a plan for ranching superiority in the lawful homes of wild horses.
You can’t compare livestock to horses, it not apples-to-apples (9:30). This is nonsense, an attempt to divert attention from the real problem. They are head-to-head competitors for the same resources.
There are 38,000 wild horses and burros on BLM lands in Nevada (10:20). The agency authorizes livestock equivalent to 173,144 wild horses in its allotments.
There are 3,000 to 6,000 wild horses on the Virginia Range (10:32). Why not shoot for the moon? Call it 3,000 to 30,000, with a stocking rate of up to 100 animals per thousand acres.
If a spring produces five gallons of water per hour that’s 24 gallons per day, enough to support 24 horses (12:07). This suggests they’re being taken off the range is not because of drought but because of innumeracy.
The Maverick-Medicine HMA hasn’t been grazed since the 1980s but they still have an allotment in that area with 300,000 AUMs (14:01). The National Data Viewer shows most of the acreage comes from seven allotments. Odgers, representing about 8% of the HMA, is the only one with no active AUMs. The others offer 13,336 AUMs per year, according to the Allotment Master Report.
The conflict between wild horses and livestock can be alleviated by restoring the WHB Act to its original form and giving them principal use of their land, but that never seems to enter the discussion, even when the advocates are involved.
RELATED: How Much Private Land Do the Public-Lands Ranchers Control?
Western Horse Watchers Association 