Do gathers really threaten wild horses & burros? Yes, but beyond the scope of keeping them simply at appropriate management levels….
To clarify, not by the various small regional/state BLM… the ‘worker bees’, but rather the “queen bee” better known as the government level BLM (Bob Abbey & office) acting as “right hand”, and DOI (Ken Salazar). How and why: We’ve lost over [conservatively] 20 MILLION herd management acres (part of the original 54 million set aside for mustang management) and since year 2000 alone, lost over 40% of our mustangs. CORRELATION? The federal government in this struggling economy has one quest and one focus – land and money. They’ve set their sights on the last remaining wild open spaces of our west for ‘green energy’ farms, development, and natural resource exploitation and wild horses, who may one day have better protection (through the will of the people), roam there. Wild horses and burros are simply a road block to what they call progress. Green energy is good, but must be more planful… not “government graffiti” on pristine high deserts or our western rangelands, with fascinating ecosystems and beautiful vistas.
Continue reading More Than Mustangs… Do Roundups Really Threaten Wild Horses?