National Wild Horse and Burro Summit presentations - August 22-24, 2017 in Salt Lake

• Sep 13, 2017

• #1

OriginalOscar

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Summit was held last month in Salt Lake. Organized by some of the folks at Utah State University which has world class land science programs and talent. They published the presentations to provide science based discussion about the Wild Horse and Burro issues.

Link to summit presentations - http://www.wildhorserange.org/summit-presentations.html

 

• Sep 14, 2017

• #2

COEngineer

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I just watched the plenary session. No big surprises. Congress made a mess by making horses special and now Congress needs to fix the problem they created by removing horses from the "special" category. Just like wolves and bears, in some areas there are more than anyone ever wanted, and now we need to manage them just like we manage EVERY OTHER SPECIES.

 

• Sep 15, 2017

• #3

COEngineer

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I watched a few more presentations. The one by Steedman was very honest, I think. It's another disaster of public perception brought to you by Disney (first Bambi, and now Spirit). People like fantasy worlds, not the real one, but the fantasy people get to vote in the real world.

 

• Sep 15, 2017

• #4

Ben Lamb

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Thanks for posting this Troy. Feral horses are a significant problem for a plethora of species & we need more honest management solutions. I fear though, COEngineer is right in that people have anthropomorphized them to the point of seeing them no differently than Flika or Bambi.

 

• Sep 15, 2017

• #5

J

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The act needs to be repealed by Congress and the feral animals removed from the landscape. Or at least be managed by states like other wildlife

 

• Sep 15, 2017

• #6

antlerradar

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I think the groups and people that want wild horses should be required to have a grazing lease just like a cattle rancher. The BLM range specialists can set the numbers. When the numbers get to high it is the lease owners responsibility to get the numbers down. The horse lease owners can pay the grazing fee to the BLM, fix the fences and water developments. If there is a dry year the BLM can require horse numbers be reduced. Horse grazing lease would be up for review on a regular basis and the public could comment.
Horses are not wild animals. They are much closer to cattle and domestic sheep and should be treated in the same manner. It time for the horse people to step up and take ownership and responsibility for the animals they want on the public range.

 

• Sep 16, 2017

• #7

COEngineer

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I like the grazing allotment idea, but I have another one. Horses are non-native animals that are desired by a group of people, so that group should pay for their management. I think pheasants are a reasonable analogy. They are non-native, but desired by sportsmen, so sportsmen pay for their habitat and management through licenses and non-profits like Pheasants Forever. The problem is, how do you get the urban horse-lovers to pay for wild horse management? Maybe you don't. Maybe we just tax horse equipment (saddles, trailers, etc) and then all horse owners will have a stake in managing wild horses and will be motivated to manage them properly. Maybe they would even start a non-profit group to work with the BLM. Just thinking out loud.

 

• Sep 16, 2017

• #8

jryoung

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Think of all the dog food that could go to animal shelters.