Don't Blame The Horses: Domestic Cattle, Wild Horses, & Land Conservation

There’s been a bit in the media lately about the issues and opportunities of wild horses in America. A PBS special on invasive species that did, entirely, disappoint. And a recent article written by the Sierra Club. Let me be clear, I’m a wild horse advocate — I have three. And I’m an environmentalist. These two things can live together.?

The debate: The grazing patterns of wild horses are environmentally destructive. Horses can spend anywhere from 10-17 hours grazing each day. Their grazing can include ripping the plant out of the ground with its root intact. As you can imagine, this can damage ecosystems if there are more horses than the land to sustain them. Wild horse populations increases fast. A mare is pregnant for about a year, and nine days after birth can get pregnant again. Like most species, prolific procreation is prioritized. Cattle ranchers don’t love wild horses because they compete for grazable land with their cattle. And beef is how they make their money.?

The backstory: In the 1800s we entered a time some call ‘the great barbecue’ during which we scorched the earth of the west making way for livestock ranching, and white settlement. Landscapes were eviscerated for economic expansion at the expense of earthly thriving — a trend that’s continued. Barbwire fences were erected the late 1800s. And livestock predators were hunted.?

One predator particularly problematic to ranchers was the mountain lion. An animal who happens to be one of the only natural predators of the wild horse. When you wipe out the the predator of the prey, the prey proliferates. Ecosystem imbalance at the hands of humans — I think we all know a thing or two about that.?

Still, in the mid-1900s the wild horse became nearly extinct because of another predator: us. Mass roundups and slaughter. We put horse meat in dog food, and shipped the best cuts overseas as a delicacy to be eaten and enjoyed. In the 1950’s activism ignited and the wild horse was soon on a journey toward federal protection. In 1971 the Wild Horse & Burro Act was written into law, protecting them both as American icons not to be abused or killed. So here we are in the west, in a landscape prioritized for livestock, on land we’ve ravaged, with a dearth of natural predators, a species that likes to procreate –?and a law protecting them. The result: We ended up with A LOT of wild horses.?

But guess what? We ended up with a hell of a lot more cattle. And I think it’s known how environmentally destructive cattle are, yes? From the Amazon we deforest so we can sell their meat to America, to the GHGs they emit, to the landscape we destroy so we can grow their feed. It ain’t good, folks. And it’s why I refuse — absolutely refuse — to eat beef. You should too.?

The Bureau of Land Management reports that there are 88,000 wild horses on western public lands. While recent Congressional reports state that there are between 700,000 to 1?million domestic cattle that are permitted to graze. Woof. Wild horses and burros are authorized through the BLM to roam just 27 million acres of public land, all of which they share with -- and are exponentially outnumbered by -- cattle and sheep.?

The magic number The Bureau of Land Management is hoping for on those 27 million acres is 27,000. That’s how many horses they think these lands should sustain. Right now they run a terribly inefficient program to round them up, or dart the mares with PZP (a birth control drug), and adopt them to the public. These wild mustang adoption programs are how I received my three.?

Read more in this Sierra Club article:

My only ask is to keep in mind one uncomfortable truth: we cannot talk about the wild horse population and their environmental risks, without too talking about cattle. It’s a both/and. Like almost all of our most challenging problems, a solution requires systems thinking.?

Note: I’m an advocate for population management of the wild horse. I believe in the birth control program. I understand the round up program. I’d like to see more predators protected so the ecosystem can balance itself. And I’d like to see horse breeding vastly reduced — since we have a plethora of horses in the wild that make extraordinary recreation and performance horses. Did you know? There are reports of approximately 7 MILLION horses in the US, most of which are used for recreational purposes?

#WildMustangs #LandConservation #Biodiversity