Kate MacDonald
Special to the Sun

Even in these dark times – hay is almost $20 a bale; many people are no longer able to afford their horses; the equine rescue facilities are stuffed full, and recently 11 just-born wild burro foals and their mamas were shot to death in Arizona – there is a light of hope for America’s wild horses and burros.

The wild herds have been under attack for the last decade. Since 1999, over 70,000 mustangs and burros have been cruelly rounded up and removed from their legal rangeland. More horses are now captive in “long term holding” than are running free. In many places, entire herds have been zeroed out, and even more herds have been reduced below the number needed for survival. And longstanding protections for wild horses were decimated by a controversial, midnight rider slipped into an omnibus spending bill by former Republican Montana Senator Conrad Burns in late 2004.

(Use arrows above to view more photos)

The federal agency responsible for wild horse management, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), continues with plans to remove more horses even though they say they can not afford to feed the ones already in captivity; and last fall announced they would consider the option of “humane euthanasia” – which they said would most likely be shooting them. This raised a public outcry, causing some rescuers to step up and offer to save the condemned horses. Madeline Pickens, wife of billionaire T. Boone Pickens, has offered to save those horses.

Pickens is moving ahead with her plan, looking to buy a million acres of land. But some worry that it will be just another government “bail out”, and that if things are not changed within the BLM’s management of the wild herds, in a few years the situation will be even worse. They fear if the current policy of what they call “managing to extinction” continues, the only place future generations will find a mustang or burro will be in “horse zoos.”

But just like the Lone Ranger galloping to the rescue, hope has arrived in the nick of time. Two Congressmen have introduced a new bill, HR 1018, the Restore Our American Mustangs Bill (aptly nicknamed “ROAM”). It will amend the Wild Horse and Burro Act of 1971, which established the wild horse and burro ranges.

The two wild horse heroes are Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.V., chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, who has long been an advocate for wild horses on public lands, and co-sponsor Raul M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., chairman of the National Parks, Forests and Public Lands subcommittee. Besides prohibiting the killing of healthy horses and burros that are removed from the range, the bill would force the BLM to expand public land areas for horses and assist in creating sanctuaries. It also calls for strengthening the agency’s adoption program and reform the BLM’s business-as-usual method of operating in secret. In addition to preventing the commercial sale and slaughter of wild horses, H.R. 1018 prioritizes on-the-range management and prohibits particularly cruel round-up methods, such as the use of helicopters.

“It is unacceptable for wild horses to be slaughtered without any regard for the general health, well-being, and conservation of these iconic animals that embody the spirit of our American West,” said Rahall.  “Introduction of this legislation will ensure the continued presence of those wild horses that make their homes on public lands.”

“Our wild horses are being harmed by antiquated policies,” said Grijalva. “These policies must be updated to reflect Americans’ desire to see these horses protected. We must not lose these majestic icons of the West.”

This sounds good, and any bill that increases the mustangs’ protections and ranges is better than none. But, like the wife of a cheating husband, we wild horse advocates aren’t buying it. Ginger Kathrens has studied wild horse herds for more than 15 years, and produced three documentaries on the wild stallion “Cloud” and his band. “With the new legislation… I see a real opportunity for America’s wild horses to survive into the future,” she writes. But she adds that there are many missing pieces, including insuring adequate herd size so that genetic viability can be maintained; expanding the current ranges to make up for the over 19 million acres that have been whittled away (and turned over to corporate interests); defining “sanctuary” so that it cannot be used to create zoo-like environments on our public lands; reducing livestock on the horses ranges; and discontinuing the practice of gelding stallions and creating artificial gelding herds: “Natural management should be the goal of managers on all our wild horses ranges,” she writes, stating that in places where mountain lion hunting is prohibited, the populations of the herds are naturally controlled by lion predation. She adds, “Language in the Bill should recognize wild horses and burros as a native species, thereby affording them protection under the Endangered Species Act. Considerable new science proves that the horses that went extinct 8,000-10,000 years ago are virtually identical to the horses that returned with the Spanish Conquistadors in the 1500s.”

The designation of horses and burros as “feral” instead of “wildlife” has long been the war cry of those opposed to horses having a place in our public lands.

“Both burros and horses have their roots in North America, and this is proven to species level in the case of the horse. So it is a restoration here and enhances the ecosystem in so many ways, not least of which, aesthetically,” said Craig Downer, equine biologist.

Deanne Stillman, author of the excellent book, “Mustang: the Saga of the Wild Horse in the West”, says, “This is a wonderful bill and arrives not a moment too soon.  Some items are truly outstanding, such as the restrictions placed on round-ups and the determination of adoption demand before round-ups.  I’m also excited about the elimination of helicopter round-ups.  I do have one concern - the idea that horses can be ‘temporarily’ removed during a time of drought.  As I’ve often said, no other wild animals are ever removed during a time of drought.  Wild horses should not be singled out here.  I’m glad the word ‘temporarily’ is in place, but I’m not so sure that even ‘temporary’ removals should be permitted - unless return is guaranteed.  It would be better to take a hard look at water sources on the range and treat them like other wild animals - leave them alone when it comes to drought and improve the water management situation on public lands. But that’s another discussion – basically this bill is a must-pass.”

Other experts agree that the Bill does not cover all angles to ensure long-term protections for the horses and burros. “My reaction is that there is not enough calling to account and rectification of zeroing out of the legal herd areas and there is too much emphasis on contracepting and sterilizing herds and not enough on restoring truly long-term viable herds... Also the U.S. Forest Service has to be called to account. There are many loopholes and behind-the-scenes motivations… What is good is acquiring new land and buying out grazing permits in wild horse and burro areas,” said Downer.

There is no doubt that managing wild horses is complicated. People I speak with often ask, “Why can’t we just leave them alone?” It’s a good question; one that the government answers with statistics showing horses breeding to increase their numbers as much as 20% per year. However, Kathrens, Downer and others have evidence that population growth is actually increased by round-ups and artificial birth control methods. They say when family bands are disrupted, wild horses compensate in a biological response known as “compensatory reproduction”. If the horses and burros had enough range, enough water, and natural predators like wolves and mountain lions, many believe that they would naturally control their numbers.

But the natural system has been badly broken; fences crisscross the ranges; water has been diverted for cattle and sheep, and those domestic animals have over-grazed the grasses; and cougars and wolves have been hunted to extinction in many places.

All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty back together again, and I doubt we can go back to a time when land seemed limitless and the wild horse herds went on forever. But maybe we can protect a bit of our Wild West, maybe we can act now to protect our wild horses and burros so that they will always have a place in our mountains, mesas and meadows. It is not too late, but if this Bill is allowed to fail, soon it will be. Already there are plans to round up Cloud’s band this summer. Already, rare herds of burros and mustangs have been completely eliminated from their homes and stand, depressed and dysfunctional, in government pens.

The opponents of any expansion of the ranges or numbers of horses will say there are already too many. They will want the horse’s lands for cattle, sheep, oil rigs and mineral mines. They will say that horses and burros have no value. But that is like saying life itself is worthless; that the most beautiful of creatures is worthless. As humans we have a fearsome responsibility to the creatures and planet; yet we casually make decisions that affect their very lives. Will we allow our wild horses to disappear, to be seen in only in zoos? Will our magnificent mustangs and burros become nothing but fading hoof prints in the desert dust?

Rep. Nick Rahall, Chairman House Resource Committee; Rep. Raúl Grijalva, Chairman, Subcommittee National Parks, Forest Service and Public Lands, Jim Zoia, Chief of Staff, House Resource Staff, Committee on Natural Resources: 1324 Longworth Building, Washington DC, 20515. Senate: Barbara Boxer (Democrat)

Ph. 213-894-5000 or 202-224-3553; Addresses: 112 Hart Office Building, Washington, DC 20510 – and/or 312 N. Spring St, Ste 1748 LA, CA 90012. Dianne Feinstein (Democrat) Ph. 202-224-3841 or 310-914-7300; Addresses: 331 Hart Office Building, Washington, DC 20510 – and/or 1111 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 915, LA, CA 90025; 22nd Cong. District Kevin McCarthy (Republican) Ph. 202-225-2915 or 661-327-3611; Addresses: 1523 Longworth House Office Building, Washington DC 20515 – and/or 4100 Empire Drive, Suite 150, Bakersfield, CA 93309; 18th Senatorial District; Roy Ashburn (Republican), Ph. 916-319-2032 or 661-396-2995; Addresses: State Capitol, Room 3014, Sacramento, CA 95814 – and/or 4900 California Ave., Suite 100B, Bakersfield, CA 93309

Websites with more information:

http://www.thecloudfoundation.org

http://www.americanherdsblogspot.com

http://www.madelinepickens.com

http://www.cantertales.com