A thoughtful moment; Wild Horses are Public Lands

While the roundups run wild horses, and debates rage on in Congress, our team has also had media and VIP guests on the range. They came to learn about wild horses.

Many in the media, and even legislators, focus on training programs, subsidized sanctuary and, essentially, stop the conversation by talking about fertility control for “population growth suppression.” All of those conversations address symptoms, not core issues in management.

Today million dollar lobby organizations have bought themselves an opportunity to further their bottom lines at the expense of the wild horse; more removals, more holding subsidies (BLM can call it sanctuary, it is still long term storage), subsidies for “darting teams,” spay mobiles for surgery you would only do on a domestic, in an extreme situation, in a sterile environment. In addition they have bought a ticket that intends to exclude the public and actual analysis processes (that need to go further in analysis requirements, that includes preserving habitat and opening up all parts of the HMA, not having any analysis omitted).

Our VIPs learned about fire fuel, pinyon clearing, sage grouse, wildlife services killing programs (predator killing), fences and more planned for the new grazing scheme (and the hardships created for all wildlife from all the barbed wire), mining traffic, and more.

“But you are talking public lands management, we want just the wild horse part.”

“Wild horses are public lands management, a very small part of it. You want me to talk about the symptoms, and then sell you a made up cure, like everyone else? I’m gonna talk about the disease.”

By the end of the trip the core disease in the world of wild horses was more than simply understood, it was experienced. You can not have any conversation about wild horses, one of the smallest impacts to public lands, without understanding the world they live in. Politics rule this world. Corporate lobbyists exploit it for their clients. Public affairs package it to forward an agenda. The wild horse is a scapegoat; the show orchestrated and manipulated.

Our wild horses are more than marginalized in an equation. Our wild horses are, literally, not being cared for, in any way, on range and are not protected from any intrusion into their habitat. In fact, they do not even have access to much of the acreage BLM calls “HMA.”

You can not experience the reality of the wild horse if you walk with those representing a lobby effort, a profit driven interest, or a government agency making excuses for their failures. You need to walk it with the wild horse.

Yes, wild horses are public lands. The helicopter marks the spot where any conversation will begin a focus on the symptoms, not the disease.

We wanted to share this with you. We are doing our very best to get the reality of the wild horse understood; from the perspective of the horse, not the corporate interest or that of a manager that failed the public resource.

Onward

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Learn about the political agenda moving now in the budget debate. Then call your Senator. More HERE. 

Fish Creek roundup updates HERE

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