Spring on our western ranges arrives as predicted.

Spring is arriving in many western states as one last round of winter storms bring rain and snow. The growing season for plants has begun as birds migrate from their winter ranges back north. While out and about you can see many animals beginning their courtship and see scuffles and displays.

This is also the season where many “get the horses off” organizations and county commissions craft their recommendation letters to federal land management agencies and then box them all up and send them to Congress. Many of these organizations all have the same members signing on, but the impression of media and law makers is always swayed into believing that there are “numerous western organization” with a “broad member base” all agreeing that wild horses are so overpopulated they represent the greatest danger in the west.

When you look at these recommendation letters and reports from the opposition (that are then parroted by BLM), you will often see that two very distinct monitoring applications are used. For wild horses the letter will include the Drought Monitor. For livestock they will include the Vegetative Response Index. Very little actual data will be included in the reports. These reports usually contain photos with no dates, taken at the only water source available to horses because they were fenced off the rest of them in their HMA created a false image of the range. The same range will be portrayed in another photo showing abundant forage for livestock.

One example of how you can do “monitoring from home” is by researching the Environmental Assessments for roundups of horses, managing livestock grazing and mining permitting and then comparing the “environmental data” used. When you get frustrated by a report claiming horses “are in such dire need they all need to be removed or sterilized,” go find the report for the same area authorizing livestock grazing or a mine in the HMA that claims there is plentiful habitat for wild horses and the mine will havevery little impact. The differences are jarring.

You can also use the same tools noted earlier, the online monitoring sites. As spring turns to summer, you may find these tools very useful.

The US Drought Monitor is an online tool you can use to track drought conditions. Click the image or the text to go to the map of western states. You can then click on the state of the herd you are tracking to get more detailed mapping. This is usually the only reference you will see when commissions discuss wild horses

The Vegetative Response Index can be found by clicking the image above or the highlighted text. When you see reports for livestock, this is usually what is referenced and the drought monitor omitted, to say forage is “recovering” or “enough.”

There is also a relatively new tool being used to “forecast” forage production and it is recommended by the United States Forest Service (USFS). The site is called “Fuelcast.” This site appears to be utilized to determine where high fuel (forage) is expected and needs to be monitored for fire preparedness.

Even if you cannot get to the range you can monitor your favorite herds. 

Contact the BLM district office that manages the herd you are interested in and asked to be placed on the mailing list for wild horses/burros and any other interest in that HMA (livestock, mining, recreation, etc.) so that you receive any proposed plans (EA, EIS, etc.) in that HMA. You can find district offices by going to the BLM landing page, finding the state you are looking for and clicking the highlighted text where you will be redirected to a page that lists the district offices in each state. You can find the BLM contact landing page HERE. 

Use the tools outlined in this article to track drought and forage production.

Reach out to people that go to the HMA; both individuals and organizations. Form your own group to track the herd and engage in comments on planning. Or you can contact an organization and volunteer your time to track active planning (EAs, EISs, etc.) and forage and drought maps.

Many organizations (like WHE) do additional tracking into the system of holding after roundups. This involves onsite facility visits and the painstaking Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process.

Nothing can replace the onsite work that is done monitoring herd habitat, health, foaling, etc.

However, when onsite monitoring is combined with offsite monitoring, a more complete picture can be crafted. This picture can be very useful when attempting to create management strategies to protect wild horses and burros. It is also very useful to address the constant contradictions: the range can’t support horses and burros but it can support profit driven industry with claims that no damage is done to the range that will impact horses and burros.

We hope that this article helps you on your own advocacy journey.

Our wild ones deserve to live free on the range where both herd and resources are protected and free from abuse. Thank you for keeping WHE on the frontline in the fight to protect and preserve our treasured wild ones.