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Amid cries of protests, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has begun its wild horse roundup in Nevada's Calico Mountains Complex. Aiming to capture 2,500 "excess" wild horses from these private lands using helicopter and horseback wranglers, the action is causing everyone from Willie Nelson to T. Boone Picken's wife to cry foal, but there simply may not be enough land to go around.
The BLM insists that the roundup - which may take up to two months - is necessary to protect both land and animal; that there are more wild horses than there are natural resources over 542,000 acres. They contend that without some sort of herd control, the surging population of these animals (who have no natural predators) will lead to starvation and suffering.
Of course, local ranchers who also use that land for grazing have considerable stake in the matter and it's worth noting that the BLM recently increased allotted cattle grazing on the Calico Complex.
"Herd sizes double about every four years. To put a moratorium on gathers (roundups) would be untenable."
--Tom Gorey, BLM spokesman
Keep in mind that the BLM will not be rounding up all the horses. In fact, they intend to keep 800-900 horses remaining on the land in the Black Rock region. They will also be tweaking the herd's male/female sex ratio, making it 60/40 percent. And, in further attempts to control the population, will administer "fertility control measures" on mares that will be re-released within the herd.
Now, this is not exactly a new 'solution', it's been going on for nearly four decades. So why is this a big deal all of a sudden?
"The gather is consistent with the provisions of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, which mandates that the BLM will remove excess wild horses to achieve a population within the established appropriate management level (AML), to protect rangeland resources from further deterioration associated with the wild horse overpopulation, and to achieve and maintain a thriving natural ecological balance and multiple use relationship in the area."
--Bureau of Land Management website
[Fun Fact: The proposed R.O.A.M Act (Restore Our American Mustangs) seeks to amend the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act and "improve the management and long-term health of wild free-roaming horses and burros." The bill currently sits in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee and oddly enough, was authored by Southerner, Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV).]
Turns out, the roundups have become a big deal since BLM, under the Bush administration, proposed - then rescinded - a plan to euthanize unadoptable wild horses in captivity. Though horse slaughter was legal in the U.S. until 2007, the idea of the BLM putting these animals down sent horse advocates into a white hot rage. Though the current Interior Secretary Ken Salazar proposed buying land to create national horse sanctuaries, advocates rejected this plan as a "dressed-up version of the status quo."
Animal advocates insist that mass herding and capture will endanger the animals, forcing a life of captivity. Old horses will be sent to permanent holding facilities in the Midwest and young ones go to short-term facilities and put up for adoption. Thanks to the economy, rates of adoption have fallen dramatically, although the agency expects about 3,500 horses to be adopted in the next year.
Protests are organized in places like San Francisco, Las Vegas, Idaho and Colorado. The goal is to apply pressure on the Obama administration to impose a moratorium on the roundups.
"We are very, very disappointed this is happening under the Obama administration. This will devastate the herd and have a devastating impact on the horses left behind."
-- Suzanne Roy, program director at In Defense of Animals, which has sued in federal court to halt the roundups
Even the seasonal timing of the roundup is being hotly debated. Horse advocates say that winter round up threatens the animals' health because of the cold temperatures and rugged terrain, and that foals will likely become separated from their mothers. Meanwhile, BLM insists that winter is best because the horses will be at a lower elevation and can be secured over a shorter distance with less stress.
In addition to Willie Nelson and Madeline Pickens, Sheryl Crow and Viggo Mortensen have also gotten behind the issue. (Check out their video here.)
Of course, this is not merely a horse issue, it is more about humans than anything. The wild horse is our
