BLM, Cattle, Wild Horses, and Biodiversity on Western U. S. Ranges

A sad story about the U.S. government’s on going persecution of American wild horses….

GarryRogers Nature Conservation

BLM and Biodiversity on Public Lands

Mustang photo by John Harwood

GR:  The U. S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) protects livestock ranching interests while seeking to balance other public land uses. Public interest has forced BLM to remove and board cattle-competing wild horses and burros instead of thinning them. Today, BLM is boarding almost 50,000 horses and burros and the number is increasing. For 2013, the total cost was $7.8 million.

I love horses.  As an advocate for non-human animal rights and species equity, I also care about the other species sharing the public lands. Are we sacrificing vegetation, soil, and biodiversity in the western U. S. to protect cattle?  In consideration of the general decline of birds, frogs, insects, mammals, and turtles, is it time to give the BLM a new mandate?  Should we direct the BLM to give its highest priority to protecting diversity?
There is no…

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