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Thank you for the info. You seem to be very well informed as do alot of the passionate people on this site. I have gone to the website you mentioned and I can't believe how cruelly the mustangs are being treated. The public should be up in arms over the amount of taxes that are being used to "Manage" these beautiful, healthy (when left to their own devices) horses. It seems to be that their treatment, by the BLM and the Forest Service, is leading to less healthy herds in confined enclosures.

Our tax dollars are being abused here.

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As I wrote to R. Cockle of the Oregonian, this is a very compelling story... I hope next time he starts a debate that he gets his facts straight... thank you Emily for taking this story one step closer to the truth. Perhaps you could take on the wild mustang and burros story directly. They are being demonized as were/are wolves.  

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thank you, very well articulated

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Myth:  horses damage creeks and steelhead habitat

 

When cattle are near a creek they trample the creek banks and go into the water causing massive disturbances to the riparian vegetation as well as the creek beds.  

A team of Russian scientists, part of a cooperative venture with the United States, came in 2001 to study the effects of grazing animals on riparian areas in Nevada. They tested streams for nutrients and examined the desert and Sierra to learn techniques to improve the environment of their homeland. The scientists found that cows, which tend to camp around water sources, cause more damage to the stream banks than wild horses, which tend to drink and move on: "When we saw horses drinking from creeks, we didn't see much impact except for hoof prints. The water looked clean, had good overhanging branches and there was no sign of erosion on the banks. There was an abundance of insects and animals, including frogs and dragonflies and water-striders." Areas extensively used by cattle had fewer nutrients in the water and showed signs of bank erosion and other damage, concluded the study.

In addition to this…

The Western Watersheds Project acknowledges that "the main cause of degradation of public lands in the arid west is livestock use and not wild horses."

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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