There has been a lot of talk lately about the upcoming BLM budget process, initiated (I think?) by Rep. Dan Burton’s address in the U.S. House a few weeks ago.
I got this alert this morning (as I’m sure many did) from the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign: http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/6931/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5664
It’s a complicated issue, and it’s going to be more complicated when I tell you what it means to Spring Creek Basin. If BLM doesn’t get funding, our roundup this fall won’t happen. Now I don’t quite understand the government budget/funding cycle, and when our roundup was scheduled last year – last budget cycle? – I don’t understand why it’s not funded in this current budget cycle. But our district ranger, acting as herd area manager until one replaces our retired manager, just told me that if Congress does not pass a budget for 2011 and passes only a continuing resolution for the remainder of the year, we would not have the funding for a roundup.
So here it is: Denial of this budget will have a local impact: It will cancel our roundup. Devastating? Maybe not (?). A huge setback? Absolutely.
Why am I so excited about LBC’s roundup this year being canceled and so adamant that ours go on as planned? Because LBC’s was canceled BECAUSE PZP has limited the population growth there. Ours is growing – still growing – and we don’t have a PZP program in place to begin to approach LBC’s success! We’ll end up with about 90-95 horses this year … which would mean ~128 horses next year (based on my knowledge of the horses).
To start, forget the genetic “number.” Whatever it is, it’s moot. Spring Creek Basin is a fenced >22,000 acres. (Most? All? HMAs are fenced or cut off by natural boundaries? We have both.) It’s a finite area with extremely limited resources. The population of 110-120 horses at the 2007 roundup was lean. Some horses/bands were driven outside the boundaries of the herd area to find water and forage – over/through fences. How desperate is that? What would be the condition of 128 horses??? I DON’T WANT TO KNOW – because I can guess. Emotionally, I HATE the mere thought of the roundup this fall. Realistically, I would rather the horses be in good to great condition to withstand the helicopter than in poor to starving condition …
Spring Creek Basin is a drop in the Wild Horse & Burro Program. But consider this: In the proposal I wrote last year asking BLM to implement an annual PZP darting program in Spring Creek Basin, I calculated that horses from Spring Creek Basin NOT sent to long-term holding would save the government (taxpayers) at least $2.25 million over their lifetimes in holding (at $20,000 per horse’s lifetime, according to Tom Gorey; it’s $2,500 per horse per year according to Rep. Burton’s address). We can achieve that with PZP to limit Spring Creek Basin’s herd population growth, to limit roundups to one per decade rather than three per decade.
Yes, we’re a drop in the program – and that’s lifetime, not per year. But what if this was the tale in multiple herd management areas and wild horse ranges … Little Book Cliffs, Pryor Mountain, McCullough Peaks, Spring Creek Basin and more? How many $millions ($billions over the long term?) would BLM – the government – taxpayers save? How many horses would we save? How many not-born mustangs would NOT go to long-term holding … how many mustangs would live wild on their home ranges?
So how do I/we comment on the budget process? What comment makes the most (realistic) impact? What comment funds our necessary roundup (see the numbers and reasoning above) and implements an annual fertility program in Spring Creek Basin – to start us on the road to the success seen by Little Book Cliffs?
Stopping traumatic roundups is a good goal, but SOMETHING has to be in place to then limit reproduction … leading to what BLM deems “excess.” Wait … what BLM deems? The monsters, right? Re-read what I wrote above: Spring Creek Basin is FENCED. Its resources are LIMITED. In addition to mustangs, it supports – in limited, seasonal quantities – mule deer, elk, pronghorn antelope and cattle (yes, a limited number of cattle, for three months of the year when water – as snow – is (usually) plentiful), as well as coyotes, black bears, mountain lions (rare, I have seen a track), ravens, eagles (golden and bald), owls, kestrels, bluebirds – others – badgers (caught by my wildlife cam!) … What does that have to do with BLM? Monstrosity? No. That’s simply the law of reality … of nature (as fenced by man, which simply ain’t gonna change).
“Let nature take its course …” Who has seen nature in her course? Fortunately (!!), Bones and her half-born foal are the only end-of-nature bodies I’ve seen (equine, that is). Since I’ve been documenting the horses, I don’t know the causes of the foal mortalities (other than Bones’ foal), and the mares other than Bones and one mare that likely died of a catastrophic injury have been elderly girls. Fortunately, I haven’t witnessed Spring Creek Basin horses at the brink of (or past) starvation – but I’ve heard firsthand accounts from people who have. I can’t stand by and watch nature take its course on a fenced range with otherwise healthy horses, and BLM is legally obligated to disallow starvation. Is (lack of) funding going to stop that process?
LBC’s roundup was canceled because growth stopped. Spring Creek Basin’s population is still growing.
On how many other ranges is this the story? I don’t know, I know it only here.
Now what?
I want the bulk of BLM’s Wild Horse & Burro Program budget to go to managing mustangs in the wild. That’s a better goal than “stop the roundups.” In our case, PZP will cost a few hundred dollars a year because of our small population and small number of mares. How much better would it be if the bulk of the budget BLM gets for managing wild horses went to fertility control and a smaller amount – because of fewer necessary? – went to roundups and removals? Will we eliminate mustangs in long-term holding? I don’t know … but as at least a short-term goal, wouldn’t it be better to have more horses wild than in any kind of holding at all – as opposed to the other way around?
To save the majority – here – some horses must be removed. That’s the end result of current management. If we can then start better management, hoorah!
I wish there was a neat way to wrap up this package, this issue, this post. I’ve been trying to get there the last several paragraphs. But it reflects the realities of wild horse management. There’s not a neat way to wrap it up. PZP isn’t perfect. Is it better than the roundup/remove option? Obviously, that’s my stand.
(Not) the end.
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 