Today, representing millions of American citizens, the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, a national coalition, its parent organization Return to Freedom, and is coalition partner The Cloud Foundation sent a letter to Utah Governor Gary Herbert in response to his attack on wild horses.
Wild horses in natural habitat
Wild horse advocacy groups urged Governor Herbert to stop exaggerating the number of wild horses in Utah, stop scapegoating wild horses for range damage caused by private livestock, and drop suggestions that the state take over management of wild horses in Utah.
© 2014 by Kersti Nebelsiek
Responding to public statements he made last week, the groups urged Governor Herbert to stop exaggerating the number of wild horses in Utah, stop scapegoating wild horses for range damage caused by private livestock, and drop suggestions that the state take over management of wild horses in Utah.
In their letter, the wild horse groups stated: “America’s wild horses and burros are the heritage of all Americans, and Americans overwhelming support maintaining and protecting these animals on our public lands.. They must be managed in the interest of all Americans, not the few who view mustangs as competition for cheap, taxpayer-subsidized grazing on our public lands. “
The number of wild horses pales in comparison to the number of privately-owned livestock grazing on federal land in Utah, and the groups charged that by focusing attention on wild horses, Governor Herbert is “scapegoating wild horses for the damage to our public rangelands caused by livestock.
According to Bureau of Land Management (BLM) statistics:
Livestock grazing occurs on 22 million acres of BLM land in Utah, while wild horses are restricted to just 2.1 million acres. Fewer than 3,500 wild horses are estimated to live on BLM land in Utah (one horse per 600 acres), while hundreds of thousands of sheep and cattle graze the public rangelands in Utah.
The BLM allocates 55 times more forage to privately-owned livestock in Utah than to federally-protected wild horses. (23,472 AUMs [Animal Unit Months] to wild horses vs. 1.3 million AUMs to livestock)
Meanwhile, according to national public opinion polls, Americans overwhelming support protecting wild horses on public lands and oppose horse slaughter. By contrast, only 29 percent of Americans want to ensure that our public lands are available for livestock grazing.
The letter concludes: “After reviewing the facts contained in this letter, we are hopeful that you will acknowledge the disparity of resources allocated to private livestock versus wild horses on federal land in your state, and specify that all citizens, including those in Utah, must respect federal laws that mandates the protection of wild horses and burros.
We understand that you do not endorse the unlawful and violent behavior that has occurred in Nevada related to the case of Cliven Bundy, and we are certain that you would not want your public stance against wild horses to inspire similarly unlawful activity in your state.”
The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign (AWHPC) is a coalition of more than 60 horse advocacy, public interest, and conservation organizations dedicated to preserving the American wild horse in viable, free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage.
Return to Freedom (RTF), is the founding and parent organization for the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign. RTF is a national non-profit dedicated to wild horse preservation through sanctuary, education and conservation, and also operates the American Wild Horse Sanctuary in Lompoc, CA.
The Cloud Foundation is a Colorado-based 501 (c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of wild and burros on our western public lands with a focus on protecting Cloud’s herd in the Pryor Mountains of Montana.