Adding to the challenges extractive industry is essentially "green lighted" at an alarming rate of speed. This creates a two fold effect in local communities; grateful for the transient population income/spending increase (yes, it's temporary) and t feeling threatened by the "big boys." control over BLM management.
Since the 1971 Act that gave the federal government jurisdiction to manage horses on public land. This action simply became one more area of resentment. What was once "fast unregulated cash" (mustanging) now became a symbol of "government overreach."
To quell that tension wild horses have paid an extraordinary price. They became a scapegoat of federal land. If thee is a problem just "blame it on the horse and all my buddies are happy."
Video below created by EarthFix Media
If you were going to have any discussion about managing "healthy rangeland" for any purpose you would have to discuss the range itself. Yet much of our rangeland has never been fully assessed. In states like Nevada, where more wild horses exist than all other states combined, more than half of federal grazing permits for domestic livestock are issued without a rangeland assessment. Then those activities are rarely, if ever, monitored to make sure they comply with the parameters of the permit. Did they run the number of cows during the time allotted? Nobody really knows.
Wild horses have paid an extraordinary price as they became the scapegoat for failed range management.
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