Martin Longman is the web editor of the Washington Monthly.
He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. Before joining the Monthly, Martin was a county coordinator for ACORN/Project Vote and a political consultant. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
Having worked with the BLM in the 90s, there is no “comeback” of feral horses. Unless you do want to go back to pre-Colombian time. Some of them are related to the stock brought over by the Spaniards. Many are escapees from ranches years ago. Larger and more aggressive than pronghorn antelope, they dominate at water holes and eating prime native grasses and shrubs. Immunocontraception works for the tamer horses in the east but it’s a lot tougher to get close enough to western horses. Factor in the cheatgrass fires, and it makes re-establishing native grasses and forbs that much… Read more »
Five years ago I took a sight-seeing drive north out of Reno, heading towards Pyramid lake. Along the way, right next to the highway, was one of the holding pens where these wild horses were kept. It was huge. The number of horses was staggering. It was . . . depressing. At our best we are careful stewards of the land (and all the flora and fauna that comes with it). At our worst, we are rapacious parasites, devouring and destroying everything in our reach. We are surrounded by reminders that we face problems with no easy answers – but,… Read more »
Comeback? It’s time to stop pretending that these horses are “mustangs” in the sense of descendants of Spanish strays. After the Civil War, the US Army paid ranchers in the Southwest to raise horses. But WW I demonstrated that cavalry could run on wheels and treads. The army terminated the contracts, the ranchers turned the valueless horses loose, and without predators they multiplied. They are feral horses and intrusive pests in the environment. If people want to catch and ride them, that’s fine. Otherwise, the right thing to do is to feed them to cats and dogs.
They should suffer the same fate as feral hogs. It’s our fault they have been allowed to reach these numbers, it’s our responsibility to lower the numbers.
Having worked with the BLM in the 90s, there is no “comeback” of feral horses. Unless you do want to go back to pre-Colombian time. Some of them are related to the stock brought over by the Spaniards. Many are escapees from ranches years ago. Larger and more aggressive than pronghorn antelope, they dominate at water holes and eating prime native grasses and shrubs. Immunocontraception works for the tamer horses in the east but it’s a lot tougher to get close enough to western horses. Factor in the cheatgrass fires, and it makes re-establishing native grasses and forbs that much… Read more »
Five years ago I took a sight-seeing drive north out of Reno, heading towards Pyramid lake. Along the way, right next to the highway, was one of the holding pens where these wild horses were kept. It was huge. The number of horses was staggering. It was . . . depressing. At our best we are careful stewards of the land (and all the flora and fauna that comes with it). At our worst, we are rapacious parasites, devouring and destroying everything in our reach. We are surrounded by reminders that we face problems with no easy answers – but,… Read more »
Also, loved your tweet about retiring the word asshole from our vocabulary.
Comeback? It’s time to stop pretending that these horses are “mustangs” in the sense of descendants of Spanish strays. After the Civil War, the US Army paid ranchers in the Southwest to raise horses. But WW I demonstrated that cavalry could run on wheels and treads. The army terminated the contracts, the ranchers turned the valueless horses loose, and without predators they multiplied. They are feral horses and intrusive pests in the environment. If people want to catch and ride them, that’s fine. Otherwise, the right thing to do is to feed them to cats and dogs.
They should suffer the same fate as feral hogs. It’s our fault they have been allowed to reach these numbers, it’s our responsibility to lower the numbers.
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