Editor,
I am writing this letter to clarify some of the points that Mr. Dan O'Connor included in his recent Letter to the Editor. The "facts" as presented in that letter may lead readers to false pretenses.
• Before 1971, mustangs were free - just as the people of Nevada were free to do anything they wanted to a wild mustang which included shoot, rope, chase, etc.
• In 1971, the Wild Horse and Burro Act became a law. This law gave the BLM the right to manage the mustangs to maintain a healthy ecosystem by keeping healthy numbers of wild mustangs with the rest of the wildlife, cattle, and sheep in Nevada.
• To maintain a healthy ecosystem, the population of many things are managed, including all big game, animals, birds, waterfowl, as well as cows and sheep. At this time, the wild mustang population is not managed and the ecosystem in this great state of Nevada is out of balance.
• Cattle do not overpopulate the range. Nevada ranchers and the BLM manage the number of cattle allowed on public land.
• Cattle are not protected. A rancher must have a permit from the BLM to run their cows on public land.
• Cattle and ranchers do not have a monopoly on land use. They share it with the wildlife and mustangs.
• Horses are not hunted or trapped. It is against the law due to the Wild Horse and Burrow Act. Ranchers respect that law.
• The Wild Horse and Burro Act states that excess mustangs shall be removed. The BLM is doing its job as defined by this act.
• The BLM is not trying to eradicate the mustangs. They are trying to manage the mustangs so they can co-exist with the cattle, sheep, and wild life without damaging the land.
• It is difficult to compare the wild mustang situation here in Nevada with wild game Africa. In Africa, the ecosystem is balanced with predators that help manage the zebras and giraffe population. Here in Nevada, the wild mustangs have no real predators, so their numbers continue to increase and increase.
• To propose that the wild mustangs be designated as an endangered species does not solve the problem. An endangered species is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as "any species or plant, animal, or other organism threatened with extinction." Extinction is the "dying out or termination of a species. It occurs when a species can no longer reproduce at replacement levels." The wild mustangs are not dying out - rather overpopulated.
To ensure the wild mustangs continue to be peaceful, innocent, beautiful and free, they need to be managed. Without management, they become over populated which results in inbreeding and disease. There is also not enough forage to support the large numbers of mustangs and they ultimately begin to starve.
With proper management, wild mustangs, cattle, sheep and wildlife all can live together. But when one is not managed, it causes problems for everything.
AJ Duncan
Lovelock[[In-content Ad]]
