Grazing on Public Lands vs. Wild Horses and Burros on Public Lands: The Eternal Conflict

Grazing on Public Lands vs. Wild Horses and Burros on Public Lands:

The Eternal Conflict

March 24, 2010

by Tracie Lynn Thompson

 

During my recent trip to Nevada, I was fortunate enough to catch up with Robert Depaoli Sr., his son Robert Depaoli Jr., and his son Robert Depaoli III. Well, the littlest one was asleep, but all the same, it brought up a very interesting situation. Most of the ranchers who utilize BLM grazing allotments on public lands are descendants of families who have held those permits for the better part of a century or more. The “Roberts” are just such descendants.

Robert Sr. described to me how his family had settled near Dayton, NV in the 1860’s during the Comstock Lode. He went on to describe how he and his family were “actually the ones to blame for there being wild horses in Nevada” because he says when his family settled, there were no wild horses on the range.

“My family brought horses with them when they came here. They were used to work the soil and harvest the crops. When the horses were not being used, they were turned loose on the open range next to their lands. When the next planting season came around, most of the horses were brought in and put back to work. The ones who were left on the range were used as breeding stock and it became another source of income by selling them to the US Calvary.”

Robert Sr. says that things changed with the passing of legislation. In 1934, his family had to apply for permits from the BLM to use the ranges around their farms and ranches. They had both cattle permits and horse permits. Then in 1971, the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act passed and the horse permits went away.

“I remember this because I was just out of high school. The BLM man came to my parent’s house and asked them if they would turn their horse permits into cattle permits because BLM didn’t want the horses on that part of the land anymore. My folks did what the man asked because they didn’t want to cause any trouble. That was their way of life; how they made their living.”

Robert Sr. says he doesn’t understand why wild horse advocates are using emotions instead of intelligence to wage their war for the horses. For him, Robert Jr. and Robert III, it just doesn’t make any sense.

“They want to put me and my family out of business and in the poor house. That boy asleep over there is the 6^th generation of my family who’ll be ranching on this land. This is our heritage, our culture, and our lifestyle. We’ve lived with these horses all of our lives so we know about them. We don’t want to see them starve to death out there, but we don’t want to lose everything that we’ve worked all our lives for either. There’s got to be a better way.”

Robert Sr. says the horses are everywhere; there are too many of them. In the times before the 1971 Act, ranchers had kept up the breeding standards and managed horses in the West for a century. Now, because there are so many in long term holding, he says there is no money left in the budget to take care of the ones who are still on the range.

Their cattle are also closely managed and they only use the allotments only a few months per year.

“There have been years that I haven’t even used my AUMs because the land is overgrazed by the horse herds.” He went on to say that any rancher would be putting himself out of business if he let his cows damage the range. “Anyone who thinks that everybody does that just because of a few bad apples is wrong.”

The Depaoli family has even helped out on the allotments with improvements to water sources. When I asked about the reports of ranchers fencing off water sources from wild horses, both Sr. and Jr. became almost upset. Robert Sr. explained.

“The ones that do that are heartless, cruel people and they should be ashamed of themselves. When that horse doesn’t have anything to drink… He could die out there on that range. That is just plain wrong. I can’t stand to see any animal suffer.” He was very stern with his words at this point.

He went to say that just that morning he had reported a neighbor to the local police department for starving and chaining their dogs up to a tree without water. “It can get pretty hot out here in this country. I just couldn’t stand to see them out there like that.”

Robert Sr. and Robert Jr. fear that Robert III will not follow in their family traditions because of the movement to remove cattle grazing from the lands completely. Robert Jr. looked over his shoulder towards where Robert III with a sadness in his eyes.

“I’ve grown up working with my dad all of my life. It’s a hard life, don’t get me wrong. I just hope that my son can say the same when he’s my age.”

The Depaoli family remains steadfast that the current situation cannot continue. They argue that there is no tax return on the wild horses for the traditional cattle rancher, and therefore they have to pay from their own pockets in tax dollars to care and feed the horses being held in long term holding.

“Back then, the ranchers could at least recoup some of their money by selling the horses to the US Calvary. Later, they could recoup some of their money by using the horses for labor on the farms and ranches. Now, we don’t get anything in return. Are the wild horse advocates going to come and pay my family’s bills?”

The Depaoli family and the Wild Horse Advocates have more in common than they realize. Neither wants to see the wild horses and burros completely removed from the Western ranges. Neither thinks the current system is working. But mostly, neither wants to give up on the dreams of their heritage and seeing their children and grand-children have the opportunity to enjoy the Western lands as they have.

 

The West—the very words go straight to that place of the heart where Americans feel the spirit of pride in their western heritage—the triumph of personal courage over any obstacle, whether nature or man. — John Wayne 

Copied from BLM.gov – Grazing

• The BLM manages 253 million acres of public land, with 160 million acres authorized for livestock grazing. Mustangs and cattle share about 31 million acres.
• The Bureau does not make an annual national “count” of the livestock that graze on BLM-managed lands because the actual number of livestock grazing on public lands on any single day varies throughout the year and livestock are often moved from one grazing allotment to another.
• Authorized (as distinguished from actual) grazing use on public lands has declined from about 22 million AUMs in 1941 to 12.5 million AUMs authorized in 2008.
• In 2008, the number of AUMs actually used on BLM-managed land was 8.6 million.

The Role of Livestock Grazing on Public Lands Today

Grazing, which was one of the earliest uses of public lands when the West was settled, continues to be an important use of those same lands today. Livestock grazing now competes with more uses than it did in the past, as other industries and the general public look to the public lands as sources of both conventional and renewable energy and as places for outdoor recreational opportunities, including off-highway vehicle use. Among the key issues that face public land managers today are global climate change, severe wildfires, invasive plant species, and dramatic population increases, including the associated rural residential development that is occurring throughout the West. 

Livestock grazing can result in impacts on public land resources, but well-managed grazing provides numerous environmental benefits as well. For example, while livestock grazing can lead to increases in some invasive species, well-managed grazing can be used to manage vegetation. Intensively managed “targeted” grazing can control some invasive plant species or reduce the fuels that contribute to severe wildfires. Besides providing such traditional products as meat and fiber, well-managed rangelands and other private ranch lands support healthy watersheds, carbon sequestration, recreational opportunities, and wildlife habitat.  Livestock grazing on public lands helps maintain the private ranches that, in turn, preserve the open spaces that have helped write the West’s history and will continue to shape this region’s character in the years to come.