Wild Horses Case Study

The population of government owned horses and burros in the United States is over double the appropriate management level. Wild horses continue to increase in numbers as the number of adopted horses continues to decrease. The horses on the Tavaputs Plateau have an interesting origin, but are causing many issues that can be fixed with strategic plans. According to studies conducted by the BLM wild horse populations double every 4 years. Horses doubling in population has been a continuous pattern for decades on the Tavaputs Plateau. The origin of the wild horses traces back to Preston Nutter. Nutter trailed the horses from the Utah Arizona border. He then let the herd grow and used them as ranch horses for nearly a century. Nutter lost …show more content…
That would be the best solution for overgrazing that is taking place in the two herds main areas. Wild horses in the area are highly “salt hungry” and could be easily moved from area to area by salting in different locations throughout the year. This can also help to keep them on public lands. Funding for buying and putting out the salt could come from the funding that supports the treatment of the undesirable plant species in the area. Taking funding from this area is justifiable because by decreasing the overgrazing it will also decrease the number of undesirable plants. Farmers and ranchers in the area would be happy to assist in the hauling of the salt to the range, because they will then be able to reclaim the areas that the wild horses are currently taking over. Managing the horses by not only just their numbers will be a great benefit to ranchers, hunters, wildlife, the land, and the horses themselves. Moving the horses from place to place using salt will open up many opportunities. The horses need to be managed like Preston Nutter managed them. With a small amount of work there is the potential for a huge