NVFBBLOG.ORG: Recent Comments

Comment on The Purpose Of Why We Have A Land Grant University?

2011-11-09T03:24:29Z

Is your from the blog again pertinent, as UNR and some Washoe (Reno)planners, ETC., prepare to re-zone the AG Farm where Wolf-Pack Meats is located? All for a quick Buck? I wonder if there is going to be enough money to pay for all the damage that is likely to occur in another flood event?

Comment on Interesting Concept Of Not Doing Assigned Responsibilities

2011-09-15T00:11:53Z

What a mean remark from jojo. I have been out West to see the wild horses and also have 3 that were rounded up by the BLM plus 3 Arabians. I have been a Pony Club mom, 4-H horse club leader, dressage steward , walked thororbreds and have been around horses all of my 72 years. Wild horses are beautiful, have great conformationand movement and tough hooves that are studied by farriers. My father raised beef cattle so I know a few things about cattle too. Horses will never over graze if allowed to roam , and they never pollute water with their feces like cattle do. Cattle cause erosion also.The cow paths never disappear.
Some folks still have a lot to learn about horses both wild and domestic or
how to tell the truth.

Comment on Interesting Concept Of Not Doing Assigned Responsibilities

2011-09-14T20:50:33Z

Do you live where the wild horses live? Do you see how quickly they multiply? Do you watch cattle and sheep management on the range? Have you ever seen a herd of "broomhead" horses? Stubby, mutated creatures, which we would have if they were truly left without management. This is the "national treasure" you want. If you do not live it and see it. How can you call it evil names or visa versa call it a treasure. I hope when you come to see your national treasure, you drive right into one.

Comment on Interesting Concept Of Not Doing Assigned Responsibilities

2011-09-09T16:21:15Z

The majority of horse advocates that comment on threads parrot a list of talking points. They haven't really thought about the issues and checked for gaps in their knowledge base and taken steps to fill the gaps.

For example, the water (including springs and seeps) in the State of Nevada belongs to the citizens of the state. It is not "public" in the sense of "public lands" (federal managed lands). The state engineer grants water rights to private individuals who can show beneficial use. Beneficial use includes water for livestock and wildlife. Wild horses are not recognized as a beneficial use under Nevada water law. The water on the "public lands" is privately owned. The people who use the grazing permits own the water. The water right owners may exclude wild horses if they choose. This right had been affirmed by the courts. Under Nevada water law the federal land management agencies are prohibited from holding water rights because they own no livestock. If the horse advocates and the BLM don't play nice with owners of the water rights, there will be no water. No water no wild horses.

Comment on Interesting Concept Of Not Doing Assigned Responsibilities

2011-09-09T16:12:43Z

Footloosehorse, I agree with you 100%
Some people are so blinded by their prejudice that they cannot see the truth however.

Comment on Interesting Concept Of Not Doing Assigned Responsibilities

2011-09-09T07:12:28Z

["We manage wildlife numbers to maintain a balance between numbers and available habitat."]

Yet Calico was rounded up despite the lack of negative impact on the range, and monitoring that showed they were under AML...

["There were no horses on the American continents when the Spanish arrived."]

Horses were here for 60 million years, and gone for 8,000 at most (DNA evidence). That's a shorter amount of time than a human vacation. When you return home after traveling, surely things are as you left them, you still know how to utilize them, and you still "fit in."

["Have you ever wondered why the horses disappeared? Do wild horses need human management to keep the population from crashing?"]

They were killed off through over-hunting by humans migrating IN to America by way of the same Bering Land Bridge that the horses used to get OUT and disperse to the rest of the world. Horses were doing just fine until people came along. (2 million of them around 1900, down to 20-30,000 now.)

In addition, the complaint about horses, and the reason some humans seem to think they need to manage them, is because they are thriving, not because they are dying off and need help.

["Who do you think maintains the water the wild horses drink?"]

You mean the public water, on public land, that subsidized ranchers use to raise private livestock? It already belongs to us - the citizens - and to the horses and other wildlife. Ranchers may maintain "improvements" which were added to keep cattle and sheep out (capping springs and such) and maximizing water output for large livestock herds, but horses managed perfectly well using springs and seeps.

["My advice to you all is to use your head for something more than a parking lot for hats and ear rings."]

I will if you will. (Didn't that condescending "don't worry your pretty little head about things like this" stuff go out in the 50s?)

["Leave off the emotion and try logic for a change."]

Speaking for myself, I have often been accused of being too logical, and not emotional enough. You might be able tell by my posts, and by the fact that no one has disputed me directly. Why? Probably because they can't, since facts are facts.

["We wouldn't having this discussion is Roy Rogers had ridden off into sunset on cow."]

Ah, but he *did*. I'm glad you finally "got it" there at the end.

Comment on Interesting Concept Of Not Doing Assigned Responsibilities

2011-09-08T20:52:11Z

Ladies I hope you all are wearing boots because the BS is getting deep. We manage wildlife numbers to maintain a balance between numbers and available habitat. There were no horses on the American continents when the Spanish arrived. Yet horses appear in the fossil record. Have you ever wondered why the horses disappeared? Do wild horses need human management to keep the population from crashing? My observations lead me to believe that this is the case. If you get what you're advocating you're going to end up with a pile of bleached bones and a landscape of noxious weeds.

The assertion that the mean evil ranchers hate the horses is a load of BS. If the ranchers had wanted the wild horse gone they would have been gone long before 1971 and the passage of the wild horse and burro act. The truth is that the ranchers are the best friend the wild horse have. Who do you think maintains the water the wild horses drink? The ranchers are out on the ground more often than the BLM or horse advocates.

My advice to you all is to use your head for something more than a parking lot for hats and ear rings. Leave off the emotion and try logic for a change. We wouldn't having this discussion is Roy Rogers had ridden off into sunset on cow.

Comment on Interesting Concept Of Not Doing Assigned Responsibilities

2011-09-07T04:21:52Z

Mare's can have only one foal a year, never seen a rabbit give birth to only one kit. The wild stallion Cloud sired five foals one year, only four survived due to just one female cougar. This is how the eco system works, you yay hoo's are always out to destroy what nature provides us.

Comment on Interesting Concept Of Not Doing Assigned Responsibilities

2011-09-07T04:14:50Z

I'm not sure how you can disagree with facts...?

"...the primary cause of the degradation in rangeland resources is poorly managed domestic (primarily cattle and sheep) livestock.”

”Unlike cattle who tend to congregate and settle in riparian areas, wild horses and burros are highly mobile, typically visiting watering areas for only short periods of time. To make matters worse, livestock are concentrated in grazing allotments at artificially high densities during the critical growing season when vegetation is extremely vulnerable to permanent damage. This overgrazing sets the stage for habitat degradation that may not be immediately apparent, but can cumulatively cause massive vegetation dieoff.” (U.S. GAO)

Wild horses are a native species, evolving in North America *with the landscape* (important to plant defense and dispersal mechanisms) over a 60 million year period.

They are also wild (vs. feral, estray, etc.) by definition:

“Wild state” is defined (by the Dept. of Agriculture – 9 CFR 1.1) as:

“Wild animal means any animal which is now or historically has been found in the wild, or in the wild state, within the boundaries of the United States, its territories, or possessions.”

“Wild state means living in its original, natural condition; not domesticated.”

(As mentioned, horses evolved in North America, so this is indeed their “original, natural condition” and if you've ever observed a gather, or tried to get "up close and personal" you'll agree that they are obviously not domesticated.)

How do you figure that 20-30,000 horses - which travel 20 or so miles per day, utilize higher elevations, eat off of trails in a patchwork pattern, and come in to drink vs. lounging in riparian areas could possibly cause more rangeland damage than millions of head of subsidized livestock?

Comment on Interesting Concept Of Not Doing Assigned Responsibilities

2011-09-07T04:00:18Z

Doug, I don't believe that your perspective is represented by the actual facts of the circumstances. Congress asked the BLM to wait until the NAS study was done, yet the BLM continued on with round ups, they did not stop, they did not slow down. Your statement that wild horses have "rabbit-like" capability to reproduce shows you are not interested in addressing this issue realistically. How many "litters" do rabbits have in a year compared to one foal born to one mare in a year? How can you expect to be taken seriously?