EARLY HEARING DETECTION AND INTERVENTION VIRTUAL CONFERENCE
MARCH 2-5, 2021
(Virtually the same conference, without elevators, airplane tickets, or hotel room keys)
8/23/2017 | 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM | Managing Wild Horse and Wildlife on Western Rangelands | Salon F
Managing Wild Horse and Wildlife on Western Rangelands
Federal land managers are tasked with managing for multiple and competing interests. Forage and habitat on BLM HMA’s and USFS Territories must support not only wild horses and burros but diverse wildlife species and livestock grazing. Developing multiple use management strategies (Multiple Use Act, 1964, FLPMA, 1976) while fulfilling other mandates (Wild Horse and Burro Act, 1971, Endangered Species Act, 1973) requires an optimal mix, rather than maximizing single resources or users. Grazing by wild and domestic animals can modify plant community composition and structure, and overabundant populations can cause negative impacts on rangeland function and wildlife habitat. Negative effects to greater sage grouse and other wildlife by wild horses include avoidance of water sources by wildlife, forage loss and altered plant communities, altered bird communities and impacts to soils and insects. Effective management for riparian and rangeland health includes managing both the abundance and the distribution of large grazers. Unless the abundance and distribution of large grazers are managed (including horses) range condition and wildlife habitat are at risk. While livestock can be moved and removed, and big game can be hunted, managing overabundant wild horse herds faces strong public opposition. In the short-term wild horse reproduction (recruitment) must decline and/or horse removal must increase in most HMA’s. Natural predators are largely ineffective and density-dependent population regulation can be inhumane. Use of PZP in HMA’s where it is effective should be continued. However reducing overabundant wild horses will likely require additional practices like permanent sterilization on range and unrestricted horse sales in accordance with the Act. The time for solving this situation is past due, and will likely require implementing management strategies not currently employed.
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Presenters/Authors
Rick Danvir
(), Western Landowners Alliance, basinwlc@gmail.com;
Rick is a professional wildlife biologist with a BS in Wildlife Science from Utah State University and an Associate degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Technology from the State University of New York. Rick has worked on range and wildlife research projects in New York, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico. His research experience includes studies of black bear, prairie dog, cougar, mule deer, elk, pronghorn, greater sage grouse and range ecology and management. As a consultant and Wildlife Manager for Deseret Ranches, Rick has over thirty years of experience managing wildlife and range on ranches and reservations throughout the West, the Great Plains, Maine, Florida, Alberta and Argentina. Rick is a member of the Wildlife Society and Society for Range Management, and has served as a Fish and Game Commissioner, a Wildlife Habitat Council member and as a BLM Wild Horse and Burros Advisory Board member. His principle management interest is maintaining healthy wildlife populations and habitat by integrating grazing, range and wildlife management for ecological and economic sustainability. He is currently based in Wyoming and continues to work on Western wildlife and range issues for the Western Landowners Alliance and Basin Wildlife Consulting.
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