2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH
8/23/2017 | 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | Sage-Grouse and Wild Horses: Challenges of Managing for a Healthy System with Wild Horse Overpopulation | Salon F
Sage-Grouse and Wild Horses: Challenges of Managing for a Healthy System with Wild Horse Overpopulation
Roaring Springs Ranch is a cow-calf operation in southeast Oregon operating on over 1 million acres. The ranch works toward maintaining healthy wildlife populations and range conditions while utilizing excess forage for beef production. The ranch has a strong history of active management, implementing projects including landscape-scale juniper cutting and prescribed burning, riparian restoration, redband trout and sage-grouse conservation agreements, and collaboration with the scientific community on many range and wildlife research projects. Working closely with the BLM is integral to the operation of the ranch, and cooperative projects include the development and implementation of the Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Area, enrollment in a Candidate Conservation Agreement (CCA) for sage-grouse on BLM grazing allotments, and large-scale habitat treatments. Three wild horse Herd Management Areas (HMA) totaling over 600,000 acres are contained within BLM grazing allotments the ranch utilizes, with total Appropriate Management Level (AML) of 310-636 horses. In recent years, wild horse populations have exceeded AML making it difficult to attain management goals and conflicting with wildlife conservation actions. The ranch has initiated and participated in several processes to work toward solutions. Progress is being made but realistic solutions are difficult to develop and implement. Wild horse annual production needs to be reduced to the level of adoption demand for the program to be sustainable, and ultimately, to achieve management goals of healthy wildlife populations and range conditions.
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Presenters/Authors
Andrew Shields
(), Roaring Springs Ranch, andrewvshields1@gmail.com;
Andrew has been the wildlife biologist at Roaring Springs Ranch for five years and enjoys working with sage-grouse, mule deer, and redband trout among other species. He is a native of Utah and received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Wildlife and Wildlands Conservation from Brigham Young University. He enjoys spending time outdoors with his wife, Jenna, and introducing their 2 year old daughter Emma to the wildlife around the ranch.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
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Stacy Davies
(), Roaring Springs Ranch, roaringspringsranch@gmail.com;
Stacy has managed Roaring Springs Ranch for twenty years and works to find collaborative solutions to complex issues. He and his wife Elaine are also involved with a natural beef co-op, Country Natural Beef. They enjoyed raising their six sons in the wide open spaces of the ranch and now enjoy spending time with their six grandchildren.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
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Nonfinancial -