Marjorie Farabee go to circleranchtx and look at Christophers drone images By Marjorie Farabee Comment submitted to the BLM Advisory Board: My name is Marjorie Farabee. I am the director of wild burro affairs for Wild Horse Freedom Federation. I am also the equine manager of Todd Mission Ranch and TMR Rescue, Inc. out of TX. In addition to our wild equine we have over 100 Angus cattle at the ranch. However, unlike my subsidized counterparts here in WY, we paid for our land and we pay for our hay to feed our cattle. We are not subsidized, and we pay taxes which then get sent to our subsidized counterparts. How is that a fair practice? In addition to cattle, horses and mules, our ranch is home to 308 donkeys, 46 of which are wild burros who were removed from freedom. It never fails to amaze me to see them in the pasture still possessed of their regal, wild persona. Our wild burros have come from many HMA’s, and each group has a distinctive look. Our burros from the Mojave are tall and big boned, the Twin Peaks burros are stout, big boned and possessed of long dark hair. The burros from Cibola/Trigo represent a rainbow of colors from rust to pink to roan, to pitch black and gray. Although no longer free, they still take my breath away as I observe them in awe in their pasture. They are stunning. They truly are different from our domestic donkeys. Even once they have been tamed, (which due to their naturally curious nature is easy to do) they remain ever alert and poised in demeanor. They were born wild, and always will be inherently wild. As native equine, given protections through a unanimous decision made by Congress in 1971, our wild burros and horses are supposed to be given PRINCIPLE grazing rights on the land where they were found when the act was passed. Principle means 51%. If lucky, they currently get 18% of the grazing rights on the lands managed PRINCIPALLY for their care. Currently, livestock outnumbers our wild horses and burros by up to 100:1. Obviously, the BLM is in direct conflict with the language of the 1971 act. The land does need animal impact, but it is about timed grazing. While wild horses and burros will move naturally with forage availability, cattle do not. To maintain the health of the land, cattle must be managed to mimic the great bison and wild equine herds of the past. They came in the millions trampling, defecating, and grazing the land down. However, unlike today’s cattle, the bison and equine herds then moved on. Thus, the grazing was timed. As they moved through, they stimulated plant life, injecting the soil with microbes and nitrogen. They reseeded through their droppings and through their post gastric digestive systems, produced soil capable of retaining rain water. As a result, the land thrived. My friend, Christopher Gill owns a 32,000 acre ranch in the high desert of SW TX. On his ranch he practices Holistic Range Management. He does not kill predators, and he encourages wildlife diversity. Cattlemen will pay private leases to graze their cattle on his ranch, and they are managed through movement. The wildlife is left alone. As a result, the Circle Ranch (circleranchtx) is thriving. The graze is robust and his property is teeming with wildlife. A trip through Circle Ranch will offer sightings of pronghorn, bighorn, cougar, coyote, eagles, hawks, lamas, horses, burros and a host of other animals. His land is balanced with nature. Standing in stark contrast to Circle Ranch is Diablo Wildlife Management Area, which is managed by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. They practice the methods popular today of destocking and over resting. During the recent drought that hit TX a few years ago, Diablo destocked everything from the reserve. Now, the land is dead. It has oxidized and plant life cannot grow. They share a property line with Circle Ranch, so the lesson is clear. The land needs animal impact; however that impact must be timed with natural rest. Over rest is more harmful than overgrazing by killing the microbes the soil needs to rejuvenate. I strongly urge the BLM to look into holistic range management. Allan Savory of the Savory Institute has proven his method for desertification reversal works. savoryinstitute/ At a holistic management workshop held at Circle Ranch, I met the land manager for Ted Turner’s properties. He too, is turning to holistic range management for his millions of acres of land. It works. This is a way to bring together the wild equine and the ranchers in an effort to save our western lands from desertification. Wild horses and burros are not the destructive force they are accused of being. They are, in fact, necessary to maintain range health. This is scientific fact. In addition, Princeton University conducted a series of studies that proved that cattle grazed with donkeys gain 40% more weight. princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S32/93/41K10/index.xml?section=featured Through what is called “facilitation” the rough materials are eaten by the burros exposing the more tender plants to the cattle. This removal of dry, rough forage also acts to reduce fires. If these studies are not enough to convince ranchers of the wisdom of keeping wildlife on their lands, the report by the NAS should also act as further stimulus to change direction. Current practices are not sustainable either ecologically or financially. What I am outlining here is a win-win-win. The public wins, the wild burros win, the horses win, the ranchers win and the BLM wins. We all win. Do it! Make hast and implement these strategies. I have deep concerns for the future of our wild burros. To illustrate just how few wild burros remain, the Bighorn Society screams that there are ONLY 70,000 bighorn and they must continue their conservation plans to keep them from going extinct. Indeed, I agree, 70,000 is a small number, but what does that say about 8,000? . Why does the BLM continue the campaign of misinformation about their numbers swaying people to believe we have too many burros? Why are we rounding them up at all? It further troubles me that in conversations I have had with geneticist Gus Cothran I learned that our wild burros have less genetic diversity than wild donkeys isolated on an island called Bonaire for 500 years. That is a startling fact. Dr. Cothran says our wild burros are in real trouble if they are not allowed to have more members in their groups. Indeed, their genetic viability is in jeopardy. It is my great desire that the BLM will take seriously the desires of the American people, the science of holistic range management, the recommendations of the NAS and the reality of extinction posed by present practices. Our native burros, who originated and evolved in North America along with the horse and zebra, are refilling a much needed niche in our ecosystems. They disperse seeds and create lumus soil, while commonly migrating up to 250 miles through the seasons. Real studies need to be conducted. Real science needs to be heeded, and holistic range management needs to be embraced to protect our wild herds. Sending our wild burros to Guatemala is a foolish endeavor. These animals belong to the American people whether they have been three striked or not, the BLM needs to provide them humane treatment. The country of Guatemala is not a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. There are no excess wild burros and the American people do not want their burros shipped to a country that has no animal welfare laws and where oversight of their welfare will not exist. Heifer International has received poor ratings from charity watch groups concerning animal cruelty and oversight of the animals they place in harm’s way. As if the roundups are not enough to keep us all very upset, the BLM wants to add to their list of misdeeds against the American public another act that is very cruel to the animals they are mandated to protect. As an American, I deserve the right to be able to pass down to my children and grandchildren what was passed down to me through the stewardship of previous generations. The burros are a part of our living history, and represent our hardy, pioneering past. To look at them, is to see history. I do not want to have to show photos of wild burros to my grandchildren saying there used to be….. the BLM did not listen…. And now, they are gone…… forever. Respectfully submitted, Marjorie Farabee, director of wild burro affairs Wild Horse Freedom Federation
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 20:50:44 +0000
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