America’s public rangelands suffer far more damage from overgrazing by commercial livestock than from wild horses and burros, according to the latest U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) data analyzed by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The damage estimates are based on BLM’s own Land Health Standards, which measure the minimum water quality, vegetation, and soil conditions needed to support wildlife.
PEER’s analysis of range conditions through the end of 2023 reveals that 44 million acres of rangelands are failing BLM’s minimum standards, with livestock being the primary cause, either in whole or in part. Consider –
- More than two-thirds of BLM acreage not meeting its own minimum Land Health Standards are due solely to livestock overgrazing, while less than 1% of those failing acres are due solely to wild horses;
- In the ten Western states under BLM’s grazing program, only one (Nevada) has more than 1% of those failing acres where wild horses are even a factor; and
- Nationally, only 77 allotments (out of about 21,0000 allotments) are failing due in whole or part to wild horses.
“When it comes to protecting America’s rangelands, BLM suffers from a severe bureaucratic cow blindness,” stated Rocky Mountain PEER Director Chandra Rosenthal. She noted that an estimated 1.5 million cattle forage BLM lands compared to fewer than 75,000 wild horses. “BLM engages in controversial wild horse roundups, but reductions in cattle herds are rare, regardless of how bad conditions are on the ground.”
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