Spirit of the American West....

Okay, so there are millions of Americans that have a romanticized view of the American West, one that involves the mustang as the epitome of grace and beauty.  Oh, how misled these poor people can be.  Have you seen some of the mangy, scrawny horses running around this state?  Now, don't get me wrong.  I was raised in the west, we have always loved spotting mustangs as much as elk and deer and other wildlife.  It can definitely be a treat, even picturesque to see them in the wild.  I grew up to the stories of my dad and grandpa chasing wild horses.  My grandpa lost the tip of his middle finger while trying to end a dispute with a friend as to the age of the mustang they had caught in one of the many mustang 'traps' that were set up along the springs in the surrounding hills.  Some of these even became favorite pets.  My husband's family always talks about his dad's favorite horse as being a mustang he and his brothers had caught, broke and loved for years to come. 

So, why I am on this subject anyway?  Well, I have been trying to come up with an idea of what to take to Orlando, for the National YF&R Conference for our Silent Auction.  Every year, each state is asked to donate two items that would be auctioned off, the proceeds going to the Heritage Foundation to benefit Agricultural Literacy programs.  So, I have been trying to decide what to take.  My mom is able to get some pretty great framed pictures at wholesale prices, and some of them are western scenes, more specifically, some of them are depictions of 'wild horses'.  So, I thought that these would definitely be something that could 'represent' Nevada in the auction--though, at the same time, I am not sure that I want to glorify them and make that the representation of Nevada.  I would much rather educate about them, and the damage that results from their mismanagement to the rangeland of the west.  The pictures here are some that I took in 2009 after some great rains had brought to life the vegetation in the summer, after a very dry spring. 

The result was beautiful.  The lupine, the globemallow, phlox, all kinds of wildflowers, were out in full force.  They blanketed the land in carpets of orange and purple.  But, that also meant that there was nothing left of the good quality grasses and legumes.  The horses have done severe damage in these ares.  These areas are all outside of the fence line that surrounds our family's rangeland.  I wish I could have taken a picture or two that depicted how strong the contrast really was.  On the inside, these plants show up occasionally, bu the grasses were stronger and more plentiful. 

On the outside, the only sign of grass was cheat grass, maybe some foxtail.  The horses run rampant outside of the fence lines.  They have destroyed precious feed.  On the inside, my grandpa's management practices, along with some of the BLM's, have supported the growth of the grasses, forbs and legumes, to the best of their ability amidst the years of drought.  I have seen the crested wheat (a medium tall grass) reach heights of almost tall grass status when the rains fall in the right season, turning the land almost into meadows. 

The Indian Rice Grass, Gamma Grass, and Wheat Grasses are hard to find outside of the fence lines.  In just a short drive that day, we saw two separate herds of mustangs, of about 6-9 head per herd.  The icon of the American West, is destroying one of the American West's most important resources.  So, when people oooh and aaah over the mustang, I tend to struggle, though, as a horse lover, I still enjoy the occasional sighting--occasional being the key word.  Management would be the other key word.  I guess it all goes back to the joke that we need to let the Nevada Division of Wildlife manage the horses and the BLM manage the wildlife. ;)
So, I will still probably use the pictures for the auction, they can still be representatice of Nevada, as long as we are working to educate and inform and progress teh issue, hopefully someday, it will be at a manageable level, that we can actually be proud of here in the west.

Lupine and Globemallow cover the ground, due to overpopulation of mustangs, the land has been over-grazed and there are no desirable grasses or feed left in this area.  Fires have passed through here, and without proper management, or reseeding, the results is a somewhat pretty, but very unproductive and useless land.