Framing Contemporary U.S. Wild Horse and Burro Management Processes in a Dynamic Ecological, Sociological, and Political Environment

The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act (WFRHBA) of 1971 established all “unbranded or unclaimed” equids on U.S. public lands as “living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West.” Today, \u3e72,000 feral horses (Equus ferus caballus) and burros (E . asinus ; WHB) live on western U.S. public rangelands. The number of WHBs exceeds the Bureau of Land Management’s maximum Appropriate Management Level (AML) of 26,715 by a factor of approximately 2.7 and has nearly doubled from 2007–2015. The AML was set to balance WHB numbers with rangeland health and support other uses such as wildlife habitat and livestock grazing. Thus, public land management agencies must manage WHB under the multiple-use context. This becomes more problematic when WHB populations go largely unmanaged and excessive equid grazing negatively impacts rangeland vegetation, native wildlife, and livestock forage. In addition, approximately 46,000 WHBs exist in off -range holding facilities, further straining federal budgets. Contemporary management actions are being constrained by: (1) litigation that has stymied federal government WFRHBA enforcement eff orts, (2) public emotional concerns that lack reconciliation with the current situation, and (3) increasing complexity in the laws and subsequent amendments shaping WHB management policy. Collectively, these factors impede the implementation of concrete solutions to restore AML. Consequently, stakeholders are increasing polarized over how WHBs are or should be managed. While the ecological and animal health and welfare implications of unmanaged WHB populations are somewhat understood, publicly acceptable strategies to maintain healthy populations, healthy and functioning rangelands, and multiple uses that sustain wildlife and local communities remain unresolved

Spatial Ecology Observations From Feral Horses Equipped With Global Positioning System Transmitters

Our understanding of the spatial ecology of feral horses (Equus ferus caballus ) and burros (E . asinus ) in the United States is limited. Robust location data are needed to better understand the permeability of Bureau of Land Management Herd Management Area boundaries, relative to feral horse movement patterns and home ranges. To increase our understanding of feral horse movement, in February to March 2017, we deployed global positioning system (GPS) collars on 14 females ≥5 years old that were captured in the Adobe Town Herd Management Area (ATHMA) of southcentral Wyoming, USA. Herein, we report initial results from movement data collected during summer (May 15 to September 15) 2017 for 9 horses. We limited our focus to these 9 horses because we received at least 2 months of continuous GPS location data from them during summer 2017. Feral horse daily movement distances averaged 9.0 km (SE = 0.3), and mean summer total home range size was 40.4 km2 (SE = 6.7). Of GPS location fixes obtained, 44.9% were outside ATHMA and 10.8% were on private land. Our results highlight the types of data that GPS collars can provide and illustrate the difficulties of managing free-roaming species such as horses and burros on landscapes with heterogeneous sociopolitical patterns. Expanded use of such technology on feral horses and burros in the United States will yield greater insight on spatial complexities constraining management

Burn plan for prescribed burning

The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service periodically issues revisions to its publications. The most current edition is made available. For access to an earlier edition, if available for this title, please contact the Oklahoma State University Library Archives by email at [email protected] or by phone at 405-744-6311

Wildfire: Preparing the ranch and farm

The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service periodically issues revisions to its publications. The most current edition is made available. For access to an earlier edition, if available for this title, please contact the Oklahoma State University Library Archives by email at [email protected] or by phone at 405-744-6311

Oklahoma prescribed burning handbook

The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service periodically issues revisions to its publications. The most current edition is made available. For access to an earlier edition, if available for this title, please contact the Oklahoma State University Library Archives by email at [email protected] or by phone at 405-744-6311

Forum: Critical Decision Dates for Drought Management in Centraland Northern Great Plains Rangeland

Ranchers and other land managers of central and northern Great Plains rangelands face recurrent droughts that negatively influence economic returns and environmental resources for ranching enterprises. Accurately estimating annual forage production and initiating drought decision-making actions proactively early in the growing season are both critical to minimize financial losses and degradation to rangeland soil and plant resources. Long-term forage production data sets from Alberta, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming demonstrated that precipitation in April, May, and June (or some combination of these months) robustly predict annual forage production. Growth curves from clipping experiments and ecological site descriptions (ESDs) indicate that maximum monthly forage growth rates occur 1 mo after the best spring month (April to June) precipitation prediction variable. Key for rangeland managers is that the probability of receiving sufficient precipitation after 1 July to compensate for earlier spring precipitation deficits is extremely low. The complexity of human dimensions of drought decision-making necessitates that forage prediction tools account for uncertainty in matching animal demand to forage availability, and that continued advancements in remote sensing applications address both spatial and temporal relationships in forage production to inform critical decision dates for drought management in these rangeland ecosystems

Prescribed fire: Understanding liability, laws and risk

The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service periodically issues revisions to its publications. The most current edition is made available. For access to an earlier edition, if available for this title, please contact the Oklahoma State University Library Archives by email at [email protected] or by phone at 405-744-6311

Resource Selection of Free-ranging Horses Influenced by Fire in Northern Canada

Free-ranging or feral horses (Equus ferus caballus) were important to the livelihood of First Nations and indigenous communities in Canada. The early inhabitants of the boreal region of British Columbia (BC) capitalized on naturally occurring wildfires and anthropogenic burning to provide forage for free-ranging horses and manage habitat for wildlife. This form of pyric herbivory, or grazing driven by fi re via the attraction to the palatable vegetation in recently burned areas, is an evolutionary disturbance process that occurs globally. However, its application to manage forage availability for free-ranging horses has not been studied in northern Canada. Across Canada, there are varying levels of governance for feral and free-ranging horses depending on the provincial jurisdiction and associated legislation. The BC Range Act (Act) allows range tenure holders to free-range horses that they own for commercial operations on Crown land. Big-game guide outfitters as range tenure holders are provided grazing licences or grazing permits under the Act with an approved range use plan. Guide outfitters and other range tenure holders have incorporated fi re ecology as part of their rangeland management in mountainous portions of the boreal forest of northeastern BC to promote mosaics of vegetation height and species composition across the landscape to meet nutritional requirements of their free-ranging horses. Using resource selection function models, we evaluated the influence of pyric herbivory on boreal vegetation and use by horse herds occupying 4 distinct landscapes. We found that horses preferentially selected recently burned areas and areas that burned more frequently when they were available. We also found that horses avoided steep slopes and forest cover types. Fire and the ecological processes associated with it, including pyric herbivory, are important considerations when managing boreal rangelands in northeastern BC. Because historical fi re regimes of the boreal region of Canada differ from the arid regions of the United States inhabited by feral horses, the role of pyric herbivory in altering horse distributions in the United States is limited

Participant motivations for the Wyoming Prescribed Fire Council (PFC): Emergence from a regional void

Prescribed Fire Councils (PFCs) are different than Prescribed Burn Associations. A regional void of PFCs exists in the northern Rockies and northern Great Plains. • We interviewed 14 founding members of the Wyoming PFC to understand their motivations. Three themes were identified: 1) collaboration, 2) constraints, and 3) public perceptions. There is a need for cross-boundary engagement and strategies for dealing with narrow burn windows.The Rangelands archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] for further information

Setting the Land Ablaze: Rancher Perceptions and Experience with Wildfire May Not be a Deterrent to Prescribed Burning on U.S. Central Rocky Mountain Rangelands

Fire is an inherent disturbance in western North American ecosystems, but wildfire mitigation and prescribed fire application is complicated by human social perspectives and behaviors. Given the variability of rancher use of fire within and across regions of the United States, we interviewed thirty-three ranchers in U.S. Central Rocky Mountain (CRM; Montana, Wyoming, Colorado) rangelands to understand how wildfire experiences and perceptions are related with rancher willingness to utilize prescribed fire. Results indicate rancher willingness to utilize prescribed fire in rangeland ecosystems may not be explained by rancher perceptions and experience with wildfire. Specifically, CRM rancher willingness to utilize prescribed fire may not be constrained by wildfire experiences [which was statistically similar between burner (n = 12) and non-burner (n = 21) orientations; all p-values > 0.05] regardless of wildfire proximity (on the ranch or nearby) and may be enhanced by their perceived benefits of wildfires