Jim Bagwell: Hand management of wild horses back to the ranchers

For years the wild horse issue has been contentious at best. But now it is reported that horses gathered in the Calico Mountains have been mistreated at a holding facility near Fallon.

For the better part of 40 years I have watched the so-called wild horse issue as it started, developed and now has come full circle to where we are now. This issue is like any other that we ask government to take responsibility for. It has become entangled in bureaucracy, exceeded projected budgets, and failed to fix the problem.

When I was growing up here in western Nevada you could find wild horses and burros, but you might spend a little time looking for them. Now they are easy to find, but their existence borders on starvation. Quite literally the horse is eating itself out of house and home. The rangeland is in poor shape due to a number of factors, and a major player is the horse.

Having lived in Nevada for my entire 63 years I have a soft spot in my heart for the horse. As a child, I knew that the rancher managed the wild horses. They introduced new animals to keep the gene pool viable and captured and sold excess animals to keep the population in check. At that time the horse was a majestic animal standing tall, alert, with flowing manes and tail. Now they are diseased, have dull coats, and have heads appearing too big for their stunted bodies.

Since the government was basically forced to manage the horse, its population has exploded. The problem is the horse is not native to the Great Basin and no natural predator exists to balance nature. Mountain lions may take a young, sick or old animal, but not in significant numbers.

The important question is, "What do you do when the horse propagates to and beyond the carrying capacity of the range it occupies?" If we do not find a realistic solution to the problem, nature will temporarily solve it for us, and it will seem cruel as we watch a major portion of the herd die from disease or starvation.

My solution is to re-introduce the rancher to the mix, allowing him to gather excess animals and sell them to offset his costs. We do not need expensive holding facilities. This is an issue that we need to take the emotion out of so reasonable individuals can reach an agreement that actually manages the problem without creating new ones.

• Jim Bagwell of Carson City is a Vietnam veteran and graduate of the FBI National Academy who worked 31 years in law enforcement. He and his wife Lori own Charley's Grilled Subs.