Christina Galbraith - Managers and Fetishers and Wild Horses

 Following Sydney's presentation today, I continued to reflect on Planet Fetishers and Planet Managers. Eisenburg makes it clear that he believes that neither are right, and I agree with him. The example of wild horse herds out in the western United States illustrates the clash of these two approaches to nature. Horses were introduced to North America by the Spanish conquistadors (think Misty of Chingoteague but also in the south U.S. too!) and have lived here since then. Through the years adaptation has created one of the most hardy breeds in the world, and different Herd Management Areas (HMAs) managed by the BLM have herds with specific characteristics relevant to their environments. For example, many herds in Wyoming and Utah have draftier builds since many of the existing wild herds crossed with draft horses released by farmers during the 1930s when the Dust Bowl struck many US prairies. Each HMA has an Appropriate Management Level (AML) based upon the number of horses, other species in that HMA, and the resources available. The problem is that most HMAs are above their AML which means the horses and other animals in that ecosystem risk starvation. Since the horses are an invasive species there are many questions about how to manage their numbers. The most popular is annual round ups and putting wild horses up for adoption. But not many people want to adopt a wild animal. Another proposed solution is hunting, but not many people are comfortable with the idea of hunting horses. The BLM also uses birth control shots on wild mares to curtail the number of new foals each year, but again this solution does not always work and has its issues. Many people oppose any intervention with the horse herds, arguing that they should be allowed to be free, but allowing so many animals to starve is cruel. On the other hand many ranchers push the BLM to round up more horses to make more land available to graze their cattle on. Here we see Fetishers and Managers. I personally believe a balance should be struck, because like it or not the horses are there and unique breeds have adapted to their landscapes and to leave so many animals and an ecosystem to ruin would have incredibly detrimental effects to nature. Rather than Managers and Fetishers, I feel a more stewardship role should be taken up. I recognize that management and stewardship are very similar, but based upon my own understanding a key difference is that stewardship is more direct involvement in the care of something.