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37 Most people would have been satisfied with a series of county ordinances and a state law on behalf of the wild horses. As Velma “Wild Horse Annie” Johnston recognized, though, most wild horses and burros roamed on federal land, outside the jurisdiction of county and state officials, and she knew the Nevada ordinances and law were just a “foot in the door.” Range-management issues and wild horse and burro protection were more complex on a federal level. Throughout the years 1950 to 1955, Annie’s introduction to the wild horse controversy involved civil discourse among her neighbors on county and state levels. The Nevada newspapers were gentle to this compassionate local horsewoman ; her propensity for flawless documentation earned respect among the staid journalists. With the move to a national stage, Annie faced new opponents who did not like wild horses as well as well-intentioned advocates who brought their own personal and organizational agendas to the debate. Roundups on federal land were legal under the Taylor Grazing Act. Applications filed with the county commissioners were published as public notices in small-town newspapers. The formality was usually overlooked except by Annie’s growing posse of outfielders who carefully read the local papers, sometimes monitored the roundups, or inventoried the condition of the gathered wild horses in local holding areas or stockyards. Not all opposed the roundups on federal land. While some of the stockmen of Joe Bronn’s generation expressed concern that their heritage as ranchers was being tarnished by the actions of exploiters of the public lands, to these gentlemen there were also philosophical gray areas to the debate over the economic value of the wild horses versus the benefits of their roaming on public land. Ranchers described how wild horses “paw” the edge of the water holes, making pools of water from the mud created by other aniTHE FINAL DAYS OF LEGAL MUSTANGING 3 38 | W I L D H O R S E A N N I E mals that only wallow in the water hole. During the winter, wild horses were seen exposing sparse vegetation that was under the snow or breaking ice to open frozen water holes. Moreover, because the horse’s digestive system is incomplete, grass seed consumed by the horse passed unharmed through the animal and was deposited along with natural fertilizer, effectively reseeding the public rangeland.1 In other livestock, the digestive system destroys the grass seed. Annie was initially open to discussions about alternative management of the wild horses. Only if legitimate and accurate scientific range management indicated the horses, burros, or livestock were doing long-term damage to the rangeland would she consider that wild horse (and livestock) reductions be implemented. In a conversation with Walter Whitacre, chairman of the Nevada Public Morals Committee, she temporarily acquiesced that excess horses should be dispersed by the same government wildlife agencies that had successfully controlled the deer population in the state. If that meant shooting some of the horses, at least it would be more humane than using motorized vehicles to chase the horses. “I have never advocated a completely ‘hands-off’ program,” Annie explained, “for I realize that in time the numbers might possibly increase to their own detriment insofar as their physical condition is concerned, and an over-abundance of anything is not good.”2 She went on to state that the ranges must also be carefully managed. Annie said the public would be more understanding if range clearance of wild horses, cattle, and sheep was done for the purpose of rangeland preservation and only if it was supervised, humanely carried out, and intelligently planned. Instead, she said, it was being done at minimal expense through what Annie believed was inhumane private commercial exploitation. To Wild Horse Annie, that was the line drawn on the prairie that established her federal campaign. Since livestock owners and the government land managers were not willing to recognize their responsibility for range management, she took that option off the table, and it was never raised again. with only anecdotal information available about the quantity of wild horses roaming the public lands, Wild Horse Annie needed to establish a baseline of population information. Earl Thomas, acting director of the Bureau of Land Management, provided her with an updated estimate of wild horse numbers in 1958. After canvassing the blm’s fifty-nine grazing units, Thomas estimated twenty thousand head of “unclaimed and abandoned” [3.17.150.89] Project MUSE (2024-04-25 00...

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