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Abstract
Wild horses (Equus caballus) and wild burros (E. asinus), like domestic livestock, can alter sagebrush ecosystem structure and composition and affect habitat quality for sagebrush dependent species (Beever and Aldridge 2011). The presence of Federally protected wild horses and wild burros can also have substantial effects on the capacity for habitat restoration efforts to achieve conservation and restoration goals. In the Conservation Objectives Team Report (USDOI FWS 2013), the presence of wild horses and burros was considered a threat to Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter, GRSG) habitat quality, particularly in the sage-grouse’s western range (USDOI FWS 2013). Four years after the Conservation Objectives Team Report was published, wild horse population sizes on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service lands have almost doubled (USDOI BLM 2017).
Parent Publication
Keywords
sagebrush habitat,
Greater sage-grouse,
resilience,
resistance,
conservation,
restoration,
monitoring,
adaptive management,
climate adaptation,
wildfire,
nonnative invasive plants,
National Seed Strategy,
livestock grazing,
wild horses and burros
Citation
Griffin, Paul; Bybee, Jared; Woodward, Hope; Collins, Gail; Hennig, Jacob D.; Chambers, Jeanne C. 2019. Wild horse and burro considerations [Chapter 8]. In: Crist, Michele R.; Chambers, Jeanne C.; Phillips, Susan L.; Prentice, Karen L.; Wiechman, Lief A., eds. Science framework for conservation and restoration of the sagebrush biome: Linking the Department of the Interior’s Integrated Rangeland Fire Management Strategy to long-term strategic conservation actions. Part 2. Management applications. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-389. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 163-188.
