I must object to Andrew Gulliford’s recent article “Scourge of the West” (Herald, Oct. 9) about free roaming horses on public lands in the West and chide the Herald for even publishing it.
Gulliford decries the forage destruction and water consumption of 79,000 wild horses while over 2 million commercial livestock trample and devour the very same Western public lands. These privately owned livestock are allocated 97% of the forage on federal public lands. Is his article not just a blatant lobby for a business?
Most people will never forget the first time they saw a herd of horses, running free on open land, not confined to a tight corral. An inspiring and uplifting sight. This scene represents the freedom and wildness, albeit a token reminder, of what the West once was. It should be preserved, not maligned.
Mike Mays
Durango
