Below are photos I took while visiting 40 wild horse & burro herd areas in WY, OR, AZ, UT, ID, and CO

Please share the information on this page with your Representative (Member of the House) and Senators.  To combat the Bureau of Land Management's narrative that the 'wild horses are starving and must be removed from the range', we have to convince legislators that it is in fact the livestock that are damaging the range.  If there were no livestock on our public lands, and especially within herd areas, the land and wildlife would be healthy and thriving.  100% of the time wild horses and burros are removed, they are replaced with hundreds to thousands more cattle and sheep.  If there isn't enough food for the horses and burros, how is there enough food for thousands more more cattle and sheep?  Livestock outnumber wild horses 30 to 1 on the range.  Read the new report by PEER here.

Cedar Mountain HMA, UT All those clumps that look like rocks are actually dried cow manure piles. This area is devastated by the presence of livestock. There was an old well present - see other photo - when livestock are put where water is, they will trample and eat everything within a short distance. The rancher is then forced to put water troughs in another location to move the cattle to another area with more forage (that they also eat up and trample on)

Cedar Mountain HMA, UT Cow pies are large in size and dry hard as a rock. When moved, you can see the grasses have been suffocated and nothing will grow.

Cedar Mountain HMA,UT Old downed fenced that has never been cleaned up by the BLM or the ranchers. During the 2022 roundup, wild horses were at risk of running thru and get tangled in this fencing.

Cerbat HMA, AZ Area heavily damaged by the area livestock

Cerbat HMA, AZ

In Utah: on the right is Dead Horse State Park where no cattle are grazed, on the left is public lands where cattle are grazed. Inside Dead Horse State Park we did see several oil platforms.

The Chloride Canyon HMA, UT. A new wide road was put to this area which also had cattle corrals and water troughs. In the photo are cattle manure and hay bale twine the rancher left as garbage.

Conant Creek HMA, WY Cattle surrounding one of the waterholes; they defecate in the water polluting it

A pond in the Conant Creek HMA that the wild horses have to share with the cattle. I watched the horses take a dip in this pond to cool off, but they then went to a much smaller waterhole to drink. The cattle have polluted this larger pond by defecating in it.

This calf is peeing into the water pond I shared in the photo above. Wild horses never do that.

This is something seen on nearly HMA I've been to; cattle guards and poorly constructed fence gates. These gates are closed when the cattle are on the allotments, prohibiting the wild horses from accessing forage and water within all areas of their HMA's.

Sheep damage in the Little Colorado HMA, WY. The wild horses in this HMA are being rounded up starting Oct. 7, 2021

In the Muskrat Basin HMA, WY. This is cattle damage at a pond; it smelled terrible.

Cattle manure in the desert, no native plant life left in the area

The Muddy Creek HMA, UT Nearly all the wild horses from this area have been removed. Local advocates tried providing water to the wild horses and wildlife but the BLM removed the troughs and in retaliation also removed most of the horses. When cattle are not present, the ranchers turn the water troughs over or pull the plugs on the troughs, dumping out the water.

Cedar Mountain HMA, UT Downed fencing that has never been removed or cleaned up by the BLM or the rancher who has that grazing allotment. Grown over by grasses, this fencing is a huge hazard to the wild horses and widllife.

The Four Mile HMA, UT Hundreds of cattle were grazing all along the road in the HMA. This was near a cattle water trough and garbage the rancher or BLM had left lying around, see the photo below

In the Four Mile HMA, UT right next to the photo above

Just east of the Chloride Canyon HMA on public lands, a huge machine was mowing down the sage bushes and native plant life. See the photo below for what it looks like when it hasn't been mowed. The BLM and ranchers mow this way so they can plant grass seeds the cattle prefer to eat. No native small wildlife can survive on land like this: sage grouse, birds, ground squirrels, badgers and more are driven from their homes

Across the gravel road from the photo above, healthier public land that hasn't been mowed to the ground.

Chloride Canyon HMA, UT The cattle have decimated the land. I couldn't find any wild horses, only cows, campsites, and OHV trails. The 30 or so wild horses left in this HMA were confined to a much smaller area of the HMA to the west. The rancher has put up a gate and private property sign on the public road, opened the gate the HMA so his cattle could eat, then asked the Cedar City BLM office to remove the 30 horses left who were drinking water from the troughs. This HMA is being zeroed out and a 'land use' plan drafted up.

There are signs on the nearby highway directing people to this lake that is within the Dishpan Butte HMA. The lake was fenced off from the HMA and filled with cattle.

A dry waterbed in the Fifteenmile HMA, WY

Sheep damage in the Little Colorado HMA, WY. This was located next to a water trough that was piped in from a small building. The water was turned off. There were bullet casings on the ground nearby.

The windmill is used to pull water from a well for the cattle; you can see how the cattle have trampled all the sage brush in a large circle around the water trough

I spoke to the rancher at this HMA, North HIls, (who followed me and asked me if I was lost - I was not lost); I counted over 100 cows who were dropping calves. The rancher said he was getting ready to bring his sheep in as well. There are less than 25 wild horses left in this HMA. The HMA is cross-fenced with closed gates. The only water source is the trough the rancher brings water to; he said the BLM had no water to provide to him.

All of the native grasses that used to be between these sage bushes are gone. This is devastating for local wildlife such as sage grouse and birds

Nearby to the former Robbers Roost HMA and to the Sinbad HMA in UT. The wild horses in this area were mostly removed leaving a few behind; a BLM document states any wild horses left behind would die of thirst since they couldn't reach the only natural water source in the area which was in a canyon. The area is a desert filled with cattle. A dead cow was just to the left of where this photo was taken.

This is a desert area, cattle were nearby. What are they eating? Cattle are not native to North America and are meant to graze in lush landscapes

Fresh cow manure splatted out across the ground. The plants under the cow manure will die; cow manure dries hard like a rock and suffocates any plant life underneath.

In the former Canyon Lands HMA, UT A dry waterhole decimated by cattle.

This water tank was turned off; I witnessed a small band of wild horses trying to drink the remaining water by nervously putting their heads through the bars. Within a week the water was gone. Nearby cattle guards and closed gates prohibited the horses from accessing other water sources.

A rancher moving his cattle in the Muddy Creek HMA, UT This area was huge and could fit both cattle and wild horses in it, but the horses had no access to this area while I was there with cattle guards and closed fence gates blocking their way.

When the cattle are not nearby the water troughs are empty. Part of on-range management planning for our wild horses and burros should be providing water at all time when the cattle have drank the water ponds dry.

The plant life in many areas of the Sulpher HMA have been decimated, you can see the cattle manure spread all over this area.

Only sand in between the small bushes. Cattle nearby, what were they eating? There was also a new well being put in by/for the rancher. A small band of Sulpher wild horses were fenced into a nearby area with no access to additional forage or water.

Cattle are trampling the plant life and sand dunes. Any desert wildlife left here are suffering.

Nearly all of the Muddy Creek wild horses have been removed from this HMA at the insistence of the grazing allotment 'owners'

Troughs supplied only for cattle, the surrounding ground has been decimated by the cattle

Muddy Creek HMA, UT A dry waterhole filled with cattle hoof prints and manure

A couple hundred cattle were nearby to this photo; this area has been completely decimated by cattle.

This is the Sinbad burro HMA in UT; the burros herd was almost entirely removed a couple years ago, and this year the BLM went in and removed the rest of them. Pictured is a water truck providing water to nearby cattle.

Swassey HMA, UT Sheep and cattle droppings.

The sheep ranchers dog guarding the dead sheep in the Swassey HMA, UT. The rancher knowingly abandoned the dog but he is legally allowed to do so. Anyone who removes the dog to offer it safety can be arrested.

Swassey HMA, UT When ranchers remove the cattle, they turn over the water troughs dumping out any remaining water. They also leave any protein or salt tubs behind.

Cattle manure in the McCullough Peaks HMA, WY.

The same cattle manure as in the photo above; these dry hard as rocks in the summer sun suffocating any plant life underneath forever.

The Muddy Creek HMA near a campground by Interstate 70. Horses are very scared of ATV's and OHV's; there are many stated cases of the off-road vehicles chasing horses and burros for 'fun'.

Most of the Swassey wild horses were rounded not too long ago. This area is huge and filled with grassy valleys, more than enough to sustain a viable wild horse herd. Yet cattle graze here in the hundreds and damage the landscape.

A dead sheep in the Swassey HMA, UT. A ranchers dog was still guarding the sheep. A local business told me they had contacted the rancher who didn't care about the dog or the sheep. The dog was starving but wouldn't leave the sheep's area. I gave him food. Sheep rancher's dogs are considered livestock by law in UT and they can abandon them or kill them anytime. The employees at the business were feeding the dog every morning and a nearby spring had water in it.

Sheep and cattle droppings and damage in the Swassey HMA, UT

This is a typical scene on our public lands when water troughs have been placed in an area for cattle. Nothing is left, all the native plants trampled and killed by the cattle. All that is left are cow manure piles and dirt.

Cow carcass in the Swassey HMA, UT

Cattle damage in the McCullough Peaks HMA, WY, taken on one of the grazing allotments within the herd area

Cattle damage in the McCullough Peaks HMA, WY

Cattle manure and range damage by livestock in the McCullough Peaks HMA, WY