Coverage of El Rito Horse Roundup in Carson National Forest falls short

I was very interested in the spirit of the coverage of this story and felt that you did not present the entire story.  I am a member of WHOA, the Wild Horse Observers Association of Placitas and our group is very interested in preserving and protecting the wild horses of New Mexico which belong to the public at large.  The actual facts of this case are as follows:

The Forest Service never substantiated the actual count of how many horses were in the national forest.  The story says that rough terrain and thick woods prevented capture of more horses.  In actuality, there are not that many horses out there to be captured.    Patience O'Dowd also convinced several politicians to ask for a stay.  The Director of the Forest Service denied hearing the request for a stay.  In addition, the cattle and beef industry really wants to remove the horses so they can get more cows on to PUBLIC LAND, at the cost of $1.37 per cow.  So, the state pays 30 thousand dollars to remove a few wild horses (who are protected by the 1971 wild horse and burro act) to make room for more cows at 1.37 a head.  That's a deficit of only 19,509 dollars that the taxpayers spent to remove a few horses to make room for the cows to graze on our land!  This is a scandal and a disgrace that should be investigated.  

May I kindly suggest that you thoroughly investigate this story and present the facts to the public as there is tremendous interest in preserving the wild horse population (which is dwindling year after year).  Any user of the national forest would tell you that they'd rather see a few horses galloping free in the mountains than several hundred cows grazing the land down to nubs and deficating in the water.  Having hiked this area extensively I can tell you that avoiding cow droppings and seeing them deficate in the streams and valleys is a sad site indeed.  Why make room for big beef at the expense of a New Mexican TREASURE?  Think about it.....the cattle ranchers pay the state $1.37 a head for cattle.  So to make more room for cattle, their plan is to remove the horses since there are limits as to how many animals can occupy the land.  Does that sound fair to you?  Also, it is foaling season.  To traumatized these horses by using helicopters and cowboys with ropes and pens is inhumane and outrageous.

I ask for a balanced and fair portrayal of what's really happening.  Your reporter did a very poor job of presenting the facts to the viewers.

John Colang
Placitas, New Mexico

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Last modified: 04/25/08