<\/p>\n
On deadline day for public input, nearly 9,000 citizens sent letters demanding protection for horses roaming Mesa Verde National Park, which wildlife officials say are trespassing and damaging a significant archaeological site.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe horses of Mesa Verde National Park are part of the area\u2019s natural landscape and history,\u201d Deniz Bolbol, program director at American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, said in a news release Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have been present on those lands since before the park was created in 1906. We urge the Mesa Verde National Park to create a humane management plan for the horses that will preserve this unique and historic herd and protect their free-roaming behaviors, while managing their numbers through the use of humane, safe, and reversible fertility control.\u201d<\/p>\n
In December, The Journal reported that Mesa Verde park rangers were asking for the public\u2019s suggestions on how to handle a band of 80 horses and 12 head of cattle at the park, about an hour\u2019s drive west of Durango.<\/p>\n
Under law, the animals are considered \u201ctrespass livestock\u201d and were banned two years after Mesa Verde received the presidential designation in 1906 to protect what is considered some of the best preserved ancestral Puebloan ruins in the United States.<\/p>\n
Cristy Brown, a public information officer for the park service, said last month the escaped livestock has damaged important archaeological sites, drained resources for indigenous species and pose a risk to visitors.<\/p>\n
Because the animals eluded domestication long ago, escaping their enclosures and thriving on the arid land, the horses and cattle are legally considered \u201cferal\u201d instead of wild, and therefore do not qualify for certain federal protections.<\/p>\n
That leaves park officials with only one legal option, Brown said, which is to remove the animals.<\/p>\n
On Jan. 8, the wild horse preservation campaign submitted 8,982 letters on behalf citizens who would like to see the \u201chistoric herd\u201d of horses remain on the land, and their numbers humanely managed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Mesa Verde horses are an important natural and historic resource in our area,\u201d Durango resident Kate Feldman wrote. \u201cI and many other local citizens value this beautiful wild horse population and urge the National Park Service to protect these horses, not eradicate them.\u201d<\/p>\n
That not being a viable option under current policy, David Temple, president of the National Mustang Association of Colorado, wrote that the removal of the horses should be done in phases, instead of all at once.<\/p>\n
Temple suggested using bait traps to limit the horses\u2019 trauma, and leaving the animals on-site for holding and processing. He recommended organizing adoptions for the captured horses, and planting vaccines throughout the park to sterilize remaining bands on the land.<\/p>\n
Brown did not respond to a call for comment. The public input portion is the second step in a nine-part process to decide how to handle the trespassing animals.<\/p>\n
The herd became the center of controversy last year when six horses died from dehydration-related causes, sparking protests at the park when rangers refused to provide the animals water \u2013 standard protocol for wildlife management on federal lands.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe No Action alternative is undesirable. Something needs to be done regarding these wild horses,\u201d Temple wrote. \u201cMaking water available could help protect more sensitive areas by drawing horses away from (archaeological sites). Detrimental publicity generated by any horses dying of dehydration, starvation or other deprivation will greatly interfere with any removal program.\u201d<\/p>\n
The same concern was not shown to the fugitive bovines that dully graze at Mesa Verde, as far as documents released by the horse preservation campaign are concerned.<\/p>\n
However, Dustin Stein, \u201clow man on the totem pole\u201d at Stubborn Farm and Burk Beef in Mancos, had his own idea in a comment on The Herald\u2019s Dec. 9 article.<\/p>\n
\u201cRound them up,\u201d he posted. \u201cI\u2019d be more than happy to take them to auction.\u201d<\/p>\n