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Safari Club International Foundation is proud to be a part of the recently released short film Horse Rich and Dirt Poor. This film highlights the challenges of managing the approximately 80,000 wild mustangs that roam rangelands in the western United States. While the film focuses on Nevada, which has the largest population of wild horses, issues related to these feral animals extend across the west from Arizona to Alberta. Horses are often perceived as symbols of the western landscape, but they are nonnative species that can severely affect native rangelands as well as native wildlife species that include desert mule deer, bighorn sheep, elk, and sage grouse. Many exist on public lands, and land management agencies like the U.S.D.A. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lack the flexibility and resources to adequately manage horse and burro populations effectively. Filmmakers Charles Post and Ben Masters have captured the essence of the controversy surrounding wild horse and burros and provide hope that solutions will be found in the future. The Sacramento and Northern Nevada Chapters of SCI and SCIF join numerous conservation organizations in supporting this film and efforts to manage our western rangelands to benefit wildlife.
Horse Rich and Dirt Poor is available for viewing through the Wildlife Society at https://wildlife.org/horse-rich-dirt-poor