My Page: Jane Blume
Don’t Slaughter America’s Wild Horses: Let Them Help Improve Land InsteadWe don’t have to slaughter America’s wild horses because their herds are supposedly too large; horses can actually help us improve lands that are suffering from drought.
Over more than two decades, our organization (Holistic Management International, www.holisticmanagement.org) has accumulated considerable evidence that managed grazing produces dramatic results on the land.
If the BLM were willing to invest some resources to let wild horses graze on the land under controlled conditions...
1. The horses and other wildlife could live solely on the plants that grow there.
2. The BLM won’t have to spend so much money ($21 million in 2007) feeding the horses...
3. The plant roots will absorb carbon that might otherwise go into the atmosphere...
4. The areas that receive less rainfall will absorb more water.
5. Wildlife will be able to rely on replenished resources for their watering needs.
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“Our Defining Moment” on Climate Change: Pay Attention to Soil Healthby Peter Holter, Executive Director, Holistic Management International, www.holisticmanagement.org
Two prominent scientists, NASA's Jim Hansen and India's Rajendra Pachauri, are sounding the alarm that we are in a “defining moment” to reduce carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere to combat global warming. I couldn't agree more.
It’s certainly a “defining moment” for people in sub-Saharan Africa, where soil loss and desertification have led to widespread hunger and malnutrition; and the population can no longer be sustained. And many other examples could be cited.
Holistic Management practitioners working on over 30 million acres worldwide have given a lot of thought to desertification, global warming and climate change; and we’ve realized that it’s critical to get people to understand (especially if they live in urban or suburban areas) that it is our soils --- the dirt --- that provide everything it takes for us to survive.
If we want to combat global warming by reducing carbon dioxide emissions, then we need to make some important changes in how we manage land.
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