Decades of cooperation threatened

Mustang Center concerned about Pryor Mountain horse management plan

For 57 years, local wild horse advocates have had a close working relationship with the Bureau of Land Management in the ongoing management of the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range.

The Pryor Mountain horses, recognized as being true descendants of Spanish mustangs that were brought to America 500 years ago, were protected starting in 1968 by the formation of the first federally designated wild horse range, and given that status of both the range and the horses, a special kind of management was developed over the course of five decades that has taken into account the blood lines and family lineage of the herd. And that management has included the BLM working closely with those who know the horses best – the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center.

That unique wild horse herd and the specialized management employed to help them thrive -- management practices now threatened under a new plan -- was the theme of a presentation by Mustang Center director Nancy Cerroni at the August 18 membership luncheon of the Lovell Area Chamber of Commerce.

Cerroni gave a PowerPoint presentation during which she keyed on the word “special” – the special nature of the horses, their special role as an economic driver of the local tourist economy, the special relationship between the BLM and Mustang Center and the special management practices the BLM has employed for many years.

Beginning the theme, Cerroni said some local people may not consider the Pryor Mountain horses to be special, rather horses “simply released from area ranches back in the day,” but they are special to many people including 2,190 visitors to the Mustang Center so far this year from 49 states and 17 foreign countries. The center’s Facebook page has more than 31,000 followers, she said.

The range is roughly 40,000 acres in size, and there are a little more than 180 horses on the range, some 130 or so on top of the Pryor Mountains and the rest below in the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Cerroni said, and the horses are descendants of horses that were brought to the Americas in the 16^th century by the Conquistadors and worked their way north. The Crow people started using Spanish horses in this area around 1725, she said.

By blood testing and observation of characteristics, the Pryor Mountain mustangs are considered to be excellent examples of Spanish mustangs, and Cerroni explained the visible characteristics of their colonial Spanish heritage: striping on the legs, a dorsal stripe, wither bars, their short, compact size and unique colors. As far back as 1937, she said, Charles O. Williamson of the U.S. Forest Service spoke of the “genuine little Spanish horses.”

The preservation battle

Cerroni told the history of the efforts to preserve the herd, a process that began when the BLM initiated a campaign in the 1960s to rid the Pryors of the wild horses, arguing that they were “trespassers” illegally using livestock grazing allotments.

Lovell residents, however, saw the value of the mustangs to the local economy and as a legacy herd of wild horses and launched a campaign to save the herd, with the Lovell Chamber of Commerce and the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Association playing lead roles.

“It was the local people that really saved these horses,” Cerroni said. “There were members of Lovell Chamber of Commerce that attended a big meeting in 1966 by the BLM, 30 members from the chamber, and the Lovell chamber organized a historic committee that formed the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Association, which, by the way, was our foundation group for the Mustang Center.”

The effort gained regional, then national attention, with the help of the Lovell Chronicle, Cerroni said, and Congress ended up passing legislation to designate the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, the first federally protected wild horse range in the United States, on September 9, 1968, by Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall.

Cerroni noted that, from the very beginning, local leaders of the effort to preserve the horses such as Rev. Floyd Schwieger of St. John’s Lutheran Church decided to work closely with the BLM in managing the horses rather than taking an adversarial position. Schwieger and BLM horse range manager Lynn Taylor started keeping detailed records, including photos, of individual horses and bands.

And, thus, was born more than 50 years of collaboration and specialized management of the herd with input from the Wild Mustang Center. Specialized management has included recognizing and protecting the horses’ colonial Spanish heritage, keeping the herd population at an average of 150 horses to maintain genetic diversity and using Wild Mustang Center data to help make decisions.

Cerroni pointed out that the area is a designated wild horse “range” – an area managed principally but not exclusively for wild horses. Such a designation means that there is no livestock grazing within the boundaries of the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range and, thus, no conflict with livestock.

Tourism

The Pryor Mountain mustangs are an important part of the Lovell area tourism economy, Cerroni told the chamber members.

“The horses are important and special to Lovell area tourism and the economy,” she said.  “They are one way that helps make this area distinctive and unique. We are the gateway city to the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range. It greatly impacts the state and Lovell’s economy and tourism. Thousands from the state, the nation and internationally come to Lovell just for the hope and opportunity to get the chance to see a Pryor Mountain mustang each year. The wild horses bring people to the area, which benefits our businesses and our tourism economy.”

Cerroni passed out a report from a post on Facebook the Mustang Center posted on July 31 asking for comment about Lovell. A week after the post, the message had reached 8,845 people and received 290 reactions, 50 comments and 40 shares. There were 34 emails and messages that gave specific details about the community of Lovell.

Respondents were from 15 states besides Wyoming and four foreign countries: Australia, Belgium, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Among the responses:

• From Colorado: “We absolutely love Lovell. We love the people, and the businesses are all so friendly. I think it’s great that you promote the horses, and I love that your welcome sign has a horse on it.”

• From Atlanta and Belgium: “We planned the Pryor Mountain wild horses as one of the first things in our trip, including Yellowstone and Grand Teton. And even yesterday I was explaining to someone that the horses were the highlight of our vacation.”

• From Hawaii: “The mustang range and the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center are incredible assets of the Lovell area and inspire many people, including ourselves, to visit again and again.”

• From Texas: “My wife and I have visited the Pryor Mountain mustangs four years straight. We love this area. Thank you for the opportunity to view such magnificent creatures.”

• From New Zealand: “The Pryor Mountain wild mustangs put Lovell on the world map for us, and Lovell now has a place in our hearts, even though we are so far away. I just asked my young daughter what her memories of Lovell are, and she said, ‘that the horses are really beautiful and I really love them.’”

Management

After many decades of cooperation and a close working relationship with the BLM Billings Field Office in the management of the horse range, the BLM has done an about face this year to move away from the specialized management of the horses under the new management plan for the horses and range, Cerroni said, no longer taking input from the Wild Mustang Center and, thus, moving away from the practice of closely following blood lines in future horse gathers and also drastically reducing the size of the herd to a level that eventually would not be genetically viable.

“They are not taking any input from us, and it essentially has ended the longtime collaborative efforts with the Mustang Center, which go back to the days of 1966,” Cerroni explained. “The plan would reduce the herd size to 108, which is the low end of the population range. Right now the population is 184, which is high, I agree. But please keep in mind that about two years ago the population was right around 210, and without (human) management the population is reducing itself because of mountain lions. The mountain lions have just devastated the past three foal crops. So management is happening without intervention from humans.

“The new plan would require a series of removals using a random selection process based on age and gender, with no management plans to preserve the Colonial Spanish traits. So rather than using careful selection based on the huge record that we have and we have willingly shared with them, they just want to do a random gathering.”

The concern Cerroni has with a severe reduction to the 108 range using a random selection process without input from the Center is whether a much lower population would carry on the Colonial Spanish heritage with no mitigating factors to preserve that heritage. And she also worries whether the population would be large enough to maintain genetic diversity in general.

She also worries whether a much smaller herd and less diversity would decrease the unique qualities of the herd to where they become “just another herd of wild horses” and whether that status would impact visitation.

“People come here because they want to see the Pryor horse,” Cerroni said. “They want to see one that looks like that little short, stocky thing. It’s a story. It’s a horse of history. … How will the reduction in the herd size affect visibility of the horses and, thus, cause a reduction in visitation? It certainly could do that.”

Wrapping up, Cerroni asked the gathered chamber of commerce members to be a voice of support for Mustang Country and the Pryor Mountain horses. As the Mustang Center reaches the point of appealing the new plan after the BLM issues a decision notice, she asked members to be engaged in the process, noting, “We would love to have some letters to describe how the Pryor horses contribute either to your business or the local economy. … Cameron (Miller, chamber president) would do one for the chamber, but if there’s individual businesses, it would be really helpful, too.”

Lovell Area Chamber manager Linda Morrison said the Pryor Mountain horses are part of what she calls “the whole package.” Individually, she said, the Big Horn Mountains, the Big Horn Canyon and the Pryor Mountain wild mustangs are great, but the real impact is in the entirety of the area. She said some German visitors recently spent four days in Lovell, “and they’ve done it all, and they love it,” she said.

Chamber president Miller said Cerroni has put together a small committee to work on the issue, and if anyone is interested in serving, they can contact Cerroni at the Mustang Center (307-548-6453) or Morrison at the chamber (307-548-7552).