Wildfire Problems, Wild Horse Solutions

Wildfires increasingly plague the inland Northwest each summer. Not only does this destroy homes, land, and affect air quality, in 2018 alone it cost Washington state $173,685,041 in damages (USDA Forest Service, 2018). The fire season continues to increase with warmer temperatures earlier in the season and draught being a common occurrence each summer. This allows fuels to dry out, which are also increasing due to the continuing expansion of invasive grasses such as cheatgrass. This causes millions of acres of land to become prime flammable areas. Although the very wet and cold winters of the region do help some, they more often cause an overgrowth of vegetation in the spring which then dries out and adds to the fuel later in the season. Of course, climate change is one of the most common explanations for this, but fire policy is another. The way that this is managed has not caused an increase in the number of fires, but an increase in fire intensity and acres burnt (Ward, 2018).

Due to the cost of fire suppression, which reached up to 2 billion dollars nationwide in 2017, funds normally used to reduce these fires are often unavailable. These methods include, but are not limited to, insect control, prescribed burns, and tree thinning. The cost of controlling fires has increased from 15% of the Forest Service budget to 55% (Ward, 2018). Besides the economic impact, it destroys natural areas, homes, lives, and causes the air quality to become so low that advisories are put in place to stay inside throughout most of August, and sometimes even as early as July.

One possible strategy to aid in prevention is the use of grazing animals. Targeted grazing has gained popularity in rangeland management over recent years. It can be used to exert pressure on certain species or areas based on the timing and frequency of grazing. Additionally, the trampling that accompanies it can achieve goals for defoliation to achieve management objectives. Targeted grazing utilizes plant ecology, livestock nutrition, and livestock foraging behavior as an integrative management tool (Bailey, 2019). As animals eat down the vegetation, before or after it has become dry, fuels that have accumulated are also reduced. However, before the fire season has hit is when vegetation is most nutritious for grazing animals which is also most beneficial for fuel reduction. By doing this, fire intensity will be reduced if there is a wildfire which allows the ecological impact to be less severe (Taylor, 2006).

One possible solution worth exploring would be to use horses that are either unadoptable or at rescue centers with limited resources. Mustangs are constantly being captured and auctioned by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to keep their population within the environment’s maximum capacity, but often have a hard time being adopted due to the risk involved in training a wild horse. These horses often are placed in holding pens instead. As of March 2019, the BLM even offers a $1000 incentive to adopt a mustang to offset the continual cost of caring for the horses that are not adopted (Bureau of Land Management, 2019). Therefore, the use of these horses would give them a temporary home for part of the year while decreasing feeding expenses for those responsible for their care and providing an essential service that will help the fire ecology of the area. Horse rescue centers and BLM holding facilities will be able to regrow pastures and save money on hay from depleted pastures (or no pasture) while the horses will get a healthier diet of a variety of grasses and more room for exercise. Additionally, landowners that agree to let horses graze on their land during fire season will have less risk of fire on their property, which will be especially beneficial to farmers and ranchers doing crop rotation if they have their crops fenced off since wildfires can cost them millions of dollars if a fire reaches their fields that are producing that year. More research needs to be done on if horses can help increase soil fertility via manure which may also benefit farmers that plan to use the pasture space for crops on alternating years.

Sources Cited:

1. Bailey, D. et. al. (2019). Synthesis Paper: Targeted Livestock Grazing: Prescription for Healthy Rangelands. Rangeland Ecology and Management. Vol 72(6). Pp. 865-877. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2019.06.003

2. Bureau of Land Management. (2019). Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Incentive Program. Web. https://www.blm.gov/programs/wild-horse-and-burro/adoptions-and-sales/adoption-incentive-program

3. Nader, G., Henkin, Z., Smith, E., Ingram, R., & Narvaez, N. (2007). Planned herbivory in the management of wildfire fuels. Rangelands, Vol. 29(5), 18-24. http://www.carangeland.org/images/Planned_Herbivory_in_the_Management_of_Wildfire_Fuels.pdf

4. Simanonok, M.P., Burkle, L.A. (2020). High-severity wildfire limits available floral pollen quality and bumble bee nutrition compared to mixed-severity burns. Oecologia Vol. 192, 489–499. https://ntserver1.wsulibs.wsu.edu:2137/10.1007/s00442-019-04577-9

5. Taylor Jr, C. A. (2006). Targeted grazing to manage fire risk. Targeted grazing: A natural approach to vegetation management and landscape enhancement, pg. 107-112. https://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/rxgrazing/Handbook/Chapter_12_Targeted_Grazing.pdf

6. USDA Forest Service (2018). 2018 Pacific Northwest Wildland Fire Season. Bureau of Land Management: Oregon and Washington / USDA Forest Service- Section 6. Web. https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd611322.pdf

7. Ward, Whitney. (2018). Inland Northwest keeps losing the month of August to wildfire smoke; Here's why. Krem-2 News. Web. https://www.krem.com/article/weather/air-quality/inland-northwest-keeps-losing-the-month-of-august-to-wildfire-smoke-heres-why/293-589222530