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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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 OPINION 
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Gov't Is Mucking Up Mustang's Fate

Cash-strapped BLM wants to cull herd, 'a protected symbol of freedom'

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(Newser) – The cash-strapped Bureau of Land Management is considering culling the wild horse population in the West, and at least one equine advocate is not pleased, Newsweek reports. In an interview, expert and author Deanne Stillman calls the plan to reduce the population of 30,000 wild and 33,000 corralled mustangs by more than half “shocking.”

“We're a country that was born in the hoof sparks of Paul Revere's famous ride on a horse,” Stillman says. “The horse is our great icon of freedom and the open road, and that's why our greatest road-trip car is the Mustang, with the galloping pony on the grille, and that's why we drape horses with flags on July 4th and ride them down Main Street.” The solution? "Ask Americans to donate," because "the wild horse is us."

A Nevada wild horse and her foal try to cool off under a small tree.
A Nevada wild horse and her foal try to cool off under a small tree.   (AP Photo)
U.S. Border Patrol Agents Darrel Williams, left, and Justin Hefker patrol the U.S.-Canadian border near Oroville, Wash.
U.S. Border Patrol Agents Darrel Williams, left, and Justin Hefker patrol the U.S.-Canadian border near Oroville, Wash.   (AP Photo)
A wild horse.
A wild horse.   (AP Photo)
Wild horses, bought from the BLM, near Laramie, Wyoming.
Wild horses, bought from the BLM, near Laramie, Wyoming.   (AP Photo)
A Border Patrol agent rides a mustang, adopted from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's wild horse and burro program.
A Border Patrol agent rides a mustang, adopted from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's wild horse and burro program.   (AP Photo)
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The news on the matter
Associated Press

The BLM's wild horse program
Federal Bureau of Land Management

An advocacy group
American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign