A herd of wild horses may conjure the image of wild abandon and majestic beauty. While this is certainly fair, a homesteader learned they are good for a lot more than an idyllic image — they can help fight wildfires: the definition of fighting wild with wild.
As detailed by Reasons to be Cheerful, William E. Simpson was burnt out and looking for a respite from a too-busy life when he moved his family to a remote hillside near Yreka, California, close to the California-Oregon border in 2014.
He noticed a herd of wild horses. At first, they kept their distance, but eventually, a sick horse approached him. Having previous veterinary training, he offered it help. Soon after, others learned to come to him for help as well.
He didn't realize that they were keeping him safe too, however, until 2018 when the 38,000-acre Klamathon fire tore through the hillsides. He and his wife ignored evacuation orders, opting instead to help firefighters navigate the remote dirt roads and to watch the horses.
The horses didn't evacuate either. Instead, they stayed calm and grazed on, and Simpson realized they were accustomed to fires. He further realized that their grazing was likely what spared his home from being lost to the flames.
"Each wild horse consumes about 30 pounds of grass and brush a day," Simpson told Reasons to be Cheerful. "They reduce the wildfire fuel, keeping the wildfire risks at bay."
As global temperatures continue to rise, wildfires are becoming more frequent and more extreme, putting communities, wildlife, and our food system at risk. While people are developing methods to keep them from spreading, it is also vital to keep them from starting in the first place.
We can all contribute to stopping worsening extreme weather events by upgrading our homes and transportation, voting for pro-climate candidates, or getting involved in local climate actions similar to Simpson, who believes that wild horses could play a pivotal role in wildfire prevention.
He officially took ownership of the herd in 2021 when the Siskiyou County Agricultural Commissioner formally recognized his work. In 2022, he founded a nonprofit named after his mission: Wild Horse Fire Brigade, Reasons to be Cheerful reported.
Wild horses have been federally protected since 1971, when Congress recognized they were disappearing fast from the American West. The protection measures led to a boom in their population, and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rounded them up, leaving just 82,000 in the wild.
Simpson's nonprofit aims to free the roughly 60,000 horses currently kept in BLM corrals and relocate them strategically to designated wilderness areas where they could help control grasses and vegetation.
"Taxpayers save money, wildfires are kept in check, and the horses get to live wild," Simpson said.
There is pushback to his plan, Reasons to be Cheerful reported. It is mainly from the BLM, which is worried about the overpopulation of the horses leading to ecological damage, including reducing native plant and animal diversity through intense grazing.
Simpson claims the concern is overblown, stating overpopulation is unlikely due to natural predation and that wild horses benefit the ecosystem in that they naturally distribute the seeds of native plants across wilderness areas, while cattle and sheep don't because they digest them.
A recently begun five-year project with California State University, Sacramento, aims to ground Simpson's findings in science. In the meantime, he will keep singing his horse's praises.
"They naturally protect forests, wildlife, watersheds and wilderness systems," Simpson stated. "Keeping wild horses in captivity is like keeping the fire department in jail during fire season."
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