America's wild horses can actually help in preventing wildfires. This was explained by William Simpson, a 70-year-old man who moved to a remote mountain region south of Interstate 5 on the Oregon-California border.
How America's Wild Horses Can Help Prevent Wildfires
According to The Guardian's latest report, Simpson started taking care of 120 wild horses in 2014.
These grazers have been roaming William's land on the Oregon-California border.
"I started watching the horses and seeing what they were doing. They were managing the fuel," he said. Because of this, he decided to start his project called "Wild Horse Brigade."
Simpson said that through his project, he's hoping that his discoveries about these horses can be used to prove that herbivores can indeed play an important role in wildfire mitigation.
One of the discoveries he made is that the more vegetative materials, the more wildfires can happen.
He said that when herbivores in the region declined, forests and grasslands started overgrowing, which increased the chances of extreme wildfires.
"We've lost our herbivory so now we have abundant, abnormally high levels of vegetative materials - that is what's driving the fires," he explained.
Wild Horses' Diet is the Key
Since overgrown forests, grasslands, and other vegetation largely contribute to wildfires, increasing the number of horses can reduce them.
William said that the government doesn't need to spend money just to prevent wildfires.
Instead, what's needed to be done is to put lots of herbivores in critical wilderness areas so that wildfires can be mitigated.
As of writing, other countries are already using grazers to reduce the risks of wildfires.
Euro News reported that Portugal and Spain are recruiting bison, as well as rare horses to do this.
Experts stated that the natural grazing behaviors of these herbivores can prevent wildfires since they can consume 30 kilograms of vegetation each day.
You can click this link to learn more about the new anti-wildfire efforts of Spain and Portugal.
