Feral horse team assembled to address issue on reservation

The Colville Tribes have formed a horse management team to help manage the feral horses on the reservation.

The tribes have, in recent years, paid money to remove portions of the feral horse population via controversial roundups using helicopters to herd the animals, which were eventually shipped to Canada for slaughter.

The most recent effort “failed miserably,” according to the tribes’ Natural Resource Director Cody Desautel.

Sun J Ranch, which had removed horses from the reservation in the past, was paid $50,000 for this year’s removal, the Tribal Tribune reported.

Forty-one horses were removed, far short of the tribes’ goal to remove 1,250 of the animals.

The target horse population for the reservation is between 50-250, according to the tribes’ Wild Horse Management Plan, approved by the Colville Business Council in 2012. The current population sits between 1,600 to 2,000 horses, according to previous numbers provided by Desautel.

According to a May 3 article in the Tribune, the new horse management team, formed after two public meetings on the topic held in Omak in April, includes Desautel, Colville Fish and Wildlife Director Randall Friedlander, Colville Tribal Range Director Steve Laramie, area horsemen, and equine veterinarian Charlie McCraigie.

McCraigie, who has worked with horses for years, was an outspoken critic of the helicopter roundups, as was detailed in articles by The Star in January. She maintained that simply carrying out the provisions of the 2012 management plan would solve issues resulting from an overpopulation of the animals said to cause overgrazing, erosion, and other concerns.

“There are whole other ways to handle these horses that are humane, gentle, safer for the horse and the person,” McCraigie said in January. “I could do a lot with [the money being offered for the capture of the horses]. I could build a facility, get people into training; we could train people to be competitive in the trade world. They have good things in the [plan]. There are supposed to be youth programs, adult programs.”

McCraigie made similar statements at an April 25 public meeting in Omak, as reported by the Tribune.

“There’s a lot of opportunity where we can utilize these horses,” McCraigie is quoted as saying in the Tribune. “We can market these horses. We can create jobs with these horses.”

She objected to selling them for slaughter. “To me that would be like selling my cousin to slaughter,” she said. “The horse has done a lot for us, and they can continue to do a lot. I’m hoping we can develop a horse program.”

McCraigie also said that the current horse management plan is “halfway decent,” but that there hasn’t been enough input from horse experts on the plan.

The Tribune also reported that many of the 30 or so tribal members at the April 25 meeting said a target population of 500 was the sweet spot, contradicting the 50-250 figure in the management plan.