VOA慢速英语--Horse Roundups Amid Drought Create Debate

 

In recent weeks, federal workers have conducted large helicopter roundups to remove wild horses in the American states of Utah and Colorado.

The Bureau of Land Management, the agency responsible for public lands across the United States, says the roundups are necessary to protect the environment and the horses as severe drought takes place.

However, animal activists¹ say the U.S. government is using drought as an excuse to take out horses in favor of cattle grazing.

Terry Messmer is a professor at Utah State University who studies wild horse management. He said, "What we're seeing here in the West gives some insight into a new norm." Norm means behavior that is usual or expected.

The conflict

The wild horses are largely descended² from those brought by Europeans hundreds of years ago. Herds³ – or groups of horses - can double in size every four to five years. When populations grow too high they destroy soil, reduce water supplies and eat grass necessary for native species like the increasingly rare sage⁴ grouse⁵, Messmer said.

The Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, oversees⁶ a very large area of land in the American West. It is also responsible for controlling the wild horse population. The BLM plans to remove some 6,000 horses, mostly from Nevada, Oregon, Wyoming and Colorado, by October — a 50 percent increase from last year. Eventually, the agency wants to reduce the number of wild horses by two-thirds.

Without these measures, officials say horses could die of thirst or hunger. In 2018, many horses were found dead near a dried-up watering hole in northern Arizona.

Horses that are captured end up being used by law enforcement groups such as the U.S. Border Patrol. They also go to prison programs where they are trained for future use. And others are made available for public adoption⁷.

Suzanne Roy is executive director of the American Wild Horse Campaign. Roy described the government's decision to control horses while "giving a pass to livestock⁸ that have a greater" effect on public lands as "unfortunate."

Ranchers say they have made changes to reduce their animals' feeding on federal lands. By taking water to dry areas for their animals, they have helped the horses who drink it too, said Hunter Ihrman. He is a spokesman for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.

But Messmer said the number of livestock that grazed on public land is far larger than the number of wild horses. A key difference, though, is that livestock are part of the U.S. economy.

"Americans like their McDonald's burgers. They like their Big Macs. They like all of those things, and all of those things have beef as part of it," he said.

Kathy DeGonia is president of Piceance Mustangs. DeGonia described the difficulty of the situation.

"In a perfect world we'd let all of these mustangs stay out there until they die," she said. "But there's just not enough food and water to maintain all the horses on the range."

Words in This Story

roundup -- n. the act or process of gathering⁹ together animals (such as cattle) by circling around them in vehicles or on horses

graze -- v. of an animal : to eat grass or other plants that are growing in a field, pasture, etc.

management – n. the act or process of deciding how to use something; the act or skill of controlling and making decisions about a business, department, sports team, etc.

insight – n. an understanding of the true nature of something

species -- n. biology : a group of animals or plants that are similar and can produce young animals or plants

thirst -- n. an uncomfortable feeling that is caused by the need for something to drink

adoption – n. the act or process of adopting someone or something:

livestock -- n. farm animals (such as cows or pigs) that are kept, raised, and used by people

range -- n. open land that animals (such as cows and sheep) use for grazing and roaming

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

3 herds   

兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众

参考例句：

• Regularly at daybreak they drive their herds to the pasture. 每天天一亮他们就把牲畜赶到草场上去。
• There we saw herds of cows grazing on the pasture. 我们在那里看到一群群的牛在草地上吃草。

4 sage   

n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的

参考例句：

• I was grateful for the old man's sage advice.我很感激那位老人贤明的忠告。
• The sage is the instructor of a hundred ages.这位哲人是百代之师。

5 grouse   

n.松鸡；v.牢骚，诉苦

参考例句：

• They're shooting grouse up on the moors.他们在荒野射猎松鸡。
• If you don't agree with me,please forget my grouse.如果你的看法不同，请不必介意我的牢骚之言。

6 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

7 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

8 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

9 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。