Horse Rich Dirt Poor

During his presentation, Pat Pinjuv will show an 18 minute documentary on the impact of feral horses and burros on public lands.  Our environment is currently being overgrazed by a run-away population of horses and burros.  There was a time when no domesticated animals roamed our landscape and there is a clear limit of food and water allocated to the environment.

The original number of wild horses and burros was set by scientists and biologists.  The 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act set the total number at 26,715.  This number was determined to allow the native elk, antelope, wild sheep, managed cattle, etc. to survive without a negative impact.  The original law was to dispose of all horses and burros past the 26,715 limit. However, the law is not followed or funded.  

The number of feral horses and burros now exceeds 88,000 and will double in four years to over 170,000 animals.  The federal government houses vast numbers of horses and burros in corals at a cost of almost $50 million a year.  200 horses died of dehydration on the Navajo Indian Reservation last year. 

Pat Pinjuv was born in Nevada.  His grandfather arrived in Las Vegas in 1918.  Pat received a degree in accounting from UNR.  He has over 40 years of construction experience including 3.5 years at the Nuclear Test Site.  Pat has enjoyed the outdoors since he could walk with his older brothers and father and has been in almost every mountain range in Nevada enjoying the outdoors and hunting.  He has been involved with Nevada Bighorns Unlimited for 27 years, has served on the board since 2004, and is currently the president.  Pat is involved with numerous outdoor groups.