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Wildlife Photographer Jim Brown Champions Wyoming Wild Horses – “Keep Them Wild”

You watch these horses grow up out here. Then with the swipe of a pen they’re gone.”
— Jim Brown

CHEYENNE, WYOMING, UNITED STATES, June 1, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- Nature photographer Jim Brown is a resident of the state of Wyoming. He is the owner of High Plains Reflections Gallery that will open soon in Casper, Wyoming. Brown is known nationwide for his love of nature, wildlife and his striking images. He is also known for championing and photographing Wyoming’s wild horses. Jim Brown is a photojournalist who has won multiple awards throughout his nature photography career. A few of the awards and recognitions he has received include Nature’s Best Publications Winner, Smithsonian’s Top 5 Wildlife Photographs and National Audubon Photograph Winner.

Brown’s home state is often referred to as a public lands state. Almost half of Wyoming's 62 million surface acres are federal public lands. These are lands that are held in trust for all Americans. They are administered by the United States government. The land is owned and shared by everyone in the country.

The Bureau of Land Management - Wyoming manages 16 wild horse Herd Management Areas, HMAs, on nearly 5 million acres in the state. One would believe there’s more than ample room for the wild horses in Wyoming. However, the BLM’s combined Appropriate Management Level, AML, for all Herd Management Areas in the state is currently 3,725 horses on 5 million acres. The BLM issued a press release on May 9, 2023, to announce its plan to reduce the number of wild horses in certain areas of Wyoming. Appropriate Management Levels under this plan amendment would see a roughly a 60 percent decrease in horses. Efforts to remove wild horses are not new in Wyoming or other western states. The Wyoming State Legislature recently sought amendments to the unanimously passed Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, an Act of the United States Congress, and other wild horse protective policies, so that wild horses can be “gathered, slaughtered, processed and shipped to market domestically or abroad” in their 2023 proposed House Joint Resolution No. HJ0003.

Brown is unique in his advocacy work because his career background includes experience in the field of wildlife activity for the Federal government. He worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture as an animal damage control specialist and studied under some of the top men in wildlife behavior. He knows the workings of federal agencies from firsthand experience. It’s this experience that drives him to call on wild horse advocates and the public to understand the importance of keeping the ‘wild’ in wild horses.

For Jim Brown, the words “keep them wild” are much more than a catch phrase. He believes keeping the ‘wild’ alive in the horses has the potential to save them. Brown knows desensitization of wild horses could lead to them being labeled feral ranch horses that have no protections.

Brown once wrote, “life for wild horses in nature is graphic. It can be graphically beautiful. But death for the wild horses, and all wildlife, can be equally graphic”. Jim Brown has experienced the harsh reality of life and death of wild horses and other wildlife numerous times in his career. On November 12th, Jim Brown was working with others on a wild horse documentary when he noticed a large group of birds. He added, “on the high plains, it tells you that life has ended for something and mother nature has sent in the cleaning crew. When I got close, I saw two wild mustangs dead in the sagebrush, side by side. It was a strange way to die. My first thought was this is an unnatural death scene in nature. Animals don't die side by side in the wide open.”

“I have lived my whole life out here. In a part of that past life, it was my job to look at livestock kills. I determined what killed it and if the State or Feds were going to pay the rancher. That being said, this wasn't my first rodeo looking at a site like this. A couple of things that caught my eye were the straight cuts across the foreheads. It was as if someone had taken the ears of both horses for a trophy or bounty. Predators don't cut a clean line. The horses didn't show any damage, no broken legs or other bones that we could tell. Teeth and hoofs tell the story. They were not old horses, and they were in very good condition. Let’s get real. I do not know what happened. But there are some questions that come up in my mind that need to be answered.” He documented his findings with photographs.

Experience leads Jim to ask questions and seek answers to this discovery. Brown stated in an interview with AEA and ECI, “seven letters about the deaths were sent to various individuals and agencies. No replies were ever received.” There has been no resolution to the dead horse finding as of this writing although it was reported. The findings will be discussed further in the upcoming ECI three part Wyoming Wild Horses webinar series.

Barbara Moore, guest contributor, is the Vice President of Equine Collaborative International, ECI. She is the editor of the organization’s quarterly newsletter, Groundwork, and host of their educational webinar series. As a founding member of ECI, Moore recognizes the value of sharing information. She makes sure that ECI webinars and publications express the diversity that defines involvement with horses. Moore shares the following information about her experience working with Jim Brown through the organization.

“I was introduced to Jim Brown by his photographs. His photographs speak for him and they speak about him. Loudly, plainly, clearly, his photographs speak.”

“Researching Brown’s biography to introduce him for a webinar engagement gave me insights into the source of his inspiration and his commitment to his many subjects. He was gifted his first camera by his parents for his 11th birthday. Jim lived near the Tetons and never felt at a loss for subject matter to photograph. That has not changed over the years. Learning wildlife behavior and habits from his outdoorsman father gave Brown the respect for wildlife that is needed to find and record the many species he shares with each person privileged with a view of his work.”

“Though he recognizes the pain of not interceding when times are difficult for the horses, he encourages everyone to ignore the human desire to fix everything and allow all the wild ones to be wild because interceding is taking away their wildness that creates untold layers of danger.”

“Jim Brown is an artist. He finds and isolates the beauty of nature and the wild to share it. He also exposes us to the sometimes heartbreaking circumstances that exist in natural states. His respect and deep feeling for the animals is clear in his photos and his conversation. He is an advocate for the wild animals, although he hesitates to name himself as one. His reticence comes from his observations of both wild horse advocates and advocacy organizations. It is his view too many organizations and individuals put the good of the horses in second place behind self-promotion and program promotion that does not gain any ground for the horses.”

“When asked about expanding the advocacy base, particularly in areas that are not blessed with personal exposure to America’s wild horse herds, Brown replied, ‘Every person should be made to understand that from the moment they are born as an American citizen they are an owner of the public land and the wild horses that live on that land.’ He is possessive when he talks about the horses but feels that every American should have that same possessiveness. The control of these American horses and burros should not be given to special interest groups or politicians who are unduly influenced by the special interest groups.”

The Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse and Burro Program is a costly and controversial taxpayer funded program that is removing wild horses from federal lands at an accelerated rate. Brown works to share his information with the public and wild horse supporters to protect the horse’s wildness and to help prevent them from being removed from public lands.

Readers are invited to register for the upcoming ECI three part webinar series about Wyoming’s wild horses. Brown will be the featured presenter for this educational series. Joining Jim will be other expert advocates who are Wyoming residents or have recently visited the herds in question. The Zoom event is free and open to the public. Sign up by emailing 411eci@gmail.com. Include ‘Jim Brown’ on the subject line and ask to participate. Registration is required.

Brown’s work can be viewed on his website at https://www.highplainsreflections.gallery/.

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American Equine Awareness provided this news piece.

Donna Brorein, AEA Advocacy News
American Equine Awareness
+1 770-870-7589
email us here

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