Wild Horse Fire Brigade is an all-volunteer CA-based 501-c-3 nonprofit organization whose mission is; Reducing catastrophic wildfire by saving American wild horses
Award-winning wild horse music video ‘We Are the Wild Horses’ captures 1st place at EQUUS Film & Arts Festival
Wild Horse Fire Brigade Q&A discussion panel; left to right: Kelsey Stangebye, Deb Ferns, William Simpson, Michelle Gough
Board members from Wild Horse Fire Brigade on the audience Q&A discussion panel
Presentation by William E. Simpson II about wildfires and wild horses; how wild horses can benefit ecosystems by reducing wildfire fuels and reducing catastrophic wildfires and toxic smoke/greenhouse gases
Wild Horse Fire Brigade’s presentation about wildfire and wild horses was well-received as was the new wild horse music video ‘We Are the Wild Horses’
— Deb Ferns – MBA, President – Wild Horse Fire Brigade
YREKA, CA, US, December 8, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — The 10th Annual EQUUS Film & Arts Festival was held live in Sacramento CA, December 2-4, 2022.
The skies opened-up and deluged many outdoor Festival events. The snow that hit the mountains to the east of Sacramento (Lake Tahoe, etc.) was heavy, so Festival attendance by some folks who planned on attending the live Festival by driving-in was limited due to hazardous travel conditions on roads and highways.
Nevertheless, many people still drove-in from southern California and from up north, as well as many attendees who made early reservations and flew in. The hosting hotel, the Murieta Hotel and Spa, was fully-booked for the weekend due to the two horse related events; a hunter-jumper show and the EQUUS Film & Arts Festival.
“The 10th Annual EQUUS Film & Arts Festival was educational and fun. Our board got to meet and make new friends and look forward to working towards implementing the natural management of wild horses”, said Deb Ferns. Deb is the president of Wild Horse Fire Brigade, a California-based all-volunteer 501-c-3 nonprofit organization, whose mission is to save wild horses and to reduce catastrophic wildfires and toxic wildfire smoke (greenhouse gas) by reestablishing wild horses into wilderness areas that are both economically and ecologically appropriate to cost-effectively help reduce and maintain grass and brush wildfire fuels.
First-off
On Saturday Dec. 3rd at 10:00 AM, William E. Simpson II premiered his live speaking presentation about Wildfire and Wild Horses at the Guild Theater in Sacramento providing details about the ‘Natural Wildfire Abatement and Forest Protection Plan’, also affectionately known as the Wild Horse Fire Brigade plan.
Unlike any other wild horse researcher in America today, Simpson, a naturalist and wild horse ethologist, has spent the last 8-years living-among and studying free-roaming native wild horses in the wilderness area where he lives full-time.
Simpson’s presentation drew from his years of research and hands-on empirical experience with wild horses, as well as training as a scientist and background in ranching, forest management and wildfire.
In fact, Simpson was the local knowledge advisor to CALFIRE and spent 9-days on the fire-line during the deadly 38,000 acre Klamathon Fire in 2018, during which time he observed and documented the benefits that were provided to firefighters by reduced fuels resulting from the local herd of wild horses.
The first five (5) years of Simpson’s 8-years of research was condensed into an executive Study that was published by ReWilding Europe’s wildfire-focused journal ‘GrazeLIFE’ and can be read online at: https://grazelife.com/blog/wild-horse-fire-brigade-lessons-in-rebalancing-north-american-ecosystems-by-rewilding-equids/
Simpson’s presentation had the largest audience attendance at the Festival, and lasted 30-minutes, and concluded with audience applause.
Simpson’s talk was followed by a 30-minute panel discussion (Q&A) with the audience.
The onstage panel from the Wild Horse Fire Brigade nonprofit organization consisted of:
1. Deb Ferns – President
2. Kelsey Stangebye – Vice President
3. Michelle Gough – Treasurer
4. William Simpson – Founder – Exec. Director
The audience provided many good questions that addressed various aspects of how and why the Wild Horse Fire Brigade plan could benefit wild horses and ecosystems while reducing catastrophic wildfire.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) sent three representatives to the Wild Horse Fire Brigade presentation.
Their team leader was Amy Ruhs a ‘Wild Horse & Burro Specialist’ from the BLM’s Idaho State Office.
One of the three ladies from the BLM, also named Amy from the Sacramento BLM office had a good question:
BLM Question: “Curious, how do you intend to have the 1971 Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act amended to allow rewilding/relocation of wild horses from designated management areas and into other wilderness areas” ?
The Answer (given by Simpson):
Section 1339 of the 1971 Act currently prohibits the BLM from relocating wild horses from any Herd Management Area (HMA) into another non-HMA area, such as designated critical wilderness (115-million acres available). By amending just Section 1339, to state that:
The BLM is authorized to humanely relocate wild horses as family bands from areas where they are deemed to be in conflict with commercial enterprises and subject to roundups, and relocate them into designated critical wilderness areas that are both economically and ecologically appropriate.
A further discussion outlined how wild horses can currently be rewilded using existing law (Humane Transfer of Excess Animals Act – H.R. 1625)
Other questions from the audience included those involving evolution of wild horses and native species status, depredation by north American apex predators and the importance of maintaining trophic cascades and balanced ecosystems with wild horses and their co-evolved natural predators, and the current dire situation for wild horses created by the failed BLM Adoption Incentive Programs (‘AIP’).
Simpson’s presentation and Q&A session was filmed, and Wild Horse Fire Brigade hopes to have that presentation available online by the EQUUS Film & Arts Festival and on the social media platforms operated by Wild Horse Fire Brigade for viewing sometime before Christmas 2022.
Second:
The music video, ‘We Are the Wild Horses’, that was produced by a collective of all-volunteers around saving wild horses and presented by Wild Horse Fire Brigade premiered at the EQUUS Film & Arts Festival.
‘We Are the Wild Horses’ captured the Winnie Award, which is the top honor in the category of ‘wild horse music videos’.
The music video ‘We Are the Wild Horses’ was very-well received by the audience and is now ONLINE, Full-Length, for everyone to enjoy and share: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWINUpdiomc
The diverse team of wild horse advocates at Wild Horse Fire Horse Fire Brigade believe that music is an important way to educate others in a way that opens hearts and minds about the importance of American wild horses.
William E. Simpson II
Wild Horse Fire Brigade
+1 858-212-5762
email us here
Award-winning video: ‘We Are the Wild Horses’
