Episode Tags: competition with wildlife
Episode 905
agricultural heritage, breeding, burros, competition with wildlife, damaging habitats, federal law protections, Gila River Indian Community, immigrant families, irrigation projects, out of control, perennial crops, pilot project, poultry, public lands, settlers, small scale farming, small-scale sustainable farming, sustainable farming, water rights, wild horses
Protected by federal law, wild horses and burros in the West are breeding out of control on public lands, damaging habitats and competing with wildlife for food and water – a problem that is now a crisis that needs a solution. With new water rights and a major irrigation project under construction, Arizona’s Gila River Indian Community is reviving an agricultural heritage that sustained them for centuries before white settlers arrived. A pilot project in Minnesota for immigrant families shows how small-scale sustainable farming with poultry and perennial crops can provide extra income with little investment of time.