RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: If you've spent any time on public lands in the American West, you might have seen this firsthand. The population of wild horses has exploded in recent years. Congress has responded. The House appropriations committee recently adopted an amendment that would allow the culling of wild horses. Laura Leigh is the president of Wild Horse Education, and she says this is the wrong move.</s>LAURA LEIGH: Killing these wild horses is step Z, and we've never taken step A.</s>RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: Leigh suggests focusing on birth control to limit the fertility of wild horses.</s>LAURA LEIGH: We need to slow their birth rates. We can do that. We have the tools. We're just not using them.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Her argument is that the House adopted the amendment to boost the bottom line for ranchers.</s>LAURA LEIGH: And they make a lot of money running their cows. And a blade of grass out there has a dollar value. And if a horse eats it, they can't turn it into cash.</s>MARK WINCH: But you can't manage and protect one species above all the rest.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Mark Winch is a cattle rancher in Utah and says horses get special treatment.</s>MARK WINCH: And the vegetation and native plants that have been there are starting to disappear, in many instances, almost to apocalyptic levels.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: OK, now, cattle also threaten the ecology. And there are far more cattle than wild horses on Western land. But Winch argues that cattle help the economy.</s>MARK WINCH: If you can tell me where horses have been a good part of the American economy in the last 20 years other than horse racing, I'd be very interested in seeing that.</s>RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: The amendment heads to the Senate next.
Last week, the House Appropriations Committee adopted an amendment sponsored by Rep. Chris Stewart that would allow for the culling of wild horses.