By Dave Ortega
Photo Credit: Arianna Grainey
Mayor Borowsky’s ill-conceived push to relocate wild horses into the pristine McDowell Sonoran Preserve (MSP) defiles Scottsdale’s principles in every way.
Firstly, the feral heard is under the control of the National Forest Service with third- party management of the mustangs outside of the Scottsdale city limits and jurisdiction. Council business should not solicit an external issue, which jeopardizes city assets, resources, or damages our Sonoran Desert environment.
Secondly, the McDowell Sonoran Preserve is off limits for development by for- profit or non-profit organizations. The McDowell Sonoran Preserve Conservatory (MSPC) is the only non-profit organization aligned with the City of Scottsdale, to preserve and advance natural open spaces through science, education and stewardship with limited access. The Desert Discovery Center was a bad idea, but the Borowsky mustang ranch is ten times worse.
Mayor Borowsky wants to carve out a 600-acre mustang ranch within the Preserve which would be fenced and under the control of a third-party organization, somehow able to water, feed, and manage (including sterilization) a herd of sixty horses. To survive the wild herd will pulverize the fragile ecosystem we cherish.
Other than taxpayer funded trailheads and trails, there is no water infrastructure or shelter to sustain a mustang ranch. Sixty horses would require 200 gallons of water per day, nearly 4.3M gallons per year, which would be trucked in. Does Mayor Borowsky want another Rio Verde Foothills situation?
Wild horses forage for 16 hours a day to support their digestive system. They will strip vegetation, cactus, tree bark and forage for roots, turning 600 acres of pristine Preserve into a wasteland. Abundant desert wildlife and flora will perish, and the winds would stir dust devils.
The unrelenting mega drought is dwindling the Colorado River (CAP) water resource to crisis levels. Recently, an alliance of Arizona mayors united to promote water conservation, advocate and protect our water lifeline. Sadly, Mayor Borowsky was absent. 70% of Scottsdale’s water relies on CAP and our city north of McCormick Ranch is 90 percent reliant on CAP. The Council should stick to priorities within jurisdiction and not burden Scottsdale taxpayers with a mustang ranch in the Preserve, which Mayor Borowsky promotes.