Kelly McAllister said on 18 May 2008:

Horses still run wild on Yakama Nation. Given that Fort Simcoe State Park is
entirely within the Yakama Nation, I would guess that you could easily have
seen some of the wild ones. I know that they are culturally significant and
generally treasured there. This certainly poses challenges for natural
resource
managers interested in promoting other natural featres that the horses
compete
with or affect. I certainly agree with Kelly. An estimated 3500 wild horses
roam the Yakama Nation shrub-steppe. These numbers seriously impact the
habitat and likely numbers of shrub-steppe species such as Sage Thrasher,
and Brewer's and Sage Sparrows. Ongoing efforts to reintroduce Greater
Sage-Grouse in the high sagelands east of Satus Pass (north flank of the
Horse Heaven Hills) could be stymied by degradation of habitat by wild
horses. Riparian areas are also at risk due to the huge numbers of horses,
especially recently burnt drainages. Recolonization of flora and fauna after
fires has been very slow due to all the horses chomping away at the
plants.The Yakamas have been aware of the negative impacts caused by wild
horsesfor a number of years but proposals to reduce the horse population is
acontroversial issue.Andy StepniewskiWapato WAsteppie at nwinfo.net