Public lands, Private Profits: How Trophy Hunting and BLM Grazing Collide
For many Americans, public lands represent shared heritage; landscapes held in trust for wildlife, wild horses, recreation, and future generations. Yet in places like northeastern Nevada, that promise feels increasingly hollow when massive private ranches profit handsomely from exclusive trophy hunting on private land while relying on deeply subsidized grazing on public land.
This is not about demonizing ranching. It is about asking a fair and necessary question: Why are some of the wealthiest private landowners allowed to use public lands as a business input, while the public absorbs the ecological and financial cost?
Trophy Hunting: Private Profit from Public Wildlife
Wildlife in the United States is legally owned by the public, held in trust by the states. Elk, deer, pronghorn, and other game species do not belong to private landowners — yet access to them often does.
Large ranches with extensive private acreage can restrict access, transforming public wildlife into exclusive, high-dollar trophy hunts. In some cases, individual hunts sell for tens of thousands of dollars. The animals may spend much of their lives on public land, but the moment they step onto private ground, they become a commodity.
READ MORE The reason is uncomfortable but simple: **wild horses do not generate direct profit**.
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