Another voice shouting against the wind...* The Daily Independent           Wed., April 29, 1981 Sylvia Winslow:burros aren't all that bad
By LITA REID Daily Independent City Editor Wild burros are getting a bum deal, in the eyes of Sylvia Winslow, local artist-author who spent many years observing the animals in Death Valley when she prospected with her late husband. Winslow, who is founding curator of the Maturango Museum, complained to the Daily Independent of claims by people about the animals. She is interested now in forming a committee to gather more accurate information about the burros and to travel to Washington, if necessary, to prevent the slaughter of the animals. Winslow in particular disputed claims made by Death Valley naturalist Pete Sanchez about damage allegedly done by the feral burros. Sanchez is scheduled to discuss the wild burro problem next Wednesday in a program at Richmond Elementary School. Winslow said she was on a Panamint Valley tour conducted by Sanchez in which lack of foliage was blamed on the burros. Winslow, who began exploring the area in 1948, said the poor soil in the area had never supported plant growth. "Why, there wasn't anything there. There never was and never will be," she told the Daily Independent.	In her recent trip to the Panamint Valley, Winslow said she saw other areas with lush growth of asters, Mojave dahlias and other desert plants. Although burros were not in that particular canyon, there was a small group nearby, she said. Winslow came to the Daily Independent on two occasions armed with publications citing studies on the burros. In "Death Valley" by Charles B. Hunt, the author notes the National Park Service "derogatorily" refers to the burros as "feral." "In fact, the burro is a half century less feral than the Park Service," Hunt said. Claims that burros foul water holes by trampling and defecation and therefore drive bighorn sheep away are disputed by Hunt, both from his own observations and from studies by Ralph and Florence Welles, naturalists who also studied Death Valley. Winslow agreed. She said the filthiest spring she ever saw was in the Turtle Mountains, which she visited with the late Harry Briggs. "There were no burros anywhere in the range-just sheep," Winslow said. Patricia Moehlman spent 18 months studying Death Valley burros about 10 years ago and wrote of her experiences in National Geographic. Winslow had a copy of the article.	"At this stage in my research, I see no ecological basis for elimination of Death Valley's burros." Moehiman wrote. "Contrary to widely-held belief, the burros I observed did not strip the land, foul water holes or endanger other animals." Moehiman said her study of the vegetation on which burros feed did not indicate severe damage. She also said she observed the burros share their watering areas with small rodents and birds. Hunt observed the ranges used by burros are mostly pre-Cambrian and Cambrian formations and related gravels. The bighorn sheep allegedly endangered by the burros prefer later Paleozoic formations, not because of a "narrow interest in one kind of geology," Hunt said, but because the bighorn sheep seem to feel safer on rough, craggy ground that would cut the burro's hooves. Winslow urged more study of specific areas reportedly threatened by burros. The studies, she said, should lead to more detailed knowledge about numbers of burros. that can be supported in a particular area. If burro herds do need to be reduced, Winslow said she favors regulated hunting so at least the burro meat could be used. She strongly opposes "the open season" on burros in the desert. "Kids were shooting, them with popguns just to see them limp away." Winslow said. "We were rescuing baby burros that were left beside their dead mothers."
* Ridgecrest newspaper article, submitted by Campy.

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