At Dixie Forum, Eric Thacker discusses wild horses

Many consider wild horses to be an iconic symbol of the West, while others view them as agents of ecological destruction. At the next Dixie Forum, Eric Thacker will discuss one of the most polarizing natural resource issues in the West when he presents “Wild Horses in Utah: Managing Conflict.”

Thacker will present from noon to 12:50 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 1, at the Dunford Auditorium in the Browning Resource Center on the DSU campus. The presentation is free and open to the public.

During his Dixie Forum presentation, Thacker will discuss what is being done to manage wild horses. He will also address the implications to rural counties and taxpayers under the current management regime as well as how to balance managing natural resources on public lands with maintaining ecological resources.

Thacker, a Duchesne County native, currently serves as the range extension specialist for Utah State University. He worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service Poisonous Plant Research Lab in Logan for six years before going on to work for the service’s Southern Plains Range Research Station in Oklahoma for two years and Oklahoma State University for a year and a half. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in range science and a doctorate in wildlife biology from USU.

Additionally, as a member of the Society for Range Management since 2000, Thacker has been involved with the organization’s Undergraduate Range Management Exam as a participant, coach, and administrator.

Dixie Forum is a weekly lecture series designed to introduce the St. George community and DSU students, faculty, and staff to diverse ideas and personalities while widening their worldviews via a 50-minute presentation. Dixie Forum will continue at noon on Tuesday, Dec. 8, when Frederick Crook presents “China Dream: An Interpretation of Contemporary Wall Posters” in the Dunford Auditorium.

For more information on Dixie State University’s Dixie Forum series, please contact DSU forum coordinator John Burns at (435) 879-4712 or burns@dixie.edu or visit dixie.edu/humanities/dixie_forum.php. Stay up to date on the forums by liking the Dixie Forum Facebook page at or following @dixieforum on Twitter.