Wild Horses: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly in Wyoming Roundups, Part 3
November 18, 2011Wild Horses: Federal Judge Orders BLM to Answer Questions on Roundup of Famed Oregan Mustangs
November 23, 2011White House Response to Wild Horse and Burro Petition
Many of you signed this petition with concern for our wild horses and burros who are rapidly disappearing from our public lands. You may be as deeply disappointed as I am by the White House’s response which just parrots the rhetoric that the BLM has been giving us in response to any questions or concerns from the public. This is a statement that nothing will change:
Humane Care and Management of America’s Wild Horses and Burros By Bob Abbey, Director of the Bureau of Land Management
Thank you for your petition regarding the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro Program.
The BLM shares your commitment to the humane care and management of wild horses and burros. As described by Congress under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, these animals are living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West. The BLM’s goal is to protect and effectively manage these iconic animals for current and future generations of Americans.
The BLM performs gathers of wild horses and burros in response to the annual herd growth rate. In many cases, the ecosystems of public rangelands are not able to withstand the impacts from overpopulated herds, which include soil erosion, sedimentation of streams, and damage to wildlife habitat. The 1971 Act (Section 1333) mandates that once the Interior Secretary “determines…that an overpopulation exists on a given area of the public lands and that action is necessary to remove excess animals, he shall immediately remove excess animals from the range so as to achieve appropriate management levels.”
The BLM estimates that approximately 38,500 wild horses and burros (about 33,000 horses and 5,500 burros) are roaming on BLM-managed rangelands in 10 Western states based on the latest data available, compiled as of February 28, 2011. Wild horses and burros have virtually no natural predators and their herd sizes can double about every four years
The estimated current free-roaming population exceeds by nearly 12,000 the number that the BLM has determined can exist in balance with other public rangeland resources and uses. (The appropriate management level is approximately 26,600.) Off the range, there are more than 41,000 other wild horses and burros that are fed and cared for at short-term corrals and Midwestern long-term pastures. In the most recently completed fiscal year (2011), holding costs accounted for $43.2 million (57 percent) out of a total enacted Wild Horse and Burro Program budget of $75.8 million. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), in an October 2008 report, found the program’s mounting holding costs to be unsustainable.
As a result of the GAO report, and because of feedback like yours, the BLM is preparing to publish a new wild horse and burro management strategy as part of its ongoing effort to reform the Wild Horse and Burro Program and put it on a sustainable and cost-effective track. The new strategy emphasizes population growth suppression techniques, including fertility control; promotes public-private eco-sanctuaries to hold excess wild horses removed from Western public rangelands; seeks to boost adoptions by making more trained wild horses available to the public; and establishes a comprehensive animal welfare program. The BLM developed the new strategy after actively soliciting input from both the public and the agency’s Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board on how to best ensure the health of America’s wild horses and burros, both on and off the range.
The BLM will move forward with this strategy and make any necessary adjustments after the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) completes a two-year study that has been commissioned by the BLM. The NAS study, to be finished by 2013, will recommend how the BLM should proceed in light of the latest scientific research. During the time the NAS study is carried out, the BLM plans to gather and remove from Western public rangelands approximately 7,600 excess animals annually from Fiscal Year 2012 through FY 2014– down from planned removals of more than 10,000 a year – to keep the overall on-the-range wild horse and burro population at 38,000 to 39,000 during this timeframe. (Some additional gathers may be necessary in emergency situations.)
It is important to note that the strategy also includes a comprehensive animal welfare program through which the BLM will strengthen humane animal care and handling practices. The standards set by this program will apply to BLM employees and volunteers, along with contractors who gather wild horses and burros from the range and those who feed and care for these animals in short-term or long-term holding facilities.
7 Comments
The article is cut off on the right, difficult to read…
The White House Petition is just a facade and a bad joke on the public. This petition was passed on to the BLM to do the same old “rhetoric to the people” spiel. Very disappointing, however I am not surprized. We must think of other ways and think hard to save what is left.
My question is: This was a WHITE HOUSE petition. Why is the answer from Abbey at the BLM? This is one of guys behind this monumental mess that needs to go (along with “Sell-A-Czar). That’s like asking a question of the police about your robbery, but they have the robber that stole your stuff answer the question. What a joke!
Becky
hi my name is clayton im doing a research paper for my english teacher and i love horses so i chose to write a paper on saveing the wild horses and burros and we are also looking into purchasing a mustang i love the breed as i am a 16 horse trainer for western style only so far and would love to become more active in rescueing i actualy want to be a vet i work at a horse ranch in texas right now so if anyone can plz help me can you e mail or call me after 4 tho my # is 325 456 3618 and my e mail is clytnhartwick1@yahoo.com
I am interested in learning more about the wild horse situation on Western public lands. It seems to me that the BLM has responded appropriately in the effort to protect public lands. What am I missing? Is there not a problem? How might this otherwise be handled?
Dear Mark,
The BLM unfortunately cites mixed use for public lands but sadly the less than 30,000 horses that remain are blamed for all of the habitat degradation that millions of cattle are responsible for. Wild Horses are blamed and squeezed out of lands that the 1971 Wild Horse and Burro Act called them an integral part of.
While there are a reported 38,500 wild horses roaming BLM lands, there are over 100 million cattle in this country – a huge portion of which are roaming BLM lands. According to this document, these 38,500 horses are responsible for soil erosion, sedimentation of streams, and damage to wildlife habitat. In my search engine, I typed in “how many cattle are roaming BLM lands” and ALL of the links on the first page of the search came up with HORSES roaming BLM lands. Why is that? Hmmm. I couldn’t even get the statistic on the number of cattle. Seems to me the hooves of nearly 100 million cattle would destroy a lot more vegetation and cause more soil erosion than 38,500 horses. Do the math. Since I couldn’t even get the statistic of those free roaming cattle, lets assume that only 25% of all the cattle in the US were roaming BLM lands -that is still 25 MILLION cattle. There are 2,666 times more cattle in this country than wild horses, and the horses are supposed to be destroying the place? Really. Cattle are an introduced species. The devistation that they have caused and continue to cause to natural habitat is horrifying. Horses are a species that has returned to their homeland. This isn’t about habitat preservation. It’s about the cattle industry range lands. And sorry, but 38,500 horses is less than 1,000 per state. Not exactly a threat to the millions upon millions of cattle roaming BLM lands.