BLM Criticized For Canceling Wild Horse, Burro Sterilization Research

The Western Caucus criticized the Bureau of Land Management’s decision to cancel research into how to “most humanely and effectively spay and neuter wild horses and burros.”

In its latest Bull Report, the Caucus stated, “Responsible sterilization could help stem the exploding wild horse populations on federal lands in the West. Yet the BLM dropped the project under the threat of litigation by a special interest group. BLM Director Neil Kornze has said his agency is “overwhelmed” by the growing herds, and described the situation as dire. The wild horse and burro population is nearly triple what the rangelands can support. As a result, the lands are being obliterated and the horses are dying of thirst and starvation.”

“If the horse population was properly managed, the rangelands could be restored and ample food and water would be available to the animals that these lands must support. But the BLM has now called off even mere research into spaying and neutering methods already deployed on a large scale by the veterinarian community in a safe and effective manner. Federal land managers and Congress must find a solution to the exploding population growth before further irreparable damage is done. It is inhumane to these wild horses and burros for special interest groups to bring lawsuits against humane management practices,” read the Bull Report.

“For suing the BLM’s efforts to responsibly manage the wild horse and burros populations and for the BLM surrendering to this lawsuit, we give the litigious groups and the BLM each four bulls,” concluded the report.

The Bureau of Land Management announced this year, “that as of March 1, 2016, more than 67,000 wild horses and burros are roaming Western public rangelands – a 15 percent increase over the estimated 2015 population.”

BLM reports that the “updated numbers show more than twice the number of horses on the range than is recommended under BLM land use plans. It is also two and a half times the number of horses and burros that were estimated to be in existence when the Wild and Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act was passed in 1971.”

On September 9, 2016 the National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board recommended that excess horses and burros in BLM’s off-range corrals and pastures that are deemed “unadoptable” be sold or humanely euthanized.

The National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board is an independent panel comprised of members of the public that make recommendations to the Bureau of Land Management regarding its management of wild horses and burros. The advisory board is appointed by the secretaries of the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture.

The Salt River Wild Horse Management Group (SRWHMG) will hold a rally and press conference today, September 15th at a meeting of a Bureau of Land Management regional advisory board for Arizona, “to call for humane and sustainable wild horse and burro management.”

The table below shows the 2016 West-wide, on-range population on a state-by-state basis as of March 1, 2016.  This year’s 15 percent increase over the 2015 population compares to an 18 percent increase from 2014 to 2015.

Wild Horse and Burro On-Range Population as of March 1, 2016