BLM needs options for wild horses

RENO, Nev. – The U.S. Bureau of Land Management needs to consider euthanizing wild horses or selling off large numbers of the animals to reduce spiraling costs of keeping them in long-term holding pens, a government report issued Monday said.

The report by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, said costs of caring for wild horses have skyrocketed in recent years, and likely will account for 74 percent of the program’s overall budget this year.

“The program is at a critical crossroads,” the GAO report said. “Within the program’s existing budget, BLM cannot afford to care for all the animals off the range, while at the same time manage wild horse and burro populations on the range.”

The BLM determines how many wild horses can graze in various areas and rounds up the excess number to protect the herd, the range and other foraging animals. The horses are kept in pens and offered for adoption.

There are an estimated 33,000 wild horses on the range in 10 Western states, about half of those in Nevada. The BLM has set a target “appropriate management level” of horses at 27,000. About 30,000 more horses are in holding facilities.

The GAO said the BLM has made “significant progress” in setting and meeting appropriate herd levels, but needs to improve the accuracy of its population estimates.

It also said the BLM should track and publicize information on the number of horses injured or killed during roundups, and in its holding facilities.

The report noted that the agency has authority to euthanize or sell large numbers of horses without restrictions, but has not done that because of fear of outrage from the public or Congress.

Other options could be explored, the report said, including relocating infertile herds to areas outside original boundaries set by the 1971 Wild Horse and Burro Act, or giving tax breaks to large landowners willing to care for large numbers of animals.

Some of those measures, however, are outside the agency’s authority and would require congressional approval.

The BLM has relied on adoption programs that require people who adopt the animals – protected under the wild horse act – not to sell them for slaughter. The agency also keeps older animals or those deemed unadoptable in long-term facilities. Some live for 15 to 20 years in the pens.

“Since 2001, over 74,000 animals have been removed from the range, while only about 46,600 have been adopted or sold,” the report said.

Tom Gorey, BLM spokesman in Washington, D.C., said the agency welcomed the findings.

“The GAO report correctly depicts the difficult situation that the BLM finds itself in with regard to maintaining unadopted or unsold animals in holding facilities,” Gorey said in a written statement.

“These costs are spiraling out of control, accounting for three-fourths of the bureau’s wild horse and burro budget of $37 million,” he said.

In late June, BLM Deputy Director Henri Bisson said the agency would consider killing and selling horses to reduce costs.

“Our goal is supposed to be about healthy horses on healthy ranges,” Bisson said. “But we are at the point we need to have a conversation with people about pragmatically what can we do given the financial constraints of our program to meet the goals we have.”

The agency’s Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board has been gathering public comments and is scheduled to consider options when it meets Monday in Reno.

Gorey said no decision on killing healthy horses or selling them unconditionally will be made until after the advisory board meets.

Some advocates say horse populations are a result of years of mismanagement by the BLM. They also say horses are given short shrift on public lands because they compete with livestock for available forage.

Advocates could not be reached for immediate comment on the lengthy report but have said other alternatives need to be considered.

“There are better ways to deal with the problems BLM is facing,” Lacy Dalton, president of the Let ’Em Run Foundation, said in July. Dalton says the government should build sanctuaries and give tax breaks to ranchers who let wild horses in their grazing areas.

“These horses are a beautiful symbol of this country, and I believe the public will not stand for their deaths. The public is willing to do what they can to prevent that,” Dalton said.