BLM Abandons Trump-Era Sterilization Tests, Advocacy Groups Report

Scott Streater, E&E News

April 20, 2021

The Biden administration is signaling a departure from the Trump-era approach to managing wild horses and burros by abandoning plans to test a controversial sterilization method on wild mares in Utah. This decision marks a significant shift inpolicyand has been welcomed byadvocacygroups.

The Interior Department and Department of Justice attorneys recently informed several wild horseadvocacygroups, including the American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) and Return to Freedom, of the decision not to test the "ovariectomy via colpotomy" technique, which involves removing wild mares' ovaries.

This procedure, deemed "barbaric" by wild horse advocates, has faced legal challenges each time it was proposed over the past decade, including during the Obama administration in 2016.

Return to Freedom and AWHC challenged the latest plan in separate federal lawsuits. The Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) plan involved rounding up as many as 590 wild horses from the Confusion Herd Management Area (HMA) in Utah and testing the technique on select mares.

BLMrepresentatives did not comment on the sterilization tests at the Confusion HMA. However, AWHC reported that DOJ attorneys notified its legal representatives ofBLM's decision to drop the tests. Neda DeMayo, president and founder of Return to Freedom, confirmed her group was also notified.

Grace Kuhn, a spokesperson for AWHC, mentioned that the Interior Department requested a 60-day pause onlitigationto finalize its position with the court.

Wild Horse Education, anotheradvocacygroup, had administratively challenged the Confusion HMA plan. Laura Leigh, president of Wild Horse Education, stated thatBLMinformed them that the sterilization tests were canceled after an internal review concluded the procedure does not align with the Biden administration's policies.

Sterilization was part of the Trump administration's aggressive herd reduction strategy, outlined in areportsubmitted toCongresslast year. The strategy called for permanently removing 20,000 animals annually and rounding up an additional 9,000 horses a year forfertility controlbefore returning them to the range (E&E News PM, May 12, 2020).

Researching sterilization techniques was a major component of the plan sent toCongress, which stated that permanently "sterilizing females is the most effective growth suppression method; one treatment results in a lifetime of infertility."Congressendorsed the strategy by allocating $115.7 million toBLM's Wild Horse and Burro Program.

The Biden administration'sBLMhas not publicly detailed its plans for managing wild horse and burro populations. However, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, while a congresswoman, opposedBLM's plans to test the "inhumane" surgical sterilization technique on wild mares (E&E News PM, Nov. 19, 2020).

The decision to abandon the Trump-era sterilization tests "bodes well for humane and science-based decision making under the leadership of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland," said Brieanah Schwartz, AWHC's director ofpolicyandlitigation.

DeMayo expressed hope that the new administration will adopt a more humane plan for wild horses, focusing on proven, safe, and humanefertility controlmethods.

Managing 'Exploding Populations'

The challenge of reducing wild horse and burro populations to manageable levels remains.BLM's latest estimate reported over 95,000 animals on federal rangelands, nearly four times the sustainable number.

Nada Culver,BLM's deputy director ofpolicyand programs, emphasized the priority of addressing "exploding populations of horses" that threaten their survival by depleting forage and water supplies.

BLMinvited proposals from state and local governments, Native American tribes, federal agencies, and nonprofits to improve rangelands and reduce populations. Funded projects could include placing excess animals into private care, darting mares withfertility controlvaccines, or building range improvements. Proposals are due by May 28.

"TheBLMhas a long history of partnering with organizations to manage and protect wild horses and burros," Culver stated, encouraging proposals to support America's Living Legends.

Originally posted by E&E News