BLM Responds to Advisory Board Vote on Wild Horse Management

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has clarified its position regarding the management of wild horses in response to recent advisory board recommendations. Despite concerns raised by wild horse advocates, theBLMremains committed to the humane treatment of these animals.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) says it has no plans to euthanize thousands of wild horses currently held in short- and long-term holding facilities. The agency came under fire earlier this month after wild horse advocates reported that theBLMNational Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Boardvoted on a referendum relative to the fate of some horses in holding that could be deemed unadoptable.

The Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971 protects wild horses and burros and places them underBLMjurisdiction. The agency estimates that 67,000 wild horses currently reside on public lands in 10 Western states, and another 45,000 animals reside in short- and long-term holding facilities. TheNational Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Boardis an independent panel that makes recommendations to theBLMregarding wild horse and burro management.

In a Sept. 9 written statement, Ginger Kathrens, executive director of the Colorado Springs-based Cloud Foundation and one of nine advisory board members, said she was the sole dissenting vote when the board passed a resolution concerning the euthanasia of wild horses residing in federal holding facilities.

Tom Gorey,BLMspokesman, said the recommendation on which the Advisory Board voted pertained toBLMstipulations under the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act, which gives the agency the right to sell wild horses “without limitation.”

The Sept. 9 recommendation from the advisory board said the "BLMshould follow stipulations of the Wild Horse and Burro Act by offering all suitable animals in long- and short-term holding deemed unadoptable for sale without limitation or humane euthanasia. Those animals deemed unsuitable for sale should then be destroyed in the most humane manner possible."

News of the vote has since spread rapidly online.

In response, Gorey said, theBLMissued a written statement on Sept. 12 about the advisory board vote.

The agency’s website also noted that, since fiscal 2010,Congresshas placed riders on appropriations bills that prevent theBLMfrom destroying healthy wild horses and burros or selling such animals for commercial processing.

In a Sept. 14 response to theBLM’s statement, the American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Preservation) said theBLMhad “come to the right decision” in rejecting the advisory board recommendation, but criticized the agency's wild horse management program, saying, “TheBLMis on a collision course with disaster as long as it continues this gross mismanagement of wild horses and burros and thepublic landson which they live.”

TheNational Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board, which includes members from various interest groups, meets regularly to discuss issues and advise theBLM. Each year, theBLMrequests nominations for the advisory board from individuals, national organizations, and associations involved with and interested inBLMand U.S. Forest Service management of wild horses and burros on public lands.

Originally posted by The Horse