BLM Wild Horse & Burro Population Growth Suppression: Background and Timeline

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM)has repeatedly broken its promise to reform its wild horse and burro management program based on scientific recommendations. Despite advice against such practices, the agency continues to pursue surgical spaying and castrating of wild horses on the range. The 2013 National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report, "Using Science to Improve the Wild Horse and Burro Program: A Way Forward," was commissioned by theBLMitself. However, instead of following the NAS's roadmap for reform, theBLMhas selectively used the findings to justify management methods that threaten the welfare and viability of America's wild horse and burro herds.

Below is a timeline of theBLM's "reform" strategy based on "population growth suppression."

Timeline of Events

Feb. 24, 2011:BLMDirector Bob Abbeyannouncedplans to reform wild horse and burro management, including commissioning a NAS review and increasingfertility controltreatments.

Fiscal Years (FY) 2012 – 2013: TheBLMfailed to meetitsfertility controltargets, treating far fewer mares than promised while continuing to remove horses from the range.

June 2013: The NAS releases its report, "Using Science to Improve the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program: A Way Forward," criticizing theBLM's practices and recommending alternativefertility controlmethods.

• BLM's roundup and removal practices contribute to high population growth rates.
• Contraception is used on too few mares to significantly impact population growth.
• Long-term, contraception may be more cost-effective than removals.
• Recommended methods include PZP and GonaCon™ vaccines and chemical vasectomy.
• Ovariectomy is deemed "inadvisable" for field application due to health risks.
• Surgical and chemical castration could disrupt social behaviors essential for herd integrity.

March 2014: TheBLMseeks research proposalsfor new population control techniques, ignoring NAS recommendations against surgical sterilization.

August 2014: TheBLMcommissions anew NAS panelto review sterilization and contraception research proposals.

August 4, 2014:BLMOregon offers a$50,000 grantfor research on spaying wild mares, despite NAS recommendations.

December 16-17, 2014: The NAS panel holds its final meeting before making recommendations on sterilization and contraception proposals.

Public feedback on the NAS panel's review of contraception methods is encouraged. Comments should emphasize the importance of preserving the wild behaviors of mustangs and burros, as protected by federal law. Methods that disrupt these behaviors, such as spaying and castration, should be rejected due to their irreversible impact on herd viability and social structure.