BLM's Crisis Creation: Is Slaughter the Only Solution for Wild Horses?

As Wild Horse Advocates Escalate Pressure onCongress, FOIA Document ShowsBLMContinues “Business As Usual” Approach to Wild Horse Program

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is under scrutiny as a new document obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request reveals the agency's lack of progress in reforming its wild horse program in FY 2013. Despite promises and an independent scientific review warning against the continuation of current practices, theBLMhas made no significant changes. This ongoing issue raises concerns about the future of America's wild horses.

WASHINGTON -- A new document obtained by wild horse advocates through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request shows the Bureau of Land Management made no headway in reforming its wild horse program in FY 2013 despite years of promises to do so and an independent scientific review which warned that the “continuation of 'business as usual' practices will be expensive and unproductive forBLMand the public it serves.”

The document, a breakdown of theBLM’s FY 2013 budget for its wild horse program, shows the Agency spent 0% onfertility control, which lets wild horses stay wild and reduces the need for an expensive and unsustainable roundup and stockpiling system.

“TheBLMhas for years promised reforms, but has consistently failed to follow through,” saidSuzanne Roy, director of the American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Preservation). “Now even the agency admits that its budget and holding space are maxed out, yet it continues to delay implementing reforms that would ease that pressure. The only explanation at this point is that theBLMis creating a crisis where slaughter of America’s wild horses is the only solution. But slaughter is strongly opposed by the American public. It is not an answer to theBLM’s mismanagement woes.”

History of Broken Promises

Here’s an abbreviated history of the Interior Department andBLM’s broken promises to step up its use offertility control:

• In February 2011, a former BLM directorpledgedto “broaden the use of fertility control” in the program.
• In May 2013, Interior Secretary Sally Jewelltoldthe Denver Post that she would use the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report to guide her approach to the program. The report, which was funded by the BLM to a tune of more than $1 million and published in June 2013, encouraged the BLM to expand its use of available fertility control options.
• In February 2014, Secretary Jewellsaidthe BLM was looking to launch “an ‘X-Prize’ type of thing” to encourage pharmaceutical companies to develop an “effective birth control method for horses” despite the NASfindingsthat such drugs “already exist.”

A Call to Action

The release of theBLM’s FY 2013 budget document comes on the same day American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC) announces the launch of a new effort to pressure members ofCongressto take a stand in the fight. Beginning today, AWHC supporters -- 100,000 strong in all 50 states -- will ask their representatives in Washington, D.C. to sign a pledge committing them to opposing any initiatives that result in the slaughter of federally-protected wild horses and supporting the NAS reforms to theBLMprogram.

Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) was the first member to sign the pledge. The full pledge is available to readhere.

The pledge will build on a previous AWHC initiative from June 2013 when 30 members ofCongresssigned a letterto Interior Secretary Sally Jewell urging her to embrace the NAS reforms to make theBLM's program more sustainable fiscally and logistically.

The American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Preservation)(AWHC) is a coalition of more than 60 horseadvocacy, public interest, and conservation organizations dedicated to preserving the American wild horse in viable, free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage. AWHC’s founding organization,Return to Freedom(RTF), a national non-profit dedicated to wild horse preservation through sanctuary, education, and conservation, also operates the American Wild Horse Sanctuary in Lompoc, CA.

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