Jewell Avoids Question on Wild Horse Program Reforms

In a recent Q&A session at the National Press Club in Washington D.C., Secretary Jewell was asked about the status of reforms to the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) wild horse program. Unfortunately, she did not provide a direct answer. Instead, she defended a policy that many consider ineffective and a bureaucracy resistant to change.

Secretary Jewell repeatedBLM's public relations stance on the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report, misrepresenting its strong recommendation for the immediate implementation of humane and cost-effective measures, such as fertility control, as alternatives to further horse removals.

She omitted the NAS finding thatBLM's management practices contribute to high reproductive rates and failed to address the core issue: theBLM's preferential treatment of privately-ownedlivestockover federally-protected wild horses in designated habitat areas. With over 80% of forage in these areas allocated tolivestockrather than wild horses, the real problem is not an overpopulation of wild horses but an overpopulation oflivestockon public lands.

This is disappointing from a Secretary with the potential to bring meaningful change and reform to this costly, ineffective, and inhumane federal program.

Our question:

"The National Academy of Sciences released a review five months ago of the Bureau of Land Management's controversial wild horse program, stating, 'continuation of 'business as usual' practices will be expensive and unproductive forBLMand the public it serves.' Does the Interior Department andBLMintend to embrace the reforms included in the report and, if so, when?"

Watch her response:

Unfortunately, the video link is unavailable.

Read more on The Atlantic online:

On Wild Horses, The Secretary of the Interior Needs to Listen to the Scientists