Managing Wild Horse Populations: Challenges and Solutions

Wild horses are federally protected animals, and over the last 30 years, their population has exploded. Managing the population has become a daunting and controversial task, which now costs taxpayers more than $75 million a year. California and Nevada have the highest wild horse and burro populations in the nation. The land many of these horses once lived on is now managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which means it is public and can be used for business or pleasure.

The wild horses aren’t the only animals onBLMland, either, sharing that land with wildlife and cattle. It'sBLM’s job to ensure that public land is not overgrazed by any animals. When the wild horse population grows,CongressordersBLMto round up horses and relocate or adopt them out as pets.

Welson used to round up wild horses forBLM. Today, she cares for about 300 adopted wild horses on private land. The goal of the Wild Horse Sanctuary is to get people interested in the animals. Volunteers help manage the herd on 5,000 acres of land that sits at the edge of Shasta County.

Wild horses have been stuck in a century-old land battle withBLMand cattle ranchers. The problem is complex, Welson says, because few know the history.

Palomino Valley Wild Horse and Burro Center

Just 30 minutes from Reno is the Palomino Valley Wild Horse and Burro Center. It’s one of the 17 federally owned, temporary holding facilities for wild horses. Hundreds of wild horses are cared for and fed untilBLMcan adopt them out.

Bolbo wants to see a complete overhaul of the wayBLMmanages the wild horse populations.

Currently, the federal government spends $77 million a year on the “Wild Horse and Burro Program.” The money goes towards rounding up the horses, feeding and caring for the animals, and then driving them to different parts of the state to adopt them out.

Why Round Up Wild Horses?

Wild horses are not native to the United States. Conquistadors left behind domesticated horses in the 15th-16th century after exploring North America. Over the next 600 years, the horse population grew. Many horses were used by Native Americans and early pioneers. By the 1800s, cattle ranchers were capturing the wild horses in great numbers because wild horses competed withlivestockfor grazing land.

By the 1960s, wild horses were often inhumanely captured and sold to slaughterhouses. In 1971,Congresspassed the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burros Act, making it illegal to capture or kill the animals. At that time, a large portion of the wild horse population lived onBLMranges, the same ranges cattle ranchers used. Now protected, the wild horse population grew, thus starting another food battle between horses, livestock, and wild animals. Relocation and adoption of wild horses isBLM’s only option to manage the population.

Alternative Management

The federal government manages horse populations onBLMland, but offBLMland, a network of wild horse advocates is working to reduce the population in a different way.

Even thoughPZPonly lasts one to three years, it’s showing promising results. The birth control is administered by air-powered dart guns. Volunteers regularly dart healthy mares in the Virginia Range, state-owned land just outside Virginia City, Nev.

Nevada state officials give special permission to these volunteers to dart wild horses. As a rule, they can only shoot horses at close range.

What's the Beef on Wild Horse Management?

Nevada is the nation’s 31st largest beef producer. In order to feed their cattle, ranchers like David Stix have to useBLMgrazing land.

Cattle ranchers must buy permits to graze onBLMland.Livestockis limited to about eight months on the range to allow grass to grow back. Due to the growing wild horse population,BLMhas reduced livestock grazing land by 35 percent since 1971.

The Wild Horse and Burro Act of 1971 wasn’t just created to protect wild horses, but also to protect grazing rights for wildlife and livestock. If the wild horse population gets too big and eats too much grass onBLMland,Congresssteps in.Congress(with the help of advisors) is supposed to decide how many horses are rounded up and relocated.

Today, theBLMmanages over 30 million acres of land. The land with wild horses on it is calledHerd Management Areas(HMA), and they’re designated regions in 10 states where wild horses roam, but it’s a mix of public and private land. Boundary lines look like a checkerboard that wild horses regularly cross.

In 1971, federal wildlife managers determined thatBLMlands could sustain up to 27,000 wild horses and burros. If the population went over that number, there would not be enough food for wildlife andlivestock.

BLMpaid the National Academy of Science (NAS) over $1 million to evaluate the effectiveness of thewild horse and burro program. The overall findings were not good. The NAS reported, “Continuation of business as usual practices will be expensive and unproductive forBLMand the public it serves.” The report also highlightsBLM’s lack of “Scientific Rationale” for the number of horses allowed on the range, round-ups were not effective, andBLMsurgical birth control methods are dangerous.

Directed by Congress

BLMis often the target of blame when issues arise with wild horses, and for a good reason.Congresstasked the bureau with managing the animals on public land.

He agrees with parts of the National Academy ofSciencereport, butCongresshas to change laws and wild horses don’t often top the list of priorities.

The Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971 did not set aside a specific amount of land for wild horses, but it does requireBLMto count the population. One way they do that is through a photographic aerial count method commonly used by the U.S. Geological Survey.

One example of an overgrazed area is the Pine Nut HMA, a plot ofBLMland just outside Carson City. Twenty years ago,BLMbanned cattle grazing on this land in hopes that native grass would return, but Shepard says the wild horse population moved in.

Water supply is also scarce in this area. There are only a half dozen watering holes on the Pine Nut HMA, and wild horses are known to dig up watering holes when springs run dry.BLMis in the process of building a fence around one waterhole so smaller animals can get a drink.

Horse-Human Conflict

In 1971, the horse population onBLMland was around 25,000. Today, the population hovers over 67,000. CurrentBLMrecords show that every four years, the horse population doubles in size while wild horse adoption rates have seen a steady decline. With population on the rise, wild horses and burros are moving into rural areas. In the last five years, Nevada has seen 324 wild horse-related accidents resulting in two human fatalities.

Roads and human development have limited the range land for animals to roam. The wild horse is an American icon facing a century-old land battle with the people who brought them here to lay claim to this nation. Their existence is in our hands, and only we can choose to keep them wild.

Originally posted by ABC 10