Obama and BLM's Plan to Remove Wild Horses: A Critical Look

February 10, 2014

AWHC Contributor

For over two decades, Ginger Kathrens, Executive Director of The Cloud Foundation, has been a leading voice in documenting wild horses through award-winning films for PBS/Nature. Her work has made her a foremost expert on wild horse behavior.

Upon learning that the BLM budgeted $6 million for helicopter roundups in 2014 and $1.5 million for plans to sterilize stallions and mares, Kathrens expressed concern: "The BLM is breaking their promise to Congress and the American public. This seems like a solution to rid the range of our wild horses, mocking the Wild Horse and Burro Act, which aims to preserve, not destroy, wild horse families."

The Cloud Foundation advocates for economical, sustainable methods to manage wild horses and burros "on the range," as recommended in the June 2013 National Academy of Science (NAS) Report: Using Science to Improve the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program: A Way Forward. The report criticizes current BLM practices, such as helicopter roundups, for facilitating high population growth rates.

BLM's approach appears unsustainable, as they continue inhumane and costly helicopter roundups while holding facilities are over capacity. Will they resort to castrating stallions and spaying mares, creating non-reproducing herds and destroying the complex social structures Kathrens has documented?

In October 2013, the BLM issued a request for information on Wild Horse and Burro Sterilization or Contraception: Development of Techniques and Protocols, seeking ideas for permanent sterilization or contraception of wild horses and burros.

Kathrens fears that the BLM might showcase areas where PZP effectively controls population growth while aiming to eliminate other herds. She argues that the overpopulation claim is misleading, as most wild herds are not genetically viable.

"Rather than spend $1.5 million on further studies, the BLM should use existing tools. The proven, reversible fertility vaccine PZP can control population growth economically and sustainably without helicopter roundups," Kathrens stated. "On-range management is practiced in the Pryor Mountains of Montana, McCullough Peaks of Wyoming, and Little Book Cliffs of Colorado, and is considered for the Onaqui herd in Utah. PZP has successfully controlled populations in Assateague National Seashore for decades. Yet, the BLM treated only 332 mares out of 4,702 horses rounded up in 2013."

The Cloud Foundation argues that BLM's management of wild horses and burros is flawed: