Wyoming Committee Urges Congressional Action on Wild Horse Management

Members of the Wyoming House of Representatives Agricultural Committee have passed a resolution urgingCongressto find new ways to control the wild horse population in the state. This move highlights ongoing concerns about ecological balance and the impact of wild horses on rangelands.

The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act federally protects wild horses and burros residing in western states, placing them under the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) jurisdiction. TheBLMWyoming website indicates the bureau manages about 3,000 horses in 16 different herd management areas (HMAs) within the state. The agency establishes appropriate management levels for each HMA to ensure a proper ecological balance between wildlife, livestock, and wild horses.

Earlier this year, theBLMbegan removing wild horses from an area known as the "checkerboard"—a part of the range where private, federal, and state lands intermingle—to comply with a consent decree between theBLMand owners of livestock that also grazeBLM-owned land.

The state of Wyoming subsequently filed suit asking the court to order the federal agencies to manage the state's wild horses according to the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act.

On Jan. 14, members of the Wyoming House's Select Federal Natural Resource Management Committee introduced HJ 0003, which asks Congress and state and local authorities to take action to remediate damages caused by free-roaming horses on western rangelands. Thelegislationalso asks theBLMto develop effective fertility-control methods to reduce wild horse populations.

The resolution claims that wild horses destroy vegetation and overgraze rangelands, causing degradation in areas that provide important habitat for native species such as pronghorn, mule deer, bighorn sheep, and sage grouse. While theBLMremoves excessive wild horse populations from rangelands, the number of removed animals exceeds the number that are adopted or sold, the resolution said.

However, some wild horse advocates claim thelegislationis misleading because the state's wild horse population is actually beneath the allowable level set by theBLM.

Wyoming Legislative Information Officer Anthony Sara said HJ 0003 was subsequently assigned to Wyoming's House Agricultural Committee where, on Jan. 29, it was unanimously passed.

Thelegislationnow moves on for consideration by the full Wyoming House of Representatives.

Originally Posted By The Horse