Bureau of Land Management-Eastern States

Contact: Bill Davenport (703-440-1720)

For release: November 8, 2006                                                           

BLM-Eastern States Reduces Adoption Fee

For Certain Wild Horses in December

The Bureau of Land Management's Eastern States announced today that it will offer geldings that are at least four years old for adoption at a reduced fee of $25 each during December at the holding facility in Ewing, Illinois.  The standard adoption fee for wild horses and burros is $125.

While providing savings to potential adopters, the reduced adoption fee is aimed at moving more BLM-managed animals that are currently in holding facilities into good homes of private owners.  The BLM's cost for maintaining wild horses and burros in short- and long-term holding facilities accounts for more than half of the agency's total wild horse and burro budget, which was about $37 million in Fiscal Year 2006.

"We hope that anyone who has the interest and means of providing good care for these geldings will come to our facility in Ewing, Illinois during December," said BLM-Eastern States Director Mike Nedd. Qualified adopters are eligible to receive title after providing one year of humane care. 

To adopt one of these horses you must call for an appointment and be pre-approved.  Call Karen Malloy at 1-800-370-3936 for pre-approval and to schedule an appointment.  These horses may be previewed on the photo galley at the BLM-Eastern States Adoptahorse web site (https://www.blm.gov/adoptahorse/). Appointments can be scheduled Monday thru Friday, 9 am to 3 pm and Saturday’s, 9 am to Noon. 

Under the authority of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, the BLM manages, protects, and controls wild horses and burros as part of its overall multiple-use mission.  The Bureau works to ensure that population levels are in balance with rangeland resources and other uses of the public lands; toward that end, the BLM removes thousands of wild horses and burros from the range each year to control the size of herds, which have virtually no predators and can double in population about every four years.

The current free-roaming population of wild horses and burros on BLM-managed lands is about 31,000, which exceeds by some 3,500 the number determined by the Bureau to be the appropriate management level.  Off the range, there are more than 28,000 wild horses and burros cared for in either short-term (corral) or long-term (pasture) facilities.  All animals in holding are protected by the BLM under the 1971 law.

            The Bureau works to place as many of the wild horses and burros that are in holding into private care, and since 1973, the BLM has placed more than 213,000 animals into private ownership through adoption.  Under a December 2004 amendment to the 1971 law, the Bureau also seeks good homes through sales of horses and burros that are more than 10 years old or have been passed over for adoption at least three times.  (In the case of sales, the title of ownership passes immediately from the Federal government to the buyer.)  Since that amendment took effect, the BLM has sold more than 2,100 eligible horses and burros.  The BLM encourages those who are interested in providing good homes to wild horses or burros to visit the agency's Website (www.blm.gov) for information about adoptions or sales.

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