The Bureau of Land Management NEWS |
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The Bureau of Land Management NEWS |
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Last updated: 04/04/03
April 22, 1997
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The nation's popular wild horse and burro adoption program will be strengthened across the board as a result of changes instituted today by Bureau of Land Management Acting Director Sylvia Baca.
The BLM, an agency in the Department of the Interior, is responsible for the management and care of some 42,000 federally protected wild horses and burros on western public range lands. It gathers several thousand animals each year to balance the number of animals with available forage and water, and offers the excess animals for adoption to people who promise to provide them with good homes.
The changes implemented today by Baca focus on six specific areas to improve the administration of the program: adopters' maintenance and care of the animals; employee adoptions; the system for tracking the animals after they are gathered from the range; training employees to improve the adoption program; public information, and management and accountability of the program.
Among the key changes are: (1) provisions that all adopters be contacted by telephone or in person within six months after adopting; (2) an increase in on-site compliance inspections of untitled adopted wild horses and burros and (3) direction that BLM contact all adopters who have not applied for title to their animals after 15 months.
While the animals are under the protection of the Federal Government until an adopter receives title to it, adopters can apply for title and ownership after 12 months of providing certified, humane care. The BLM will continue its current policy of conducting on-site inspections of all allegations of mistreatment of adopted animals.
The changes are based on recommendations by a special Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Program Policy Analysis Team. The 12 member team, made up of Federal and State officials, was created in January to analyze the BLM program and make recommendations to better ensure that adopted animals receive short- and long-term humane care.
"We're going to be checking in on more adopters to make sure horses are properly cared for; we're going to spot check slaughterhouses to make sure they comply with the law; and we're going to keep better track of horses and adopters through improved data systems," Baca said. "These changes will result in better management of wild horses and greater assurance of successful adoptions by caring and qualified individuals."
To better manage the overall program, the BLM will complete monitoring and environmental analysis to establish appropriate herd management levels on the western rangelands by the end of the year 2000, and will initiate an annual wild horse and burro stewardship report by each field office. New employee standards and training will be developed by the end of 1997.
The BLM will continue working closely with private industry to ensure strict compliance with requirements that no untitled wild horse or burro be processed for slaughter.
New guidelines in the report require BLM field managers to review all employee or contractor adoptions and prohibit employees adopting animals at reduced fees.
Copies of the 42 page report can be obtained by contacting the local BLM office or the Eastern States Office of External Affairs at (703) 440-1713. It is also available for viewing online at http://www.blm.gov/whb/culp2.html.
In a separate but related action today, the BLM also announced that it has instituted a procedure for referral of allegations of criminal activity in connection with the Wild Horse and Burro Program to the Public Integrity Section of the Department of Justice. Individuals who wish to refer information to the Department of Justice are encouraged to contact BLM Deputy Director for Special Projects Tom Fry for further information.
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