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Last updated: 04/04/03

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Gwen Mason, (202 208-6913
Michelle Barret, (601) 898-0593

For release: October 16, 1997

Fact Finders to Assess BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program

Bureau of Land Management Director Pat Shea today announced he has asked three independent fact finders to analyze specific issues related to the BLM's wild horse and burro program. The fact finders, who are volunteering their time and will not receive compensation, include an accountant, a veterinarian, and a newspaper editor.

"These three people are among the best in their fields," Shea said. "My goal is to strengthen the program by first having a thorough and sound analysis of various aspects of the program. I am delighted that the fact finders have agreed to help the BLM and I am grateful for their assistance."

The three fact finders include:

• Stuart Finley, a certified public accountant with the firm of Ripley Dorn and Company of Nampa, Idaho. He will be reviewing the BLM's methods and procedures used to inventory wild horse and burro populations on BLM-managed lands; the administration of BLM's wild horse and burro adoption program; the BLM's record-keeping procedures related to transferring title of wild horses and burros to private owners; and the agency's methods for auditing adopters' compliance with laws related to wild horses and burros.
• Matthew Mackay-Smith, a veterinarian in White Post, Virginia. He will review population control options such as birth control for wild horses and burros on the range; ways to achieve the appropriate management levels of wild horses and burros on the range; and the effectiveness of BLM's procedures to ensure that adopted horses and burros receive humane care.
• Jay Shelledy, editor of the Salt Lake Tribune in Salt Lake City, Utah. He will review media coverage of the wild horse and burro program; BLM's responsiveness to inquiries about the program; and determine to what extent the BLM has implemented recommendations made in various reports and other documents.

The three are expected to begin work immediately and present their findings in the next four to six months to the new Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board, which is currently being formed. Nominations for the Advisory Board close October 27, 1997. The new Board will make recommendations to the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior based on the fact finders' reports.

The BLM manages about 42,000 wild horses and burros that roam public lands managed in the West under the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971. That law mandates the protection, management, and control of wild free-roaming horses and burros on public lands at population levels that ensure a thriving ecological balance.

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