BLM Receives More Funding for Wild Horse and Burro Program

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Director Tom Fry announced today that the Department of the Interior's Fiscal Year 2001 appropriations includes an additional $9.6 million for the Agency's Wild Horse and Burro Program. On Wednesday, President Bill Clinton signed the Interior Department's appropriations bill for the new fiscal year which began Oct. 1.

"The BLM is responsible for maintaining healthy rangelands as well as protecting and managing wild horses and burros on rangelands," Fry said. "Previous funding levels have not allowed the Agency to fully meet these challenges. With this additional money Congress is clearly telling us we can now be proactive and achieve the proper balance between healthy rangelands and healthy herds."

Congress and the Administration increased funding for the BLM by more than 13 percent, or an additional $128.2 million. The 48.2 percent increase for the Wild Horse and Burro Program is earmarked for the restoration of threatened watersheds, an initiative that includes a comprehensive strategy to achieve healthy rangelands and viable wild horse and burro herds. One of the major threats to watershed health is an overabundance of wild horses and burros on rangelands. With additional funds, the BLM will be able to reduce wild horse and burro populations to a level the land can support. This will eliminate or reduce the negative impacts to upland watersheds, riparian zones, wild horse and burro habitat, wildlife habitat, and water quality, and reduces or eliminates conflicts with wildlife and livestock for available forage. Through balancing populations with the capacity of the land the BLM will be able to ensure healthy and viable herds of wild horses and burros on all herd management areas. Also managing at appropriate management levels will reduce over all program costs.

To accomplish the goal of reaching appropriate management levels, the BLM will increase the number of animals removed from the range in the next few years. Once the Agency achieves appropriate management levels, in 4-5 years, the number of animals removed to maintain that level will actually be lower than the current average of 7,500. In addition, the BLM plans to improve its marketing of animals and events, implement techniques to enhance the adoption prospects of older animals, and, provide long-term care and holding (pasturing) for the oldest, least adoptable animals.

In the last few months the Agency has intensified its efforts to place thousands of wild horses and burros gathered from drought and fire-stricken public lands into good homes. Once the BLM begins to implement its strategy, the numbers of wild horses and burros available for adoption will increase even more.

Wild horses are best known for their sure-footedness, strength, and endurance. With patience and dedication to training, wild horses have become champions in dressage, barrel racing, jumping, endurance racing, and pleasure riding. Wild burros, easily gentled regardless of age, particularly shine as guard animals.

Anyone interested in adopting wild horses and burros may request information and an adoption application by calling BLM toll-free at 1-866-4-MUSTANGS, or visit www.wildhorseandburro.blm.gov on the Internet.

The BLM, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, manages more land–264 million surface acres–than any other Federal agency. Most of this public land is located in 12 Western States, including Alaska. The Bureau, with a workforce of about 8,700 full-time, permanent employees, also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM preserves open space by managing the public lands for multiple uses, including outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, and mining, wild horses and burros, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources found on the public lands.