Bureau of Land Management and Public Lands
Council
Urge Public Lands Ranchers to Buy Wild Horses
The Bureau of Land Management and the rancher-based Public Lands Council
(PLC) are urging public lands ranchers to consider buying older wild horses
that must be sold under a recently passed law. The appeal, made in separate
letters signed by BLM Director Kathleen Clarke and PLC President Mike
Byrne, is going out to more than 15,000 livestock operators across the
West who hold BLM-issued grazing permits or leases. The PLC represents
the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the American Sheep Industry
Association, and the Association of National Grasslands on public land
issues affecting ranchers.
In his letter to public lands ranchers, PLC President Byrne writes: “We
recognize and appreciate that many of you already provide support to wild
horses and burros through water use and grazing on private lands intermingled
with the public lands. We are asking you to consider continuing to help
by purchasing some of the older horses.”
In an accompanying letter, BLM Director Clarke, who notes that the BLM
has some 7,000 sale-eligible horses in its pasture holding facilities,
calls the PLC’s effort “most gracious and welcome.”
Pointing out to ranchers that the BLM will deliver loads of 20 or more
horses to any destination, Clarke writes, “I am committed to wise
and responsible use of BLM’s fiscal resources. The cost of maintaining
horses in holding consumes more than half of our agency’s wild horse
program budget. Reducing holding costs will enable the BLM to commit greater
resources to the accomplishment of rangeland health and wild horse herd
management goals.”
The BLM-PLC appeal comes as the BLM implements a law enacted by Congress
in December 2004 that mandates the sale of certain wild horses and burros
– specifically, those more than 10 years old or those that have
been passed over for adoption at least three times. In implementing this
law, the Bureau has been reaching out to groups and individuals that are
interested in buying these animals for long-term care. As of January 2006,
the BLM has sold more than 1,500 wild horses and burros of the 8,400 that
were immediately affected by the sale-authority law.
Public lands ranchers and all others who are interested in buying wild
horses should call the BLM at 1-800-710-7597, send an e-mail to wildhorse@blm.gov,
or talk to a local BLM manager.
The BLM manages wild horses and burros as part of its overall mission
to manage the public lands for multiple uses. Under the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming
Horses and Burros Act, the BLM manages, protects, and controls wild horses
and burros; this responsibility includes removing excess numbers of animals
from the public rangelands to ensure that herd populations are consistent
with the land’s capacity to support them. According to the BLM’s
latest figures, there are about 32,000 wild horses and burros roaming
BLM-managed lands in 10 Western states, a population that exceeds by some
4,000 the number that can exist in balance with other public land resources
and uses.
For further information about the BLM’s wild horse and burro sales
program, see www.blm.gov. For information
about the BLM’s wild horse and burro adoption program, which is
separate from the sales program, see www.wildhorseandburro.blm.gov.
The BLM, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, manages more
land—261 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 budget of about $1.8 billion, also administers 700
million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The
BLM’s multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity
of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.
The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation,
livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by
conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on the public
lands.
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