Division of Wild Horses and Burros (HQ-260)

Healthy Horses, Healthy Rangelands

The Wild Horses and Burros Division (HQ-260) provides guidance, policies, rules, regulations, and procedures to manage and protect wild horses and burros on public lands as directed by the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act and other congressional legislation. The division’s goal is to manage and protect healthy wild horses and burros on healthy public rangelands. Priorities include reducing overpopulation on public lands to achieve appropriate management levels where such overpopulation contributes to range degradation and reducing the number of animals in corrals and pastures through adoptions and sales. The division supports management actions across state, district, and field offices, including developing a national gather schedule, procuring off-range corrals and pastures, coordinating animal transportation, developing and administering national agreements, and providing national outreach/marketing support. The division partners with a range of stakeholders and a national advisory board to identify possible solutions to this complex resource management challenge. HQ-260 accomplishes its role through the following two branches.