A management plan to combat feral horse overpopulation turned heads earlier this year after a multitude of diverse industry stakeholders did the unthinkable: compromise.
Industry groups such as the American Farm Bureau, Public Lands Council (PLC), and National Cattlemen’s Association (NCBA) teamed up with unlikely allies to propose a much-needed plan to Congress. Some of the unexpected collaborators were the American Mustang Foundation, Humane Society of the United States, and American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
The proposal was introduced to tackle the economic burden of managing excessive horse and burro populations. The Bureau of Land Management estimates it costs upwards of $81 million to manage the excess populations, and implementing more practical management could reduce the populations, and therefore the cost.
On Oct. 31, the U.S. Senate passed a “minibus” bill that included $35 million for the management of feral horses and burros, following the House’s appropriation of $6 million for the cause. The two branches will now meet for a conference committee to hash out the details and produce a negotiated conference report of the two bills, which will then move on to the president.
The path forward
The Path Forward for Management of BLM’s Wild Horses and Burros proposal was introduced by the collection of organizations earlier this year in April. It outlines a 10-year plan that involves nonlethal control of the feral horse and burro populations.
Then-Senior Executive Director for NCBA Federal Lands and Executive Director for PLC Ethan Lane had originally told WLJ the plan was “an attempt to find a common path forward and come to an agreement that can be taken back to separate worlds of different industries. The Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act has tied the [Bureau of Land Management’s] hands, and this proposal is an attempt at a solution for that.”
One of the reasons the plan was successful with the unlikely group of supporters was the strict agreement that no horse slaughter would be included in the proposal. Suggested solutions in the proposal included: relocating animals to more cost-effective pastures; securing lower cost leased land from private parties; applying humane population growth suppressants; and promoting adoptions.
Currently, the population of feral horses and burros on federal lands is about three times greater than what the appropriate management level is estimated to be.
Management funding
At a Senate subcommittee on public lands, forests and mining committee in July, representatives from the proposal coalition expressed that much of the management issues stemmed from a lack of funding for the BLM.
“The program is constrained,” Lane had said. “At its current budget, they’re spending $50 of their $80-some odd million on the off-range holding of those 50,000 horses that have been gathered. That leaves them very few resources to do more gathers, administer fertility control, and really aggressively triage that population.”
In its Fiscal Year 2020 Interior Appropriations bill, on Oct. 31 the Senate advanced a reform-focused budget increase for the BLM to the tune of $35 million.
The bill covers funding for the Path Forward proposal requests—increasing gathers on the range, administering fertility control, increasing adoptions and expanding off-range holding—although the appropriation is short $15 million of the original requested amount.
Included in the introduction of spending measures is specific language to ensure no funding shall be allocated for horse slaughter, a provision that has been in place for nearly a decade.
The Senate approved for the secretary of the interior to enter multiyear agreements with nonprofit organizations for long-term care and maintenance of excess free-roaming feral horses by either the organizations or entities on private lands. Agreements and contracts may not exceed 10 years.
The Senate also granted for excess wild horses to be transferred to local government agencies for use as work animals, after which they will no longer be considered a wild free-roaming animal. Animals transferred to agencies may not be sold or euthanized for the purpose of destruction.
Funds appointed to the U.S. Forest Service may also be transferred to the BLM for purposes of removal and adoption of excess wild horses and burros from National Forest lands.
Tied up in Congress
Tanner Beymer of Public Lands Council told WLJ it was unlikely an appropriations bill was going to be passed before the current continuing resolution expires on Nov. 21. He theorized another continuing resolution would be put in place, although there’s mixed reports on Capitol Hill to when it would extend to.
Some think the continuing resolution would extend until mid-February; others feel conflicts from the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump will extend the resolution into a full year. In the case of the latter, all of the funding from last fiscal year would extend into this year, which would be bad news for the proposal. — Anna Miller, WLJ editor
