Below is a copy of a news release from the
National Horse & Burro Rangeland Management Coalition, of which RMEF is a member of, issued in response to a recent media report.
NATIONAL HORSE & BURRO
RANGELAND MANAGEMENT COALITION
Advocating
for commonsense, ecologically-sound approaches to managing horses and burros to
promote healthy wildlife and rangelands for future generations
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Terra Rentz, NHBRMC Chair
Horse
and Burro Coalition Statement on NBC’s Wild Horse Stories
Washington, DC (May 15, 2013) – The National Horse &
Burro Rangeland Management Coalition issues the following statement in response
to two stories released by NBC News today on wild horses:
“Recent stories by NBC News (Today Show: Wild horses:
Endangered animals or menace, and Cruel or necessary? and NBCNews.com: The true
cost of wild horse roundups) portray only select facts and a narrow part of the
reality surrounding wild horses and burros on the western range.
While regarded by many as icons of the American West,
free-roaming horses and burros are in fact non-native species that threaten
rangelands and native plant and animal species. But managed at appropriate
population levels, wild horses and burros are not a “menace,” even to those
with whom the range is shared. Nor is it accurate in any way to call wild
horses and burros “endangered.” In fact, the problem is an overpopulation of
horses and burros in and beyond many herd management areas. It is inaccurate
for these reports to depict only healthy horses or rangelands. While this
exists, so do unhealthy horses and degraded range. Finally, considering the
Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Federal agency tasked with managing most
of the wild horses and burros in the West, has gathered tens of thousands of
horses over the past decades, it is an unfair portrayal of those gathers to
focus on a few instances of potentially inappropriate gather methods. While not
perfect, the BLM works hard to maintain humane gather methods.
The BLM faces a daunting task. Current herd sizes, which
greatly exceed manageable levels, stand to jeopardize other multiple uses
called for by law; they do so by trampling vegetation, hardpacking the soil,
and over-grazing. Current overpopulation of horses and burros on the range
results in great suffering for the animals, many of which are dying of thirst
or starvation. Other multiple uses that depend on healthy rangelands are
suffering as well. Despite protection under the law, for example, BLM reports
that since horses and burros became protected in 1971, ranching families have
seen livestock grazing decline by 30 percent on BLM lands. Meanwhile, the horse
population is 42 percent above the scientifically-determined Appropriate
Management Level (AML) – which is the population size that BLM can graze
without causing ecological damage to rangeland resources. More than 37,000 wild
horses currently reside on the range, over 11,000 more than the west-wide AML
of 26,500 individuals. Without management, horse and burro herds can double in
size every four to five years.
The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 was
enacted to protect “wild, free-roaming” horses and burros, as well as guide
their management as part of the natural system on BLM and U.S. Forest Service
lands in the western United States. The Act requires those agencies to maintain
a “thriving natural ecological balance” and protect existing rights on those
lands, based on the principle of multiple-use. The Act, as amended, also
authorizes the agencies to use or contract for the use of helicopters and
motorized vehicles for the purpose of managing horses and burros. This aids BLM
to reach AML. When AML is not reached, the animals and other multiple uses,
such as wildlife habitat and livestock grazing, are negatively impacted.
Appropriate, scientifically sound management of wild horses
and burros on the range is in the interests of all those who care about the
health of the animals, the sustainability of the range and the well-being of
the rural communities in the West. The NBC stories unfortunately neglect to
address these legitimate issues and provide an incomplete picture of the
challenges facing policymakers, ranchers, and the conservation community.
For the sake of animal welfare and multiple-use—and in
keeping with the Act—the Coalition supports actions that will bring herd sizes
in line with AMLs, and emphasizes the following positions:
The Coalition appreciates BLM’s efforts to find ways to
reduce reproduction rates, increase adoptions and otherwise find solutions to a
problem that continues to burden the BLM, taxpayers, and ranchers and create
concerns for the welfare of horses and burros and the health of wildlife and
the habitats on which they depend. About 70 percent of the total program budget
($74.9 million) is currently being spent on the over 50,000 horses and burros
being held in corrals and pastures. These levels are unsustainable. We support
innovative strategies such as adjusting sex-ratios, and we encourage more
research into effective fertility control treatments. Aside from population
suppression, offering trained animals for adoption is important to increase
demand for excess horses and burros. We encourage cost-effective initiatives to
partner with entities such as universities, prisons and the Mustang Heritage
Foundation.
The Coalition applauds the BLM’s implementation of humane
handling and holding practices. BLM is now supplementing their already-sound
practices with a new Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program. As reported by the
American Association of Equine Practitioners in 2011, BLM’s “care, handling and
management practices” are “appropriate for this population of horses and generally
support the safety, health status and welfare of the animals.”
The Coalition believes horses and burros should continue to
be cared for in a humane manner both on and off the range; integral to this
goal is managing herd populations at scientifically determined AMLs and
removing old and injured animals. Management decisions should be science-based
and increase the ability of rangelands to support healthy horse and burro herds
along with other multiple uses, including sustaining native plant and wildlife
communities and livestock grazing.
The rangeland resource should be managed for multiple-use in
accordance with the law and the land’s scientifically proven capability to
accommodate a variety of uses, including the presence of horses and burros and
the biodiversity of the landscape. The consistent application of sound science
and economics in relation to animal and rangeland management should be used
throughout the horse and burro program.”
The
coalition is a diverse partnership of 13 wildlife, conservation and sportsmen
organizations, industry partners, and professional natural-resource scientific
societies working together to identify proactive and comprehensive solutions to
increase effective management of horse and burro populations and mitigate the
adverse impacts to healthy native fish, wildlife, and plants and the ecosystems
on which they depend. For more information, visit www.wildhorserange.org.
American Farm
Bureau - Masters of Foxhounds Association - Mule Deer Foundation
National
Association of Conservation Districts - National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
National Rifle
Association - National Wildlife Refuge Association Public Lands - Council
Public Lands Foundation - Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation - Safari Club
International - Society for Range Management - The Wildlife Society
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