OVERVIEW:
IMAGERY & VIDEO
- Images Please notify AWHC before use. Photo credit to Kimerlee Curyl Photography
- Video clips Please notify AWHC before use. Video Credit to AWHC.
2018 BUDGET DEBATE
BLM "APPROPRIATE" MANAGEMENT LEVEL = EXTINCTION
- 25,000 wild horses and burros existed in 1971 when Congress passed a law to protect them because they were "fast disappearing." (see this article, under BLM response for verification of BLM statement that 25,300 horses existed in 1971, and the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act for verification that Congress considered this number to be "fast disappearing.)
- BLM's "appropriate" management level is 17,000-26,700 horses, i.e. the number of horses that BLM considers to be "appropriate" is extinction level. (Look under "on range population estimates" at this link for the high AML by state. To get the low AML, which is what BLM manages for, you have to add it up by HMA and state at this link. BLM does not report this number as a whole, but this is what they manage for low AML so they actually want to reduce the population below what was considered extinction level in 1971.)
LIVESTOCK vs. HORSES
- BLM manages 245 million acres of pubic land in the U.S.
- Livestock graze on 155 million acres
- Horses present on 27 million (17%) of the BLM acres grazed by livestock. (See "Wild Horse and Burro Acreage")
- Since 1971, BLM has reduced wild horse habitat by "zeroing out" eliminating horses from 22.2 million acres. (see link above).
- More than three-quarters of forage in wild horse habitat is allocated to private livestock instead of federally protected wild horses. (See email from BLM Wild Horse Specialist, also NBC News "Cruel of Necessary: The True Cost of Wild Horse Roundups")
INFORMATION ON PUBLIC LANDS LIVESTOCK GRAZING
- Congressional Research Service - Grazing Fees Report (2019)
- Center for Biological Diversity: Costs and Consequences: The Real Price of Grazing on Public Lands
- Public Employees for Environmenntal Employees: BLM Scapegoating Wild Horses
- Center for Investigative Reporting: Ranchers denied drought while collecting drought subsidies
- Daily Pitchfork: Forbes Billionares Top List of U.S. Welfare Ranchers
POLLING: PUBLIC OPPOSITION TO HORSE SLAUGHTER
- 2017 national poll: 80% of Americans oppose slaughtering and killing wild horses.
- 2017 Similar polls in NV, UT, CA and NJ.
- 2018 Virginia Range Polling Results: 86% of Nevadans oppose mustang slaughter/killing
- Previous polls on horse slaughter and wild horse protection also show strong support for protection and opposition to slaughter.
- Poll showing only 29% of Americans want public lands available for livestock grazing.
WILD HORSES AND SLAUGHTER
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES REPORT
- 2013 Report, requested and paid for by the BLM, delivered a scathing rebuke of the BLM's wild horse and burro program.
- The NAS Report
- Key Findings of the NAS Report
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORTS
- The Bureau of Land Management's Wild Horse Program is not Maximizing Efficiencies or Complying with Federal Regulations, October 2016
- Investigative Report of Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse Buyer, October 2015
IN DEPTH MEDIA REPORTS
- TheAtlantic.com in-depth series by Andrew Cohen on wild horse issue.
- Cruel or Necessary? The True Cost of Wild Horse Roundups NBC News
