Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN)has called on U.S. Bureau of Land Management Director Tracy Stone-Manning and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to suspend the rounding up of federally protected wild horses and burros from western public lands.
Horses lined up in BLM pen
Reports from the National Academy of Sciences, General Accountability Office, and the Office of Inspector General that have labeled wild horse roundups as costly, inefficient, and ineffectives.
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In a letter to Stone-Manning and Haaland, Congressman Cohen said the BLM’s plan to round up 22,000 wild horses and burros this year “comes at great risk to the animals and taxpayers” and urges the agency to “suspend all roundup activities until appropriate range assessments have been completed, animal welfare concerns have been addressed, and a robust fertility control vaccine plan has been implemented.”
Suzanne Roy, executive director of the American Wild Horse Campaign, praised Congressman Cohen for standing up for our nation’s wild horses and U.S. taxpayers.
With new leadership overseeing the BLM and the Department of Interior, we hope for new approaches that are humane and cost-effective, instead of roundups that merely repeat the mistakes of the past,” Roy said. “We’re thankful to Congressman Steve Cohen for taking leadership on this issue and advocating for change. He is working in the best interest of wild horses and the American public, which wants to see these animals treated humanely and preserved on the range.”
Congressman Cohen has been a dedicated leader for the protection and preservation of the nation’s wild horses and burros, championing efforts to oppose mass roundups and encourage the agency toward humane management strategies to keep these animals in their federal habitat.
Congressman Cohen’s letter notes that BLM has used roundups for years, and he points to the National Academy of Sciences report that shows roundups are counterproductive in controlling wild horse populations because removing horses from the range merely promotes increased population growth rates among the herds that remain. Instead, the National Academy of Sciences called on the bureau to use humane fertility control to manage horse populations.
The cost to dart a mare with the safe and effective PZP vaccine to prevent pregnancy is about $220, while the agency states that the cost to round up a horse from the range and warehouse it for life is up to $50,000. The cost of BLM’s roundup plan will cost U.S. taxpayers nearly $1 billion in the first 5 years alone.
In addition, the BLM’s current management approach too often leads to the injury and death of protected wild horses.
The letter states: “Documentation has repeatedly revealed horses dying from broken legs and broken necks, and young foals being chased by helicopters then left orphaned on the range after they couldn’t keep up while their mother was captured.
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documentation has noted horses dying in short-term holding facilities from skull, leg, and neck fractures, and mares dying from birthing complications. Others are listed as “found dead in pen,” which may be a result of capture myopathy caused by the stress of the roundup.”
Congressman Cohen acknowledged BLM’s plan to use more fertility control than in the past this year as a way to manage wild horses but said it is not enough.
“The vaccine program must be much more robust in order to obtain positive results, achieve management goals, and avoid compensatory reproduction,” Congressman Cohen said.
A recent AWHC report shows that the public in recent years has paid hundreds of millions of dollars to fund roundups, including:
- $53.2 million for helicopter roundup and bait-trapping operations since 2006.
- $87.0 million for short-term holding corrals since 2010.
- $333 million for long-term holding pastures since 2004.
This is despite critical reports from the National Academy of Sciences, General Accountability Office, and the Office of Inspector General that have labeled the program as costly, inefficient, and ineffective.
About The American Wild Horse Campaign
American Wild Horse Campaign (AWHC) is the nation’s leading wild horse protection organization, with more than 700,000 supporters and followers nationwide. AWHC is dedicated to preserving the American wild horse and burros in viable, free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage.
Press release by Grace Kuhn, grace@americanwildhorsecampaign.org, Amelia Perrin, amelia@americanwildhorsecampaign.org