Livestock vs. Wild Horses: A Comparative Analysis

Updated: 2018

The management of wild horses and livestock on public lands in the Western United States is a complex issue involving multiple states and millions of acres. This article provides a detailed look at how these lands are utilized, focusing on the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) policies and statistics from Nevada, Utah, Oregon, Washington, and California.

Wild Horses of the West

• BLM manages 245 million acres of public land in the U.S. Source: BLM
• Livestock grazing is authorized on 155 million of BLM land. Source: BLM
• Wild horses and burros are restricted to 26.9 million acres of BLM land, the vast majority shared with livestock. Source: BLM
• Over 80 percent of BLM rangelands grazed by livestock have no wild horses present on them.

Wild Horses of Nevada: Quick Facts

• BLM-Nevada authorizes 12,811 wild horses and burros to live on 15.7 million acres of public land in the entire state. Source: BLM
• BLM-Nevada administers 797 grazing allotments across approximately 43 million acres of public lands throughout the State. Source: BLM-Nevada
• BLM-Nevada authorizes 2 million Animal Unit Months (AUMs) for livestock or the annual equivalent of approximately 167,000 cow/calf pairs. Source: BLM-Nevada

Wild Horses of Utah: Quick Facts

• BLM-Utah authorizes 1,956 wild horses and burros to live on 2.5 million acres of public land in the entire state. Source: BLM and BLM Utah
• BLM-Utah administers 1410 grazing permits across approximately 22 million acres of public lands throughout the State. Source: BLM-Utah
• BLM-Utah authorizes 1.3 million Animal Unit Months (AUMs) for livestock or the annual equivalent of approximately 108,300 cow/calf pairs. Source: BLM-Utah

Wild Horses of Oregon/Washington: Quick Facts

• BLM-Oregon authorizes 2,715 wild horses and burros to live on 2.9 million acres of public lands in the entire state. Source: BLM
• BLM-Oregon/Washington administers 1,488 grazing permits across 14 million acres of public lands. Source: BLM Public Land Statistics & BLM Oregon
• BLM-Oregon/Washington authorizes 1,050,000 Animal Unit Months (AUMs) for livestock or the annual equivalent of approximately 87,500 cow/calf pairs. Source: BLM Public Land Statistics

Wild Horses of California: Quick Facts

• BLM-California authorizes 2,200 wild horses and burros to live on 2.5 million acres of public lands in the entire state. Source: BLM
• BLM-California administers 665 grazing allotments across 6.1 million acres of public lands. Source: BLM California
• BLM-California authorizes 472,000 Animal Unit Months (AUMs) for livestock or the annual equivalent of approximately 39,300 cow/calf pairs. Source: BLM California