BLM to Gauge Public Values and Preferences for Wild Horse Management

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is embarking on a significant initiative to understand public perceptions and preferences regarding the management of wild horses and burros on public lands. This effort aims to balance the diverse interests of stakeholders and improve communication with the public.

The BLM plans to convene nine focus groups and conduct up to a dozen in-depth interviews with key stakeholders. This will help craft a national survey to provide a better understanding of public perceptions, values, and preferences regarding the management of wild horses and burros on public rangelands.

The two-year project seeks to evaluate the pros and cons of competing uses of Western rangelands and different management approaches. It aims to find common ground among wild horse stakeholders and enhance communication with the public.

BLM's wild horse and burro program is among its most costly and controversial. A 1971 law requires BLM to manage wild horses in a "thriving natural ecological balance" on public lands. However, horse advocates and ranchers interpret "balance" differently, placing BLM in a complex legal and political landscape.

As of last year, BLM estimated there were 49,209 wild horses and burros on public lands, up from 40,605 the previous year. The agency states that the range can only sustain 26,684 of these animals. Population estimates for 2015 are not yet available.

BLM is also caring for 48,335 wild horses and burros in off-range pens, nearing its total holding capacity of 50,209.

"Stakeholders and the general public hold a variety of views on how wild horses and burros should be managed," BLM stated in a notice proposing the focus groups and interviews, which will be published in tomorrow's Federal Register.

BLM will take 60 days of public comment on the research request and will then seek approval from the Office of Management and Budget. Results from the focus groups and interviews will help design a national survey on wild horse and burro management, triggering a second round of public comments and OMB review.

The proposed research was a key recommendation of a comprehensive National Academy of Sciences report in 2013 that critiqued BLM's management of wild horses and burros (E&ENews PM, June 5, 2013).

"Policy to manage the free-ranging population should be carefully attentive to divergent public values," the NAS report concluded. "It is important to have a management plan that accounts for the opinions and concerns of a variety of stakeholders—not only scientists and advocates but a variety of community members and parties that may have strongly held perspectives on the issue."

For example, the NAS study cited research in 1980 that found the horse was the second-most liked animal out of 50 species in the United States, second only to the dog.

Wild horse advocates argue that the animals belong on Western rangelands and often sue when BLM moves to round them up and store them in holding pens, which BLM insists it is legally obligated to do.

However, livestock groups and some Western states view wild horses as invasive species that compete with domestic cattle for scarce forage. Legal actions have been taken in Wyoming and Utah to force BLM to remove wild horses when they venture off federal lands.

The NAS study notes that the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act "leaves considerable room for interpretation of its mandates." The study called for "several approaches for improving communication with the public and leveraging public participation to increase confidence in decisions about the free-ranging horses and burros under BLM management."

BLM stated that its focus groups and interviews will include a wide range of groups that have previously lobbied BLM or commented on its wild horse policies and decisions. These include officials of wild horse and burro advocacy groups, domestic horse owners, wild horse adopters, livestock owners, conservationists, hunters, and public land managers.

Participants in the focus groups, which will be held in three locations across the country, will be recruited by BLM's research contractor, Ipsos. Participants for in-depth interviews will be selected from the focus groups.

"Focus groups and in-depth interviews will enable the researchers to characterize the range of preferences that exist for wild horse and burro management," BLM said. "The national survey will then assess the distribution of these preferences across the larger population."

Originally Posted By E & E News