BLM Wild Horse & Burro Population Growth Suppression: Background and Timeline

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has repeatedly broken its promise to reform its wild horse and burro management program based on scientific recommendations. Despite advice against such practices, the agency continues to pursue surgical spaying and castrating of wild horses on the range. The 2013 National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report, "Using Science to Improve the Wild Horse and Burro Program: A Way Forward," was commissioned by the BLM itself. However, instead of following the NAS's roadmap for reform, the BLM has selectively used the findings to justify management methods that threaten the welfare and viability of America's wild horse and burro herds.

Below is a timeline of the BLM's "reform" strategy based on "population growth suppression."

Timeline of Events

Feb. 24, 2011: BLM Director Bob Abbey announced plans to reform wild horse and burro management, including commissioning a NAS review and increasing fertility control treatments.

Fiscal Years (FY) 2012 – 2013: The BLM failed to meet its fertility control targets, treating far fewer mares than promised while continuing to remove horses from the range.

June 2013: The NAS releases its report, "Using Science to Improve the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program: A Way Forward," criticizing the BLM's practices and recommending alternative fertility control methods.

• BLM's roundup and removal practices contribute to high population growth rates.
• Contraception is used on too few mares to significantly impact population growth.
• Long-term, contraception may be more cost-effective than removals.
• Recommended methods include PZP and GonaCon™ vaccines and chemical vasectomy.
• Ovariectomy is deemed "inadvisable" for field application due to health risks.
• Surgical and chemical castration could disrupt social behaviors essential for herd integrity.

March 2014: The BLM seeks research proposals for new population control techniques, ignoring NAS recommendations against surgical sterilization.

August 2014: The BLM commissions a new NAS panel to review sterilization and contraception research proposals.

August 4, 2014: BLM Oregon offers a $50,000 grant for research on spaying wild mares, despite NAS recommendations.

December 16-17, 2014: The NAS panel holds its final meeting before making recommendations on sterilization and contraception proposals.

Public feedback on the NAS panel's review of contraception methods is encouraged. Comments should emphasize the importance of preserving the wild behaviors of mustangs and burros, as protected by federal law. Methods that disrupt these behaviors, such as spaying and castration, should be rejected due to their irreversible impact on herd viability and social structure.