COMMENTARY: BLM Must Cease Helicopter Wild Horse Roundups

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is under increasing scrutiny for its helicopter roundups of wild horses. These roundups, deemed necessary and humane by the agency, are facing opposition from Congress, which is advocating for more humane and cost-effective methods.

Nevada Rep. Dina Titus has introduced a bill to ban these dangerous helicopter roundups, citing the severe injuries and deaths they cause. Broken necks and legs are common, and horses often die from exhaustion.

Rep. Steve Cohen has also called on BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to suspend roundups and use humane fertility control vaccines instead. A 2013 National Academy of Sciences report supports this, showing that roundups are counterproductive and recommending fertility control.

The cost of darting a mare with the PZP vaccine is about $250, while rounding up and warehousing a horse can cost up to $50,000. The BLM's plan to add 19,000 horses and burros to holding facilities will cost taxpayers nearly $1 billion over five years.

These calls for change are long overdue. Wild horses deserve better management, and taxpayers deserve a more cost-effective approach. Stone-Manning and Haaland should ground the helicopters and use science to manage wild horses humanely.

Grace Kuhn, communications director for the American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign), emphasizes the need for change in managing these majestic animals.

Originally posted by Las Vegas Review Journal