Nature Notes: The Beginnings of the Wild Horse Program
Explore the origins of the wild horse program and the impact of the 1971 Wild, Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, as recounted by former BLM specialists.
Bruce Portwood and Mike Mitchel worked for the BLM when the Wild, Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 was signed. Bruce worked with the program as a range conservationist in Elko and became a wild horse specialist in 1980. Mike moved to the Battle Mountain office to become that district’s first wild horse specialist. They both later retired from the BLM.
In 1971, the BLM could see the implementation of the act approaching and were simply preparing for one more thing to be handed to them. There were no strong feelings for or against these horses called mustangs, range horses, or feral horses. The term “wild horses” came from their legal description in the act.
Starting in 1974, Bruce and Mike conducted fixed-wing and helicopter censuses to map where horse herds existed in their districts, sometimes flown by “retired” mustangers. These census flights found numbers higher than anticipated. Horses were in specific areas because ranchers turned them out there. Most areas were concentrated around food and water.
Then began a claiming period when ranchers could remove private stock from the range herds. Ranchers had to pay a trespass fee for each horse claimed based on the horse’s age (but excluded colts). A three-year-old might cost a few dollars in trespass fees while an older horse might cost $200. Horses were not worth much in those days and many were not gathered.
The Elko District Manager encouraged horse claiming and reduced fees. Ranchers entirely removed many herds, often gathered by commercial firms. Horse herds were removed from the checkerboard area, helped by reduced trespass fees based on the amount of private land used by the horses. N-1 Grazing Boards sometimes covered the cost of gathering private horses.
The Battle Mountain district manager wanted wild horses, strictly enforced the claiming procedure, charged full amounts, and had little sympathy for ranchers with horses in trespass. Therefore, fewer horses were removed. Today, the Elko District has few wild horse herds while the Battle Mountain district has many more.
The claiming period started at three years but was extended several times. Toward the end, helicopter use was allowed to gather horses, which greatly facilitated their removal.
After the claiming period ended, wild horse specialists revisited the herds, counted the horses, and set management boundaries. The act stated horses were to be managed in all places where they were present in 1971. Mike said horses were scattered across the district. He tried to set wide boundaries around concentration areas, knowing this would determine where wild horses would be managed. Horses found outside of these boundaries could be removed.
The act also stated the horses were to be managed in ecological balance with livestock and somewhat wildlife. Wild horse specialists looked at the available forage and the number of livestock that used that area. No formula determined the number of horses the land could support; that was left up to the District Manager. Bruce said in the Elko District, claiming had reduced numbers enough that the current population set the management levels.
The act stopped horse harvesting and after the claiming period, horse populations rose quickly. Gathers began as ranchers complained about more wild horses. Battle Mountain did their first gather in 1976 and Elko in 1980.
Wild horse advocates Dawn Lappin and Velma Johnson (Wild Horse Annie) attended the first gathers but seemed satisfied with them. As the years went by, interest slowly grew in viewing gathers and in protesting the BLM’s handling of horses.
Bruce and Mike simply shake their heads on the state of today’s program. Bruce said, “It has deteriorated until it is almost impossible to go by the law today.” Mike added, “The Interior Department has allowed interest groups to manage the program.”
Mike feels the program is waiting for something to happen, perhaps a catastrophe such as a large die-off of horses due to starvation and thirst, or a large number of ranchers giving up and selling out. Bruce agreed with Mike about a pending catastrophe but added a new administration working with Congress could bring about change.
Originally Posted By Elko Daily