Roundup Report: Palomino Butte Wild Horses, August 2021

August 31, 2021

AWHC Contributor

The Palomino Buttes Herd Management Area (HMA) spans 74,000 acres in Oregon. As of June 2021, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) estimated there were about 427 wild horses in the HMA. However, the BLM's unscientifically low Appropriate Management Level (AML) for the HMA—the number of horses the agency claims the range can sustainably support alongside other animals and resource uses—is 32-64 horses.

While the BLM notes that there is currently not enough forage and water in the HMA to sustain the wild horse population, it simultaneously authorizes hundreds of livestock to graze in the HMA.

It is time for the BLM to manage wild horse habitat for the wild horses.

This roundup cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars to remove 253 beloved horses from inside and outside the HMA. The removal also brings with it the lifetime cost to house the horses for the remainder of their lives in government holding corrals.

Additionally, taxpayers foot the bill for federally subsidized livestock grazing on public lands. The federal grazing fee remains at its historic low of $1.35 per animal per month. That's a steep discount, thanks to taxpayer subsidies that support this federal entitlement program. Estimates indicate that the overall cost to taxpayers for the federal grazing program could be as much as $500 million annually.

Total Removed: 253

Total Deaths: 1