Wild horses tax efforts to save [link]
Nancy Lofholm | July 27, 2008
America's wild horses have become a costly problem with no easy solution, according to the agency that has managed — or, in some opinions, mismanaged — the horses and a much smaller number of burros for nearly four decades. There are too many, the Bureau of Land Management contends. About 33,000 wild horses and burros now roam in designated herd areas in Western states: That's at least 6,000 more than the BLM has determined the land will accommodate. Space to warehouse unwanted horses is filling up. A glut of wild horses and the bad economy have shrunk adoptions. More than 30,000 horses gathered up from the range nationally are in holding facilities or sanctuaries and are expected to eat up nearly two-thirds of the BLM's $37 million wild-horse budget this year. In Colorado, the last two "off-site" adoption events, in Montrose and Golden, had such dismal results that BLM officials canceled any others for the remainder of the year. Some horse advocates say they think the BLM is bluffing when the agency holds out euthanasia or selling horses to slaughterhouse buyers as options. A law change in 2004 gave the agency the power to sell older, unadoptable horses to buyers that would then sell the horses to slaughterhouses. If the agency didn't choose to practice outright euthanasia, the BLM could sell horses to so-called killer buyers who would move them to Canada or Mexico for slaughter because no slaughterhouses currently operate in the United States. The agency is also seeking contracts with more landowners for horse sanctuaries and is floating the idea of tax breaks for those landowners. The BLM is also looking for better contraceptive options to hold down the size of herds, which double every four years in the wild. The BLM is heavily promoting adoptions through newsletters filled with happy stories of adopted horses and with much touted contests like the Extreme Mustang Makeover.
Sloan, like a lot of other wild-horse management critics, said he thinks the problem has grown so bad because ranchers who have grazing and hunting rights on BLM lands are dictating management policies. The horses are competition for water and feed. The BLM's mandate is to balance management of the land for all uses. Most of the BLM's wild-horse areas also must accommodate energy extraction, livestock grazing, hunting and other recreational activities. The vast acreage here swallows up its 463 wild horses, but in some years, water is limited and so are the sage, wheatgrass and saltbush that feed horses, livestock and wildlife. Areas where well pads have been "reclaimed" stand out in barren patches. There is ongoing research here on a contraceptive drug, PZP, but it is not an easy fix. Mares have to be rounded up so the drug can be administered, and it must be given every couple of years. "I've been involved with the horse program for 20 years, and no one has come up with a good solution," said McKinstry, who previously worked in Nevada, where half the nation's wild horses live and where, in certain areas, inbreeding and gathering of too many of the best-looking mustangs over the years have left horses that some observers call "ugly and jugheaded." Felix is a mustang lover who has adopted a number of mustangs over the years but can consider the euthanasia or slaughter option for practical reasons. "I would hate to see that happen, but it might be a good thing," she said, if it means more funding to keep wild herds and their ranges healthy. Roger Smith of Craig, who has adopted and trained nine award-winning mustangs, feels the same way, even as he dotes on the once-wild buckskin, Ratchet, in his pasture. "I'd hate to have to do that, but you've got to do something. People have more horses than they know what to do with," Smith said. "Some horses should go to slaughter."
XP—Even wild horse enthusiasts agree that thinning out the number of horses in captivity—a process likely to start with the aged, injured, unsightly and unadoptable—would be a good thing for the program, and for the future of the remaining wild horses.
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