One of the BLM’s key responsibilities
under the 1971 law is to determine the “appropriate
management level” (AML) of wild horses and burros on the
public rangelands. These animals have virtually no
natural predators and their herd sizes can double about
every four years. As a result, about 31,000 wild horses
and burros roam BLM-managed lands in 10 Western states, a
population that exceeds by about 3,500 the number that can
exist in balance with other public rangeland resources and
uses.
To help restore the balance, the BLM gathers some wild
horses and burros and offers them for
adoption or
sale to those individuals and groups willing and able to
provide humane, long-term care.
"Under the 1971 Wild and Free-Roaming
Horses and Burros Act, BLM is required to manage horses and
burros only in those areas (Herd Areas) where they were
found in 1971. Through land use planning, BLM evaluates each
herd area to determine if it has adequate food, water,
cover and space to sustain healthy and diverse wild horse
and burro populations over the long term. The areas which
meet these criteria are then designated as Herd Management
Areas (HMAs).
Today, nearly half of the Nation's wild
horses and burros live on Nevada rangelands managed by the
Bureau of Land Management. The current population is about
13,665 wild horses and 998 burros. These Living Legends move
with the seasons within 102 Herd Management Areas comprising
nearly 16 million acres of public land."
2. What is the History of Wild
Horses in North America?The BLM says, "Although horses evolved in North America, there are
many different opinions as to why no horses or burros existed on
this continent at the time of European exploration. Spanish
explorers reintroduced horses to North America beginning in the late
fifteenth century and Native Americans helped spread horses
throughout the Great Plains and the West. Until as recently as the
mid-twentieth century, horses continued to be released onto public
lands by the U.S. cavalry, farmers, ranchers, and miners."
Some people believe that, at one
time, there were millions of wild horses in the west. If that had
been true when the white man came west, wouldn't the Indians have
been riding horses? We challenge anyone interested in the facts to
check the history of the wild horses or burros in each HMA (herd
management area). They will find the herds most often came from the
ranchers that homesteaded or settled the land. When the
1971 law was passed, only a small percent of the millions of acres
of BLM-managed land had wild horses or burros. These areas were the
areas that were later made into herd management areas.
The BLM Web site explains, "Under
the 1971 Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, BLM is required to
manage horses and burros only in those areas (Herd Areas) where they
were found in 1971. Through land use planning, BLM evaluates each herd
area to determine if it has adequate food, water, cover and space to
sustain healthy and diverse wild horse and burro populations over the
long term. The areas which meet these criteria are then designated as
Herd Management Areas (HMAs)."
When the west was settled, was common
practice for ranchers to pasture their cattle and horses on the open
range. The United States Cavalry used horses for mounts until
1942. They supplied the ranchers across the west with
thoroughbred studs to run with the ranchers' bands of mares in order
to raise horses for the army. Introducing well-bred stallions
into the herds helped prevent inbreeding and improved the herds. Neither the ranchers or the
cavalry routinely used mares as riding stock, so the mares ran in
"stud bands" on the open range. These bands consisted of
perhaps up to 20 mares led by a dominant mare and herded and bred by
a stallion. Young male horses are pushed out of a band by the
herd stallion. The young males try to capture some mares of
their own or challenge an older stallion for his band.
Ranchers gathered the horses they
needed for their own use and that of the army. During this time, the horse herds increased.
According to the BLM, horse populations on the open range will
increase 15 to 20 percent a year. After the army was no longer using horses
and travel became mechanized, the
ranchers still gathered the best of the range horses for their own use,
but since there was less demand for the horses, the herds increased
and many more became wild. In most places, the
wild horse and burro herds have kept increasing since the wild horse and
burro law was passed in 1971 because the ranchers were no longer
allowed to gather and use the horses and because horses and burros have few natural
predators.
 2A.
What is the History
of Wild Burros in North America?
The Spanish brought donkeys,
called "burros" in Spanish, to North America beginning beginning in
1495. They were prized for their hardiness in arid country and
became the preferred beast of burden of early miners and gold
prospectors during the 1800s in the Southwest United States.
They were used for carrying tools, supplies, and ore. Their sociable
disposition and fondness for human companionship often allowed the
miners to lead their donkeys without ropes. They simply followed
behind their master. With the introduction of the steam train to the
west, these donkeys lost their jobs and many were turned loose into
the American deserts. The wild burros on the western
rangelands descend from animals that ran away, were abandoned, or
were freed. BLM estimates about 2800 burros range on their
management areas today. 3. What makes a successful
humane wild horse roundup?
First, a trap site must be selected.
Preliminary scouting is done to find the natural routes horses
travel. The capture site needs to be close to the animals and somewhere that they would naturally go,
so they do not have to be forced but will travel there more or less
on their own. Proper pens and wings must be built that are
constructed of materials and in a manner that will not harm the
horses and that will make gathering, handling, and sorting easy for
animals and workers alike.Second, the
helicopter pilot must be experienced and understand
livestock. He needs to know how they will travel and when to
speed up and when to slow down. He must also be very skilled
and very patient. Then the wranglers
must work quietly together. They also must be very patient,
understand and care
about the animals.
4. Is the BLM, because of
pressure from the ranchers, trying to remove all of the wild horses
and burros from the range?
Absolutely not. First of all
the ranchers are not asking to have all the wild horses or burros
removed. The ranchers love to see healthy wild horses and burros out
on the range just like you and I do. They are just asking that the BLM be able to manage the herds at the numbers set at
“appropriate management level,”
AML. This is
the number of wild horses and burros the BLM has - after studying
and monitoring the range - determined can survive along with the
optimum determined numbers of livestock and wildlife so that there is plenty
of food and water for everything. We just finished a wild horse
roundup and the area permittee came and watched and would point out
horses that were descendents of ones they use to ride. He also had
favorite ones that he watched out on the range. This is typical of
all of the ranchers in the west.
Today, nearly half of the Nation's
wild horses and burros live on Nevada rangelands managed by the
Bureau of Land Management. The current Nevada population is
about 13,665 wild horses and 998 burros. Nevada's 102 Herd Management Areas comprise
nearly 16 million acres of public land.
5.
Do you run the wild horses?
A good pilot does not run
the wild horses or burros during a wild
horse roundup. The animals
are gathered and then herded much like you would herd cattle.
Horses travel naturally from place to place at a trot or faster
gait. On the public lands where we typically gather, horses
routinely travel 10 or 15 miles one way to water every day. The
animals travel at their own speed to the trap and unless they need
to be turned the helicopter backs
way off and just follows the
animals. If the animals in the lead start to run, they can be turned
back into the herd to slow the herd down so most of the time even
mares with very small foals can keep up. Only as the herd gets
close to the wings of the trap does the pilot have to put more
pressure on the animals to assure they will follow the domestic
"pilot horse"
into the trap. Most pictures taken of wild horse roundups are taken
right at the trap so it appears that the helicopter runs
the animals. That is not the case.
6.  Why are helicopters used
to gather wild horses and burros instead of just driving them
with saddle horses or corral-trapping them using water or food?
Helicopter roundups are the most
efficient way to gather wild horses and burros. But more
importantly they are the most humane way to gather. We can say
this because we have gathered wild horses and burros using both
methods. In the fifties and sixties and even after the law was
passed until the use of helicopters was allowed, we captured wild
horses using only saddle horses. When you gather wild horses
and burros horseback you locate the animals and run
them and hope to maybe get them to a trap. With a helicopter
you can start your drive and then back off and let the animals
travel at their own speed. You can not do this horseback
because you have to stay close to be able to handle or turn
then. Therefore, the animals will run and often the mares will
run off and leave the foals behind, especially if they are
small. This is what had happened before the helicopter gather
that was done on the Sheldon in June of 2006. A contractor had
been gathering horseback as we arrived to do the helicopter
gather. After we were finished, there were, I believe, three
foals found that were not with their mothers. We went back with
the helicopter to locate and rescue the foals. Because of
their weakened condition, it was obvious they had been bummed by
the earlier horseback operation and not by the helicopter operation.
 When doing a helicopter gather, you
can turn the front of the herd back so the rest can catch up and
you can easily cut off a mare and a small foal to leave, if
necessary. You can keep track of any animal that should get
tired and drop behind until the wranglers can reach it. The
pilot will back way off and let the wild horses or burros travel
at their own speed to the trap. This is the same technique
used on many large cattle ranches to herd cattle.
When doing horseback gathers,
often the animals have to be run and are
followed until they are sore footed and tired enough to go where
you want them to. You cause lots and lots of extra stress by
chasing, instead of driving the animals. And
this method is very hard on saddle horses also since they have
to carry the extra weight of their rider. You will have
more injuries to the wild horses and you will have injuries to
the saddle horses. We have used a helicopter to drive wild
horses and burros to a trap in all kinds of terrain and very
seldom is there ever even a minor injury. We do not have very
many injuries but almost all occur after the animals are in the
trap or in the holding facilities. Anyone who would say or even
think that a horseback gather of wild horses or burros is more
humane than a helicopter gather with a qualified animal herding
pilot has obviously never watched or been involved in either
one.
In a few isolated areas bait or
water trapping can be successful. This would be in an area
where there is say only one water source or where the animals
aren't very wild. But the animals and the area must be
carefully studied. Because sometimes when a water source is
disturbed with a trap the animals will try to go somewhere else
or just stay away from water until they are so dehydrated that,
when they do finally come in the trap, they will drink and they
collapse and can die. Because there are so very few places
where this will work, the numbers could never be managed this
way.
 7. Things that we do to assure
the welfare of foals.
Several horse interest groups in their
zealous attempts to stop helicopter wild horse roundups have made it
appear like our organization, CLR, has no regard for what happens to
foals during a wild horse roundup. Nothing could be further from
the truth. Our concern starts with the pilot when he first spots a
band of wild horses or burros that he will herd to the trap. The
pilot will follow the herd and allow even very tiny foals to travel
with the herd. Under certain circumstances, such as a mare with a
very young foal, the pilot will cut the mare and colt off from the
others and leave them out on the range. If the pilot sees the foal
or even a weak or old animal is getting tired, he radios the
wranglers at the trap and they go out with saddle horses and a horse
trailer and load and transport the foal or other animal to the
trap. We have even on occasion put a young foal in the helicopter
and brought it in to the trap.
Once the animals are captured, the gates
are shut. When it is safe for the wranglers, they start to remove any
small or weak animals from the others in order to prevent any injuries. We
have an alley with gates and carefully sort the foals i nto a
separate pen. The foals and any weak or very old animals are always
hauled separately. Once at the holding facility, the wet mares and
foals are marked and put into the same pen. We closely monitor this
pen and make sure the mares and foals are paired up. We always have
Foalac (milk supplement) available and will separate and hand feed a foal that maybe
has a young mother with no milk or one that has already lost it's
mother out on the range before the gather or on a very rare occasion
a mare will be so wild she won't settle down and let the foal
nurse. We pride ourselves on the care of foals during capture,
processing and transporting.
8. What about sterilization?
There may be a few isolated small bands of wild horses where the
mares have been sterilized and the results have been accurately
tabulated that show a decrease in the reproduction of the herd.
But we have been working with the BLM doing sterilization since
1986, and our experience as a wild horse roundup contractor is this. At first
most of the follow up results by the universities were haphazard at
best. Only during the last couple of years when the BLM has taken
over the monitoring have we seen any data we would consider really
correct. And it appears to be only about a 50 % reduction for
the first year. But, say sterilization did work and the mares
didn't have a colt for one year or even two years. The
following year when they do breed back, they are fat and healthy and
the survival rate for the colts greatly increases and in one year
the herd is right back to where it would have been had the
sterilization not been done. And a lot of money has been spent
that could have been used to manage the animals. But, the worst
thing we see is that sterilization screws up the mares natural cycles and they
have foals all year round. We have seen this in herds we
gather after the mares have been sterilized, plus we are seeing colts
born much later in the spring. The reason colts are naturally
born in early spring is that then by winter, which can be severe in
their ranges, the colts are old enough to have a better chance to
survive, especially if something happens to their mother.
For example, in the New Pass gather, November, 2007, we had
129 colts or yearlings and all of them but one had been born early
in the spring when they should have been born. The smallest colt
was two or three months old and had a really young mother. This New
Pass Herd is one of only a few that has mares that have never been
sterilized.
9. What could be done to make
things better for the wild horses and burros out on the range and to
assure that there will always be healthy animals there?
 We get asked this question a lot.
The United States Government spends a great deal of time, research,
and money to insure the best possible program for the free-roaming
wild horses and burros. All
of the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Specialists we work with in the
field are just trying to do their job and manage herds of healthy
wild horses and burros out on the range. But they are really
hampered by special interest group criticism, politics, and funding.
The BLM Web site states, "In Fiscal
Year 2007, the BLM spent $38.8 million on its wild horse and burro
program. The cost for holding wild horses and burros in short- and
long-term facilities was $21.9 million, meaning holding costs
accounted for more than half of what the BLM spent in FY 2007 on its
total wild horse and burro program."
If all
of the special interest groups would back off and leave the
government employees alone and let
them do their job, they would have a lot more time to look after and
monitor the wild horses and burros on the range. Then the wild
horses that are on welfare in the sanctuaries - the ones no one
wants - should be offered to these special interest groups and the public and
if they do not want them then they should be put down. Once
they are captured and go thru the adoption system and are not
adopted and end up in the sanctuaries, they are no longer wild
horses. The
money used to maintain unwanted and unusable horses could be used to manage the wild horses and burros that do run
free out on the range. Then we will always have lots of
really healthy, happy wild horses and burros roaming free on the
range. And isn't that what we all want?
10. How can you watch a wild horse
roundup?
Some of the lies being circulated on the
internet this summer contain statements that say the contractors and BLM do not want and sometimes do not allow people to watch wild
horse roundups. As contractors, we always work with the BLM to accommodate visitors
and photographers. We find a place where they can see and be safe
and not interfere with the gather operations. On one Colorado wild
horse roundup in September 2007, there were over 30 visitors observing and
taking pictures. Just send us an E-Mail at clr@wildhorseroundups.com
and we will let you know where our next
wild horse roundup will be and how to contact the local BLM to make
arrangements to come out.
11.
Wild Horse Deaths in Palomino Valley Following the Jackson Mountain
Roundup - September 2007
A news release from BLM
states, "The risks resulted from health problems developed
by wild horses recently gathered from the Jackson Mountains Herd
Management Area (HMA) in early September. Approximately 1,000
horses were gathered. Many of the animals were very thin, in
poor physical condition, and weak due to a lack of forage and
water resulting from extended drought conditions. For these
reasons the animals are having difficulty adjusting to feed in
their new environment.
Approximately 130 horses have died as a result of poor body
condition, pneumonia, and complications from severe diarrhea
related to salmonella. The animals are being treated with
antibiotics to combat the pneumonia and supportive care and
electrolytes in an effort to stabilize their recovery from
starvation conditions on the range.
"The bacteria salmonella has been isolated from several horses
and is contributing to the health problems and increased death
loss," said Dr. Al Kane, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s APHIS Veterinary Services. "This
bacteria is not uncommon in healthy horses and other livestock
but can also cause illness or death under these conditions."
The result of this roundup is a
classic example of what happens to wild horses that run out of food
and water on the range. Wild horses are not wildlife that can
migrate to a better area when necessary. They are like domestic
livestock and must be managed. Their population numbers must be
controlled so the animals out on the range have enough food and
water.
How many comments have you read from various special interest groups
that say the BLM is just trying to remove all the wild horses and
leave only livestock? You may have read that the wild horses should
not be gathered but left alone and let nature take it's course. You
may have been told to write your congressman and make the BLM stop
wild horse roundups. These deaths is what will happen to all the
wild horses if the BLM cannot manage them to ensure that healthy
herds thrive on healthy rangelands.
We (Cattoor Livestock Roundup) were the contractor that gathered
these Jackson Mountain wild horses. Everyone is asking how and why
did these horses get in this shape before they were captured?
Fingers can be pointed and people can be blamed, but maybe we should
look at the biggest problem the BLM has right now trying to manage
healthy, happy horses on the range. They (or I should say we - you &
I, as taxpayers) are feeding over 30,000 head of wild horses and
burros in sanctuaries and holding facilities. Remember these are the
wild horses and burros that are on welfare, the ones no one wants.
Feeding these unwanted animals takes over half of the budget for
this program. There is not much money left to manage the animals in
all the HMA's in all the Western States. Understand there are
approximately 29,000 head of wild horses on the open range, less
than are in holding facilities. So instead of the Wild Horse
Specialists being able to just schedule gathers on a regular basis
to keep the numbers at AML (appropriate management level) they have
to hope that their area will make it to the top of the list for
funding for their state and then to the top of the list for funding
for the nation. And Nevada only gets 17% of the total funding even
though they have nearly half of the free-ranging wild horses and burros. Then
there has to be somewhere to take the horses once they are gathered.
The National Program Office has to find corral space somewhere. It
would seem that the only answer to this huge problem is for either
the various interest groups to find homes for all these unwanted
wild horses or allow and even encourage them to be humanely
destroyed so that the animals out on the range can be managed.
We started gathering the Jackson
Mountain area on August 28. This area had experienced a terrible
drought for at least a year. The horses captured on the south end of
the HMA were really short of water and in trouble. The permitee had
already removed all his livestock from this area. But we did start
gathering before any so-called die off. The pilots didn't see dead
horses and there was a large percent of colts that came in with
their moms. The nursing mares and the very young yearlings and two
year olds were in the worst shape. We set up our traps as close to
these horses as we could and the pilots took a lot of time herding
them to the traps. We provided them with plenty of water and
grass-alfalfa mix hay while they were in our temporary holding
facility. We then transported them to the Palomino Valley Holding
Facility north of Reno.
At this facility, some of the wild horses died from Salmonella.
Salmonella is not uncommon in horses and they may carry the bacteria
in their digestive track without becoming ill. However, when horses
are in weakened conditions they are more susceptible to succumbing
to its effects.
12.
Water Development
 In a high
desert climate, water is life. In many areas of Nevada, water, not
feed, is the limiting factor for wildlife and livestock throughout
much of the year.
Many mountain ranges and valleys in Nevada are covered in feed that
is never touched by animals, but wildlife is very limited. The
reason is obvious, it is a desert, it can be many miles or tens of
miles between the nearest permanent water sources.
The greatest boon to water development for the direct benefit of
wildlife and wild horses throughout the State of Nevada over the
last century and a half has been our ranchers and herders.
Water developments were installed by cattle ranchers and sheepmen to
the mutual benefit of their herds and the local wildlife. The many
thousands of water troughs, spring boxes, water tanks, and other
water developments installed by ranchers never cost the taxpayer
anything, and yet our wildlife flourished as a direct result of
these efforts.
Where ranchers develop the water, they have developed it in multiple
locations throughout an area, usually no more than five miles apart,
as opposed to the usual single guzzler wildlife organizations
establish within a large area. For ranchers this makes sense, as it
allows the use of a large portion of the range while minimizing
weight-losing travel for their animals to water.
Installing a single water source in an area with no alternatives
creates a perfect environment for predators, especially mountain
lions, to prey upon animals using this single water source.
The majority of old water developments, windmills, and "spring
boxes" were all installed by ranchers over the years. In modern
days, with reduced grazing allotments and a negative attitude
towards grazers by the federal government and state wildlife
agencies, many of the ranchers are not able to use the grazing land
and these water improvements are not being repaired or maintained
and have dried up. All over the deserts of Nevada there are dry
tanks and water troughs where once water was funneled into tanks
during spring runoff, or pumped with windmills or gas pumps. These
old wells are dry, and wildlife and wild horses are going thirsty.
When the ranchers leave, the water dries up and the wildlife either
goes elsewhere or dies.
13. What are the effects of the horse
slaughter ban on wild horses?
According to the Animal Welfare Council, "An increased supply of
low-value horses due to a processing ban will also create direct
competition with the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) National Wild
Horse and Burro Adoption Program. The BLM has been working
diligently to create a viable adoption program for BLM horses
removed from national public lands. The BLM program will be
negatively impacted by the increased competition for adoption
placement between BLM horses and unwanted horses that would have
otherwise been processed. This will increase the cost of the BLM
program if they have a larger inventory of BLM horses to maintain
due to lower adoption rates. The BLM enforces strict standards of
care for horses in their control, whereas there are few, if any,
governmental regulations in place specifically for
rescue/adoption/retirement facilities." See their Web
site for more complete information.
THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF A BAN ON THE HUMANE SLAUGHTER
(PROCESSING) OF HORSES IN THE UNITED STATES
The American Veterinary Medical
Association Web site offers some insightful
answers to the difficult problem of unwanted horses
http://www.avma.org/issues/animal_welfare/unwanted_horses_faq.asp
So, these are "wild horses"???
|
Most
of the wild horses in the west range on land managed by the
Bureau of Land Management, (BLM.) We quote from the