History of BLM Wild Horse & Burro Policy (1971–2016)

The federal management of wild horses and burros began with the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, which directed the BLM and Forest Service to protect and manage herds on public lands while maintaining a “thriving natural ecological balance.” The act limited horses and burros to lands where they existed in 1971 and authorized removal of excess animals.

Over the following decades, management swung repeatedly between removal-focused and adoption-focused approaches, with neither proving sufficient to control population growth. Key turning points included Congress tripling removal funding in 1984, briefly dropping on-range populations, and fee-waiver adoption programs in 1987 – 1988 that temporarily boosted placements. Congressional appropriations riders passed between 1988 and 2010 progressively restricted the BLM’s ability to euthanize or sell healthy unadopted animals for commercial processing, significantly limiting management options.

By the 2000s, large-scale removal initiatives moved tens of thousands of animals off the range, but off-range holding costs ballooned. Fertility control programs, begun in 2004 in partnership with the Humane Society, showed limited effectiveness at the population level. A 2013 National Academy of Sciences review concluded that without active management, wild horse populations would double roughly every four years.

By 2016, the on-range population had climbed well above 67,000 (nearly three times the established AML) while the National Wild Horse & Burro Advisory Board was recommending euthanasia of unadoptable animals, a politically contentious position with no clear resolution in sight.

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History of Horse & Burro Policy horseburrocoalition_whb_policyhistory_final2016_05.25.17