BLM guesses shrinking wild horse numbers to cost $5 billion

Graphic by E&E News; click on the image to enlarge it.

The Bureau of Land Management estimates it will cost almost $5 billion over the next 15 years to bring the nation's population of wild horses and burros on public lands to a sustainable number. That will require shrinking the current population of about 88,000 to about 27,000, acting BLM Director William Pendley told reporters Wednesday, Miranda Green reports for The Hill. If the herds continue unchecked, they could hurt some grassland areas beyond repair, Pendley said.

"The federal government’s management of wild horses and burros has been the subject of criticism from public lands and animal rights activists. Critics have pushed back on a number of strategies the government utilizes to keep the herd population down, especially the practice of spaying wild mares," Green reports. "Pendley said the administration will continue to utilize the spaying practice and is looking to veterinarians and scientists to help devise other methods of fertility control. The agency also utilizes adoption and private corral leasing as a way to manage herd size."

Pendley would not say whether he supported euthanasia to bring down the herd population, but noted that Congress ruled against the practice and the BLM follows those guidelines. "Pointing to some positive news on the management front, BLM officials said the agency had successfully adopted out more than 7,000 wild horses last fiscal year, a 50-year record high. Pendley said the number was a 54 percent increase over the previous year’s total," Green reports.