Interesting report from 1997

CRS Report for Congress
Redistributed as a Service of the National Library for the Environment*

Wild Horse and Burro Management

Betsy A. Cody
Specialist in Natural Resources Policy
Environment and Natural Resources Policy Division

March 19, 1997

97-370 ENR

Summary In 1971, Congress passed the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act to protect wild horses and burros on western public lands, whose numbers were dwindling. Since 1971, the number of horses and burros allowed to remain on the range, the agencies' management methods, and the plight of animals removed from public lands have been topics of considerable debate. Recent controversies stem from accusations that many wild horses have ended up in slaughterhouses and that federal employees may have sold horses for profit. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has investigated these allegations and flatly denies that "thousands" of horses from BLM lands end up in slaughterhouses each year. Additionally, BLM officials have been accused of hindering agency law enforcement efforts and of interfering with a grand jury investigation of agency activities.