Congress May Change Wild Horses’ Home on the Range

Congress May Change Wild Horses’ Home on the Range
By Greg Vadala and Will Matthews, CQ Staff


Wild horses and burros still roam the West, but the herds are outgrowing their ranges, so Congress is trying to rustle up a solution for the four-legged overpopulation.

A bill approved last week by the House Natural Resources Committee would require the government to set up sanctuaries for the animals, outlaw killing the healthy ones and take other steps — including sterilization — to keep their numbers to a manageable size. It also would outlaw using helicopters in wild horse roundups.

“Protection and management of the wild horses and burros on our public lands is an important federal responsibility, but it is clear that the federal government has not been adequately meeting that responsibility,” said committee Chairman Nick J. Rahall II , D-W.Va., the sponsor of the horse bill (HR 1018).

Congress is getting involved because the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced last summer that factors — including a lack of funding — could lead to the slaughter of as many as 30,000 healthy horses and burros.

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