WILD HORSE HERDS

Map created by Western Watesheds

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The majority of info, statistics, and records listed here come directly from BLM and the government. They are a self-regulating industry with absolutely NO oversight or accountability. There is no independent accounting of this program at all. Due to this one-sided version it is believed the numbers listed here of wild horse and burro estimates, and removals are inflated, suspect, and inaccurate. We will attempt to prove this with reviewing their claims with attached evidence and links to outside sources that have witnessed discrepancies and inaccuracies over the last 50 years since the passing of the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971

All wild horse areas (past and future) will one day be included in this project. At the start of it, I was not aware of their rapidly disappearing land, ranges, and federal protections. As I gathered evidence for the original HMA’s, it became clear that more areas were once part of the federal protection areas created in the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971. Over the years there have been many changes to this law.

As of September 2021, BLM claims 177 HMA’s on 26.9 million acres of public lands across 10 Western states. Down from 266 herds in 1996, and (303, or 329) herds in 1971 (Still looking for documentation on 1971).

And their land area has also shrunk enormously (working on #’s)!

As of March 1, 2022, the BLM ‘guess’timated approximately 64,604 wild horses and 17,780 wild burros were on BLM-managed lands, for a total of 82,384 animals. This is a reduction of 3,805 from 86,189 reported in March 2021.  Find: wild horse and burro management data

The genetic scientist, Gus Cothran Ph.D, hired by BLM states repeatedly “A minimum population size of 50 effective breeding animals – a total population size of about 150-200 animals is currently recommended to maintain an acceptable level of genetic diversity within reproducing WH&B populations (Cothran, 2009).  This number is required to keep the rate of loss of genetic variation at 1 percent per generation” and he shows in TABLE 5-2 2013 A WAY FORWARD (pg 192), that this is not occurring for many herds. “Once genetic viability is low, it takes generations to correct and that adding a few horses (from other herds) does not prevent inbreeding in small herds.”

Records: in 2013 HMA Genetic Viability Statistics it shows only 28 out of 177 HMA’s meet this acceptable level of  ‘genetic diversity’ criteria. For a more thorough document (with direct links) covering the majority of issues related to this program, read the 2022 North Lander comment PDF. 

BLM’s goal is to reach 27,000 animals, that is only 10,000 more than we had when the act was passed in 1971 to save them from certain extinction.

While BLM has a well laid out website with details and maps listing individual herds by state, they only tell you what they want you to know right now. What they don’t have is all the past info that is important and documented from the last 50+ years of the rapidly disappearing herds, their lands, or the truth of why they are really being removed… for destructive cattle grazing, and mineral/energy conflicts on the land!

The real reason is not nuisance, starvation, and drought as they claim. If by chance they are starving and have no water, it’s because they can’t get past the fences of their confinement due to BLM’s effort to make it cattle land. So it would be the fault of BLM for the starvation. Horses eat and move… they are roamers like deer, antelope and elk. They wouldn’t stay in an area where they could cause land issues by choice. Millions of cattle and sheep have destroyed the land during their seasonal forage where they eat everything in sight. Then they remove the livestock for slaughter, and blame the horse for all the problems they created. With the livestock temporarily gone for season, it’s easy to do so. When the BLM claims they need to do these emergency roundups for the safety of the horse and burros, but doesn’t remove (or request lease holders to remove) one livestock animal, their claims show the hypocrisy. In most cases, it has nothing to do with ‘well being’, but everything to do with intentional eradication of the protected horses from their promised lands.

Right after I wrote this, I found this video showing how horses move. Although this is a Canada herd, the dynamics are the same.

Horses aren’t a food source in America, they are protected under federal law (except for by those who wrote the laws and are exempt from following the law). They have few natural enemies in most areas (this is due to intentional predator hunting allowed by the states: wolves, bear, coyote, cougar, bear) and the cattle ranchers are pro-advocates as this effort protects their cattle. Wiping out predators unbalances the natural ecosystem the creator intended.

Horses are not a usable ‘for profit’ resource. In fact, they cost taxpayers money once we interfere with their natural existence on the range (just like deer, bison, elk live freely). The roundups, the holding facilities, long term pastures, feeding, veterinarians, freeze branding, documentation of their herds genetics, fertility, testing, disposal, adoptions, farriers, transport…. to the tune of MILLION and MILLIONS of dollars every year. On the range… these horses lived freely – without cost at all! But the livestock industry doesn’t want the competition for their access to cheap grazing. So we round up the horses, and put them on land the livestock industry could easily rent themselves.

BLM CLAIM: According to the BLM website public messages on each states estimated gather and removal between 1971 and the writing of this on July 31, 2021, was an estimate of 253,150 animals placed into private care.  The reality of this claim – coming soon.

(Currently many states are doing massive helicopter roundups at this time and these numbers have not been added)

BLM CLAIM: Animals removed from public rangelands are offered to the public for adoption; un-adopted animals are cared for on open pastures for the rest of their lives. Many of these mustangs are ending up in the slaughter lines in Mexico and Canada!

Let’s get all these animals accounted for!

This National HMA project will include all gatherable information from a multitude of sources and combine it all together for a complete access point. Each state will (at some point with help of the community and other advocates) show you FACTS and links to BLM, ROUNDUPS, HOLDING FACILITIES, MEDIA, ADVOCATES, SANCTUARIES, NON PROFITS, RECORDS OF ABUSE, STATISTICS, RESEARCH, POLITICS, CATTLE INDUSTRY, SLAUGHTER INDUSTRY, LAWS, LAWSUITS, and any other important data for a complete oversight, state by state in relation to the BLM’s activity related to the HMA’s of this nation.