BLM Arizona Wild Horse Holding and Training Program Grant

A.Project Background Information:

Under the authority of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages, protects, and controls wild horses and burros as part of its overall multiple-use mission. The Bureau works to ensure that population levels are in balance with rangeland resources and other uses of the public lands; toward that end, the BLM removes thousands of wild horses and burros from the range each year to control the size of herds, which have virtually no predators and can double in population about every four years.

The current estimate of wild horses and burros on BLM-managed lands is about 37,000 which exceeds by some 11,000 the number determined by the Bureau to be the appropriate management level. Off the range, there are more than47, 000 wild horses and burros cared for in either short-term (corral) or long-term (pasture) facilities. All animals in holding are protected by the BLM under the 1971 law.

The Bureau works to place as many of the wild horses and burros that are in holding into private care, and since 1973, the BLM has placed more than 213,000 animals into private ownership through adoption.

B.Project Objective:

BLM Arizona¿s objective is to provide a sound and meaningful way of ensuring proper care of captured wild horses and to ultimately prepare the horses for adoption and/or use by agencies requiring horses and provide training opportunities and positive work experiences for individuals. The facility will provide additional and critically needed holding capacity allowing BLM to achieve and maintain appropriate management levels of wild horses and burros on the range. It also reduces the cost of maintaining wild horses and/or burros at public expense by showcasing the trainability of wild horses and burros and increasing the number of successful adoptions.

C.Statement of Joint Objectives and Project Management Plan:

This program would provide a positive work experience for individuals and the chance to learn skills in animal husbandry, wild horse gentling techniques, and equine care.

The Wild Horse Program would benefit from the project by demonstrating the capabilities of wild horses, improving their adoptability, and increasing the numbers of animals adopted. The recipient will provide a facility to adequately and properly house wild horses. The facility will ensure that wild horses can be safely unloaded, moved, sorted, and restrained if necessary. The BLM may also use the facility to temporarily place wild horses that have been repossessed from adopters because of abuse or that have been abandoned, pending their reassignment to other adopters. Please review Section V. Application Review Information Criteria for detailed information.