View the full image The BLM trapped these horses near Carson City in February. Photo by Annie Jantzen

An independent report released today by The National Academy of Sciences is critical of the Bureau of Land Management's oversight of free-ranging horses and burros on federal public lands in the western United States and urges changes to its current roundup policies.

The Wild Horse and Burro Program has not used scientifically rigorous methods to estimate the population sizes of horses and burros, to model the effects of management actions on the animals, or to assess the availability and use of forage on rangelands, the report by the 14-member panel of the National Research Council states.

Evidence suggests that horse populations are growing by 15 to 20 percent each year, a level that is unsustainable for maintaining healthy horse populations as well as healthy ecosystems. BLM's current policy regarding the removal of wild horses, may be causing more harm to populations than the BLM's intentions, the report says.

The panel says there are promising birth control methods available to help limit this population growth as well as science-based methods for improving population estimates and predicting the effects of management practices in order to maintain genetically diverse, healthy populations, and estimating the productivity of rangelands.

Greater transparency in how science-based methods are used to inform management decisions may help increase public confidence in the Bureau of Land Management, according to the report.

Horse advocacy groups such as the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign has called for an immediate halt to the roundup and removal of wild horses from western public lands.

"The NAS report is a powerful validation of what wild horse advocates have been saying for years — that the BLM’s ‘business as usual’ is expensive, unproductive and must change,” said Suzanne Roy, AWHPC director. “The report delivers a strong case for an immediate halt to the roundup and removal of wild horses from the range, an increase in wild horse and burro population levels and implementation of in-the-wild management using available fertility control options.”

The BLM, which requested the independent assessment by the NAS, welcomed the findings and will review the recommendations.

"We commend the National Academy of Sciences for their diligent work on this complex issue," said Neil Kornze, BLM Principal Deputy Director. "The BLM looks forward to reviewing the report in detail and building on the report's findings and recommendations to meet the formidable challenges facing the agency in managing wild horses and burros. Our agency is committed to protecting and managing these iconic animals for current and future generations."

Kornze added, "The BLM shares the committee's view that although no quick or easy fixes exist to this pressing issue, investments in science-based management approaches, exploring additional opportunities for population control, and increased transparency could lead to a more cost-effective program that manages wild horses and burros with greater public confidence."

Near Carson City, the BLM rounded up a herd of 11 horses, including two foals, in February, as part of the Pine Nut Mountains herd management area adjacent to Deer Run Road. The BLM said the horses crossed the Carson River into River View City Park, where the agency said it received complaints. The removal of the horses sparked passionate protests among dozens of wild horse advocates locally and thousands nationally. The captured Carson City band of horses were adopted in March at a BLM auction by the Deer Run Preservation Group in a collaborative effort with the American Wildhorse Preservation Campaign and sent to a Northern California ranch.

The Deer Run Preservation Group is committed to protecting wild horses in the Carson City region and Wednesday's report provides some vindication, given the tense moments during the February horse roundup.

"This report legitimizes what horse advocates have been saying all along," said Deer Run wild horse advocate Annie Jantzen. "It also points a finger directly at the BLM, with its unwillingness to utilize birth control as an alternative to arbitrarily stripping horses from the land as it did locally this spring. We offered to pay for PZP among many other things, but were turned down flat."

Jantzen emphasized the report firmly states the BLM should work with the public on co-managing the wild horses. In regards to what happened with the Deer Run herd, the public was asked for input but the BLM went ahead anyway with its intended plan for the horses, she said.

"The BLM’s advisory group is supposed to have representatives from the public included, are subject to final approval by the BLM themselves. Check the panel’s roster and you’ll be hard pressed to find any wild horse advocates. They don’t want anyone on that panel who may disagree with their actions," she said.

She also said wild horse groups recently discovered that the AML’s (Appropriate Management Levels) are being arbitrarily slashed up to 50 percent, which means even less horses can be allowed on the land that was specifically set aside for them.

With the recent Deer Run removal and others locally, it is clear that most removals are the result of a directive coming from the top and have little to do with AML, said Jantzen.

"As a federal agency, the BLM clearly believes they answer to no one," she said.

Below is a summary of the report: