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1 1 (October 14, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdcbs0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Updated October 14,2020 Wild Horse and Burro Management: Overview of Costs The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Actof 1971 (the 1971 Act, 16 U.S.C. § § 1331 et seq.) provides for management and protection of wild horses and burros by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM4, Department of the Interior) and Forest Service (FS, Department of Agriculture). Federal management of wild horses and burros has generated controversy, proposals for change, and lawsuits for years. Issues for Congress include the adequacy of authorities to achieve the appropriate management level (AML) on the range, effectiveness of agency management, and sufficiency of funding. Under the 1971 Act, BLM and FS are to inventory horse and burro populations periodically to determine AMLS. The agencies are authorized to remove animals exceeding the range's carrying capacity to achieve AML. When the pertinent Secretary determines that an overpopulation exists and that it is necessary to remove excess animals, the law requires the following actions (16 U.S.C. § 1333(b)(2)). First, the Secretary shall order old, sick, orlame animals to be destroyed in the mosthumane manner possible. Second, the Secretary is directed to remove healthy animals for private adoption. Third, the Secretary shall cause excess animals to be destroyedin the most humaneand cost efficient manner possible. However, since 1982 the agencies have not used this authority to destroy healthy animals. Most recently, the FY2020 appropriations law (P.L. 116-94, Division D, §419) prohibited theuseoffunds for destructionofhealthy animals and for sales of animals that result in processing into cominercialproducts. Most appropriations laws sinceFY1988 have contained a similar prohibition onBLM funding. Over the decades, laws have included additional authorities to reduce excess animals. In 2004, for instance, P.L. 108- 447, § 142 authorized animal sales, including to * direct the agencies to sell, withoutlimitation, excess animals (or remains) that are more than 10 years old or offered for adoption unsuccessfully at least three times; * remove aban on sale of wild horses and burros andtheir remains for processing into cominercial products; and * remove criminal penalties forprocessing the remains of a wild horse orburro into cominercialproducts, if it is sold under the new authority. These changes have been supportedby some as providing a cost-effective way of helping achieve AML, improving the health of the animals, protecting rangeresources, and restoring a natural ecologicalbalance on federal lands. The changes have been opposed by others as potentially leading to the destructionof healthy animals and limited by agency policies and use of appropriated funds. Achieving andmaintaining the numberof wild horses and burros at the national AMLhas challenged BLM for decades. BLM has set theupper limit for AMLfor all wild horse andburro herds onits lands at 26,770. As of March 2020, the number of animals on BLM lands significantly exceeded this figure-95,114, or more than triple the AML BLM manages wild horses and burros in 177 herd management areas (HMAs) in 10westem states. Nearly half of all the HMAs and more thanhalfofthe animals are located in Nevada- Five other states each have at least 5,000 animals: California, Wyoming,Arizona, Oregon, and Utah. Thousands of additional animals 47,845 as of August 2020-are being managed by BLM off-range. They were removed fromrangelands exceeding the AML. Most are being cared for in long-term(pas ture) holding facilities for the remainder oftheir lives, although others are being readied for adoption or s ale in short-term(corral) facilities. ForFS lands, the AMLis roughly 2,300 for 2020. The number of wild horses andburros on FS lands-about 8.400-is more than three times theAML. The animals are on 34 active territories in 7 states, with about two-thirds of themmanaged jointly with BLM. Given the larger populations on BLM lands, most of the public and congressional focus has been onBLM management. VV ~ ~ rm. PISS v~~c rr 4t~a k C t Whether funding levels have been appropriate to care for wild horses and burros, reach AML, and reduce long-term budgetaryneeds has beenunclear. Programcosts would vary bas ed on the overall management strategy adopted and the particular programs emphasized. For ins tance, a BLM report to Congress in 2018 presented different options with varying associated costs. For FY2020, the appropriation for BLM management of wild horses and burros was $101.6 million, a 26% increase from the FY2019 level ($80.6 million). FY2020 funding was about5 times the amount for FY2000 ($20.4 million) and a59% increase over FY2010 ($64.0 million), in nominal dollars. Figure 1 depicts the annual funding. (FS appropriations are not separately identifiable.) Since FY2000, appropriations laws periodically have provided BLM with additional funding to achieve AML. For example, BLM received a $14.1 million (69%) increase to $34.5 million in FY2001, the largest annualpercentage A A '2 k pgpg\\\ \\

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