The Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 (WFRHBA), is the Act of Congress (Pub.L. 92-195), signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon on 18 December 1971. The act includes management, protection, and the study of "unbranded and unclaimed horse and clam up on public land in the United States."
In the 1900s, wild horse populations declined, and there were fears that horses destroyed the land and resources needed by farms and hunting. Pressure on federal agents from the 1930s led to a series of policies that greatly reduced the number of flocks. In the 1950s, modern practices for catching horses came to the attention of the likes of Velma Bronn Johnston, also known as "Wild Horse Annie," who felt his actions were extreme and cruel. Their activism resulted in Hunting Wild Horses and Burros in the Public Lands Act in 1959. However, the 1959 Act did not solve all advocate concerns, leading to the passage of the Wild and Free Roaming and Burros Act Act in 1971. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the US Forest Service manages this flock. Although BLM struggled to implement adequate herd management in many areas, in 1973 they embarked on a successful program to collect excess figures, and adopted captured horses and burros to private owners. This remains the primary method for removing excess horses and burro from managed lands, although in recent years adoption rates do not follow the level of dismissal, and most horses are currently shifted to long-term storage facilities. Administrative challenges for BLM management and action execution have been undertaken for the Appeals Department Board of the Interior.
The action has also been challenged in court. Objections have varied, focus on the constitutionality, and legal status of the animals, but the Act has been enforced in all cases, including Kleppe v. New Mexico , before the United States Supreme Court. Allegations have also been made that BLM has turned a blind eye to private investor practices that adopt wild horses for slaughter purposes, and the court has ruled that BLM may not ignore the intentions of its users. Congress has taken several actions that affect such actions by including provisions in other laws. These provisions have addressed the manner in which horses can be rounded and the method by which horses can be offered for sale or adoption.
Video Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971
Contents
The law provides special protection for "all unedited and unclaimed horses and fleets on public land of the United States," and makes it a crime for anyone to harass or kill these animals in federal lands. It requires Interior and Agriculture departments to protect animals. Beginning with enforcement, a study of habitats and habitats of horses and free burros, which allow public land to be set aside for use. In addition, the act requires that these horses and burros be protected as "living symbols of historic passion and Western pioneers", BLM is tasked with the identification of areas where horses and burros are free to roam are found, there is none number of specified areas set aside, and the Law requires a management plan to "maintain the natural ecological balance that develops among populations of wild horses, wildlife, livestock, and vegetation and to protect the range of damage associated with overpopulation." Although wild horse ranges are basically for horse protection, the soil should be maintained for repeated use. BLM is also allowed to cover public land for livestock grazing to protect the habitats of wild horses and burro.
Maps Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971
History
Although the Act uses the technical language of "wild-roaming free" to describe protected horses and burros under the Act, the BLM notes that "today's wild American horses should not be considered 'natives'." All the protected animals descended from the pet horse and the burros brought to America began in the 1500s. Some flee into the wild while others are liberated, and over the next centuries, these wild animals adapt to Western reach. Due to the Act, BLM manages horses and burro as "wild" regardless of their original or non-indigenous status.
Horse roaming freely can be found on most of the western border of the Mississippi River, and may have amounted to two million by about 1850. However, no comprehensive estimate of the free horse number was carried out until 1971, and thus initial estimates are speculative. The number of horses decreases as domestic cattle and sheep compete with them for resources. Breeders shoot horses to leave more grazing land for other livestock, other horses are caught out of reach for human use, and some are caught for slaughter.
In the late 1920s, horses were free to roam mostly in the General Land Office (GLO) - administrative land and national forest in 11 western states. Their genetic origins are diverse, reflecting the expansion of western America from the mid-1800s. Their bloodlines include Spanish-Barbadian horses and saddle horses and horses removed at an open distance.
The management of horses running in the range was initially left to Mustangers and local breeders, but in 1934, the Taylor Grazing Act (TGA) established the US Grazing Service (Grazing Service) to manage livestock grazing on public lands. TGA authorizes the Shepherding Service to provide individual shepherd farmers and set fees for grazing. The cost to graze horses is twice that of a cow, and as a result, breeders let unbranded horses run rather than pay for them. By the time the Taylor Grazing Act was passed, it was estimated that 50,000-150,000 horses were roaming wild on public land subject to the Act. The Grazing Service, along with the Forest Service, is committed to removing the loose-leaning horses, viewed as mavericks, from the land they manage. In 1939, the Shepherding Service started directly hiring people to move horses from public lands. The US Forest Service periodically notifies the farmers to collect their domestic birds and then fire all remaining horses.
In 1946, BLM was formed by combining the Public Land Office and Pastoral Services. No longer directly remove the horses from the managed land, but issue permission to the hunter. It is not known how many horses roam freely in public land at the time, and it is not clear if there are too many horses, or if the land caused damage by the presence of horses, but the displacement may exceed the level of animal reproduction, resulting in a decrease in numbers. After World War II, the captured horses were often slaughtered to meet the pet food market demand.
In the 1950s, the population of free horses fell to about 25,000 animals. Horses are chased down by airplanes, poisoned in water holes, and disposed of in other inhumane practices. Between 1950 and 1959, led by Velma Bronn Johnston - better known as "Wild Horse Annie," - animal welfare and horse supporters lobbied for passing federal laws to prevent the capture of wild horses by inhuman methods. Their efforts are successful. On September 8, 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Wild Wild Horses and Burros Act in the Public Lands Act, Pub.L. 86-2345, also known as the "Wild Horse Annie Act", which prohibits the hunting of wild horses in federal lands from aircraft or motor vehicles.
Roaming free livestock ownership remains controversial, and breeders continue to use airplanes to collect them. The horses are still subject to individual classification laws of the states, and there is no law that prevents the complete elimination of horse herds. Federal agencies also continue to try to remove horses from areas where they are thought to cause resource damage. Under the BLM policy, breeders can release branded horses into flocks, then round up not only horses but also mare bands running with, for slaughter or sale. In Nevada, state law allows farmers to collect unbranded horses in their private lands and slaughter or sell them. Concerned about these practices, and about continuing horse-hunting in unprotected areas, the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros in which Johnston was the first president, began work to pass federal laws to protect wild horses across US. He joins a number of prominent people, including country music singer Judy Lynn, Gunsmoke actress Amanda Blake, and publisher of New Hampshire Union Leader and conservative William Loeb III, who continues to lobby for federal rather than state control over the disposition of free-roaming horses.
In 1962, public pressure led to the formation of the Nevada Wild Horse Range, and in 1968, the Pryor Wild Horse Mountains was established. In 1969, the National Mustang Association, headquartered in Utah, persuaded Senator Frank Moss to introduce the bill (S-2166) to protect the remaining Spanish descendants under the Endangered Species Act of 1966. However, because the bill also called for being removed from the common ground of all non-Spanish horses, it came under heavy opposition.
The federal protection for all freely roaming horses was eventually achieved with the passing of Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and the Burros Act of 1971, which specifically states: "A person who claims to own a horse or a burro in a public land is entitled to recover only if restoration is permitted under the law invite branding and estray of the State where the animal was found. "which eases the problem of horses captured under the auspices of local farmers. Breeders are given a period of time after the passage of the Act to claim their horses, and any unbranded and unclaimed livestock residue exploring the BLM or Forest Service belongs to the federal government.
Implementation
The law provides jurisdiction over challenges to BLM and the management of the wild horse Forest Service and how such measures are applied to the Department of Appeals of the Council of the Interior. The act also contains provisions for removing excess animals; the destruction of crippled, old, or ill animals; private placement or excessive animal adoption; and even the destruction of healthy animals if distance management needs them. The revisions filed in 1974 raised fears that the destruction of free-running horses could continue. However, the destruction of healthy or unhealthy horses hardly ever happened, and in January 1982, the director of the BLM issued a moratorium on excessive adoption of animals that could be adopted.
Left-ranged management policy laws have not been resolved in many ways, although it does determine that BLM and the Forest Service consult with state wildlife institutions. In practice, BLM struggles to accommodate the needs of wild horses among other priorities (including livestock grazing, prevention of soil erosion, and accommodating large hunting). In November 1971, BLM announced a major effort to rescue Pryor Mountain's herd from starvation after a bad summer season leaving vegetation in the dwarf range. In 1974, the herd in the Pryor mountains were said to have risen 17 percent above 1968 levels, but there was strong disagreement over whether the population actually increased.
Under the 1978 amendment to the Public Leadership Enhancement Act (MUI), the BLM established 209 management areas of the herd (HMA) where illegal horses were allowed to live on federal lands. In 2013, the number of HMA has been reduced to 179, covering 31.6 million hectares. Three HMAs dedicated solely to the protection of the wild horses: Pryor Mountains, Wild Horses Range in Montana, Horse Flock Horse Books in Colorado and Nevada Wild Horse Range in Nevada. Another HMA is dedicated to the wild burros, Marietta Wild Burro Range, also in Nevada.
In 1973, BLM started a pilot project in Range Pryor known as the Adopt-A-Horse initiative. The program takes advantage of the provisions of the Act to allow private "qualified" individuals to "adopt" as many horses as they wish if they can demonstrate that they can provide adequate care for the animals. At that time, the ownership of the horses remained permanently with the U.S. federal government. This pilot project was so successful that BLM enabled it to enter nationally in 1976. In 1978, the Public Rangelands Improvement Act (MENs) allowed the BLM to release a title to a horse that was adopted after a year of satisfactory personal care. Through 2001, the Adopt-a-Horse program is the primary method for removing excessive wild horses from BLM and Forest Service land.
Despite the success of the adoption program, BLM is struggling to maintain acceptable levels of herd, since without natural predators the number of flocks can double every four years. In 2013, there are more than 40,000 horses and burros on BLM-managed land, exceeding the "right management level" BLM estimate (AML) by nearly 14,000. In addition to these long distance horses, there are 49,000 additional wild horses, also protected under the Act, living on reef and off-range grasslands.
BLM uses a limited number of contraceptives to control the number of herds, in the form of PZP vaccinations; advocates say that the additional use of this vaccine will help reduce the amount of excess horses currently under BLM management. In 2013, BLM also examined the possibility to spay multiple horses to prevent pregnancy permanently, and the new vaccine, "the first-use, multi-year wildlife contraceptive for use in mammals", has been approved for use by Environmental Protection. Agent.
From 1988 to 2004, Congress banned BLM from using any funds to destroy excess animals. In 2008, BLM announced the possibility of overeating a horse, a move that was quickly condemned by horse proponents.
Legal challenge
The constitutionality of the new law is disputed. Until then, the wild horses and burros are considered to be under the jurisdiction of the State's estimate law, and managed as an unclaimed animal that the Federal government has no right to intervene. To test this statement, in 1974, the New Mexico Ranch Board confiscated 19 wild roaming free rooves that prevented livestock from using watering holes in federal soil. The United States District Court for the New Mexico District declared that, under the US Constitutional Property Clause, Congress could regulate "wild" animals only to protect public land from damage. This case was brought to the United States Supreme Court. In New Mexico, 426 U.S 529 (1976), the Supreme Court ruled that the power of Congress to manage public land "should include the power to regulate and protect the wildlife that live there." and that, unclaimed roaming free horses can be considered "wildlife" to determine whether Congress has the power to protect them. In the United States v. Johnson, 685 F.2d 337 (9th Cir 1982), the action was opposed in court because of his unconstitutional blur and unconstitutional exaggeration in the definition of "unbranded and unclaimed horses". The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reinforces the words of the acting.
In the early 1980s, the American Mountain Law Foundation (Yayasan) and the Batu Springs Youth Association (Association) won a mandamus warrant by the District Court requiring BLM to remove all horses from private land "dam" from private and public lands grassed by associations , and to reduce the number of horses on public land. District Court, however, drew an assessment conclusion for the government to challenge the notion that wild horses feeding grass or drinking water on private land had "taken" this resource from farmers who violated the "payment terms" of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution The US and government should compensate the private landowners $ 500,000. The Foundation appealed the summary decision to the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. At Mountain States Legal Foundation v. Hodel , 799 F.2d 1423 (1986), cert. den'd. 480 US 951 (1987), the court appealed a summary decision back to the district court, which ultimately ruled that wild animals were not "agents" of the federal government and therefore could not be found guilty of "taking" grass or water ranchers. However, in 2000, the "takeover" argument was filed again, this time at Bradshaw v. United States Federal Court of Federal Claims 47 Fed.Cl. 549 (15 September 2000) in which the plaintiffs state that horses are free to roam take the food they pay with their grazing permit, and the horses drink water from the spring that is their water right. The court rejected the argument, referring back to previous court findings.
Although MENs limit the number of horses that can be adopted in one year by a fourth adopter, it allows the BLM to make exceptions to the limit. By the mid-1980s, BLM had put for adoption of over 20,000 horses for large-scale adopters, and thousands of horses were slaughtered. In March 1987, the Institute for the Protection of Animals sued the Ministry of the Interior, arguing that the BLM turned a blind eye to the "adopters" who acquired horses with intent to slaughter. At Animal Protection Institute v. Hodel , 671 F. Supp. 695 (1987), United States District Court for the District of Nevada states that BLM can not ignore the intent of the users. The decision was upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals at the Animal Protection Institute v. Hodel , 860 F.2d 920 (1988). In 1988, BLM stopped large scale adoption programs. In 1997, the Institute for Animal Protection and BLM signed a non-court settlement in which the BLM would require individuals to sign a written statement stating that they had no intention of selling the animal for slaughter or for use as a rodeo inventory. The settlement also requires the BLM to establish rules that require horse-cutting houses to keep documents on horses for no less than a year and report horses that do not have a clear title. BLM also agrees to no longer allow the adoption by proxy or power of attorney. But the district court refused to enforce the settlement in 2000, leaving unresolved issues.
In November 1996, Congress passed the Omnibus Park and the Public Land Management Act, clarifying the previous 1976 amendment to the law authorizing BLM and the Forest Service to use helicopters and motor vehicles to collect and transport wild horses in public land. The use of helicopters in roundups has been challenged by supporters of wild horses on the grounds that they are harmful to horses. In 2011, a case was filed with the US District Court in Nevada, in connection with the rounding in the state, stating that the helicopter pilot was flying too close to the horse. The judge in the case issued a temporary restraining order against "mustang abuse during BLM collection", including insufficient distance between helicopters and animals. In 2013, BLM issued new policy directives covering humane treatment of animals during the roundup, including the use of helicopters, and stated that "further changes in animal handling policies are [expected] in the future".
Further Congressional Actions
In 1976, Congress incorporated the provisions of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act which permitted the use of helicopters humanely in catching horses roam freely in federal lands, and for the use of motor vehicles in transporting them to coral. When problems with the Adopt-a-Horse program arose and BLM was accused of allowing too much adoption thereby depleting wild horse populations on federal soil and allowing horses to be "adopted" for sale for massacres, in 1978 Congress passed the Rangelands Public Improvement. Act (MEN). The PRIA limited the adoption of only four horses per year per individual and allowed the BLM to release the title to the horse after one year (during inspection of the animal treatment it took place). The law also requires BLM to inventory all wild horse herds, scientifically determining what constitutes "right" flock rates, and determining through public processes whether the "excess" animal should be removed. The Congress subsequently changed the MEN in 1978 to require an updated number of flocks.
In 2004, Republican Senator Montana Conrad Burns put a rider into the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2005, which changed the WFRHBA to ask BLM to sell the surplus of animals over the age of 10 or offered. for adoption three times. The amendment also requires that excessive and unachievable horses "should be available for sale without restriction." Burns are reportedly acting on behalf of farming interests, which hope more horses are removed from federal soil. The law, signed into law by President George W. Bush, was described by a media outlet as "weakening [more than three decades of lobbying and legislative measures aimed at protecting American wild horses from massacres". In May 2005, the "Amendment of Rahall" was passed to limit the implementation of the Burns amendment by preventing appropriate funds being used to facilitate the sale and slaughter of wild horses and protected burros. In the Interior Alliance 2007 Act the Amendment language Rahall added back. Until August 2012, it still applies.
In early 2005, BLM found that some of the wild horses they had sold were slaughtered. BLM suspended the sales program in April 2005 and resumed in May 2005 after applying new requirements to prevent buyers from slaughtering the animals. In the fall of 2007, three of the last horse-cutting houses in the United States were closed. In January 2007, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the Texas law of 1949 prohibited the ownership, transfer, or sale of horse meat. This decision forced two slaughterhouses in Texas to close. In September 2007, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit upheld a similar ban in Illinois, causing the plant to remain in the state to shut down. However, the BLM procedure does not prohibit the export of wild horses for sale and slaughter outside the United States. In 2008, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded BLM did not comply with the 2004 amendment, as the department had imposed restrictions on the sale of excess horses to help ensure that they were not slaughtered. GAO also states that BLM is experiencing a serious "dilemma" in the need to balance their responsibility to protect and defend wild horses with their responsibility to destroy or sell without excessive animal restrictions. It recommends that BLM "develop a cost-effective alternative to the process of caring for a wild horse removed from reach in long-term holding facilities and seeking legislative changes that may be required to implement those alternatives".
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