BLM OR-WA Training Assistance for the Placement of Wild Burros into Private Care

Background: The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 is the landmark law that directs Federal management of wild horses and burros on U.S. public lands. Under the law, the BLM and U.S. Forest Service manage herds in their respective jurisdictions within areas where wild horses and burros were found roaming in 1971. To help carry out its assignment, the BLM established the Wild Horse and Burro Program, through which the agency manages and protects wild horses and burros, both on and off the range, while striving to maintain rangeland health. The BLM supports adoption of wild horses and burros into private care, however while the number of wild burros has been increasing, the number of their adoptions has been declining, and the BLM has had to contract with off-range corral facilities dedicated solely to holding wild burros. Adoptions in 2014 helped reduce the number of burros in holding by 346 animals but in order to increase those numbers, the BLM is seeking to support increased efforts at placing wild burros into private care. For every animal the BLM places into permanent private care, the savings in holding can be used to help further the BLM's mission of managing Wild Horses & Burros. Objectives: Through financial assistance, the BLM seeks to support the development of strategies, activities, and projects designed to increase the number of trained and untrained excess wild burros placed into private care through adoption and/or sales programs. Public Benefit: Overpopulation of wild burros is damaging to the range and causing public safety issues. The public benefits from placement of burros into private care by not only reducing the number of wild burros living on over-taxed rangelands, but also by removing them from areas near major highways where their presence is causing automobile safety concerns. The BLM has several over-populated burro herd management areas (HMA) in need of removals hampered by the lack of available holding space. Each animal placed into adoption and private care helps lessen the burden on already over-grazed range.