ROCK SPRINGS—Jim Magagna summed up one difficulty of wild horse management in two words:
Always litigation.
“This current litigation is a threat to the program,” charged Magagna, a longtime lobbyist for the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. He was testifying before the Wyoming Legislature’s Select Federal Natural Resource Management Committee at its June 14 meeting at Western Wyoming Community College.
Magagna was referring to lawsuits and a congressional effort that seek to prohibit the use of helicopters in rounding up wild horses. Feral equine populations are well above the federal government’s objective both nationally and in Wyoming, and aerially assisted roundups are a key tool in managers’ efforts to trim the herds.
Earlier in the same meeting, Kris Kirby, the associate state director for the Bureau of Land Management’s Wyoming Office, addressed another mustang-related lawsuit. Her agency recently released a decision to strive for zero wild horses in some portions of southwestern Wyoming. A coalition of wild horse advocates that includes the American Wild Horse Campaign, Animal Welfare Institute, Western Watersheds Project and private citizens promptly sued, asking a judge to throw out the agency’s plan.
“There is no connection at all between the appropriate management level that has been set for wild horses in the Red Desert and land health,” Western Watersheds Project Director Erik Molvar told WyoFile. “It’s been set for the convenience of the livestock industry. They have a vested interest in getting rid of anything that competes with cattle on public lands. Around Laramie the livestock industry has been trying to get rid of elk. It’s the same thing.”
Two representatives of the Rock Springs Grazing Association also testified at the interim committee meeting, outlining the association’s decades-long legal fight with the BLM over feral horse numbers. More than four decades ago, the U.S. District Court ordered BLM to remove all wild horses that exceeded an agreed-upon 500-animal cap from the checkerboard — a 40-mile-wide belt of land stretching across southern Wyoming in which square-mile blocks of BLM land are interspersed with blocks of state and private land in a checkerboard pattern — within two years.
Don Schramm, the association’s land operations manager, told lawmakers it’s well known that the BLM and local ranchers in Rock Springs disagree about how many mustangs are truly out on the range. His organization would like to see a broader effort to deal with the issue, he said.
“The legislatures of Wyoming and surrounding states should establish a team effort to … mitigate the overpopulation of wild horses on state, private and public land,” Schramm said.
The population of wild horses across Wyoming, he said, is around 7,000. Kirby earlier provided an even higher figure. The BLM, she said, estimates there are 8,181 wild horses on the range in Wyoming, which is “significantly higher” than the upper “appropriate management level” of 3,725 horses for the state’s 16 herd management units. Although winter just decimated native pronghorn and mule deer in the corner of the state where most of its wild horses dwell, the long-lasting, inverted snowpack did not have the same effect on the bigger-bodied hooved newcomers.
“We are not seeing the same level of [wild horse] mortality that a lot of the ungulates in the state experienced,” said Kirby, who described her assessment as “anecdotal.”
Meanwhile, plans are in place to forcefully lower mustang numbers in a way that nature did not. Two Wyoming horse gathers planned for October 2023 are the second and third highest-priority horse roundups in the nation, Kirby said, though funding for neither has been secured. One would occur near Lander and one in the McCullough Peaks area. If they do go forward, the BLM estimates that 2,600 horses — some 32% of the population — could be removed from Wyoming.
Those plans come on the heels of a 2021 wild horse roundup that successfully wrangled 4,200 southwestern Wyoming mustangs and permanently removed 3,500 of them from the landscape.
While some of those animals are adopted through programs like the Wyoming Honor Farm, many others live out their days eating government-funded feed on private pastureland. The fate of thousands of feral horses removed from western landscapes has been the topic of a long-running debate, and it too came up at the Rock Springs meeting.
Rep. John Winter (R-Thermopolis), who advocated for wild horse slaughter facilities last legislative session, pressed the BLM officials to clarify their horse disposal solutions.
“Do you folks really think this adopt-a-horse program is the answer?” Winter asked. “Where are we at on it today as far as demand and ability to send them in that direction?”
The adopt-a-horse program, Kirby responded, is “very successful.” So far this year, she said, the Wheatland off-range corral has found homes for 500 horses, more than half of the facility’s 930-horse goal.
“We’re really finding a lot of success through the online corral,” Kirby said.
Why does everything have to be killed?Horses have a right to have land.they are so Beautiful. God made them what gives us the right to kill them? All we do is kill.kill kill!
We need to use these beautiful horses more as an asset. Tourists need to know where they can see them. We can find ways to profit from them if that’s what we need . There isn’t enough people to take all of the captured. It is cruel to live in a cage. Thanks
The law mandates all the current uses of federally managed land. These uses must be managed. Grazing of livestock is managed through stacks of regulations. Oil and gas the same. Horse numbers are not being currently managed because folks such as those commenting here that want nothing but unmanaged horses have got judges and managers backed into a corner with their loud and unreasonable demands. No one is advocating removing all other uses except the loud horse advocates who are incapable of listening to reason, or listening at all. It makes one feel sorry for the sincere horse advocates who occasionally get involved with a heart towards truth and open minds that seek solutions within the current system. As I said, the civil discussion was indeed good while it lasted.
The discussion is still civil even when you feel offended by the welfare ranching comments. People are tired of subsidizing a “generational family” ranching operation. The money that is spent on the free loaders who claim they are “ranchers” could be put to better use. Managing wild horses is one of the hundreds of better options.
Once again, the civil discussion was good while it lasted. I am indeed offended by those comments, but I will not insult Mr. Davis. I do question the policy for comments here, I thought personal attacks were off limits. The words that Mr. Davis uses qualify in my mind as personal attacks. They are directed specifically against a group of people, as “freeloaders”, not against a particular position.
“It’s good for me, but not for thee”
Mr Corbett, your hypocrisy is showing. Communists, socialists, Marxists, heathens, woke fools, baby killers, soul-less, eternally damned, etc.. are all comments that have been directed at myself and others who disagree with the scripture spouting, extreme partisanship, fox news sycophant point of view.
I find it telling that you think it acceptable for the fringe right to insult and offend those who don’t agree with your opinions. But, you clutch your pearls when your delicate sensibilities are challenged. Unfortunately, it’s the way of the new aged GOP.
As long as you are questioning the policy for comments here, how about the one that states: “Individual commenters are limited to three comments per story, including replies.” You have four comments, so far, on this story, and WyoFile is apparently letting you slide.
I get in many discussions of the protection of wild horses and while I am neither loud or unreasonable… I recently said “the other side is incapable of listening to reason, or listening at all.” Interesting that we feel the same. My name is Mary Cioffi and while I agree that livestock is managed, old and gas the same, the wild horse and burros on federal land is managed so badly and a huge waste of taxpayers money. More money is spent of helicopters, gathers, warehousing, defending lawsuits and other nonsense than ever in history and yet the results are poor, to say the least. The birth control program can work. The wild horses are allowed on such a small amount of public lands and they have to share it with livestock. There are logical solutions but this issues feels just like issues with the NRA. You won’t give an inch because you fear once you give an inch you will lose it all. This is not the 1800’s . Ranchers do not really need all the public lands to survive their businesses. It is time to grab a handful of sincere horse advocates and logical users of public lands and work together find a way to allow wild horses to be considered a valuable part to America. Americans want wild horses to remain protected and most of the sincere advocates feel the system is corrupt. In fact they don’t just “feel the system is corrupt” they “know the system is corrupt.”
How can an individual citizen adopt ok r or purchase a young feral mare or colt. I live on rural property in South Ms
Hi John
BLM wild horses are offered for adoption throughout the country and also on our Online Corral. Please visit the BLM web page. It has the information you need to adopt a wild horse. Thanks
https://www.blm.gov/programs/wild-horse-and-burro/adoptions-and-sales
The roundups of the horses is inhumane. Chasing them with helicopters & driving them hard into injury & death, young & old. These are our heritage of America. You didn’t see cattle on the front lines helping to fight for our freedom & independence. Stuffing them in the horrid holding pens is brutal to them. Injured, fighting to get their share of hay, water, etc. They are suppose to be protected by law. Almost all of BLM turns a blind eye to the torture of these gorgeous animals. THIS HAS GOT TO STOP. Regulate the cattle that are slowly taking over land they should not be on!!!!
Our civil discussion of this issue was good while it lasted…
James Magagna, the spokesperson for the western Wyoming welfare ranchers . Cry , whine and continually spread their bs propaganda to get what they want . Last I checked it was public land not welfare rancher land !
eliminate wild horses, eliminate all predators, eliminate any conservation value
Give it all to the sacred cow at the public trough for a rate that hasn’t changed in nearly 50 years
what is the cost difference of beef in the store from 1978 to today?
All my life I wanted to have a horse, my 8th grade I got one we moved to a farm and eventually a ranch. So I understand both the Ranchers and the Wild Horse arguments. But I believe there is plenty of room for both. Those horses have a hard life, little choice grazing, hard time getting water, being rounded up by helicopters, often sustaining injuries and Ranchers consider them a competition. Wild horses are a part of our heritage, what we really need is an overall of the BLM who has mismanaged our federal land for years! And another Wild horse Annie to stir up our senators and.congressmen to protect our Wild horses for future generations.
Wild horses are as vital to the grass on the ranges as the eildlife. The cattle that are allowed vast allotments are not indigenous to the in grasslands at all. You need to give less cattle grazing and leave the horses and wildlife to survive as they have for the past 400 years.
People who are in the cattle business..need to stay off of our public ranges and keep it pure as it has been for hundreds of years, for the mustangs and other wild animals that depend upon it for survival.Theyre profiteering off of the publics property, giving nothing back and taking from the natural wildlife that has been there before cattle was brought th here….fair is fair…cattle belong on properly managed cattle ranches…general public shouldn’t support cattlemen profit…this us unjust.!!
Horses are not food. How many times do we have to say that. Yes, other countries consume horses, usually from the US which has killed people, old and young. To many drugs that are harmful to humans in horsemeat. The US doesn’t want to consume horses, horses are companions, working athletes and pets, they are not raised for food. We don’t need slaughter plants in this country. They are horrible and mostly abuse horses before they were killed. The plants polluted the country side where they were and the owners, mostly from overseas never paid any of the fines they owed before they were shut down. This is just shades of Sue Wallis/Slaughterhouse Sue, she never did get any plants open in Wyoming or the other states she wanted to open them in before she died fortunately.
What a bunch of crap. Eradicate welfare ranchers. There is no overpopulation of wild horses. How can you claim that when you remove the horses and put 30 times more cattle on the land. Liars.
Please people; use logic! Would a wild population thrive in an environment that does not support it’s existence? Doesn’t anyone remember
” The Green Grass of Wyoming” ? Wild horses belong there! It’s the people and their livestock that don’t belong!!
There isn’t an overpopulation of wild horses and burros. Plus they are good for the ecosystem. Horses and burros play a huge part in replanting grass. If there’s an overpopulation it’s cattle and sheep. These round ups are brutal and inhumane. Please reconsider.
Leave the wild horses alone they were here before u was!!!I equal out the wild horses so many in every state.they are the symbol of the great American West !!!
These herd management areas are supposed to be managed principally for wild horses. The populations are at a slow growth but are in no way over populated when looking at the number of acres. With this past winter many of the older and early foals have died and those numbers need to be looked at. Also cattle outnumber horses 30+ to 1. Cattle are out during the critical growing period. This idea that millions of acres can only sustain a few horses is just a give away to the few ranchers so get the almost free grazing.
Also the false reporting that these horses are in poor condition is just that fake news.
If (USDA) and the various ‘Humane’ groups had not lobbied for the closure of the slaughter houses we wouldn’t have the issues we have today.
Starving to death, destruction of available grazing land, ineffective birth control, being trucked in inappropriate conveyances, sold at auction to ?? , sold out of country for slaughter in uninspected facilities…
This is better????
Very well said and true , society has chosen feelings over facts
Thank you for a relatively fair article, and for the thoughtful comments. The only thing I would contest is the usual statement by many feral horse proponents that the livestock people “want rid of the horses”. I have been involved in this issue directly for my entire life and have never heard anyone say publicly or privately that they wanted all of the horses gone. We have only asked that they be kept at or below the BLM’s AML, so that we and BLM can affect improvements that will help improve troubled areas on the range. Thank you again for considering all sides.
Howdy. I used to live in Cheyenne, so I have been following the Wild Horse situation for a long time. I now live in the Phoenix area, and we also have challenges managing the wild herds. Federal agencies and local volunteer groups have been fairly successful managing the Salt River herd. Might want to look at their methods to see if any of that could help in Wyoming.
One time wild horses were rounded up. Went to slaughter houses to be processed and meat sold. People consume horse meat in other countries Lot went over seas to France to Mexico. That was stopped and look now at problem we have. Simple solution would be restart that program. Don’t waste food.
My dogs used to enjoy Ken-L-Ration; I wish it was back on the market.
McFilly or filet o black beauty
ITS A HORSES DREAM COME TRUE TO BE OUTPLACED ON PRIVATE PROPERTY IN THE MIDWEST: Imagine running free for the rest of your life with hundreds of other horses in large pastures with abundant grass!! No more high desert cold, wind blown winters with minimum forage – and the wind is unbelievable in southern Wyoming – gimme the plains every time. All paid for by the taxpayers who adore wild horses – the public has no qualms about supporting the outplaced wild horses. There are thousands of homeless people in the US that would love to receive the love and care these horses receive. Heaven on earth for the horses – it don’t get any better than this for horses!!! Getting rounded up can be a real blessing for many of the horses if they get a forever home on the plains.
The forage on the high desert is extremely limited and it must be shared between the wild horses, cattle, sheep, deer, antelope, elk and desert sheep. Leaving forage for Wyoming’s migrating antelope, deer and elk is an absolute must – excess populations of wild horses remove forage all the critters need – and the wild horse herds increase by an estimated 20-25% year over year without harvesting which antelope, deer and elk are subject to.
The “M” in BLM stands for MANAGEMENT – and that is exactly what the BLM in Wyoming is trying to do – manage the high desert for all of the critters – and rounding up and outplacing wild horses to their forever home is a key part of the BLM’s program. Don’t feel sorry for the outplaced horses, most are headed for their horse heaven on earth courtesy of the US taxpayers.
‘All correct assessments! Re-stating the factoid in the last line of your second paragraph, mustangs are able to double their population every four years!!! When I left the Colorado BLM State Office in 2018, there were approximately 27,000 mustangs on Public Lands and 60,000 in holding facilities. At that time, it cost approximately $48,000.00 to care for each animal across its lifetime.
Not everyone is happy paying taxes for horses to live and die uselessly on pastures in the Midwest. Some of us would like our tax dollars spent on the native species that are being out-competed by feral horses. This is not a Disney movie. There is a cost for everything and the cost of keeping horses alive that no one wants (or is allowed to use for anything) is astronomical.
The feral horse extremists seem to be just like the wolf, bear, and lion extremists – they have no answers for anything. They just litigate every action that attempts to alleviate the problem (too many horses). I don’t understand how they expect everyone to give up on the habitat and other species just because they don’t like the idea of horses being killed. Horses have no natural predators and have no use to anyone else. Extremely frustrating.
There are some misleading remarks in this article. Horse advocates have been on the ground in Wyoming cataloging winter kill whereas the BLM has yet to step foot out there to catalog the death. Some areas faired better than others, but it’s misleading to say wild horses were not affected. I’ve seen the photos to prove otherwise!
what will happen to wild horse highway ?
highway between graybull & cody in big horn county.
maybe re-name wild horse highway to antelope highway ?
dosen’t have the same effect !