Center, Internet, Wildlife Damage Management
Human–Wildlife Interactions
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Managing Healthy Wild Horses and Burros on Healthy Rangelands: Tools and the Tool Box
Date of this Version
Spring 2018
Document Type
Article
Citation
Human–Wildlife Interactions (Spring 2018) 12(1): article 15
doi: 10.26077/tmnk-7f46
Special topic: Wild horse and burro management
Abstract
The Wild and Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act (WFRHBA) of 1971 authorized the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to manage feral horses (Equus ferus caballus ) and burros (E. asinus ) on public lands in the United States. This special issue of Human–Wildlife Interactions has explored in-depth the ecological, policy, political, practical, and sociological issues pertinent to the BLM and USFS management of wild horses and burros. In this commentary, I summarize the pros and cons of the available contemporary policy and management options—the tools in the BLM and USFS toolbox— that can contribute to achieving the intent of the WFRHBA. Ultimately, it will be up to the U.S. Congress to choose which options are in the best interest of the American public and our natural resources.