Examination of the Bureau of Land Management's implementation of the Wild, Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act at Red Rock National Conservation Area

Abstract

For unknown reasons horses went extinct on the North American continent approximately ten thousand years ago and were subsequently reintroduced by Spanish settlers in the 1400's. As European settlers moved westward, horses were perceived as competition for grasslands and their numbers were curtailed. Wild horses were granted Federal protection in 1959 with the passage of the 'Wild Horse Annie' law and further protected with the passage of the Wild, Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971. Through the Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Land Management was charged with management of wild horses on public lands. Physical searches of Bureau of Land Management files were conducted to determine if Bureau of Land Management officials were adhering to the tenents of the Wild, Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act with respect to the Red Rock Herd Management Area. It was discovered that records pertaining to management of the Red Rock herds were incomplete and erratic. Three areas of focus are examined, population, health, and education. It was determined that Bureau of Land Management has conducted population counts, but not as required by the Act. Herd health records have not been kept, and no educational facilities or programs have as of yet been undertaken. Although Bureau of Land Management has been managing the Red Rock herds, its level of adherence to the Wild, Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act cannot be documented.