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Abstract
In the United States, the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act (WFRHBA) gave the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service the statutory obligation to manage and protect free-roaming equids (i.e., wild horses [Equus ferus] and burros [E. asinus]) on designated management areas on public land. The WFRHBA was intended to ensure that wild horses and burros on the public lands exist in self-sustaining herds in perpetuity, alongside other congressionally mandated, multiple uses of public lands. The BLM recently published a strategic research plan for their wild horse and burro program. The research plan places the highest priority on the development and testing of longer-lasting fertility control methods for wild mares and jennies. The second-highest research priority addresses the need for a better science regarding the relationships between wild horses and burros and their environments, especially related to the effects of drought and climate change. Research in these 2 key priority topics could lead to better outcomes for sustaining wild horses and burros on designated public lands in the western United States.
Recommended Citation
Jenkins, David
(2022)
"New Research and Wild Horse and Burro Management,"
Human–Wildlife Interactions: Vol. 16:
Iss.
2, Article 15.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.26077/b148-a4f3
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/hwi/vol16/iss2/15
