The 2008 Joint Meeting of the Society for Range Management and the America Forage and Grassland Council.

Thursday, January 31, 2008 - 10:20 AM

Partnerships for Success in the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program

Albert J. Kane, Sr. Staff Veterinarian, APHIS/BLM Wild Horse and Burro Partnership, USDA:APHIS:VS:NCAHP:ASEP, 2150 Centre Ave, Bldg B, MS2E6, Fort Collins, CO 80526 and Don Glenn, Division Chief, Wild Horses and Burros, 1620 L Street NW WO-260, MS 314 LS, Room 204, Washington DC, 20046.

The management of wild horses and burros on public lands administered by the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Forest Service (FS) is a challenge that requires cooperation and the sharing of resources. Since 2004 the BLM and FS have worked in partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to carry out this mission. While each agency is responsible for on-the-range management of wild horses and burros on their respective lands, the BLM and FS work together to remove excess animals from FS lands and then the BLM takes over the care and placement of them into good homes. This approach increases efficiencies for both agencies.

Since 1999, a partnership between the BLM WH&B Program and the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has allowed the Bureau access to veterinary expertise and a network of veterinarians and animal health technicians across the country. Unusual in that it joins agencies from two different Departments, the APHIS/BLM WH&B Partnership has been a successful venture for both agencies; expanding the expertise available to the Program, increasing efficiencies and improving animal care.

Recently another type of partnership was formed with a private entity, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). Both parties have cooperated for several years to allow BLM access to an investigational immunocontraceptive vaccine for which the HSUS holds the license for research use. In 2006, the WH&B Program and the HSUS formally joined together under an MOU to further the development and use of contraceptive agents for wild horses on western rangelands.


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