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Along with the National Environmental Protection act, the Wilderness Act, the Endangered Species Act,

and the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burrows Act helped form a

wave of unprecedented, ecologically and species respectful laws that came into being during the 60s

and 70s.

Basic Elements of Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971 (WFHBA) and Other Related Acts

1. WFHBA passed unanimously on December 15, 1971, and requires the protection, managementand control of wild free-roaming horses and burro on public lands.

2. Responsibility for implementing the act was delegated to this Bureau of land Managementthrough the Secretary of the Interior and the U.S. Forest Service through the Secretary of

Agriculture.

3. In its preamble, WFHBA declares that (a) wild horses and burros are living symbols of thehistoric and pioneer spirit of the West: (b) they contribute to the diversity of life forms within

the nation and enrich the lives of the American people: (c) wild free-roaming horses and burros

shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment or death: and (d) they are to be

considered in the area where presently found as an integral part of the natural system of public

lands.4. WFHBA stipulates criminal penalties of up to $2,000 and/or a year in jail for violating the law.Penalties increased under the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, and fines can now be as high as

$100,000 and/or ten years in prison for violating WFHBA.

5. BLM and USFS must manage wild horses and burros so as to achieve and maintain a thrivingnatural ecological balance on the public lands and at the minimum feasible level.

6. WFHBA defines a wild horse/burro range, or legal area, as the amount of land necessary tosustain an existing herd or herds of wild free-roaming horses and burrosand which is devoted

principally but not necessarily exclusively to their welfare in keeping with the multiple use

management concepts for the public lands.

7. The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) amended WFHBA to allow forhelicopter roundups. Earlier in 1959, the Wild Horse Annie Bill (Public Law 86-234) had

prohibited the use of motor vehicles in rounding up or hunting wild horses and burros as wellas the pollution or poisoning of their watering holes. FLPMA requires the development of

land use plans that incorporate sustained yield and multiple use principles.

8. The Public Rangelands Improvement Act of 1978 (PRIA) also amended the WFHBA. It required acurrent inventory of wild horses and burros to determine appropriate management levels, or

AMLs, meaning the number of wild horses/burros sustainable by the resources of the range.

Under this law, AMLs are supposed to be adjusted according to resource availability. The law

also involved the definition of excess wild horses or burros for any given legal area.

9. In 2004, the Burns Amendment to the WFHBA facilitated disposal of wild horses and burros toslaughter buyers for horses or burros who are either over ten years of age or who have been

offered unsuccessfully for adoption three times.

10.The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) also governs how the wild horses and burros aretreated, as this act requires environmental assessments/environmental impact statements ofany action that might have a major impact on any and all aspects of our life and world, including

wild horses and burros.

11.Code of Federal Regulations 4710.5 and 4710.6 specifically provide for the curtailment orcancellation of livestock grazing privileges on public lands in order to ensure thriving healthy

herds of wild horses and burros in their legal areas.

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12.Section 6 of WFHBA authorizes cooperative agreements with landowners and state and localgovernments to better accomplish the goals of the act. This allows for providing complete and

unimpeded habitats for long-term viable wild horse/burro populations.

13.Section 2(b) of WFHBA defines wild free roaming horses and burros as all unbranded andunclaimed horses and burrows on public lands across the United States, meaning BLM and

USFS lands and possibly other agency lands as well.

14.Section 3 (a) of WFHBA authorizes the designation of specific ranges on public lands assanctuaries for the protection and preservation of wild horses and burros upon consultation

with state wildlife agencies.

15.Section 3 (d) prohibits selling any deceased wild horse or burrow or part thereof, i.e., nocommercialization.

16.Section 7 authorizes creation of the wild horse and burro advisory board.17.Section 8 allows power of arrest by a federal employee of anyone violating WFHBA in his/her

presence.

18.Section 10 mandates a report to Congress on the wild horse and burro program every two yearsand also authorizes studies of wild horses and burros.

19.Section 4 allows public officials to remove wild horses and burros that stray onto privateproperty, but also allows private landowners to maintain wild free-roaming horses or burros ontheir private lands or on lands leased from the Government provided that they do so in a

manner that protects them from harassment and that the animals were not wilfully removed or

enticed from the public lands. The latter must keep the federal government informed of the

number of wild horses and burros so maintained. This is an outstanding opportunity for the

public t help in preserving and protecting the wild horse and burro herds at healthy population

levels, i.e. to complement federal herd areas and territories.

(Downer, The Wild Horse Conspiracy:XI-XIII)