America’s wild horses and burros: Research for management

Product Type: Science Feature

Year: 2007

Author(s): Ransom, J.I., M.E. Swann, J.T. Wilson, and J.E. Roelle

Suggested Citation:
Ransom, J.I., M.E. Swann, J.T. Wilson, and J.E. Roelle. 2007. America’s wild horses and burros: Research for management. http://www.fort.usgs.gov/WildHorsePopulations/.

Abstract

In 1971, the U.S. Congress passed The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 in an effort to protect, manage, and control wild horses and burros on public lands. This legislation declared these wild animal populations to be "living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West." It vested the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM)1 and the USDA Forest Service with responsibility for their management and directed these agencies to manage wild horses and burros for a “thriving natural ecological balance.”...