Is the BLM managing wild horses to extinction?
There are wild horse advocates who think so. In the 1900’s there were 2 million wild horses running free. Now by the BLM’s (Bureau of Land Management) own estimates there are only about 33,000. And there are some who put the estimate much lower. According to an American Herd report, that calls into question the BLM’s estimate methodology, the number of wild horses is about 20,000 less than the BLM estimates. At numbers of only 13,500-16,000, wild horses could already be in danger of becoming extinct. BLM – Conflict of Interest? A1990 report by the US Government Accountability Office found that the “BLM was making its removal decisions on the basis of an interest in reaching perceived historic population levels on the recommendations of advisor groups largely composed of livestock permittees.” The report also found that the “BLM removed thousands of wild horses from the range each year without the land condition data that would enable it to determine how many horses the land could suppo
