Why does the BLM offer wild horses and burros for adoption?
The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, gave the Department of the Interior, BLM, and the Department of Agriculture, USFS, the authority to manage, protect, and control wild horses and burros on the nation’s public rangelands in a way that ensures healthy herds and healthy rangelands. Federal protection and a lack of natural predators have resulted in thriving wild horse and burro populations that grow in number each year. The BLM monitors rangelands and wild horse and burro herds to determine the number of animals, including livestock and wildlife, the land can support. Each year the BLM gathers excess wild horses and burros from areas where vegetation and water could become scarce if too many animals use the area. These excess animals are offered for adoption to qualified people through the BLM’s Adopt-a-Horse or -Burro program. As an indication of how popular the program has been, from 1973 through 1999, the BLM placed more than 170,000 wild horses and burros into priva
