Public Lands Law
Public Lands are a uniquely American idea. In the development of the ideas that shaped our nation the notion that land access and ownership was only to belong to the wealthy and powerful was rejected. The American public holds these lands in trust and the federal government manages them for the interests of the American public. There are 610 million acres of United States public lands.
These public lands are managed by:
Department of Interior
Bureau of Land Management (BLM): 248 million acres or 10.5 percent of all US land. The BLM was established in 1946. The BLM manages more wild horses and burros than all other jurisdictions combined.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS): 89 million acres or 3.9 percent of the country. USFWS was established in 1940.
National Park Service (NPS): 84 million acres or 3.7 percent of all US land and was established in 1916.
Department of Agriculture
U.S. Forest Service (USFS): 193 million acres or 8.5 percent land in the US. USFS was established in 1905.
Each of the federal agencies has different objectives and policies for how they manage the land.
When the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act was passed in 1971, a debate began to determine which federal agencies would be required to comply with the Act. After much debate, it was determined that the BLM and USFS would be required to establish plans for managing wild horses and burros. USFWS and NPS being exempt from requirements to manage horses or burros within their boundaries in compliance with the 1971 law.
photo: LLeigh Wild Horse Education
After the passage of the Act agencies like the BLM allowed a “claiming period” where ranchers could simply remove wild horses they claimed as private property. This allowed huge swaths of public lands to experience an eradication of existing population of wild horses prior to boundary lines for management being established. The “claiming period” created havoc and, in 1975, BLM finally began requiring a signed affidavit and proof of ownership. They also began charging “trespass livestock” fees to anyone claiming the free-roaming horses on public lands essentially putting an end to the practice.
LLeigh Wild Horse Education
After the 1971 Act passed, several other laws were enacted that modified the original Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act and changed the framework of land management.
The 1971 law to protect wild horses pre-dates the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by two years. The passage of these two laws should have begun the path to not simply “manage industrial permits,” but to protect the species that call the range home. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) pre-dates the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act.
In 1976 the Federal Lands Management and Policy Act (FLPMA) passed into law. FLPMA is a United States federal law that governs the way in which the public lands are managed and establishes the perpetuity of public lands.
FLPMA gave birth to the “multiple use” mission. “Multiple use” is defined in the Act as "management of the public lands and their various resource values so that they are utilized in the combination that will best meet the present and future needs of the American people."
FLPMA addresses topics such as land use planning, land acquisition, fees and payments, administration of federal land, range management, and right-of-ways on federal land. FLPMA was intended to be a type of “equalizer” for the voice of the American people in land use planning and stop the co-opting by profit-driven uses that controlled the landscape. FLPMA was intended to ensure that conservation of public lands would become a part of planning. FLPMA to allow a variety of uses on their land while simultaneously trying to preserve the natural resources in and on them.
Although FLPMA states expressly that no provision of this law would derogate existing law, wild horses and burros are omitted from additional language for their protection and simply added a provision to allow for the use, or contract for the use, of helicopters and motorized vehicles for the purpose of managing wild horses and burros on public lands. National Parks, lighthouses, endangered species, etc., all have expressed language noting their protections within the text of FLPMA.
LLeigh Wild Horse Education
The Public Rangelands Improvement Act of 1978 (PRIA) amended the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. PRIA required an inventory and identification of current public rangeland conditions and improving the condition of public rangeland. PRIA also began the removal, stockpile and disposal policies of today regarding wild horses.
The BLM has failed in monitoring, scientific analysis and range improvements in the vast majority of areas wild horses and burros are managed. The National Academies of Sciences (NAS) has been commissioned by the BLM since the 1980’s to review their program. Every single NAS review has failed the agency on basic edicts in PRIA.
PRIA became the origin of “blame the horse” instead of the intended objective of creating a baseline for equity in multiple use as outlined in FLPMA.
The Burns Amendment to an omnibus spending bill in 2004 gut the heart of the 1971 Act, protections from the slaughter pipeline. Conrad Burns introduced an amendment that created “sale authority,” allowing the agency to sell wild horses and transfer title immediately. With the transfer of a title a wild horse or burro losses any protection afforded under the Act and becomes a domestic horse under law and it can be shipped off to the slaughter house.
You can learn more about the Burns Amendment and todays battle against open sales to slaughter HERE
The “Sale Authority” policy was amended several times to restrict the number of horses an individual could take and to require signing a statement that no sales to slaughter would occur. Each time the agency would create a loophole, new litigation or exposure in a publication, they would then have a new restriction the policy again. That restriction would rapidly evaporate.
In the 1980s, after FLPMA and PRIA were enacted, the BLM began to create the first Land Use Pans (LUP). The first plan finalized in 1980.
As the agency began creating district by district planning to determine how they would carry out “multiple use” in practice, they also began creating Herd Management Area Plans (HMAP). Many of these early documents set framework, where admittedly inside the documents they noted the need for more information and revision.
The planning processes (FLPMA and PRIA) for wild horse and burro management were abandoned. They were replaced simply by the “gather” planning process that hamstrung the public from engaging in efforts to protect wild horses and burros on the range and limited them to simply commenting on a roundup.
Many of the larger land use plans, with inaccurate stocking levels and boundaries for wild horses, have been amended for livestock and massive mining projects. Yet the mandate to manage wild horses and burros as an integral part of the system of public lands has lapsed. Today wild horses remain a scapegoat for neglect in planning and the failures of land managers to carry out the charge of the true intent of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, FLPMA and more.
It took until 2015 for the BLM to include a humane handling policy into their roundup decisions. BLM created the policy only after relentless litigation by a small Nevada non-profit, Wild Horse Education and the work of their founder, Laura Leigh. Case after case, ruling after ruling forced the agency to create a policy to present to the courts.
BLM has failed to do the annual reviews, revisions and expansion of the policy that was promised. The policy is called “Comprehensive Animal Welfare Policy,” or “CAWP,” and is not perfect, but it was a beginning. (you can see the original IM that has not changed since it was first published HERE)
Just as the 1971 Act marked the first step in protections, we see the agencies tasked with that mandate (humane handling) fail again and again.
Real reform is needed. Can the intentions of the 1971 law be restored? Can we restore planning? Can we restore full protections from slaughter?
The future lies in the hands of those that come after Velma Bronn Johnston and step forward, boldly, into that future.
Exhibit created and presented by Wild Horse Education.
We thank the Nevada Historical Society and the University of Nevada Reno for providing permissions to feature material from their collections.
The content of this exhibit is protected under copyright laws. Much of this content can only be reproduced through written permission. Contact Laura@WildHorseEducation.org