Horse News

Wild horses & burros are safe for now – thanks for your phone calls!

By on • ( 15 Comments )

Thanks to each and every one of you for your many phone calls.  The good news is that House and Senate members met in a formal conference committee meeting yesterday to negotiate the final version of Fiscal Year 2019 spending bills, including the Department of the Interior.  This funding bill supports the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro Program.

The Committee agreed on Continuing Resolutions (CRs) to fund ten federal agencies – including the Interior Department – through December 7.   The CRs carry forward Fiscal Year 2018.

So, the current law protecting America’s wild horses and burros from mass “euthanasia” (killing) and sterilization remains in place through Dec. 7.  Hopefully, this will increase the chances of a year-long CR so that this remains in place for FY19.

The House and Senate version of the bill are very different.  The House bill, in directing the BLM on the management of wild horses & burros on public lands, includes an amendment by Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) (who’s up for re-election this November) that authorizes the BLM to manage wild horse & burro herds as “non-reproducing or single sex,” using sterilization on already minimally viable or non-viable herds.  This is both cruel and a quick road to extinction.

The Senate bill doesn’t contain this amendment.

Please express your thanks to the Senate, Chairmen Shelby and Murkowski and Vice-Chairman Leahy and Chairman Udall for fighting hard to protect America’s wild horses and burros.

Thanks for your efforts and keep the faith.

Categories: Horse News, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs

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15 replies »

    • They each create and pass their own, then meet in a conference committee to hash out differences and take one agreed bill forward, into the entire 2019 budget proposal. It seems what happened here is no real discussions or language agreements were hashed out, but instead they passed a CR which keeps funding the existing system through Dec. 7 only. In other words, nothing is decided but they bought a little more time to do so.

      I’d still like to know who is on these committees and what positions they are taking, or not. It should be a public process but a lot seems to be happening behind closed doors. Will these committees meet in the next three months to draft language they can all agree on, or is the matter set aside for now? Not clear but it IS clear no decisions will be made until well after the midterm elections.

      Bottom line is: IF YOU WANT AMERICA TO STILL HAVE WILD HORSES IN THE WILD, GET OUT AND VOTE THIS NOVEMBER AND GET EVERYONE YOU KNOW TO VOTE! Apathy this November will be ultimately fatal to our wild ones.

      Liked by 2 people

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  6. Our wild ones needed some good news! Thank you EVERYONE who has been fighting for the protection of our wild horses and burros.

    Question: How does this effect the current upcoming Oregon wild horse sterilization proposal?

    Liked by 1 person

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  7. This is great but is almost exactly what happened last year, crisis by crisis, fingernail by fingernail. We need a better, and lasting management structure that keeps wild horses and burros wild animals, in the wild, period.

    Liked by 1 person

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  9. Burns Amendment needs to be REMOVED…for starters..cross it out
    Zeroed out Herd Areas need to be repatriated
    ON THE RANGE MANAGEMENT program needs to be implemented and that’s a better deal for the taxpayers as well and the Wild Horses & Burros

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  12. Listen to me ! I call Shelby religiously . I am Alabama . I know calling works . I know others called him as well.

    Calling helps ! Please always call . ESPECIALLY if that congressman depends on ur vote !

    Thanls Pat .

    Liked by 1 person

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