Keep wild horses and burros wild

LETTER TO THE EDITOR
SC Times
Tammi Adams | Elk River
Aug. 26, 2021

To the Editor:

The Congressional Research Service recently reported the true cost of the Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse and Burro program. From the report: “For FY2021, the appropriation for BLM management of wild horses and burros was $115.7 million, a 14% increase from FY2020 ($101.6 million). FY2021 funding was more than five times the amount for FY2000 ($20.4 million) and an 81% increase over FY2010 ($64.0 million), in normal dollars.”

Why are they wasting our tax dollars?  The answer is simple: livestock grazing on our public lands. Ranchers pay a pittance to graze their cattle and sheep on our public lands: $1.35 per cow/calf pair or five head of sheep. Did you realize that less than 2% of the cattle grazing on our public land is consumed in the U.S.?

Is this fiscally responsible? The cost of managing wild horses and burros on the HMAs legally defined under the 1971 law – zero $! Over 80% of the population wants wild horses and burros to remain wild and free. Moreover, I imagine at least 80% of Americans do not want their tax dollars wasted on the inhumane, antiquated, and unscientific program the BLM is selling.

Make a difference – call, email and write Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, President Biden, David Jenkins BLM and demand change. End the barbaric roundups and manage our wild horses and burros on the rangeland established since 1971. Contact your reps and request they cosponsor and pass the SAFE ACT HR3355 and support the amendment to the infrastructure bill that stops the transport of wild horses and burros to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico.

Tammi Adams
Elk River

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TH says, “This is an excellent example of a Letter to the Editor. A Letter to the Editor is a superb advocacy tool.”

TH

Featured Image: A trio of wild horses rounded up, tagged and penned by the BLM, awaiting an unknown fate. Photographer unknown.