Wild horse debate sparks controversy in Redmond

Wild horses, seen by many as a symbol of the West, caused quite a debate in Redmond Wednesday as the Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board took public testimony and opened its two-day meeting at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds.

The meeting focused on the protection and oversight of wild horses and burros on Western lands. Visitors from around the country traveled to take a stand on an often emotional issue.

One coalition says there are too many wild horses and burros, and the population must come down. But many animal activists disagreed, and showed up to make their case.

It’s estimated there are about 60,000 wild horses and burros on BLM land in the West, but some argue that’s too many.

“That is beyond double what should be on the land to maintain ecological balance,” said Jason Lutterman of the National Horse and Burro Program.

The BLM and U.S. Forest Service set the target population of horses and burros for the 20 western states at 26,000. They say the wild horse and burro population is growing too fast — at 20 percent per year. They argue there are more horses than the ranges can ecologically sustain.

The target population is set.

“For all the uses of rangeland, whether it be wildlife, livestock grazing, hunting purposes, what have you — all of those uses rely on healthy rangelands,” said Keith Norris of the National Horse and Burro Rangeland Management Coalition.

The organization has suggested sterilization or the use of fertility-limiting drugs to control the population. That proposal has many animal rights groups outraged.

One woman was escorted by police out of the meeting after she failed to follow rules and began protesting the BLM by unfurling a banner and chanting: “BLM lies, horses die!”

“They have been conducting sterilization experiments on them — one of the most concerning is they’re surgically removing their ovaries,” said Suzanne Roy of the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign.

Roy’s organization calls the surgery inhumane and said it will take the “wild” out of wild horses. Instead, they say a vaccination called PZP is the best solution.

“Most horse advocacy groups agree with PZP, which is cheap and doesn’t affect wild horse behavior,” said Simone Netherlands, president of the Salt River Horse Management Group.

But the National Horse and Burro Rangeland Management Coalition argues that having too many horses on the depleted land is even more inhumane, as it leads to dehydrated and starving horses.

Others argue that the claim of overpopulation is a lie fueled by greedy livestock companies.

The board meeting continues Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Deschutes Fairgrounds and Expo Center.

See the “related stories” sidebar for a link to the BLM’s news release on the meeting, including a link to a live stream of the proceedings.