Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971

Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971

Long title	An Act to require the protection, management, and control of wild free-roaming horses and burros on public lands.
Acronyms (colloquial)	WFRHBA
Enacted by	the 92nd United States Congress
Effective	December 15, 1971
Citations
Public law	92-195
Statutes at Large	85 Stat. 649
Codification
Titles amended	16 U.S.C.: Conservation
U.S.C. sections created	16 U.S.C. ch. 30 § 1331 et seq.
Legislative history
Introduced in the Senate as S. 1116 by Henry M. Jackson (D–WA) on June 25, 1971 Committee consideration by Senate Insular and Interior Affairs, House Insular and Interior Affairs Passed the Senate on June 29, 1971 (Passed) Passed the House on October 4, 1971 (Passed, in lieu of H.R. 9890) Reported by the joint conference committee on November 29, 1971; agreed to by the House on December 2, 1971 (Agreed) and by the Senate on December 3, 1971 (Agreed) Signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 15, 1971
Major amendments
Sections 1332 and 1333 were modified by the Public Rangelands Improvement Act of 1978 (Public Law 95-514); Section 1338 was modified by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (Public Law 94-579); the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-333) added Section 1338a.; and Section 1333 was again modified by the Fiscal Year 2005 Omnibus Appropriations Act (Public Law 108-447)[1]
United States Supreme Court cases
Kleppe v. New Mexico, 426 U.S. 529 (1976)

The Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 (WFRHBA), is an Act of Congress (Pub. L. 92–195), signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon on December 18, 1971.^[2] The act covered the management, protection and study of "unbranded and unclaimed horses and burros on public lands in the United States."

By the 1900s, feral horse populations were in decline, and there was concern that the horses were destroying land and resources wanted by ranching and hunting interests. Pressure on federal agencies from the 1930s on led to a series of policies which severely reduced herd numbers. By the 1950s, modern practices for capturing horses came to the attention of individuals such as Velma Bronn Johnston, also known as "Wild Horse Annie," who felt the measures were extreme and cruel. Their activism resulted in the Hunting Wild Horses and Burros on Public Lands Act in 1959. However, the 1959 Act did not resolve all the advocate's concerns, leading to the passage of the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act in 1971. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and US Forest Service manage these herds. Although the BLM struggled to implement adequate herd management in many areas, in 1973 they began a successful program for rounding up excess numbers, and adopting out these captured horses and burros to private owners. This remains the primary method of removing excess horses and burros from managed land, though in recent years the adoption rate has not kept up with the removal rate, and most horses are currently diverted to long-term holding facilities. Administrative challenges to BLM's management and implementation of the act have been made to the Department of the Interior's Board of Land Appeals.

The act has also been challenged in court. Objections have been varied, focusing on constitutionality, and legal status of the animals, but the Act has been upheld in all instances, including Kleppe v. New Mexico, before the United States Supreme Court. Charges have also been made that the BLM has turned a blind eye to the practice of private investors adopting feral horses for the purposes of slaughter, and courts have determined that the BLM may not ignore the intent of adopters. Congress has taken several actions that affect the act by including provisions in other bills. These provisions have addressed the manner in which horses may be rounded up and the method by which horses may be offered for sale or adoption.