Congress finds and declares that wild horses and burros are living symbols of the historic and pioneering spirit of the West.
Wild Free-Roaming Horse & Burro Act
Passed by unanimous Congressional vote, 1971
Which of these species of animals should be carried in a given area becomes one of human values or preference. Biologically, the area may be able to support 500 cattle and 500 horses, and may be carrying them. But if the weight of public opinion calls for 1,000 horses, the area can be said in this context to have an excess of 500 cattle.
National Academy of Sciences
Important Management Decisions: What Is Excess?
Tom Pogacnik, director of the BLM’s $16-million-a-year Wild Horse and Burro Program, conceded that about 90% of the horses rounded up go to slaughter.
Associated Press, 1997
The law was intended to recognize the significance of wild horses and burros, but talk about a waste of public funds!
Clifford Hansen
Former U.S. senator from Wyoming who introduced the bill to create the program,
and who now wishes he could remove his name from the legislation
and who now wishes he could remove his name from the legislation
…to name March 21 (the first day of spring) as National Free-Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Day, to encourage national recognition of the intrinsic value of wild horses and burros.
Nevada Senator Harry Reid
Introducing his joint resolution in the Senate, January 1989
You occasionally see one, and it’s the thrill of a lifetime. But mostly all you ever see is a cloud of dust after they are gone. It’s their stubborn ability to survive that makes them so remarkable.
Velma “Wild Horse Annie” Johnston
Reno, Nevada
