2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH
8/23/2017 | 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM | Management of Wild Horses and Burros on Public Lands | Salon F
Management of Wild Horses and Burros on Public Lands
The Bureau of Land Management is responsible for the management and protection of wild free-roaming horses and burros on 26.9 million acres of public lands under its jurisdiction, as authorized in the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act and the 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act. In carrying out this mission, the BLM establishes and maintains an appropriate management level that designates the number of wild horses and burros the land can sustainably support along with other uses of those lands. The BLM establishes these target population levels by analyzing land-use and monitoring data through an open, public process that values public input at multiple stages. To maintain rapidly growing wild horse herds at the appropriate management level, the BLM removes excess animals and attempts to place them into private care. The BLM also uses a limited fertility-control vaccine to slow population growth in some herds were possible.
Today, the BLM is confronted with numerous challenges in carrying out its management program. Annual adoptions and sales are near a record low, which has led to nearly 45,000 unadopted and unsold wild horses and burros living in BLM off-range facilities. Feeding and maintaining this off-range population costs taxpayers nearly $50 million each year, which has limited BLM’s ability to properly manage on-range populations within appropriate management levels. Overpopulation on the range is already leading to unhealthy horses and damage to rangeland resources. The BLM is pursuing research to develop better fertility-control tools, but support is needed from its partners in Congress, state governments, local communities and the private sector in order to put the Wild Horse and Burro Program back on a sustainable path.
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Presenters/Authors
John Ruhs
(), Bureau of Land Management , jruhs@blm.gov;
John Ruhs is Acting Deputy Director for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). He oversees the day to day operations of the BLM, which manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM's mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.
Ruhs’ normal duties are as State Director for BLM Nevada, which manages more Wild Horses and Burros than any other agency. Ruhs previously served as the Director of BLM’s Eastern States and had been the acting State Director for Nevada from April through September of 2015 prior to becoming the Nevada State Director in November 2015. He has extensive experience in land management in the west, including previous assignments as the Ely District Manager and Winnemucca Fire Management Officer in Nevada, District Manager of the High Desert District in Wyoming and other work for the BLM in Colorado, Idaho and Oregon.
Ruhs is a native of Iowa and served in the U.S. Marine Corps. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science from the University of Idaho. He and his wife, Amy, have seven daughters. He enjoys outdoor activities including riding horses, camping and playing golf
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