KBR Wild Horse and Burro Information Sheet

  PROTECTION, MANAGEMENT, and CONTROL OF
WILD FREE-ROAMING HORSES and BURROS

TITLE 43-CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS PART 4700

Subpart 4700-General

4700.0-1 Purpose.

The purpose of these regulations is to implement the laws relating to the protection, management, and control of wild horses and burros under the administration of the Bureau of Land Management.

4700.0-2 Objectives.

The objectives of these regulations are management of wild horses and burros as an integral part of the natural system of the public lands under the principle of multiple use; protection of wild horses and burros from unauthorized capture, branding, harassment or death; and humane care and treatment of wild horses and burros.

4700.0-3 Authority.

The Act of September 8, 1959 (18 U.S.C. 47); the Act of December 15, 1971, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1331-1340); the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1711, 1712, and 1734); the Act of June 28, 1934, as amended (43 U.S.C. 315); and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321, 4331-4335, and 4341-4347).

4700.0-5 Definitions.

As used in this part, the term:

(a) Act means the Act of December 15, 1971, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1331-1340), commonly referred to as the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act.

(b) Authorized officer means any employee of the Bureau of Land Management to whom has been delegated the authority to perform the duties described herein.

(c) Commercial exploitation means using a wild horse or burro because of its characteristics of wildness for direct or indirect financial gain. Characteristics of wildness include the rebellious and feisty nature of such animals and their defiance of man as exhibited in their undomesticated and untamed state. Use as saddle or pack stock and other uses that require domestication of the animal are not commercial exploitation of the animals because of their characteristics of wildness.

(d) Herd area means the geographic area identified as having been used by a herd as its habitat in 1971.

(e) Humane treatment means handling compatible with animal husbandry practices accepted in the veterinary community, without causing unnecessary stress or suffering to a wild horse or burro.

(f) Inhumane treatment means any intentional or negligent action or failure to act that causes stress, injury, or undue suffering to a wild horse or burro and is not compatible with animal husbandry practices accepted in the veterinary community.

(g) Lame wild horse or burro means a wild horse or burro with one or more malfunctioning limbs that permanently impair its freedom of movement.

(h) Old wild horse or burro means a wild horse or burro characterized because of age by its physical deterioration and inability to fend for itself, suffering, or closeness to death.

(i) Private maintenance means the provision of proper care and humane treatment to excess wild horses and burros by qualified individuals under the terms and conditions specified in a Private Maintenance and Care Agreement.

(j) Public lands means any lands or interests in lands administered by the Secretary of the Interior through the Bureau of Land Management.

(k) Sick wild horse or burro means a wild horse or burro with failing health, infirmity or disease from which there is little chance of recovery.

(l) Wild horses and burros means all unbranded and unclaimed horses and burros that use public lands as all or part of their habitat, that have been removed from these lands by the authorized officer, or that have been born of wild horses or burros in authorized BLM facilities, but have not lost their status under section 3 of the Act. Foals born to a wild horse or burro after approval of a Private Maintenance and Care Agreement are not wild horses or burros. Such foals are the property of the adopter of the parent mare or jenny. Where it appears in this part the term wild horses and burros is deemed to include the term free-roaming.

4700.06- Policy.

(a) Wild horses and burros shall be managed as self- sustaining populations of healthy animals in balance with other uses and the productive capacity of their habitat.

(b) Wild horses and burros shall be considered comparably with other resource values in the formulation of land use plans.

(c) Management activities affecting wild horses and burros shall be undertaken with the goal of maintaining free-roaming behavior.

(d) In administering these regulations, the authorized officer shall consult with Federal and State wildlife agencies and all other affected interests, to involve them in planning for and management of wild horses and burros on the public lands.

(e) Healthy excess wild horses and burros for which an adoption demand by qualified individuals exists shall be made available at adoption centers for private maintenance and care.

(f) Fees shall normally be required from qualified individuals adopting excess wild horses and burros to defray part of the costs of the adoption program.

4700.0-9 Collections of information.

(a) The collections of information contained in this part have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget under 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. and assigned clearance number 1004-0042. The information will be used to permit the authorized officer to remove wild horses and burros from private lands and to determine whether an application for adoption of and title to wild horses or burros should be granted. Response is required to obtain benefits under 16 U.S.C. 1333 and 1334.

(b) Public reporting burden for this information is estimated to average 0.1652 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing the burden, to the Information Collection Clearance Officer (783), Bureau of Land Management, Washington, DC 20240, and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project, 1004- 0042, Washington, DC 20503.


Check the Rutgers Animal Rights Law Center records of Federal court cases on this subject.

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