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PROTECTION, MANAGEMENT, and CONTROL OF
WILD FREE-ROAMING HORSES and BURROS
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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.
This is not a BLM operated or BLM sponsored site. It is run by private wild
horse and burro enthusiasts.
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