SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 5

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2018

INTRODUCED BY

Pat Woods

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR TO FOLLOW THE FEDERAL WILD FREE-ROAMING HORSES AND BURROS ACT TO ACHIEVE APPROPRIATE MANAGEMENT LEVELS OF WILD HORSES AND BURROS.

     WHEREAS, pursuant to the federal Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, the United States secretary of the interior is tasked with managing wild free-roaming horses and burros on public lands in a manner that is designed to achieve and maintain a thriving, natural ecological balance; and

     WHEREAS, to achieve appropriate management levels, congress authorized the removal of excess animals from the range through adoption, humane euthanasia and sale; and

     WHEREAS, it is the policy of the United States department of the interior through the bureau of land management to not euthanize wild horses or burros or to sell the animals without restrictions; and

     WHEREAS, for many years, congress has prevented appropriated funds to be used to facilitate the unrestricted sale or humane euthanasia of wild horses and burros; and

     WHEREAS, today, there are nearly fifty thousand more horses on the range than the land is able to support, in addition to twelve thousand to fifteen thousand foals, with an expectation of many more foals in the spring; and

     WHEREAS, horses tend to double their populations every four to five years; and

     WHEREAS, excessive numbers of horses and burros on the range threaten the health of native plants, wildlife and other public land resources and uses, and ecosystems are being degraded in many areas; and

     WHEREAS, due to the excessive populations, horses are starving and dying of thirst and disease; and

     WHEREAS, adoption and fertility control have proven insufficient at managing wild horse and burro populations; and

     WHEREAS, despite the expenditure of approximately seven million dollars ($7,000,000) a year to promote adoptions of excess horses, demand does not meet supply for adoption to be a sufficient management tool; and

     WHEREAS, an effective, easily delivered and affordable fertility-control method is not currently available to manage wild horse and burro population growth; and

     WHEREAS, it costs taxpayers nearly fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) each year for the bureau of land management to feed and care for more than forty-five thousand wild horses and burros that have been removed from the range; and

     WHEREAS, to restore the population of wild free-roaming horses to an appropriate level, the national wild horse and burro advisory board recommends allowing the unrestricted sale and humane euthanasia of excess animals as authorized in the federal Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the United States department of the interior be requested to follow the federal Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act and utilize all of the management tools provided in that act to achieve ecologically sustainable wild horse and burro populations; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that congress be encouraged to restore funding to the United States department of the interior to facilitate the unrestricted sale and euthanasia of excess horses and burros; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the United States secretary of the interior, New Mexico's congressional delegation and the president of the United States.

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