“There are now twice as many wild horses in the West as federal land managers say the land can sustain,” says a New York Times story about the government’s problems in managing the herd. “The program that manages them has broken down, and unchecked populations pose a threat to delicate public land, as well as the ranches that rely on it.” There are 48,000 horses on the range and 50,000 horses “in storage” and fed at government expense. “It’s a train wreck,” one expert tells the Times. Utah ranchers have sued to force the government to remove horses from public lands.
An Interior Department program that allows adoption of wild horses moves a trickle of horses to new owners. The department is considering whether to give horses to farmers overseas. Horse advocacy groups say the problem really is too many cattle and sheep on public land. Ideas like horse slaughter are not palatable politically.