BLM and SITLA Enter into Wild Horse Management Agreement

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The Bureau of Land Management and Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) announced
on Feb. 3, they entered into an Agreement to effectively manage wild horses located on SITLA lands within areas across the State of
Utah.
SITLA is an independent state agency that manages and develops the State’s trust-land assets for the benefit of Utah’s public education system and other state institutions. There are about 3.4 million acres of SITLA-managed land interspersed within and among the 22.9 million acres of public lands throughout Utah, with more than 555,000 acres of SITLA lands impacted by wild horses. The 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros (WH&B) Act prohibits SITLA from unilaterally removing wild horses from its trust lands. Only the BLM can remove wild horses and then only after it has consulted with and involved state wildlife agencies and other affected interests, and has entered into agreements as necessary when managing wild horses and burros.
SITLA, in accordance with the 1971 WH&B Act, originally filed suit in federal district court against BLM on February 3, 2015, for failure to remove wild horses from school section lands held in trust by the State of Utah.
The suit alleged that the impact of wild horse populations has resulted in the damage and degradation of rangeland resources on these lands. SITLA argued that resource degradation caused by excessive numbers of wild horses has diminished its ability to effectively meet its mandate to manage and maximize revenues for the support of its beneficiaries.
In an unprecedented effort to work collaboratively and avoid a lengthy and expensive courtroom struggle, both parties met numerous times over this
past year to come up with an acceptable solution. As a result of these efforts, the BLM and SITLA have entered into an Agreement that provides for a mutual commitment to work cooperatively to manage wild horses that have entered onto SITLA lands. The agencies will meet annually to identify priority removal areas, ensure environmental review, conduct aerial population surveys jointly, and monitor rangeland resources and improvements.
The Agreement, which is subject to congressional appropriations, places priority on managing BLM herd areas (HAs) and herd management areas (HMAs) in the south-central and southwest areas of state, where the lawsuit was specifically aimed. However, the Agreement also calls for additional efforts in the rest of the state where other challenges arise between SITLA and BLM management.
“The BLM is pleased to be working closely with SITLA on this challenging issue of wild horse management,” said BLM-Utah Acting State Director, Jenna Whitlock. “We look forward to implementing this Agreement to ensure both the horses themselves and the rangelands they occupy are preserved and protected.”
SITLA’s assistance in managing the wild horses that have entered onto its lands will complement BLM’s current wild horse management efforts and benefit the overall public interest by supporting healthy watersheds, productive rangelands, and sustainable ecosystems, while encouraging a strong locally based land ethic that will apply current scientific rangeland management principles.
SITLA Deputy Director Kim Christy said, “Management activities conducted pursuant to this Agreement are intended to enable SITLA to fulfill its trustee role in a more robust and effective manner by promoting healthy and productive rangelands on SITLA lands affected by wild horses and burros. We look forward to this unique opportunity of working proactively with BLM and pioneering workable solutions to problems we commonly share as landowners.”