The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages and protects wild horses and burros on 26.9 million acres of public lands across ten western states as part of its mission to administer public lands for multiple uses.
Donor Name: Bureau of Land Management
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 01/31/2023
Size of the Grant: $50,000
Grant Duration: 5 years
Details:
The BLM created the Wild Horse and Burro Program to implement the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 and its goal is to manage healthy wild horses and burros on healthy public rangelands. Broadly, the law declares wild horses and burros to be “living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West” and stipulates that the BLM and the U.S. Forest Service have the responsibility to manage and protect herds in their respective jurisdictions within areas where wild horses and burros were found roaming in 1971.
The Wild Horse and Burro Program consists of two main branches: on-range management of wild horses and burros, and off-range management and care of wild horses and burros.
BLM may be responsible for the following, if applicable, to proposed projects:
- Supplying fertility control agent (vaccination, drug, etc.).
- Fertility control agent conveyance mechanism (i.e., darts, jabsticks, etc.). This may or may not include dart guns.
- Identification and marking of treated animals.
- Complete required NEPA documents.
- Provide law enforcement support to assure safe operations of project.
- Provide required training including Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program (CAWP), fertility control application techniques, compliance, etc.
- Transportation of animals for project.
- Veterinary care for animals.
- Other inputs as required to advance project objectives.
The BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program has an opportunity to work with partner organizations to assist with the following:
- Category A: Off-Range Activities
- Coordinate wild horse and burro—related environmental education to expand public understanding of the BLM’s role in maintaining and enhancing viable populations of wild horses and burros and their habitat and encouraging private care placement of animals through adoptions and sales.
- Coordinate educational and outreach efforts to promote public awareness of the unique qualities, trainability, and pride of owning wild horses or burros.
- Establish and conduct programs to care for, train, and facilitate the placement of wild horses and burros into private care and, in so doing, promote public understanding and support for the Program’s core mission of managing wild horses and burros on public lands in a balanced and ecologically sustainable way.
- Conduct compliance inspections of adopted animals where BLM authority is not required complaint and issues of abuse.
- Category B: On-Range Activities
- Provide support to coordinate, integrate, and focus financial and in-kind investments to manage wild horse and burro populations and natural resources impacted by these herds to achieve or maintain a thriving natural ecological balance.
- Provide support for working with local partners to meet the wild horse and burro goals identified in resource management plans and other planning and conservation documents.
- Collaborate with industry stakeholders, state, federal, and non-government organization partners to promote habitat resiliency and connectivity and leverage technical expertise.
- Develop and share science-based strategies through workshops, meetings, and work groups.
- Identify, conserve, and restore priority habitats including riparian areas so that they include native plants and are resilient to environmental stressors, such as drought, wildland fire, other unusual weather events, and insects/disease.
- Coordinate wild horse and burro—related environmental education to expand public understanding of the BLM’s role in maintaining and enhancing viable populations of wild horses and burros and their habitat.
Program Expected Outcomes
Proposals should support one or more of the goals of this program through:
- Category A: Off-Range Activities
- Coordinated educational and outreach efforts that promotes public awareness of the unique qualities, trainability, and pride of owning wild horses or burros.
- Creation and implementation of programs to care for, train, and facilitate the placement of wild horses and burros into private care and, in so doing, promote public understanding and support for the Program’s core mission of managing wild horses and burros on public lands in a balanced and ecologically sustainable way.
- Assist in conducting compliance inspections of adopted animals where BLM authority is not required.
- Monitoring efforts support that ensures compliance with agency requirements in the areas of off-range holding and private care placement.
- Category B: On-Range Activities
- Assessments of wild horse and burro populations and habitats and verifying the achievement of resource management goals and objectives
- Increased monitoring data through providing complete, current, and accurate information on the distribution, abundance, and habitat of wild horses and burros that depend on BLM-managed public lands to increase professional and public knowledge and understanding of these resources; and/or
- Ensure to provide a thriving natural ecological balance and stewardship of public lands in wild horse and burro HMAs through:
- Data and other information to assess threats to wild horse and burro populations dependent on BLM public lands;
- Improvements to how BLM uses and integrates herd management data and new research into its decision-making processes
- Fertility control applications to wild horses or burros and other associated requirements for application including coordination with BLM, record keeping, and reductions in herd growth from application of fertility control; and/or
- Increased public awareness of the impacts wild horses and burros have on BLM managed public lands habitats.
Funding Information
- Award Ceiling: $50,000
- Award Floor: $1,000
- Projects cannot be funded for more than a five-year period.
Eligibility Criteria
- State governments
- County governments
- City or township governments
- Special district governments
- Independent school districts
- Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
- Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
- Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
- Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
- Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- Private institutions of higher education
- Individuals.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
