National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board Meeting

Portland, OR

November 5, 2007

Board Members Present: Robin Lohnes, Renee Taylor, Larry Johnson, Gary
Zakotnik,

Dr. Vernon Dooley, Richard Sewing, and Dr. Wayne Burkhardt. Board
Members Absent: Melissa Scott and Dr. Boyd Spratling. Washington Office
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Staff: Deputy Assistant Director,
Renewable Resources and Planning; Bud Cribley; Sally Spencer; Jenny
Lesieutre, Dean Bolstad, Ramona DeLorme and EK James. USDA, APHIS:

Dr. Albert Kane. BLM Nevada: Mike Holbert, Deputy State Director, Land
and Renewable Resources. BLM Oregon: Ed Shepard, State Director and
Craig Mackinnon, Wild Horse and Burro State Lead. USDA, Forest Service,
Ralph Giffen.

Robin Lohnes opened the meeting at 8:12 a.m., November 5, 2007. She
introduced the Advisory Board Members to the public.

Ed Shepard, Oregon State Director, welcomed the Board to the State of
Oregon. He noted that the Kiger Mustang adoption will take place this
weekend, November 8-10, 2007, in Burns, OR. Under the guidance of the
continuing resolution, the funding was not available to perform the
Kiger gather and he thanked the Washington Office for facilitating the
approval to perform it. The Kiger Mustang adoption helps the economy by
bringing a lot of people into the Burns area. The State of Oregon is
faced with continued drought which led to the emergency gather in
Beaty's Butte in FY07. During the gather, there were 40 animals found in
poor condition at a nearly dry waterhole. A private veterinarian from
Lakeview, OR was called in to assess the condition of the animals. The
animals had to be walked out about 10 miles to reach the main capture
site. In addition, there is an ongoing issue with the Fish and Wildlife
Service's Sheldon Wildlife Refuge. Fences that separate the Sheldon
Refuge from the Beaty's Butte Herd Management Area (HMA) do not prevent
Sheldon horses from crossing over into the Beaty's Butte HMA. The Oregon
BLM is meeting with representatives from Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)
to resolve this ongoing issue.

Bud Cribley, Deputy Assistant Director, Renewable Resources and
Planning, reported that Don Glenn was briefing Congress and that Dean
Bolstad would fill in for Don. Bud gave an overview of the BLM and the
National Wild Horse and Burro Program. The Bureau is under new
leadership: Jim Caswell, Director; Henri Bisson, Deputy Director of
Operations; and Luke Johnson, Deputy Director for Policy. Jim Caswell
met with the State Directors for the first time at the recent Executive
Leadership Meeting. He emphasized that his top priorities are the
Healthy Lands Initiative, the continued implementation and updating of
the land use plans, the National Landscape Conservation System, and
Managing for Excellence Initiative which will put the BLM back to a
three-tiered organization. The Director's core mission responsibilities
are the National Fire Plan, the Healthy Forest Act, the grazing permit
renewal, and continued emphasis on the National Wild Horse and Burro
Program reaching Appropriate Management Levels (AMLs).

The BLM is currently under a continuing resolution which means there is
no budget yet. The signal from Congress is they will probably put the
Department of the Interior under another continuing resolution. The
President's Budget in FY08 is a reduction of \$4.7 million. The word
from Congress is that they intend to reinstate the \$4.7 million.
However, BLM is still having discussions on the needs for the program.
Don Glenn is meeting with the Department today and tomorrow will be
briefing the Appropriation Committee Staffers on the impacts of the Wild
Horse and Burro Program under current funding conditions. The Bureau is
in the process of developing the FY09 budget.

Craig Mackinnon, Oregon Wild Horse State Lead gave an overview of the
Oregon Wild Horse and Burro Program. There are 18 HMAs in Oregon and two
U.S. Forest Service Territories (Murders Creek and Big Summit). The
Murders Creek area is both a HMA (BLM lands) and Territory (Forest
Service lands). AML is 1,340 to 2,655. BLM is finding a few domestic
horses from Idaho that have been released into Oregon HMAs. The Burns
Office has been busy preparing for this weekend's Kiger Mustang
Adoption. Oregon BLM will meet with the Sheldon FWS to develop plans to
manage both the Sheldon and Beaty's Butte horses. Discussions will
include fencing, a combined census with both the FWS and the BLM, and
fertility control. A lot of improvements were added to the Burns
Facility during the recent closure for deferred maintenance. The High
Desert Museum south of Bend, OR continues to help promote the Adoption
Program. The BLM donates a horse every spring that is offered for
adoption each fall. The biggest challenge BLM Oregon faces is getting
the funding needed to gather 500 horses a year.

# July 30, 2007 Minutes

The Board approved the July 2007 minutes with changes on page 3 and 5
("Sub-Committee" changed to "work group" and the spelling of "Caliente"
corrected).

**[Advisory Board Charter and Nominations]{.underline}**

The Board will review the Bylaws and report back at the next meeting.
There was a discussion of the use of the term "sub-committee" or "work
group". The Bureau will determine which is appropriate and report back
at the next meeting. Also the Advisory Board Nominations Notice for Wild
Horse and Burro Advocacy, Veterinary Medicine, and Public Interest has
been extended to December 7, 2007.

**[BLM Response to Recommendations]{.underline}**

The Board's recommended language will be included in the next Report to
Congress.

The Board's recommendations should be presented in a letter from the
Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board to the Secretaries of the Interior
and Agriculture. The Board prepared a letter and will send it to the
Secretaries.

**[Nellis / Drought Update]{.underline}**

Mike Holbert, Nevada Deputy State Director, Land and Renewable
Resources, presented a summary of 2007 Nevada gathers and 2008 gathers
that need to be conducted if funds are available. Most of the planned
gathers for 2008 are emergency gathers due to fire and drought and are
in areas that have populations that greatly exceed AML. Mike discussed
the Nevada Wild Horse Range nitrate testing being planned by the Desert
Research Institute. The BLM will update the Board on the testing and
status at Nellis. As a new Deputy State Director, Mike's observations
include the need for emergency gathers vs AML gathers; population
inconsistencies; staffing and mentoring issues; the impact of other
priorities on workloads; funding issues; facility capacity issues; and
the need for consistency on drought issues between field offices.

There was discussion by the Board that Nevada is 300% above AML in
several HMAs and that numbers are sometimes under estimated. There needs
to be more censuses. It was pointed out that the Nellis Environmental
Assessments included an alternative to return geldings to the range. It
was noted that there should be a gelding protocol developed before this
occurs.

**[Jackson Mountain / PVC Update]{.underline}**

Dr. Al Kane, USDA, APHIS, reported that the Palomino Valley Facility
(PVC) was scheduled to reopen to the public on November 13, 2007. PVC
was voluntarily closed on September 26, 2007, because salmonella was
found in some of the wild horses from the Jackson Mountains HMA. Since
the initial cultures identified salmonella as a factor complicating the
horses' recovery from drought conditions on the range, two additional
rounds of cultures, taken two weeks apart, have not isolated any more
salmonella. The Jackson Mountains wild horses remaining at the facility
are improving in body condition, but will be held at the facility a few
more months before they are considered strong enough for movement to
other facilities or to be adopted. Since early September when the
Jackson Mountains wild horses were brought to the facility, 159 horses
have either died or were euthanized at the facility due to health
problems related to their poor body condition.

The Board commended the BLM for good communication concerning this issue
and noted that in times of crisis, Q&A's are very useful**.**

**[FY07 Closeout]{.underline}**

Jenny Lesieutre explained that she would be presenting two reports and
that the Board should be aware that at first glance some of the units
will not match each other. The reason for this is that the FY07
expenditures by program elements are based on the Wild Horse and Burro
(WH&B) subactivity only; whereas, the units of accomplishments also
include units paid for under benefiting subactivities.

In FY07, the WH&B subactivity spent a total of \$37,743,364 with
\$20,754,080 of that spent on feeding the animals which is approximately
55% of the entire program spending. Jenny then presented the FY07 units
of accomplishments which included the units accomplished under
benefiting subactivities. Jenny noted that although it looked as if the
program hit its goal for adoptions, this was due to the 436 animals that
were placed in homes through the sales program.

**[FY08 Continuing Resolution]{.underline}**

Bud Cribley spoke on the continuing resolution during his opening
statements.

**[FY08 Budget]{.underline}**

Jenny Lesieutre presented the Board with the FY08 planned targets based
on two different scenarios. Because a FY08 budget has yet to be
announced, she presented the Board with the Bureau's negotiated targets
of accomplishments based on the President's Budget of \$32M and another
set of targets based on funding levels being restored.

**[GAO Review]{.underline}**

Dean Bolstad announced that the Government Accountability Office (GAO)
is conducting a review of the WH&B Program. In addition to the main
points of the 1990 GAO Program Review of setting AML and Long-Term
Holding, GAO is looking at management on the range, adoptions, and
research.

**[WH&B Program System]{.underline}**

The Wild Horse and Burro Program System (WHBPS) is the new data base for
the WH&B Program. It will replace the Wild Horse and Burro Information
System (WHBIS). The phased deployment began in October 2007. The old
system - WHBIS - provided information about adopters and animals. The
new system -- WHBPS -- will be much easier to use and provide
information about adopters, adoption events, HMA data (acres, AML,
census) and expanded animal information. Health cards and titles will be
automated. The next phased deployment is expected in spring 2008. There
are plans to make some of this information available to the public, but
security issues have not been overcome.

# Pending Litigation

There are two federal court cases in Colorado still pending in U.S.
District Court. The West Douglas gather (completed) and the
Piceance/East Douglas gather (completed). Responses to five protests for
the final West Douglas Land Use Plan amendment were mailed out. The
final decision is to maintain Herd Area status and remove the horses.

In Montana, there was a recent decision to rejoin the BLM and the Forest
Service cases regarding the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range (PMWHR). The
case involves three main issues: 1) PMWHR boundary should be expanded to
include more Forest Service lands, 2) a multi-year full force and effect
decision was improperly issued for the use of PZP, and 3) the AML should
be 150.

**[Other Issues]{.underline}**

In 2003, the BLM and the State of Wyoming mutually agreed to a Consent
Decree that was entered as an order of the Court requiring WH&B
populations in WY to be maintained at AML. Currently, the White Mountain
HMA and Little Colorado HMA have 725 excess horses. The BLM sent a
letter to the WY Governor indicating that the BLM preferred to delay WY
gathers until next summer because of drought / wildfire emergency
gathers that needed to be completed in Nevada. The WY Attorney General
sent a letter stating they will ask the court to enforce the Consent
Decree unless mutual agreement is reached in 30 days.

In October**,** The Nevada Wild Horse Commission passed a recommendation
that the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources work
with the Nevada Attorney General to consider pursing litigation against
the BLM to secure funding necessary to achieve AML.

# Forest Service Update

Ralph Giffen reported on the status of the Forest Service. There were
over 600 wild horses gathered off of National Forest System lands in
FY07. A final report for FY07 will be presented to the Board at the next
meeting. In FY08, the Forest Service anticipates that there will be
\$1.75 million transferred to the BLM. Due to the continuing resolution,
the budget is flat. Ralph has hopes of increasing the funds to \$2
million within the next few years, but that is not a certainty. Ralph
will bring a copy of the original Appropriations language to the next
Advisory Board meeting that was used to authorize direct transfer of
funds to the BLM for WH&B.

The GAO has contacted Ralph and will begin an audit of the Forest
Service's Wild Horse Program on November 13, 2007. The decision of when
and how to hire someone for the Wild Horse position in Reno, NV is being
decided at the local level.

Ralph reported that Gayle Hunt, Ochoco National Forest employee, created
a painting that has been used to make a poster for the Forest Service
wild horse program featuring animals from a number of herds living on
National Forest System lands. Gayle is associated with a group call
Riders in the Dirt, a very active local group who have a great interest
in wild horses in OR.

**[Facility and Pipeline Reports]{.underline}**

Dean Bolstad provided an update on short- and long-term holding
facilities. On October 22, 2007, there were 9,210 horses and 433 burros
in short-term holding facilities that have a total capacity of 12,985
animals. There were 20,823 animals in long-term holding facilities that
have a total capacity of 21,800. There is a new long-term holding
facility in Oklahoma for 1,000 animals. The new contract's cost is
higher than previous contracts. The BLM expects costs to go up for
contracts that will be renewed in the future.

Dean reviewed the Pipeline Report and noted that 458 animals had been
returned to the BLM in FY07 primarily because adopters could not afford
feed and care.

# FY08 Gather Schedule

Dean Bolstad provided the Board with the completed gather schedule for
FY07 and an updated gather schedule that includes drought / wildfire
emergency gathers in Nevada and Consent Decree gathers in Wyoming. The
Board wanted to know how many of the 2007 gathers had a post gather
census completed. The response was that a few had post census gathers,
but most census flights are completed during the 18 months that precede
the gathers for HMAs that are on a three to four year gather cycle.
There was discussion if a pre-gather or post-gather was the most
effective and if the gather contractors could give an estimate of the
number of horses left out on the range. The BLM will review the policy
and procedures on census for the next meeting. Dean will resend the FY07
gather schedule to the Board with totals added to the chart.

# Research Update

Dr. Al Kane, USDA, APHIS, gave an update on ongoing wild horse and burro
research projects. The Aerial Survey Team continues to work on
developing and improving population estimation techniques. A
mark-resight with sight ability bias correction manuscript is in
preparation and details all three tests of this technique with
comparisons of the estimates to the true populations. Data has been
collected from three herds (McCullough Peaks, Little Book Cliffs, and
Pryor Mountains) for the individual animal level fertility control field
trials. A research proposal to develop a longer lasting PZP pellet (Dr.
Turner in Ohio) has been reviewed and approved by the BLM. A PZP-22
month booster project is taking place at the Ridgecrest Facility on 33
previously treated mares that were gathered from the NV Wild Horse Range
due to drought. The objectives of this study are to compare the
proportion of pregnant mares previously treated with PZP-22 with
non-treated mares and to identify the best approach for boostering mares
previously treated with PZP-22. The Humane Society of the United States
(HSUS) and the WH&B Research Advisory Team are working through the
development and review of a research proposal for an HSUS project to
further the development and use of PZP contraceptive management for wild
horses. Dr. Vern Dooley will review the HSUS fertility control project
proposal.

# Adoption / Sales Update

Sally Spencer reported on adoptions and sales in FY07 and FY08. The
final report for FY07 is broken down by State. The numbers in the report
are taken from two different systems: MIS is used by the BLM budget to
track units of accomplishment and WHBIS is used by the Program to track
the animals by their freeze marks. WHBIS adds returned animals back into
the system. This is why there is a difference in the number of animals
adopted in MIS and in the number in WHBIS. In FY07, in WHBIS, there were
4,770 animals adopted. This includes 3,875 wild horses, 887 burros, and
8 mules. In MIS, there were 4,920 animals adopted and 436 animals sold.
The adoption goal was 5,304.

Through the efforts of the BLM-Eastern States Special Marketing Team,
the Eastern States Office exceeded their target for adoptions by 32% at
the events they promoted since the team convened in June. Targets were
either met or exceeded at 6 of the 8 events, and the total number of
wild horses and burros placed in good homes was 106 animals above
target. Prior to the work of this Special Team, adoptions in Eastern
States were running 23% below targets. There was a turn around of 55%
increase in meeting the targets for adoptions. The lowest adoption
percentage in meeting the target, and the highest percentage in
exceeding the target, was at the same place: the Ewing Adoption
Facility. The only difference in the adoptions was the amount of public
affairs support that went in to promoting the events. The turnaround at
Ewing, and in general, is even more remarkable because later in the year
the drought and availability of feed was more dire, and eroded the
potential to find good homes for animals.

As of November 1, 2007, in WHBIS, 254 animals have been adopted in FY08.
This includes 197 wild horses and 57 burros. There are no numbers
entered into MIS yet for FY08. There have been 12 animals sold. The
adoption goal is 5,285.

Some of the challenges BLM faces this year are fires in Southern
California, droughts in the South East, the increased cost of feed, and
the competition of 90,000 unwanted horses. By continuing to work with
the Mustang Heritage Foundation, BLM plans on expanding their market and
increasing the number of animals adopted despite these challenges.

**[Public Comments]{.underline}**

Each speaker was asked to provide a written copy of their presentation
so that their comments can be included in the meeting's record. Public
comments started at 3:03 pm.

The Board asked what checks and balances are used when renewing permits.
BLM responded that for permittees who have a 10 year permit there is an
annual authorization required, and the Range Specialists monitor the
conditions of the land before issuing permits

# Mustang Heritage Foundation

Patty Colbert, Executive Director, Mustang Heritage Foundation, showed a
promotional video of the Extreme Mustang Makeover 2007 from RFD TV. The
National media coverage of the event continues to be impressive with
articles in **[Newsweek]{.underline}, [Western Horseman]{.underline},
and [Cowboys and Indians]{.underline}** to name a few. Also, there is a
strong web presence with U Tube clips, blogs, and independent web sites.
In September, the Foundations website had 634,807 hits. The remaining
episodes of the Wild World of Horses, Extreme Mustang Makeover
Television Show will air November 19, 2007, December 17, 2007, and
December 31, 2007. RFD states it is one of the most popular shows as
indicated by the phone calls and emails they are receiving. Out of 100
trainers in the competition, there were 76 trainers who
participated**.** The remaining 24 trainers did not participate due to a
variety of reasons ranging from medical issues for horse/rider, Mustangs
deemed "un-trainable", financial limitations and personal reasons. The
mustangs that did not compete are being returned to BLM facilities and
most of them have been adopted. Seventy-five horses were successfully
adopted at the event. One horse was placed into Trainer Incentive
Program. Every seat was filled to capacity and then some in the 1,100
seat arena. The adoption price averaged \$2,500 per mustang and as of
October 26, 2007, there had not been any returns. A third of the
trainers adopted the horse they had trained.

The Trainer Incentive Program provides up to \$750 Incentive funds to
trainers that apply, are approved, pick up a mustang, train it for no
more than 90 days, and secure an adopter and complete adoption process.
Since the launch of the program in June, the Foundation has approved 35
trainers, with 15 of those trainers completing the training and adoption
of a mustang. Five trainers have adoption paperwork pending, 8 trainers
are training horses, and 7 trainers waiting to pick up horses. The goal
is to have approximately 40 mustangs adopted through the program by
December 31, 2007. In 2008, the goal is to have more than 150 mustangs
adopted through program. The Foundation has a database of 350 trainers
interested in learning more about the Trainer Incentive Program and
waiting for the next Extreme Mustang Makeover announcement.

In 2008, there will be three mustang makeover events: the Midwest Horse
Fair, Madison, WI, April 18-20, 2008, with a 50 mustang competition and
adoption during the event; the Western States Horse Expo, Sacramento,
CA, June 6-8, 2008, with a 30 mustang competition and adoption during
the event; and the Extreme Mustang Makeover 2008, Fort Worth, Texas,
September 17-21, 2008, with a 200 mustang competition and adoption
during the event.

The Foundation also plans to expand the Adoption Incentive Program which
includes a Futurity with added money incentive for Nevada Mustangs
adopted in 2007 and competing in designated events.

# Futuring Team Update

Dean Bolstad reported on the status of the Futuring Team report. He
summarized Don Glenn's report to the Board at their last meeting in
Boise, ID. The objective for the Futuring Team was to identify the most
efficient infrastructure to achieve gathers, preparation, adoption, and
herd management once AML has been achieved. The Team's draft report
recommended that all aspects of the program be nationalized except herd
management work. The draft report indicates that once AML is achieved,
emphasis and some resources currently devoted to removals need to be
shifted to on-the-ground herd management (census, herd and rangeland
monitoring).

Since the Boise meeting, Field Office comments on the draft report have
been received. The Team's recommendation to nationalize most functions
of the program was not altered by the comments, and the report will be
reviewed by the Wild Horse and Burro Steering Committee on November 8,
2007. If the Steering Committee finds the report acceptable, it will be
forwarded on to the Director's Office for further consideration.

**[Holding Cost Alternatives]{.underline}**

The Sub-committee is still working on the alternatives. They will pursue
additional options with outside groups. The Sub-committee will present
their report at the next meeting.

Larry Johnson responded to an accusation by a member of the public that
he had bought his position on the Advisory Board for \$10,000. A
\$10,000 check from the Big Horn Federation was given to the University
of Nevada's Cooperative Extension "Boot Straps" program. The program is
designed for high risk 18 to 21 year olds to work on habitat programs
selected for them by the BLM. Grants for this program come from numerous
organizations and 60% of the youth are Native Americans. Larry is one of
sixteen Directors for the Big Horn Federation. The donations and the
work of the Big Horn Federation have no other connection to the Advisory
Board and no connection at all to the selection process.

**[New Business]{.underline}**

The Board commented that wild horses, wildlife, and livestock do not
recognize geographic boundaries. When one agency fails to manage their
animals there is a significant impact on all agencies. The Sheldon
Wildlife Refuge is unfenced and the feral horses mingle with Beaty's
Butte wild horses**.** It is important to impress on all Federal
Agencies that they need to work together to manage wild horse issues.
The Board would like to invite Paul Steblein, Sheldon/Hart Wildlife
Refuges Project Manager, USFWS, to present their management process for
horses at the next meeting.

The Board commended the Mustang Heritage Foundation on the success of
the Extreme Mustang Makeover.

**[Board Recommendations]{.underline}**

There are no recommendations.

**[Upcoming Meetings]{.underline}**

The following 2008 meeting dates have been set:

February 25, 2008 (Phoenix or Tucson, AZ)

June 9, 2008 (Sacramento, CA)

September 22, 2008 (Fort Worth, TX)

November 3, 2008 (TBD)

The meeting adjourned at 5:40 pm