59–006 

110TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 110–93 

TO RESTORE THE PROHIBITION ON THE COMMERCIAL SALE AND 

SLAUGHTER OF WILD FREE-ROAMING HORSES AND BURROS 

APRIL 17, 2007.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of 

the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. RAHALL, from the Committee on Natural Resources, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

together with 

DISSENTING VIEWS 

[To accompany H.R. 249] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 249) to restore the prohibition on the commercial sale 

and slaughter of wild free-roaming horses and burros, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and 

recommend that the bill do pass. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 249 is to restore the prohibition on the commercial sale and slaughter of wild free-roaming horses and burros. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

H.R. 249 repeals a rider contained in the FY 2005 Consolidated 

Appropriations Act that provided for the commercial sale and 

slaughter of wild free-roaming horses and burros, thus restoring 

the prohibition on the commercial sale and slaughter of wild freeroaming horses and burros that, up until December 2004, had been 

in existence since 1971. 

In 1971 Congress passed the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and 

Burro Act (PL 92–195). That law established as national policy 

‘‘that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from 

capture, branding, harassment, and death; and to accomplish this 

they are considered in the area where presently found, as an inteVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:29 Apr 18, 2007 Jkt 059006 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR093.XXX HR093

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gral part of the natural system of the public lands.’’ The law also 

directed that ‘‘no wild free-roaming horse or burros or its remains 

may be sold or transferred for consideration for processing into 

commercial products.’’ The 1971 Act directed the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 

and the Forest Service to enforce the law on public lands. Unfortunately, these agencies, especially the BLM, have not lived up to the 

task. Reports of the Government Accountability Office and the Inspector General, as well as newspaper expose ́s, have outlined numerous instances in which the BLM has failed to properly manage 

these animals. As recently as the late 1990s it was found that, because of BLM’s lax enforcement, hundreds of these animals had 

ended up at commercial slaughtering plants. 

In addition to the agency’s lax oversight of adoptions of these 

animals, much of their problems stem from the fact that the agency 

annually rounds up more animals than can be adopted in a single 

year. As a result, the BLM currently has approximately 31,000 

wild horses and burros in holding facilities where their care and 

feeding use up nearly half of the agency’s budget for wild horse and 

burro management. 

While ‘‘excess’’ wild horses and burros have been cited as the reason for the recent changes in law, it is important to note that there 

are significantly fewer wild horses and burros on the public lands 

today than there were 25 years ago. In 1980 there were approximately 62,638 wild horses and burros on public lands. By February 

2007, this number had dropped to approximately 28,500. Yet, the 

BLM continues to round up many more animals each year than can 

be adopted, adding to a growing number being placed in holding facilities. 

The rider to the FY 2005 Consolidated Appropriations Act was 

inserted without the benefit of any hearings or public notice. 

Known as the ‘‘Burns rider’’ for its sponsor, former Senator Conrad 

Burns, the rider directs that wild horses and burros more than 10 

years of age or that had been unsuccessfully offered for adoption 

three times must be sold without limitation. The rider also eliminated the provision in law that had prohibited the sale or transfer 

of wild horses and burros or their remains for processing into commercial products. Despite efforts to minimize the impact of these 

changes in law, more than 50 wild horses have been slaughtered 

as a result of the Burns rider. 

Humane alternatives to slaughter exist and federal agencies 

have the authority to carry out such humane actions as adoption, 

sterilization, relocation, and placement with qualified individuals 

and organizations. 

As part of the FY 2006 Interior Appropriations bill, the House, 

by a vote of 249–159, adopted the Rahall amendment that prohibited the use of funds for the sale or slaughter of wild free-roaming 

horses and burros. The House again adopted this same amendment 

as part of the FY 2007 Interior Appropriations bill by voice vote. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 249 was introduced by Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick J. Rahall, II (D–WV) on January 5, 2007. The bill was 

referred to the Committee on Natural Resources. On March 7, 

2007, the Full Natural Resources Committee met to consider the 


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bill. Representative Jeff Flake offered, then withdrew, an amendment to delete the prohibition on sales. The bill was then ordered 

favorably reported to the House of Representatives by voice vote. 

COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in 

the body of this report. 

CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United States 

grants Congress the authority to enact this bill. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII 

1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of 

the House of Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) of that Rule provides 

that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. 

2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2) of rule 

XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 

308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this bill does not 

contain any new budget authority, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. 

3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. This bill does not 

authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the 

Rules of the House of Representatives does not apply. 

4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause 

3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 

section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate for this bill from the 

Director of the Congressional Budget Office: 

H.R. 249—A bill to restore the prohibition on the commercial sale 

and slaughter of wild free-roaming horses and burros 

H.R. 249 would prohibit the commercial sale of wild horses and 

burros by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Currently, 

BLM administers a program to protect, manage, and control wild 

free-roaming horses and burros. As part of that program, BLM 

sells wild horses and burros that are over 10 years of age for commercial purposes for about $10 per animal if the animals have not 

been successfully adopted in three auctions. If the animals are not 

adopted and BLM cannot sell the animals, it provides long-term 

care for them. 

CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 249 would not have a 

substantial effect on the federal budget. BLM would lose minimal 

proceeds from the sale of the animals (which are classified as discretionary offsetting collections), and also would incur additional 

costs for providing long-term care for some animals. Based on information from BLM about the number of animals sold and the cost 


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to care for them, CBO estimates that the resulting net changes in 

discretionary spending under H.R. 249 would not exceed $500,000 

annually, assuming the availability of appropriated funds. Enacting 

H.R. 249 would not affect direct spending or revenues. 

H.R. 249 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Tyler Kruzich. This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4 

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

EARMARK STATEMENT

H.R. 249 does not contain any congressional earmarks, limited 

tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in clause 9(d), 9(e) 

or (f) of rule XXI. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or tribal law. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill, 

as reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italic, 

existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): 

ACT OF DECEMBER 15, 1971 

(Public Law 92–195) 

AN ACT To require the protection, management, and control of wild free-roaming 

horses and burros on public lands. 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 3. (a) * * * 

* * * * * * * 

(d) Wild free-roaming horses and burros or their remains shall 

lose their status as wild free-roaming horses or burros and shall no 

longer be considered as falling within the purview of this Act—

(1) * * * 

* * * * * * * 

(5) upon destruction or death for purposes of or incident to 

the program authorized in this sectionø.¿ Provided, That no 

wild free-roaming horse or burro or its remains may be sold or 

transferred for consideration for processing into commercial 

products. 

* * * * * * * 

ø(e) SALE OF EXCESS ANIMALS.—

ø(1) IN GENERAL.—Any excess animal or the remains of an 

excess animal shall be sold if—


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ø(A) the excess animal is more than 10 years of age; or 

ø(B) the excess animal has been offered unsuccessfully 

for adoption at least 3 times. 

ø(2) METHOD OF SALE.—An excess animal that meets either 

of the criteria in paragraph (1) shall be made available for sale 

without limitation, including through auction to the highest 

bidder, at local sale yards or other convenient livestock selling 

facilities, until such time as— ø(A) all excess animals offered for sale are sold; or 

ø(B) the appropriate management level, as determined 

by the Secretary, is attained in all areas occupied by wild 

free-roaming horses and burros. 

ø(3) DISPOSITION OF FUNDS.—Funds generated from the sale 

of excess animals under this subsection shall be—

ø(A) credited as an offsetting collection to the Management of Lands and Resources appropriation for the Bureau 

of Land Management; and 

ø(B) used for the costs relating to the adoption of wild 

free-roaming horses and burros, including the costs of marketing such adoption. 

ø(4) EFFECT OF SALE.—Any excess animal sold under this 

provision shall no longer be considered to be a wild free-roaming horse or burro for purposes of this Act.¿ 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 8. (a) Any person who—

(1) * * * 

* * * * * * * 

(4) øexcept as provided in section 3(e),¿ processes or permits 

to be processed into commercial products the remains of a wild 

free-roaming horse or burro, or 

* * * * * * * 


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DISSENTING VIEWS 

I oppose H.R. 249. This legislation needlessly eliminates the sale 

authority of the Bureau of Land Management and bans the sale or 

transfer of wild horses and burros for commercial processing, which 

is already prohibited by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). 

Under current law, BLM is allowed to sell animals that are either more than 10 years old or have been offered unsuccessfully for 

adoption at least three times. Roughly 2,300 animals have been 

successfully sold into private care. Selling old animals that have 

not been adopted is a humane solution. It places animals into private care and lessens the crowding in holding facilities. The proceeds from selling eligible animals are returned to BLM’s adoption 

fund to help with the wild horse and burro adoption program, 

which lowers the overall cost to taxpayers. 

Because the bill groups the sale of wild horses and burros with 

the ban on slaughter, I oppose it. I do not believe that the two 

issues should be tied together. 

However, I take hope from the Chairman’s promise to hold hearings on the issue in exchange for the withdrawal of my amendment. I look forward to working with the Committee to address our 

mutual concerns. 

JEFF FLAKE. 

Æ 


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