Restore Our American Mustangs Act

Bill: 111-s-1579
Sponsor: Sen. Byrd, Robert C. [D-WV]
Introduced: 2009-08-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Animals
Subjects: Advisory bodies
Animal protection and human-animal relationships
Aviation and airports
Crimes against animals and natural resources
Ecology
Endangered and threatened species
Government information and archives
Mammals
Veterinary medicine and animal diseases
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection

Summary:
action_date: 2009-08-05
text: 
Restore Our American Mustangs Act - Amends the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act to revise provisions concerning the management of such animals.
 
Requires the Secretary of the Interior (for Bureau of Land Management [BLM] administered lands) or the Secretary of Agriculture (for Forest Service administered lands) to: (1) ensure that acreage available for wild and free-roaming horses and burros is at least equal to the acreage where they were found in 1971; (2) update the inventory of such horses and burros annually and make it publicly available on the BLM website every two years; (3) take specified actions to manage such horses and burros and to achieve and maintain a thriving natural ecological balance on lands where such horses and burros are found; (4) identify new rangelands, arrange for supervised protection on private lands, and establish sanctuaries or exclusive use areas for such horses and burros; (5) report to specified congressional committees on the effects of new ranges, sanctuaries, and exclusive use areas on rangeland health, riparian zones, water quality, soil compaction, seed bed disturbance, native wildlife, and endangered or threatened species; (6) research, develop, and implement enhanced fertility control for mares, stallions, or both; (7) exhaust all practicable options of maintaining a thriving natural ecological balance on the range before removing horses and burros; (8) take specified actions to promote the adoption program; (9) temporarily remove horses or burros from the range if their immediate health or safety is threatened; (10) remove horses and burros determined to be a threat to the health and well-being of native plant or wildlife species; and (11) provide specified public information on animal removals, range changes, and treatment. 
 
 
Revokes provisions that allow the Secretaries to destroy: (1) old, sick, or lame animals; and (2) excess horses and burros for which an adoption demand does not exist.
 
Requires adopters of such horses and burros to affirm that adopted animals and their remains will not be sold or transferred for consideration for processing into commercial products. Prohibits: (1) containing such horses and burros in corrals or short-term holding facilities for more than six months while awaiting disposition; or (2) destroying such horses or burros unless the Secretaries determine that the horses or burros are terminally ill or fatally injured.
 
Removes the limitation on the number of titles to horse and burros that may be transferred to qualified individuals.
 
Expands the membership of the advisory board on the management and protection of such horses and burros.
 
Applies criminal penalties to any person who transports a live or deceased horse or burro for processing into commercial products.
 
Lifts a restriction on the authority of the Secretary to relocate such horses and burros to public lands where they did not exist at the passage of such Act.
 
Sets forth new reporting requirements on the management of such horses and burros.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-08-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2009-08-05
text: Introduced in Senate