The program is offering approximately 30 wild burros that are age one to 12 years old. The adoptions are available on a first come first serve basis and cost $125.00.
In April the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced an operational change in the purpose of the Salt Lake Regional Wild Horse and Burro Center from a large year-round wild horse and burro holding facility to a smaller, short term holding facility.
The center was originally designed to hold horses only during the summer season when it opened in 1995. A few years later, the BLM had more wild horses than capacity to house them. Now there are two other facilities in Utah and more around the Nation that are better suited to hold horses and burros year-round. Due primarily to lower holding costs, it is the direction of the Wild Horse and Burro Program WH&B) to place horses in long term holding pastures located in the Midwest rather than holding them in short term corral type facilities. In 2007, a team charged with looking at all the BLM horse facilities throughout the west, recommended closing the Salt Lake Horse Center because of the change in direction of the program and additional facilities.
The change in the use of the facility is related, in part to criticism the BLM received last year, charging that the horses were standing in knee deep mud. This criticism prompted an internal review of the Center. The internal review did not find animal abuse, however, the report did recommend that the Salt Lake Field Office (SLFO) hire an agricultural engineer to review the situation and consider options regarding the future of the Center. The engineer concluded that due to the geographic location of the site, there was not an affordable engineering solution.
The BLM was not able to provide the desired standard of care at the Center and to retrofit the Center would have required a substantial capital investment. “It is simply a business decision to reduce the number of horses at the Center and redirect the horse program in Salt Lake,” said Jill Silvey, Salt Lake Field Manager.
The SLFO will continue to have a Wild Horse program. The program will continue to manage the two Herd Management Areas within the Field Office, hold adoption events and provide service to adopters. Periodic adoption events will be offered at the Center and the SLFO will continue to hold adoptions throughout the Wasatch front.
Next week’s burro adoption in Herriman is the first on-site satellite adoption. Anyone wanting more information regarding the burro adoption should contact Tami Howell, Salt Lake WH&B Lead at (801) 977-4359.
The mid-20th century harvesting of wild horses for commercial purposes induced a Reno, Nevada, secretary – Velma Johnston – to begin a campaign that led to passage of a 1959 law to protect these iconic animals. While driving to work one day in 1950, Ms. Johnston noticed blood leaking from a livestock truck. She followed it and discovered that horses were being delivered to a slaughterhouse. Ms. Johnston responded with a massive letter-writing campaign by students to prevent other wild horses from meeting a similar end. The campaign became known as the “Pencil War” and Ms. Johnston was affectionately dubbed “Wild Horse Annie.”
Follow-up efforts resulted in the enactment of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, the landmark law that directs Federal management of wild horses and burros on U.S. public lands.
The Act declares wild horses and burros to be “living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West.” Under the law, the BLM and U.S. Forest Service manage herds in their respective jurisdictions within areas where wild horses and burros were found roaming in 1971.
To help carry out its assignment, the BLM established the Wild Horse and Burro Program , through which the agency manages and protects wild horses and burros, both on and off the range, while striving to maintain rangeland health.
For anyone interested in adopting, please contact the Delta Wild Horse & Burro Facility at 435-864-4068 or the Gunnison WH&B Prison Facility at 435-287-7591 or visit our web-site at blm.gov/ut
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Information about the adoption process:
Adoption Info Link
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Viewing and adoption times:
Friday May 11, 1-5PM
Saturday May 12, 9AM-5PM
Wednesday May 16, 9AM-5PM
Thursday May 17, 9AM-5PM
Friday May 18, 9AM-5PM
Saturday May 19, 9AM-5PM
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For more information contact thowell@blm.gov or 801-977-4359
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