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Two government agencies are working together to reduce the overpopulation of wild horses on America’s public lands, and are seeking public input to research a single-dose contraceptive vaccine. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Nevada State Office in cooperation with U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s National Wildlife Research Center announce the availability of a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) regarding a proposed population growth suppression study that would test the contraceptive effects of an oocyte growth factor vaccine for use with wild horses and burros.

The action is needed in order to determine whether the one-dose oocyte growth factor vaccine could be a reliable, long-lasting fertility control method for future BLM wild horse and burro herd management actions that aim to achieve and maintain a thriving natural ecological balance. The purpose of the action is to test, in wild horses, the efficacy of a vaccine against two oocyte growth factors, where the vaccine has been formulated to cause long-lasting contraception from a single dose.

There are currently more than 88,000 wild horses and burros on the landscape – a level more than three times the appropriate management level that BLM has established for the healthy management of public lands and for the health of the herd. This population continues to expand by 15-20 percent every year. These populations are overgrazing and destroying native ecosystems that have evolved over thousands of years, threatening hundreds of native wildlife species and people and communities across the West dependent on public lands for their livelihoods.

The BLM placed a total of 7,104 wild horses and burros into private homes nationwide during Fiscal Year 2019. This represents the highest number of adoptions and sales in 15 years - a 54 percent increase over the previous year’s levels. But even at this level, adoptions cannot keep pace with population growth. For this reason, the BLM is exploring contraceptive methods and strategies for wild horse and burro populations.

A 15-day public comment period on the preliminary environmental assessment is set for December 5 – 19, 2019. The public is encouraged to review DOI-BLM-NV-0000-2020-001-EA (Oocyte Growth Factor Vaccine Study), located at: https://go.usa.gov/xpEvc and provide comments or concerns, prior to 4:30 p.m. (PST) on December 19, 2019. Comments and concerns may be emailed to blm_nv_nvso_research@blm.gov or sent in writing to the BLM Nevada State Office, Attention: Ruth Thompson, Wild Horse and Burro Project Coordinator, 1340 Financial Boulevard, Reno, NV 89502.

Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment, including your personal identifying information, may be publicly available at any time. While you can ask that your personal identifying information be withheld from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. Anonymity is not allowed for submissions from organizations or businesses and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or businesses.

The BLM continues to invest in a diverse portfolio of research projects to develop new, modern technologies and methods for wild horse and burro management. The research is aimed at finding safe and effective ways to slow the population growth rate and reduce the need to remove animals from public lands. The studies are in response to a 2013 recommendation from the National Academy of Science to develop new or improve existing population growth suppression methods for wild horses and is in accordance with The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971.