Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act of 2023

Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act of 2023

This bill prohibits the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from using or contracting for the use of helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft for gathering horses and burros under the Wild Free-roaming Horses and Burros Act. Further, BLM may not make contracts to use helicopters for transporting captured animals under such act.

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3656 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3656

  To amend the Act commonly known as the Wild Free-roaming Horses and 
  Burros Act to prohibit certain uses of aircraft with respect to the 
   management of wild free-roaming horses and burros, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 24, 2023

 Ms. Titus (for herself, Mr. Cohen, and Mr. Schweikert) introduced the 
    following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 
                               Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Act commonly known as the Wild Free-roaming Horses and 
  Burros Act to prohibit certain uses of aircraft with respect to the 
   management of wild free-roaming horses and burros, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act 
of 2023''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) As part of efforts to control equine populations under 
        law, the Bureau of Land Management is directed to humanely 
        capture wild free-roaming horses and burros for adoption.
            (2) The use of helicopters to chase equines over prolonged 
        distances, usually on rough terrain, is particularly dangerous, 
        and can frighten the animals and lead to deadly situations.
            (3) In January 2022, during the horse gathering at the 
        Pancake Complex in central Nevada, a young colt was chased for 
        miles by helicopter, ultimately gravely injuring itself, and 
        necessitating the need for the animal to be shot and killed.
            (4) Scientific research shows that more humane and cost-
        effective alternatives exist to control equine populations, 
        including fertility controls.
            (5) Since fiscal year 2006, Bureau of Land Management 
        contractors have collected at least $57.4 million in taxpayer 
        funding for roundups that utilize the use of helicopters, 
        including bait-and-trap methods.
            (6) Since fiscal year 2017, the Bureau of Land Management 
        has obligated at least $22.5 million in taxpayer funding for 
        the specific purpose of helicopter roundups, including $6.5 
        million in fiscal year 2022 alone.
            (7) Currently, the Bureau of Land Management's Wild Horse 
        and Burro Program spends less than one percent of its budget on 
        implementing fertility controls.
            (8) The elimination of helicopters from the Bureau of Land 
        Management's gatherings would provide a more humane method of 
        capturing equines, and provide significant savings to 
        taxpayers.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE WILD FREE-ROAMING HORSES AND BURROS ACT.

    Section 9 of the Act commonly known as the Wild Free-roaming Horses 
and Burros Act (Public Law 92-195; 16 U.S.C. 1338a) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``In administering this Act'' and inserting 
        ``(a) In General.--In administering this Act'';
            (2) by striking ``helicopters or, for the purpose of 
        transporting captured animals, motor vehicles'' and inserting 
        ``motor vehicles for the purpose of transporting captured 
        animals'';
            (3) by striking ``fixed-wing aircraft, or helicopters, or 
        to'' and inserting ``or''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Prohibition on Certain Uses of Aircraft.--In administering 
this Act, the Secretary may not use or contract for the use of 
helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft for the purposes of rounding up or 
gathering wild free-roaming horses and burros.''.

SEC. 4. GAO REPORT.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Comptroller General shall submit, to the Committee on Natural 
Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy 
and Natural Resources of the Senate, a report that describes--
            (1) humane alternatives to the use of helicopters and 
        fixed-wing aircraft in managing wild free-roaming horse and 
        burro populations;
            (2) job creation opportunities presented by the use of such 
        humane alternatives; and
            (3) the effects of aircraft, including unmanned aircraft 
        systems, on wild free-roaming horse and burro populations.
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