http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/b ... 63,00.html

Bargain basement prices for BLM wild horses

By Rocky Mountain News
October 27, 2006
The Bureau of Land Management announced today it is offering mares at least 4-years-old for adoption at a reduced fee of $25 each on Nov. 3 and 17 at the Wild Horse Inmate Program in Canon City.
The standard adoption fee for wild horses and burros is $125. Most of these mares have been exposed to stallions and are expected to be pregnant.

The reduced adoption fee is aimed at moving more BLM-managed animals currently in holding facilities. The BLM's cost for maintaining wild horses and burros in holding facilities accounts for more than half of the agency's total wild horse and burro budget, which was approximately $37 million this fiscal year.

"We hope anyone who has the interest and means of providing good care for these mares will come to our facility in November," said Fran Ackley, Wild Horse and Burro specialist for BLM Colorado.

Adopters need to have a pre-approved adoption application and must make an appointment by contacting the Royal Gorge Field office at 719-269-8539.

Under the adoption program, an individual can adopt up to four animals in a one-year period with a few exceptions.

Qualified adopters are eligible to receive title after providing one year of humane care.

Under the authority of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, the BLM manages wild horses and burros as part of its overall multiple-use mission.

The Bureau works to balance population levels with rangeland resources and other uses of the public lands, so thousands of wild horses and burros are removed from the range each year to control the size of herds.

The current free-roaming population of wild horses and burros on BLM-managed lands is about 31,000, which exceeds by 3,500 the number determined by the BLM to be the appropriate management level.