Wild Horse and Burro Act, passed by the US Congress in 1971
This act was passed to protect America’s wild horses where they were found at the passage of the act and charges the BLM with managing for sustainable wild horse herds, protecting them from harassment and harm.

Range Expansion: The PMWH Range was created in 1968 prior to the passage of the WHB Act of 1971. The range was expanded in 1974 but excluded thousands of acres used by the Pryor horses at the time the act was passed. Current range boundaries for the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Herd leave out important historical grazing areas used for centuries by this herd. We would like to see the range formally expanded to the west to include part of the Custer National Forest as well as BLM’s Demi John Flat.

• The Custer National Forest refuses to acknowledge that wild horses were using FS lands at the time the Act was passed, despite ample evidence to the contrary.
• The Pryor Wild Horse Range boundaries were largely set up largely on jurisdictional boundaries (FS-BLM boundary lines) rather than on areas actually being used by the wild horses during the early 1970s.  
• Around 35 horses live permanently in the Custer National Forest, adjacent to the horse range and many other wild horses move into the this area during the summer months to graze. These horses are called “trespassers”. There is an old wooden fence on the BLM/USFS border. The horses have broken down the fence in order to follow trails that have been used for perhaps 200 years.
• FS proposes to rebuild this wooden fence this summer and have BLM drive the trespassing horses back into the designated range.

Raise AML:  We ask that the BLM drop its plans to take the herd to far below levels of genetic viability and recommend that the herd be managed at a minimum of 150 adult horses (two years and older). Once expansion is approved, then the herd would be allowed to grow to between 200 and 300 adult animals.