Why is the state of Colorado pitching in to support a federal obligation?

The Legislature and the Polis administration are leaving themselves open to criticism for doing something reasonable and necessary. In this case, making resources available to help the management of wild horses, which in Colorado is the responsibility of the Bureau of Land Management.

Consider what routinely happens with wild horse herds on public lands. The BLM and volunteers struggle to administer fertility controls. Wild horses proliferate and compete for limited resources. If the herds get too big, some of the animals are rounded up, often with helicopters.

Roundups can inflict casualties, which is a PR nightmare, but the problems don’t end with removing horses from their free-ranging ways. Once captured, finding them homes is a challenge and tens of thousands end up stockpiled in long-term holding facilities at considerable taxpayer expense.

It all leaves the public with a fair question:

If the idea of these iconic creatures of the West running free is so valuable as to warrant federal protection, how can they end up in a pen?

The program is dotted with black eyes. Thankfully, Colorado lawmakers are trying to be part of the solution. A bill signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis while he was in Mesa County last weekend is being welcomed by the BLM and wild-horse advocates.

Stay up to speed: Sign-up for daily opinion in your inbox Monday-Friday

It’s good news for the Grand Valley, too, which benefits from proximity to one of four herd management areas on BLM land in western Colorado.

Grand Valley residents have a stake in the health of the Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse HMA north of Palisade. So anything that can help is a welcome development.

The bipartisan bill does many things. It creates a Colorado wild horse management project. A working group will make recommendations to the Legislature for humane, nonlethal long-term solutions for wild horses that are removed from federal horse management areas or held in federal holding facilities.

As The Sentinel’s Dennis Webb reported, that could include a state wild horse preserve, use of wild-horse sanctuaries, and measures to boost adoption of animals.

It also creates a stewardship program to help with range health and infrastructure such as fencing and food and water sources, and establishes a fertility control program that will help with recruiting and training volunteers, contractors and staff to help manage wild horse populations.

The BLM, understandably, is appreciative. Additional resources from the state make their task easier.

“The potential for additional funding, both for fertility treatment and to facilitate adoptions and holding of wild horses, we see that as a huge benefit to wild horses and to the people of Colorado,” a BLM spokesman said.

“We thank Colorado lawmakers and the Governor for coming together and recognizing there is a better way to care for and protect Colorado’s majestic wild horse herds,” Colorado resident Scott Wilson with the American Wild Horse Campaign said in a news release.

Let’s give credit where due. We were disappointed Gov. Jared Polis vetoed a bipartisan bill to put off wolf reintroduction until an important federal rule is in place. But wild horses in Colorado have needed attention for years and the Legislature and the governor have delivered a plan that helps ensure wild horse herds have a sustainable future in Colorado.

Grand Junction Daily Sentinel Editorial Board

Read the original article here.