LUBBOCK,TX – Interior is ordering new reviews of predator management and wild horse policies as part of a broader effort to reduce livestock losses and improve conditions on federal rangelands.
The Fish and Wildlife Service must review regulations and permitting processes affecting ranchers facing avian predation and persistent livestock losses. Interior also directed a specific review of Colorado’s gray wolf reintroduction agreement and related compensation concerns.
The order says Interior will consider additional guidance or regulatory changes that could allow faster responses when wolves threaten livestock or human safety. Any changes would still have to comply with existing federal wildlife laws.
BLM is separately directed to reduce rangeland impacts from excess wild horses and burros, improve tracking of fertility-control treatments and develop a plan to reach and maintain appropriate management levels.
Those reviews will feed into Interior’s wider Rangeland Health Initiative, which is intended to identify policy changes affecting grazing, wildlife conflicts and long-term use of public lands.
Farm-Level Takeaway: Western ranchers could see changes in predator response and wild horse management as Interior reviews policies affecting livestock and federal rangelands.