By SCOTT SONNER
Associated Press
RENO, Nev. – The U.S. House approved an amendment on a voice vote Wednesday that would cut the Bureau of Land Management’s budget by $2 million in protest of the agency’s wild horse roundups that some critics say are too costly and others say are inhumane.
“It is just a drop in the bucket when you are talking about this overall cost problem we are facing, but it is one I hope will send a very strong message to BLM to treat these mustangs in a humane way,”‘ said Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., co-sponsor of the amendment.
Over the past 10 years, the cost of BLM’s wild horse management program has tripled to $64 million. About $37 million of that was spent last fiscal year on housing the gathered horses at BLM corrals and leased pastures – a 30 percent increase from the previous year, said Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va.