Using Science to Improve the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program A Way Forward (2013) / Chapter Skim
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8 Social Considerations in Managing Free-Ranging Horses and Burros
8 Social Considerations in Managing Free-Ranging Horses and Burros
Pages 239-264
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From page 239... ...
The possible approaches include conducting research to understand stakeholder values and the economics of different management regimes better; using appreciative inquiry to reduce the tension between polarized views; and creating opportunities for greater public participation through structured decision-making, adaptive management, and citizen science. The likelihood of success in improving communication, earning the support of different segments of the public, and improving management decisions will be substantially increased if the activities to engage the public are themselves planned, evaluated, and 239
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From page 240... ...
It is important to have a management plan that accounts for the opinions and concerns of a variety of stakeholders -- not only scientists and advocates but a variety of community members and parties that may have strongly 1 During the public-comment sessions of the committee's meetings and in written comments submitted to the committee, it heard from representatives of such groups as the American Farm Bureau Federation, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, the Animal Welfare Institute, the Cloud Foundation, the Equine Welfare Association, the National Association of Conservation Districts, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, the Nevada Cattlemen's Association, the Public Lands Council, the Western Watersheds Project, the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts, and the Wildlife Foundation and from many members of the public expressing a wide variety of opinions on the management of horses and burros on public lands.
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From page 241... ...
(2011) noted, the debate over whether free-ranging horses are wild or feral is highly complex and involves a wide variety of issues, including the behavioral and physiological traits of different horse populations, their effects in different ecosystems, and disparate human values and perceptions of nature.
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Acquiring a better understanding of such perspectives and their implications for management policy was recommended by previous National Research Council reports (1980, 1982) that addressed BLM's Wild Horse and Burro Program.
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In order to create more socially and ecologically sustainable approaches to free-ranging horse and burro management, it is necessary to increase public acceptance of and confidence in BLM management decisions by engaging the public in a clearly articulated and transparent process of public participation and decision-making. THE CASE FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION During the committee's information-gathering sessions, some individuals and groups provided comments to the committee that expressed a lack of confidence in BLM management, some using the phrase "managing to extinction" to characterize the agency's attitude and some taking issue with the agency's transparency, whether in reporting accurate numbers of horses that are on the range, projecting reproduction and population growth, describing the underlying rationale for the development of appropriate management levels (AMLs)
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discovered that when top-down management systems and aerial culling were imposed on free-ranging horses, there was a lack of community support. The author found that the role of expert scientific advice was insignificant in the decision process (a policy ban on aerial culling was instituted contrary to scientific recommendations)
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. NEPA requires that "all federal agencies involve interested publics in their decisionmaking, consider reasonable alternatives to proposed actions, develop measures to mitigate environmental impacts, and prepare environmental documents which disclose the impacts of proposed actions and alternatives."2 The agency publishes an environmental impact statement or an environmental assessment showing what the environmental effects 2 National Environmental Policy Act.
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. BLM has worked to bring stakeholders into the decision-making process through advisory boards and committees, such as the Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board, a ational n BLM advisory body that holds public meetings, and the Resource Advisory ouncils C (RACs)
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. Each Council must include representatives of three broad categories: commercial/commodity in terests; environmental and historical groups (including wild horse and burro and dispersed recreation)
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The goal is not only to reduce conflict but to improve the quality of decisions. Here, the committee reviews four methods of participatory decision-making that focus on helping the public, scientists, and managers to work together: appreciative inquiry, structured decision-making, participatory adaptive management, and analytic deliberation.
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The process is made up of simple steps that allow flexibility in problem-solving and deals d irectly with the issues of transparency and legal compliance. It incorporates public opinion, while maintaining a firm foundation in scientific evidence.
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Adaptive management has been identified as particularly appropriate in the context of climate-change uncertainty (Nichols et al., 2011) and could be adapted for such situations as management of free-ranging horses and burros, in which knowledge of the complex interactions between free-ranging equids and their environment and other species is insufficient, the climatic trajectories of arid rangelands are in flux, and the annual variation in weather, forage production, and horse populations is high and difficult to predict.
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An example of the importance of participation in adaptive management was provided by Kelsey (2003) , who argued that it must be used in conservation measures to incorporate lay and traditional ecological knowledge that may not be available to scientific authorities.
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. The 2008 National Research Council report on public participation in decision-making developed key principles for carrying out public involvement that are particularly relevant to the social considerations aspect of the Wild Horse and Burro Program (see Box 8-4)
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. Finally, three of the recommendations of the 2008 National Research Council report on public participation in decision-making are particularly relevant to the social considerations aspect of the Wild Horse and Burro Program: clarity of purpose and commitment to the process of participation, provision of adequate funding and staff for implementation, and a commitment to self-assessment and learning from experience.
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From page 254... ...
However, given the high level of public concern regarding the management of freeranging horses and burros, the diverse values that come to bear on the issue, and the substantial scientific uncertainty that is inevitable in dealing with such complex issues, effective public-participation practices are essential. Therefore, BLM should engage with the public in ways that allow public input to influence agency decisions, develop an iterative process between public deliberation and scientific discovery, and codesign the participatory process with representatives of the public.
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From page 255... ...
and finding successful policies and practices through AM reduce costs in the long run, especially if they reduce the number and scope of lawsuits. For example, BLM could link AD and AM to figure out how to sterilize the right number of animals each year and in each location to achieve an unknown ideal free-ranging population while minimizing the number of animals gathered and put into holding facilities. The AD process could help to clarify issues of public concern while informing the public about the issues that BLM faces. Thus, AD forms the basis for designing AM experiments. After the experiments have run for a reasonable time, another AD process could be used to extract management lessons learned from the AM experiments. Citizen Science In recent years, public participation has moved toward more active interaction and collaboration between stakeholders and managers in research and monitoring processes (Fortmann, 2008)
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, producing "important datasets, specimen collections, and scientific insights of all types."5 Citizen science expands the role of the public in scientific research, and this leads to a more informed public and enhanced scientific education and insights (Miller-Rushing et al., 2012)
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From page 257... ...
In 2010, the BLM Office of the Inspector General noted that In June 2010, BLM invited interested stakeholders to offer their opinions and sugges tions about its "Working Toward Sustainable Management of America's Wild Horses and Burros -- Draft Goals, Objectives and Possible Management Actions -- June 2010" document. BLM planned to develop its strategy to find solutions that are best for wild horses and burros, wildlife, and the many other uses of the public lands by working closely with part ners, stakeholders, the public, and employees to develop a strategy.
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The forum should be open to the public so that all can listen and learn. The management of free-ranging horse and burro populations is an issue of concern in many countries of the world and in the eastern part of the United States. BLM could provide links on its website to national horse management associations in other countries and to the National Park Service management of horses on Assateague Island, Shackleford Banks, and Cumberland Island.
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Three decades ago, the National R esearch Council reported that public opinion was the major reason that the Wild Horse and Burro Program existed and public opinion was a primary indicator of management success (NRC, 1982)
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With respect to formal, long-standing participatory processes that BLM could use, the committee reviewed four -- appreciative inquiry, structured decision-making, adaptive management, and analytic deliberation -- and concludes that the analytic-deliberative approach is the most appropriate for use in the Wild Horse and Burro Program. Carefully designed analytic-deliberative processes that engage the public have been found to substantially reduce conflict over natural-resources decision-making, improve the quality of agency decisions, make the decisions more transparent from the perspective of the citizens involved, and increase the chances that the decisions will be supported and implemented (NRC, 2008)
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2008. Effective Long-Term Options Needed to Manage Unadopt able Wild Horses.
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. Wild Horses as Native North American Wildlife.
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2010. Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse and Burro Program.
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2011b. Passive and active adaptive management: Approaches and an example.
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