Last modified: Wednesday, July 16, 2008 10:57 AM PDT Wild horses run in a corral after being captured in a Bureau of Land Management gathering. Capturing and holding the wild horses to manage their numbers on the range has become very expensive for the agency. BLM grapples with horse issue By Larry Meyer Argus Observer VALE — The United States Bureau of Land Management is struggling  with an excess of wild horses and burros pulled off the wide open desert steppes of rural counties like Malheur as prospects for adoption of the wild animals ebb. Tera Martinak, BLM Burns District spokesperson, said there are currently 150 to 200 wild horses in BLM corrals at Burns. “Some have been there about a year,” Martinak said. Martinak confirmed adoption of the animals — once a reliable method to cut down on the overall population — has become more difficult. “This year has been a challenge,” Martinak said. BLM Vale District spokesman Mark Wilkening, quoting agency statistics, said there were 5,701 horses adopted in 2005, but in 2007, only 4,774 were adopted. “They have natural predators,” he said. Higher fuel prices and feed costs also play a crucial role in the adoption decline, Martinak said. “And, there is an overflow of horses on the market — horses in general, not just mustangs,” she said. Horses in the Burns corrals come from Malheur, Harney and Lake counties and all were gathered last year, Martinak said. The horses are generally put up for adoption, and failing that, put up for direct sale where the titles are issued immediately. And, if those steps fail to send a horse home with a regional resident, the mounts are put out to long-term pasture. Depending on the age of the horses, the first two steps may be bypassed. “It’s easier to adopt young horses,” Martinak said. The agency is taking care of a lot of horses. “As of June 2008, there are more than 30,000 wild horses and burros that are fed and cared for at holding facilities,” Wilkening said, citing BLM sources. The BLM spends $38.8 million on its wild horse and burro program, with nearly $22 million spent to keep them in the holding facilities. The BLM is exploring options to exercise its legal authority to sell older and certain other unadopted animals without limitation to any willing buyers and euthanize wild horses and burros for which no adoption demand exists. Wilkening said he does not know what is meant by euthanize, but assumes it refers to some humane manner. There are no plans Wilkening said, to shoot the animals. Wilkening said he does not know what is meant by euthanize, but said he assumes it refers to some humane manner.