WILD FREE-ROAMING HORSES AND BURROS ACT
The Act that should be saving lives-- but isn't.
Wild Horse Annie and Her Cause
Velma Bronn Johnston was born on March 5, 1912 in Washoe County, Nevada. On her way to work one day in 1950, Velma stumbled upon a truck packed with horses leaving a trail of blood. She followed the truck to a slaughterhouse where she discovered the truck was filled with wild mustangs. She then vowed to do everything in her power to save these beautiful creatures. With the help of her initiative, the state of Nevada passed a bill that made it illegal to round up mustangs with planes or cars. However, the BLM insisted on applying the law only to private land, which left out a large part of the state. But Velma Bronn Johnston, or 'Wild Horse Annie', as she began to be called, wasn't nearly finished.
Annie kept up her fight untill 1971 when the 92nd United States Congress unanimously passed the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. It was signed by President Richard Nixon on December 18, 1971. The act forbids the injury, capture, or disruption of mustangs or burros. The Act does allow the transfer of animals to suitable areas if their population becomes too large. Annie died of cancer on June 27, 1977 at the age of sixty-five in Reno, Nevada.
Annie kept up her fight untill 1971 when the 92nd United States Congress unanimously passed the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. It was signed by President Richard Nixon on December 18, 1971. The act forbids the injury, capture, or disruption of mustangs or burros. The Act does allow the transfer of animals to suitable areas if their population becomes too large. Annie died of cancer on June 27, 1977 at the age of sixty-five in Reno, Nevada.
The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971
The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 was signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon on December 18. This made it illegal to harass or kill feral mustangs or burros on federal land. The Act set aside 50 million acres of land for the animals' use and put the Bureau of Land Management in charge of maintaining the mustangs at a healthy population level. It also required studies to be conducted of the mustangs' habits and habitats.
Click here to read the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971
Click here to read the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971