Committee approves bill to establish permanent wild-horse program in Colorado Department of Agriculture

The House Agriculture, Water and Natural Resources Committee voted 13-0 to send House Bill 12 83, which would create a permanent wild-horse program within the Colorado Department of Agriculture, to the Committee of the Whole.

The bill implements recommendations from the Colorado Wild Horse Working Group established in earlier legislative action and aims to expand coordinated fertility-control efforts on herd management areas (HMAs), provide on-range infrastructure support and back adoption and long-term care efforts with state coordination and access to the existing Wild Horse Fund.

Majority Leader Monica Duran, the bill’s co-sponsor, told the committee the measure stems from a multi-stakeholder process and “creates a permanent wild horse program within the Colorado Department of Agriculture to ensure continuality and sustainability of our efforts.” Duran said the program will provide resources and coordination for “scientific proven fertility control methods that can humanely manage wild horse…