119-hr2864

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2864 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 2864

 To amend the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act to direct the 
 Secretary of the Interior to implement fertility controls to manage 
 populations of wild free-roaming horses and burros, and to encourage 
 training opportunities for military veterans to assist in range 
 management activities, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 April 10, 2025

 Ms. Mace (for herself, Mr. Neguse, Mr. LaMalfa, Mr. Magaziner, Mr. 
Lawler, Mr. Crow, Mr. Moolenaar, Ms. Titus, Mr. Carter of Georgia, Mr. 
Lieu, Mr. Moore of Alabama, Mr. Gottheimer, Ms. Salazar, Mr. Tran, and 
 Mr. Cohen) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act to direct the 
 Secretary of the Interior to implement fertility controls to manage 
 populations of wild free-roaming horses and burros, and to encourage 
 training opportunities for military veterans to assist in range 
 management activities, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans for Mustangs Act''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE WILD FREE-ROAMING HORSES AND BURROS ACT.

 

Section 3

    (b)

    (2) of the Act commonly known as the Wild Free-Roaming 
Horses and Burros Act (16 U.S.C. 1333

    (b)

    (2) ) is amended--

    (1) by striking ``that action is necessary'' and all that 
 follows through ``until all excess animals have been removed'' 
 and inserting ``that action is necessary to reduce the animal 
 population or remove excess animals, the Secretary shall 
 immediately take steps under this paragraph to achieve 
 appropriate management levels. Such action shall be taken, in 
 the following order and priority, until the animal population 
 has been reduced or all excess animals have been removed'';

    (2) by redesignating subparagraphs
        (A) through
            (C) as 
 subparagraphs
        (B) through
            (D) , respectively; and

    (3) by inserting before subparagraph
        (B) , as so 
 redesignated, the following:
 ``
        (A) The Secretary shall implement humane, 
 reversible, non-surgical, medically safe on-range 
 immunocontraceptive vaccine fertility controls to 
 manage populations of wild free-roaming horses and 
 burros. In implementing such fertility controls, the 
 Secretary, through the Bureau of Land Management, shall 
 prioritize the recruitment of military veterans to 
 train and become certified in the application of 
 fertility controls with respect to wild free-roaming 
 horses and burros, including the certified PZP 
 applicator certification offered by the Science and 
 Conservation Center's Certification Program. The 
 Secretary shall provide appropriate compensation to 
 military veterans participating in such a certification 
 program. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
 the Secretary is authorized to contract with military 
 veterans who have completed the training program under 
 this subparagraph to carry out management activities 
 under this Act. Individuals contracted with pursuant to 
 this subparagraph shall not be regarded as officers or 
 employees of the United States on the basis of such 
 contract.''.
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