| Summary |
The bill creates the Colorado wild horse management project (wild
horse project), which is a nonprofit, state-owned corporate entity that
manages and operates programs benefitting wild horses and supports wild
horse management. The director of the wild horse project will be selected
by a committee of the governor, the commissioner of agriculture, the
executive director of the department of natural resources, and the majority
leader of the house of representatives. The wild horse project has the
powers normally afforded to a nonprofit corporate entity. The wild horse
project will annually report to the governor, the joint budget committee,
and the appropriate joint legislative committee at SMART Act hearings.
The wild horse project may seek federal payment for wild horse
management support activities and gifts, grants, or donations. On the
effective date of the bill, the state treasurer is required to transfer $1.5
million from the general fund to the wild horse project fund, which is
created for use by the wild horse project.
A working group is established by the wild horse project to study
and pursue long-term solutions for wild horses that are removed from
federal horse management areas or held in federal facilities and make
recommendations to the governor and the general assembly. The working
group will have representation from the executive branch, the legislative
branch, nonprofit organizations, businesses, the western slope, and the
ranching community. The Colorado state director of the federal bureau of
land management (bureau), the Southern Ute Tribe, and the Ute Mountain
Ute Tribe may appoint representatives to the working group.
A wild horse stewardship program is created to help manage range
health and infrastructure. The wild horse fertility control program is
created to manage the wild horse herd population by collaborating,
coordinating, and training people and entities to manage wild horse
populations. Both programs are overseen by the wild horse project.
The commissioner of agriculture is required to provide support in
the form of grants and contracts to assist with managing wild horse
populations using fertility control methods, subject to approval by the
bureau, until July 31, 2024, or until the wild horse project commences its
own program to manage wild horse populations if commenced earlier
than July 31, 2024.
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