(a) Authority. The Chief, Forest Service, shall protect, manage, and control wild free-roaming horses and burros on lands of the National Forest System and shall maintain vigilance for the welfare of wild free-roaming horses and burros that wander or migrate from the National Forest System. If these animals also use lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management as a part of their habitat, the Chief, Forest Service, shall cooperate to the fullest extent with the Department of the Interior through the Bureau of Land Management in administering the animals.

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(b) Definitions. (1) Act means the Act of December 15, 1971 (85 Stat. 649, as amended, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1331–1340).

(2) Captured animal means a wild free-roaming horse or burro taken and held in the custody of an authorized officer, his delegate, or agent. This term does not apply to an animal after it is placed in private custody through a Private Maintenance and Care agreement.

(3) Excess animals means wild free-roaming horses and burros which have been removed by authorized personnel pursuant to applicable law or which must be removed from an area in order to preserve and maintain a thriving natural ecological balance in coordination with other resources and activities.

(4) Herd means one or more stallions and their mares, or jacks and their jennies.

(5) Humane treatment means kind and merciful treatment, without causing unnecessary stress or suffering to the animal.

(6) Inhumane treatment means causing physical stress to an animal through any harmful action or omission that is not compatible with standard animal husbandry practices; causing or allowing an animal to suffer from a lack of necessary food, water, or shelter; using any equipment, apparatus, or technique during transportation, domestication, or handling that causes undue injury to an animal; or failing to treat or care for a sick or injured animal.

(7) Lame means a wild free-roaming horse or burro with malfunctioning muscles, ligaments or limbs that impair freedom of movement.

(8) Malicious harassment means any intentional act demonstrating deliberate disregard for the well-being of wild free-roaming horses and burros and which creates a likelihood of injury or is detrimental to normal behavior pattern of wild free-roaming horses or burros including feeding, watering, resting, and breeding. Such acts include, but are not limited to, unauthorized chasing, pursuing, herding, roping, or attempting to gather wild free-roaming horses or burros. It does not apply to activities conducted by or on behalf of the Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management in implementation or performance of duties and responsibilities under the Act.

(9) National Advisory Board means the Advisory Board as established jointly by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior under the provisions of the Act.

(10) National Forest System includes the National Forests, National Grasslands, and other Federal lands for which the Forest Service has administrative jurisdiction.

(11) Old means a wild free-roaming horse or burro characterized by inability to fend for itself because of age, physical deterioration, suffering or closeness to death.

(12) Sick means a wild free-roaming horse or burro with failing health, infirmness, or disease from which there is little chance of recovery.

(13) Wild free-roaming horses and burros mean all unbranded and unclaimed horses and burros and their progeny that have used lands of the National Forest System on or after December 15, 1971, or do hereafter use these lands as all or part of their habitat, but does not include any horse or burro introduced onto the National Forest System on or after December 15, 1971, by accident, negligence, or willful disregard of private ownership. Unbranded, claimed horses and burros for which the claim is found to be erroneous, are also considered as wild and free-roaming if they meet the criteria above.

(14) Wild-horse and burro range means an area of National Forest System specifically so designated by the Chief, Forest Service, from wild horse and burro territory, for the purpose of sustaining an existing herd or herds of wild free-roaming horses and burros, provided the range does not exceed known territorial limits and is devoted principally, but not necessarily exclusively, to the welfare of the wild horses and burros, in keeping with the multiple-use management concept for the National Forest System.

(15) Wild horse and burro territory means lands of the National Forest System which are identified by the Chief, Forest Service, as lands which were territorial habitat of wild free-roaming horses and/or burros at the time of the passage of the Act.