AWHC

The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Thanks in part to AWHC’s public awareness campaigns, a growing number of Americans are speaking out against the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) cruel helicopter roundup and removal cycle. Despite this growing outrage, the agency continues to conduct these operations – oftentimes in some of the most remote corners of the West and away from the public eye.

Photo of the January 2024 roundup at Black Mountain by Darlene Smith

While we send observers to document as many of these roundups as possible, the BLM and its contractors enact restrictions on public observation, including placing our observers over a mile away from the trap. This often results in a significant lack of transparency during the roundups.

That’s why we are continuing to call on the BLM to require camera installations on all helicopters and wranglers used during roundups and at the trap sites of these operations. Will you join us and help ensure transparency and accountability for any violations during BLM helicopter roundups?

The roundups of the Black Mountain Herd Management Area (HMA) burros in Arizona over the past few years are prime examples of why these cameras are so desperately needed.

This HMA spans an impressive 1.1 million acres and encompasses public, state, tribal, and private lands in Mohave County, AZ. The BLM estimated the current population of the Black Mountain HMA to be nearly over 800 burros, making it one of the most genetically diverse wild burros herds left in the American Southwest.

Unfortunately, this herd has been repeatedly targeted for removal by the BLM and has suffered tremendously as a result.

Photo of the January 2024 roundup at Black Mountain by Darlene Smith

The agency targeted hundreds of burros for removal from the HMA this year in an attempt to reduce the population to an arbitrary Appropriate Management Level (AML) of just 478 burros. While the BLM did not meet its target, many burros were captured and removed from their homes, and one burro was even euthanized for a pre-existing condition.

This herd was also targeted in a particularly brutal roundup in 2022. AWHC had observers on the ground to document the operation, but it wasn’t until after the roundup had concluded that it was uncovered that the BLM granted its contractors permission to use electric cattle prods on several animals while loading them onto trailers. 

According to the agency’s own Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program Assessment, BLM contractor’s staff treated burros in an abusive and inhumane manner, including “aggressively hitting and jabbing the paddle into the sides and sensitive areas of burros.” 

The contractor faced little to no repercussions for their actions, and without this report, the mistreatment of these burros would remain unknown. But Meredith, if there were cameras on helicopters and at trap sites, the public could hold the BLM accountable for the the cruelty inflicted upon these animals.

AWHC is fighting hard to put an end to helicopter roundups through our work on Capitol Hill, in the courts, and in the field. But until we can stop them for good, there is only one way to guarantee that no BLM abuse goes undocumented. Will you call on the BLM to mandate camera installations on all helicopters and at trap sites used for roundups?

Thank you,

Team AWHC

The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

When wild horse advocates allies band together, we can move mountains — or at least make them safer for America’s wild horses and burros. This month, 77 members of U.S. Congress, from both sides of the aisle, called for humane wild horse management in the Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) House Appropriations legislation.

In the language submitted, they have requested the following: 

• The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) spends no less than 10% of its budget on humane fertility control in at least five herd management areas (HMAS).
  • If the BLM fails to implement acceptable fertility control programs within 120 days of the bill’s passing, it will incur a $100K reduction in program funding per day until it does so.

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Why accountability matters: This isn’t the first time Congress has directed BLM to spend up to $11 million on humane fertility control programs. Despite this, the BLM continues to round up tens of thousands of wild horses and burros and funnel them into overburdened federal holding facilities, while historically spending less than 1% of its budget on humane fertility control.

Our advocacy in the federal government represents some of the most impactful work we do. The support by nearly 80 representatives is a clear indication that Congress shares our frustration with the BLM’s failure to reform its inhumane and unsustainable program We extend a special thank you to Representatives Dina Titus (D-NV), Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ), Steve Cohen (D-TN), and David Schweikert (R-AZ) for leading the bipartisan effort to end BLM’s cruel, costly helicopter roundups.

Additional requests contained in the bipartisan letter: 

• Prohibit the use of funds for ovariectomy procedures
• Direct studies considering humane alternatives to helicopters
• Stop cash incentive payments for adoptions
• Identify HMAs and Herd Areas that could be redesignated for relocating horses as an alternative to off-range holding
• Maintain the prohibition on the sale or adoption of healthy wild horses and burros that results in their destruction.

Meredith, our important work on Capitol Hill is powered by grassroots advocates like you. YOUR donations ensure we have the resources to expose federal agencies’ lack of accountability, educate elected leaders, and effect much-needed change for our wild herds. Can you chip in a contribution today to power this vital work? 

We are determined to hold the BLM accountable for continued inhumane and costly taxpayer-funded helicopter roundups. Thank you again to our legion of bipartisan support in Congress, and to YOU for following our fight to conserve our wild wild horses and burros.

Onward,

American Wild Horse Conservation

The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Yesterday, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 budget as part of the President’s FY25 budget.   

The proposed budget calls for a $29 million increase in funding for the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program. This includes $15 million for a permanent sterilization program and 20 new full-time employees to implement it. If enacted, the plan could have far-reaching, extinction-level consequences for the nation’s wild horse and burro population. 

The proposal fails to disclose the methods of sterilization that will be utilized. Previous methods proposed by the BLM have included the surgical castration of males and surgical removal of mares’ ovaries (ovariectomy). 

American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC) strongly objects to a mass permanent sterilization program because it contradicts the BLM’s mandate under federal law to protect America’s wild horses in self-sustaining, free-roaming herds. It also contradicts recent Congressional directives to “implement a robust and humane fertility control strategy of reversible immunocontraceptive vaccines.” In fact, the proposal comes just days after Congress cut the BLM’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget by $5.9 million while preserving $11 million in funding for the implementation of humane reversible, fertility control vaccine programs.

We believe that the BLM should deliver on existing commitments to expand humane fertility control, rather than waste Congress’ time and taxpayer money on a far-fetched scheme to destroy the nation’s wild horse and burro populations by mass sterilization. This plan requires far more transparency and Congressional scrutiny and thankfully, there is a long Congressional review process ahead before the BLM’s proposal could become law. 

Please be assured that AWHC will deploy all necessary resources to prevent any mass, permanent sterilization plan from becoming law. 

For over a decade, we’ve been in court challenging the BLM over permanent sterilization, a practice that not only undermines genetic viability but also disrupts natural behaviors and the social organization essential for the survival of wild herds. At the same time, we’re on Capitol Hill advocating in Congress for legislation mandating the BLM to adopt humane and sustainable approaches that prioritize reversible fertility control.

And, we’ve been in the field proving that this approach is effective through our Virginia Range fertility control initiative in Nevada. This year, a study based on our Virginia Range data, published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Vaccines, affirms the feasibility and effectiveness of fertility control darting in a large wild horse population inhabiting a large habitat area. 

Our commitment to ensuring the freedom and welfare of America’s wild herds is unwavering. 

But we can’t do it alone. Your support is critical to our fight, and we need to band together to ensure that Congress does not fund a mass sterilization plan. Please contribute if you can to support our legislative and legal efforts to protect wild horses and burros.

In the coming days and weeks, we will keep you posted as this budget request moves through the Congressional process and more information emerges. We are confident that, together, we will ensure Congress and the American public rally to protect America’s iconic wild horses and burros from harm.

As ever, we deeply appreciate your advocacy and support.

Suzanne Roy
Executive Director
American Wild Horse Conservation