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The major corporations behind the wild horses and burros crisis

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Recently, AWHC Communications Director Grace Kuhn was on a television segment for TBS’ Full Frontal with Samantha Bee to talk about how billion-dollar corporations are major players in public lands livestock grazing …all at the expense of the American taxpayer and wild horses.

That’s right: Giant corporations actually represent the 20 largest grazing permit holders on public lands. This industry is consistently lobbying to round up and stockpile wild horses and burros so more of their livestock can graze at below market rates, thanks to tax subsidies.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop at ranching either. Simplot Livestock, which operates the taxpayer-funded Bruneau wild horse holding corrals in Idaho, is operated by J.R. Simplot Company, the extended family of J.R. Simplot, who until his death in 2008 was one of Forbes’  four hundred richest Americans.

It’s outrageous, and we’re grateful to Sam and her whole team for having us on to talk about this important issue. This would not have been possible without you! Will you make a contribution so we can double down on our efforts and continue getting our message out to as many folks as possible?

DONATE →

In order to create public education campaigns and continue our essential work in the field, we rely almost entirely on contributions from folks like you who know the importance of protecting our wild horses and burros.

With who we’re going up against — the powerful livestock lobby — your support is always needed!

Our investigations team is continuing to dig into this program and its players, and we hope to bring to light how wild horses and burros are being eradicated from Western public lands all in the name of profit.

But we’ll need you along with us to do this! Will you contribute now to fuel our efforts?

DONATE →

Thank you for your support!

The AWHC Investigations Team

Tell your senators to protect wild horses before the FY23 deadline!!

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Until the end of the month, the Senate Subcommittee on Appropriations is accepting requests from fellow senators on language they would like to see included in the Senate’s Fiscal Year 2023 spending bill. 

And at a time when the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is looking to expand its fertility control measures, securing funding dedicated to humane, in-the-wild management of our wild herds is more critical than ever: 

TELL YOUR SENATORS: PROTECT WILD HORSES

The BLM knows it needs to expand its fertility control efforts — and for the first time ever, the implementation of a robust fertility control vaccine program is being mandated by Congress. But instead of using humane fertility control vaccines to keep horses in the wild where they belong, the BLM continues to prioritize brutal — and often deadly — helicopter roundups instead.

History was made when Congress passed its FY22 omnibus spending bill that required the BLM to spend up to $11 million to implement a robust fertility control vaccine program as a humane alternative to cruel helicopter roundups. Now, we’re calling for the same language to be included in the FY23 spending bill to increase pressure on the BLM to shift toward this humane alternative to roundups!

We need your help. Will you contact your senators right now calling for humane management in the FY23 spending bill?

TAKE ACTION →

Thanks for your help, Meredith!

— AWHC Team

The BLM has set its sights on the Wyoming Checkerboard Wild Horses

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) just finalized plans to eliminate more than one million acres of habitat and most of the federally-protected wild horses in the Wyoming Checkerboard.

This would be the largest eradication of these iconic animals from western public lands ever. The plan calls for the removal of every single horse from the Salt Wells Creek and Great Divide Basin Herd Management Areas (HMAs) and the drastic reduction of the Adobe Town HMA mustang population.

Our team here at AWHC have been involved in litigation to protect this iconic herd for over a decade – and we don’t plan on stopping now. Can you make a donation right now to help us prepare for the legal fight ahead to protect these wild horses and their habitat?

DONATE →

As a precursor to the eradication plan, the BLM conducted the largest wild horse roundup in agency history in the Wyoming Checkerboard, capturing over 4,000 wild horses and permanently removing 3,502 from their habitat. 

The BLM says that 37 wild horses were killed as a result of the roundup, but records we obtained through the Freedom of Information Act indicate the death toll in the weeks and months after the roundup was actually higher.

Most of the horses who were lucky to survive have been crammed into the Wheatland Off-Range Corrals, a facility currently experiencing a large-scale outbreak of a highly contagious infectious disease known as strangles. The disease has killed 11 horses so far.

These wild horses do no harm where they belong — in the wild, but our government is placing them in harm’s way by subjecting them to brutal helicopter roundups and cramming them into crowded, dangerous holding facilities.

Our team is leading the charge to end the cruel and harmful practice of helicopter roundups and move the BLM toward true humane protection for our wild horse populations on our public lands. Will you make a contribution today so we can continue our fight to protect the wild horses of the Wyoming Checkerboard and across the West?

DONATE →

Thank you,

American Wild Horse Campaign

ACT NOW: BLM targets the ONLY designated wild burro range in the west!

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is seeking public input for a proposed roundup of the historic wild burros of the Marietta Wild Burro Range in Mineral County, Nevada.

The Marietta Wild Burro Range was publicly dedicated by the BLM Director in 1991 for the 20th anniversary of passage of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. Marietta is the BLM’s only wild burro range, and means that the area will be “principally” managed for the animals.

The Range is home to an estimated 400-500 burros. However, the agency set an unscientifically low appropriate management level (AML) of just 78-104 wild burros on the 68,000-acre range, threatening the genetic viability of the herd.

These burros need your voice NOW. Will you speak up for the Marietta Range wild burros right away by submitting comments to the BLM in strong opposition to this proposed plan?

BE THEIR VOICE →

The agency’s current proposed action is to round up and remove most of the Marietta Range burros. This means that if the plan goes through, the BLM will put hundreds of these animals at risk of serious injury and death through its brutal and inhumane helicopter roundups.

Further, the BLM is ignoring recent scientific evidence that shows that wild burros dig wells in their environments, actually boosting the availability of water in desert landscapes across the American Southwest!

We can’t allow the BLM to endanger the lives of these wild burros, Meredith. If you oppose this disastrous plan, speak up and submit your comments to the BLM now!

TAKE ACTION →

Thank you,

American Wild Horse Campaign

YOU can help end inhumane helicopter roundups. Here’s how.

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Earlier this year, Congress took a historic step towards reforming the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro Program when it passed its Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 omnibus spending bill. This bill required the BLM to spend up to $11 million to implement a robust fertility control vaccine program as a humane alternative to cruel helicopter roundups.

Now, Congress’ FY23 appropriations process is in full swing. Right now, Senators are submitting their priorities for the federal appropriations language — and we need your help to ensure next year’s spending bill includes efforts to protect wild horses and burros. 

Our Government Relations team here at AWHC is working hard on Capitol Hill to divert funding away from the BLM’s helicopter roundups and towards humane fertility control vaccines that keep wild horses on public lands. But we can’t do it alone. We need as many voices as possible to echo our message and urge Congress to enact a pro-horse and burro agenda for 2023.

Can you contact your two U.S. Senators right now and ask them to ensure the BLM’s FY23 budget reflects humane management strategies on behalf of our beloved wild horses and burros?

TAKE ACTION →

We are incredibly proud that Congress’ FY22 spending bill included important language championed by AWHC and our allies in Washington like U.S. Representatives Steve Cohen (D-TN) and Dina Titus (D-NV), U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), and over 60 other members of Congress!

But Meredith, the BLM is still set on its mass removal plan using brutal helicopter roundups, and starting on July 1, roundup season for wild horses will begin again in full force. Captured horses and burros are suffering RIGHT NOW in BLM holding facilities across the West. In the BLM’s Cañon City corrals, at least 138 wild horses have died from Equine Influenza Virus in just over two weeks.

This is unacceptable. We cannot continue to round up wild horses and burros from their native habitats, cram them into holding pens, and expect a good outcome for the animals or the taxpayers who are stuck funding this broken system.

Our next steps are critical. To ensure the BLM puts a stop to roundups and shifts towards a humane solution, we MUST secure ongoing funding for fertility control vaccines. That’s why we need your help today. Will you call on your Senators to support $11 million in humane fertility control vaccine treatments in the FY23 spending bill?

TAKE ACTION →

Thank you,

American Wild Horse Campaign

UPDATE: More than 124 wild horses have now died at this BLM facility

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Last week, we alerted you to a highly contagious and deadly infectious disease outbreak occurring in real time at the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Cañon City holding facility in Colorado. In just the last 11 days, at least 124 wild horses have died in these holding pens — making this possibly the deadliest disease outbreak in BLM history.

Nearly 2,500 wild horses are confined in this facility and remain at risk  — please speak up for them now by calling on your members of Congress to demand an investigation into the BLM’s holding corrals.

Since we last emailed you, the BLM was able to identify the virus that has killed dozens of these cherished animals — Equine Influenza Virus (EIV) — a virus that the BLM is supposed to vaccinate wild horses and burros against once they are rounded up and removed from the wild.

The BLM reported that the 124 mustangs killed were either entirely unvaccinated or only partially-vaccinated against the deadly virus even though they had been at the facility for over 9 months. 

At the same time, an active disease outbreak is occuring at the BLM’s off range holding corrals in Wheatland, Wyoming, where a highly contagious bacterial infection that causes strangles has so far infected half of the 2,750 horses confined there.

This developing situation raises serious concerns about the conditions in the BLM’s off-range holding system where 59,749 wild horses and 862 wild burros are being held — and we deserve answers.

Please contact your members of Congress now to call for an investigation into the BLM’s off-range corrals. Also, urge them to support federal appropriations language to allocate at least $11 million of the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program budget to fertility control vaccines to keep wild horses and burros in the wild and out of holding facilities in the first place.

TAKE ACTION →

Thanks for your help.

— AWHC Team

———- Forwarded message ———
From: ACTION ALERT! via AWHC <contact@americanwildhorsecampaign.org>
Date: Wed, Apr 27, 2022 at 6:26 PM
Subject: BREAKING: Wild horses are in danger at this BLM facility
To: <meredith@luckythreeranch.com>

Since Saturday, at least 67 wild horses have died in a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) holding facility in Colorado due to an unidentified, highly contagious, and deadly infectious disease. 

More than 2,500 BLM-managed wild horses are confined to the Cañon City facility where this outbreak occurred and are at risk. You could help us speak up for them by contacting your members of Congress calling for an investigation into the BLM’s off-range corrals.

TAKE ACTION →

This is the second government holding facility to close in recent weeks due to disease outbreaks related to the intense confinement of these wild animals. 

RIGHT NOW → almost 60,000 wild horses and 862 wild burros are confined in BLM off-range holding facilities. And with plans to remove 19,000 more wild horses and burros from public lands this year, the BLM is putting thousands of these innocent animals at risk.

And  — wild horses and burros aren’t just dying from disease in these facilities. Records show that hundreds of mustangs are dying from traumatic injuries like broken necks, skull fractures, broken legs, and even evisceration from castration surgeries following capture at government facilities across the country.

These wild horses do no harm where they belong — in the wild, but our government is placing them in harm’s way by cramming them into crowded holding facilities.

We must protect the thousands of federally-protected wild horses and burros in captivity today, but Meredith, we need your voice to help them. 

Please take action to protect these cherished animals by contacting your members of Congress now to call for an investigation into the BLM’s off-range corrals. >>

TAKE ACTION →

Thanks for taking action — we’re grateful for your support.

AWHC Team

TAKE ACTION: Two wild horse herds are at risk (!!) in Oregon

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has announced plans that put two of Oregon’s iconic wild horse herds at serious risk (!!)

The BLM is accepting comments for a disastrous 10-year plan that would drastically reduce the populations of the wild horses who call both the Three Fingers and Jackies Butte Herd Management Areas (HMAs) home.

YOU can be their voice. Will you speak up for the Three Fingers and Jackies Butte wild horses right now by submitting comments to the BLM in strong opposition to this devastating plan?

SPEAK UP FOR OREGON’S
WILD HORSES →

The BLM’s proposed plan would utilize brutal mass helicopter roundups and removals, and several methods of controversial contraceptives like the untested GonaCon vaccine and IUDs.

The BLM’s ultimate goal? They want to reduce the populations for both of these HMAs to a devastating total of just 75 wild horses on 63,000 acres and 65,000 acres of land respectively. 

That’s one horse for every 800+ acres of land in these HMAs. Meanwhile, the agency will continue to permit thousands of privately-owned cows to graze on these public lands.

We refuse to stand by while the freedom of thousands of Oregon’s wild horses is stripped from them all to provide more land for commercially-owned cattle.

If you want to see Oregon’s wild horse populations protected, will you speak up for them right now? Please submit your comments to the BLM now telling them that you strongly oppose this disastrous roundup.

TAKE ACTION →

Thanks for all you do to protect America’s wild herds.

American Wild Horse Campaign

Show wild burros some love as we finish out our Help A Horse Day festivities!

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

So far this week we’ve shared stories with you that highlight just how critical our PZP Program and our Legal Funds are to protecting the freedom and the lives of America’s wild horses. Today, as we close out our National Help A Horse Day festivities, we wanted to show our cherished wild burros some love, too!

Over the next several months, approximately 2,500 wild burros will be targeted for removal by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Around 2,300 of these innocent animals will be sent to holding facilities, where many could be funneled into the slaughter pipeline via the BLM’s disastrous Adoption Incentive Program (AIP).

Our Rescue Fund helps us ensure we have the funds necessary to partner with organizations to rescue victims of the AIP who have ended up in the slaughter pipeline. Will you make a donation to fuel our Rescue Fund today so we can help save more wild horses and burros?

Meredith: Our Rescue Fund has helped us save over 100 wild horses and burros from the slaughter pipeline including the Oklahoma 12:

Last year, our investigative team documented these 12 burros sitting in an Oklahoma kill pen ready to ship to slaughter at any minute. We used our Rescue Fund to assist our rescue partner Evanescent Mustang Rescue and Sanctuary to pay the bail for each of these 12 burros so they could quickly get out of this kill pen and into foster care.

After these animals were safe, we obtained their title paperwork. And Meredith, as we guessed — all 12 burros were adopted through the BLM’s AIP. Even worse, they were all adopted by one family who as soon as they got their incentive payments, flipped the 12 burros to slaughter.

Even though the Oklahoma 12 are now safe and in loving care, the BLM’s unprecedented attack on burro populations means an increasing number of BLM burros will be moving through the AIP and are at risk of entering the slaughter pipeline.

So, as we close out our Help a Horse Day festivities and more burro roundups rapidly approach, will you help us save more burros like the Oklahoma 12 with a donation to our Rescue Fund today?

FUEL OUR RESCUE FUND →

Thanks,

— AWHC Team

FWD: One final Earth Day ask of you

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Thank you so much for standing alongside us in the fight to protect America’s wild horses and burros this Earth Day and every day.

While we take some special time to celebrate today’s important holiday, I want you to know just how grateful the entire AWHC team really is for your continued dedication to protecting our beloved equines year-round.

I also wanted to make one final ask of you this Earth Day. As part of this special holiday, we’ve set a goal to recruit 50 new monthly donors to fuel our fight for America’s wild herds.

Allow me to explain — as you well know by now, preserving the freedom of our cherished wild herds is an ongoing battle. One that isn’t won overnight. So, recurring monthly donations help to keep us in the fight for our wild horses and burros throughout the entire year. Monthly gifts, no matter the amount, are critical to continuing our work on the Hill, in the courts, and in the field.

So, this Earth Day I’m asking: Will you join us as an AWHC monthly donor and continue to fuel our fight to protect our cherished wild herds year-round?

BECOME A MONTHLY DONOR

Thanks, Meredith.

— Suzanne

———- Forwarded message ———
From: American Wild Horse Campaign <contact@americanwildhorsecampaign.org>
Date: Fri, Apr 22, 2022 at 12:34 PM
Subject: 3 ways you can celebrate  Day AND protect wild horses and burros >>
To: <meredith@luckythreeranch.com>

Happy Earth Day! 

More than 50 years ago, Earth Day was created as a day to put all other issues aside and focus on the protection of our beautiful planet and all of the amazing creatures who call it home.

Every single day, our team sees firsthand the threats that wild horses and burros face — whether that be the dangerous adoption incentive program, brutal helicopter roundups, or the interests of the cattle industry superseding the needs of these innocent equines.

So this Earth Day, we can think of no better way to celebrate than by lifting up our voices together to protect wild horses and burros and the public lands these cherished animals call home! TAKE ACTION FOR WILD HORSES AND BURROS AND MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD →

Over the next 5 years, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is planning to conduct mass roundups and removals of over 100,000 wild horses and burros from across the West – more of these animals than even exist today! 

What has been framed as a plan for “necessary” population management, is no more than a thinly veiled attempt to appease the special interests of the livestock industry — an industry that has been lobbying Congress for decades so that ranchers may graze their personal animals on public lands for cheap. 

This is not a path forward, it’s a path toward ecological destruction. 

So, as we celebrate Earth Day today, we can think of no better way to commemorate this special holiday than by doubling down on our commitment to ensure that our cherished wild horses and burros remain free, in the wild on the public lands they call home. Here are 3 ways you can take action to support our wild herds today:

  1. Call on your members of Congress to support wild horse-friendly language in the FY23 Appropriations bill.Congress already took historic steps this year when it passed the FY22 spending bill to ensure the BLM utilizes up to $11 million to implement a fertility control vaccine program. Now, we’re calling for this historic move once again in the FY23 bill! Take action now to ensure humane management of our wild herds →
    2. Watch & share on social AWHC team members’ national interview with Samantha Bee from her political satire show, Full Frontal. Get ready to laugh and learn more about the plight of our wild herds.
    3. Purchase a KT Merry wild horse print. As part of an Earth Day special, KT is donating 30% of all print sales to AWHC to keep wild horses in the wild where they belong! Promo ends on 4/23.

While we may celebrate this important holiday just once a year, our fight to preserve the freedom of wild horses and burros never stops.

Thanks for continuing to stand by our side, Meredith, and happy Earth Day!

American Wild Horse Campaign

3 ways you can celebrate 🌎 Day AND protect wild horses and burros >>

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Happy Earth Day! 🌎

More than 50 years ago, Earth Day was created as a day to put all other issues aside and focus on the protection of our beautiful planet and all of the amazing creatures who call it home.  

Every single day, our team sees firsthand the threats that wild horses and burros face — whether that be the dangerous adoption incentive program, brutal helicopter roundups, or the interests of the cattle industry superseding the needs of these innocent equines. 

So this Earth Day, we can think of no better way to celebrate than by lifting up our voices together to protect wild horses and burros and the public lands these cherished animals call home! TAKE ACTION FOR WILD HORSES AND BURROS AND MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD →

Over the next 5 years, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is planning to conduct mass roundups and removals of over 100,000 wild horses and burros from across the West – more of these animals than even exist today! 

What has been framed as a plan for “necessary” population management is no more than a thinly veiled attempt to appease the special interests of the livestock industry — an industry that has been lobbying Congress for decades so that ranchers may graze their personal animals on public lands for cheap. 

This is not a path forward, it’s a path toward ecological destruction. 

So, as we celebrate Earth Day today, we can think of no better way to commemorate this special holiday than by doubling down on our commitment to ensure that our cherished wild horses and burros remain free, in the wild on the public lands they call home. Here are 3 ways you can take action to support our wild herds today:

1. Call on your members of Congress to support wild horse-friendly language in the FY23 Appropriations bill. Congress already took historic steps this year when it passed the FY22 spending bill to ensure the BLM utilizes up to $11 million to implement a fertility control vaccine program. Now, we’re calling for this historic move once again in the FY23 bill! Take action now to ensure humane management of our wild herds →
2. Watch & share on social AWHC team members’ national interview with Samantha Bee from her political satire show, Full Frontal. Get ready to laugh and learn more about the plight of our wild herds.
3. Purchase a KT Merry wild horse print. As part of an Earth Day special, KT is donating 30% of all print sales to AWHC to keep wild horses in the wild where they belong! Promo ends on 4/23.

While we may celebrate this important holiday just once a year, our fight to preserve the freedom of wild horses and burros never stops. 

Thanks for continuing to stand by our side, and happy Earth Day! 🌎

American Wild Horse Campaign

THANK YOU to our volunteers!

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Today marks the first day of National Volunteer Week. To honor this important week, we wanted to spotlight our fantastic volunteers who define AWHC — Animal-loving, Wonderful, Helpful, and Committed.

Our dedicated volunteers are the backbone of so much of our work, from implementing the world’s largest fertility control program for wild horses to playing an integral role in our investigation into the Bureau of Land Management’s Adoption Incentive Program. We could not be more grateful, so we wanted to share their stories as fearless defenders of our wild horses and burros, and then ask you to sign a thank you card for our volunteers!

Without their commitment and support, our work would not be possible!

SIGN THE CARD TO THANK OUR VOLUNTEERS

Once again, we want to give a big AWHC thank you to all of our amazing volunteers! If you want to find out how you can join our team, click here.

AWHC Team

Burro roundups are almost here, help us fight back!

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Wild horse foaling season is underway, so from April to July, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has paused its wild horse roundups. Instead, it has set its sights on wild burros. The BLM is planning to roundup record numbers of burros starting on April 30th – one day before the start of Burro Awareness Month.

Over the next few months, the BLM aims to round up over 2,500 wild burros from five Herd Management Areas (HMAs) and permanently remove over 2,300. The largest operation will take place in the most genetically diverse burro herd, located in the Black Mountain HMA in Arizona where 1,120 wild burros will be permanently removed.

Even worse, the agency intends to use helicopters to chase these beloved animals into traps. This is a notable departure from primarily relying on bait trapping to capture burros.

AWHC field representatives will be on site at these burro roundups to hold the BLM accountable and our team will be working nonstop — on the Hill, in the courtroom, and on the range – to help save wild horses AND burros from inhumane helicopter roundups. But we need your help. 

Can you make a donation to ensure our team has the necessary resources to continue fighting back against the cruel roundup of wild burros?

HELP SAVE WILD BURROS

Unlike wild horses, who generally stay together during helicopter roundups and follow other horses into a trap site, wild burros are stoic animals and often stand their ground in the face of the helicopters, or scatter in an attempt to avoid capture. As a result, helicopter roundups can be even more brutal for burros. 

We are fighting for the West’s few remaining wild burros and we need your help. Please make a donation of $10, $25, or whatever you can afford to give today to help us continue our fight to save wild burros.

DONATE TODAY

Thank you,

– American Wild Horse Campaign

help us stop helicopter roundups >>

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

On April 26, 2022, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will hold a legally-mandated meeting on the use of helicopters and other motorized vehicles in wild horse and burro management. These meetings provide an important opportunity for public input into the BLM’s inhumane and costly wild horse and burro management program.

Before the meeting, would you please take a moment to send an email to the BLM expressing your concerns about the use of helicopters to round up and remove America’s wild horses?

Just yesterday, the BLM released its 2022 wild horse and burro population numbers showing a mere 4,000-animal reduction in the on-range population despite the agency’s removal and stockpiling of more than 13,000 wild horses and burros from the wild in 2021.

Why? Because roundups are not only inhumane, they also don’t work.

We’ve been saying it all along: the BLM must listen to the National Academy of Sciences, which clearly stated that the BLM’s helicopter management approach is “facilitating high rates of population growth on the range.” For 50 years, the agency has used this cruel and unsustainable method that has resulted in mass deaths and injuries during the operations, the highest number of wild horses in history in off-range holding facilities, and a price tag approaching $1 billion just since 2018. 

Please take one moment to voice your opposition to the use of helicopters to manage the West’s wild horse and burro herds.

The meeting will be held virtually on April 26, 2022, from 3 to 5 p.m. MT using Zoom video conferencing and live-streamed at BLM.gov/live. You will also have the ability to provide comments during the virtual public hearing, though you must register in advance by April 25.

Thank you for speaking up for our wild herds,

The AWHC Team

This week’s eNews: Thousands of wild horses at risk of disease in BLM WY facility

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

We wanted to share some recent updates around roundups and holding, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 proposed budget for managing wild horses and burros, and a distinguished award won by a member of the AWHC herd! Read on to learn more and help us to protect these cherished animals. >>

Tell Congress Protect Wild Horses and Burros in the FY23 Spending Bill

The Biden Administration recently released its proposed FY2023 budget for the U.S. Department of the Interior and called for $153.1 million to fund the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro Program. While this is still a $16 million increase from the FY22 spending bill passed last month, the increase in spending is noticeably smaller than in previous years. Now it’s up to Congress to determine how much money will be appropriated to this mismanaged federal program. 

Last month, Congress took a historic step toward reforming the Wild Horse and Burro Program when it passed its Fiscal Year 2022 omnibus spending bill that required the BLM to spend up to $11 million to implement a robust fertility control vaccine program as a step away from cruel roundups. Now Congress is working on FY23 appropriations and we need your help to protect wild horses and burros! Take action now by asking your elected officials to include similar measures to protect wild horses and burros in the FY23 spending bill.

TAKE ACTION

Take Action for North Dakota’s Wild Horses

The wild horses that call the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota home have roamed the badlands for centuries, and many believe they are descendants of Sitting Bull’s horses and related to the rare Nokota breed. Although the wild horses are not protected under the 1971 Wild Horses and Burros Act, they are a significant part of the historical and natural heritage of the park and the state. Equally important, they’re a huge tourism draw for North Dakota.

Right now, the National Park Service is considering many management options for this herd, including slashing their populations or eliminating them entirely. Please take action TODAY!

TAKE ACTION

“Strangles” Outbreak in Crowded BLM Wyoming Holding Corral

The BLM recently canceled an adoption event scheduled for April 1 at its Wheatland Off-Range Corral holding facility due to a “strangles” outbreak — a highly contagious upper respiratory disease with an up to 40% mortality rate. AWHC is calling for an immediate moratorium on all Wyoming roundups pending inquiry into the disease outbreak, as well as dozens of deaths of horses from other causes in the state’s holding facilities. 

The Wheatland facility is one of the BLM’s newest and largest holding facilities, with a holding capacity of 3,500 wild horses. Learn more about our call for an investigation into the outbreak and a halt on all roundups in the meantime here:

LEARN MORE

AWHC Board Member Wins Top Nature Prize

Photo by Scott Wilson

AWHC Board Member and wildlife photographer, Scott Wilson won the coveted Natural World and Wildlife Award in the 2022 Sony World Photography Awards for his photo of a Colorado mustang, titled, “Anger Management” (above). Scott’s photo was chosen for the top prize out of 170,000 entries!

The photo was taken just months before the devastating roundup of the Sand Wash Basin wild horses of Colorado, where 684 wild horses were captured. Scott’s photo is bringing international attention to the plight of America’s wild mustangs. Scott is a strong advocate for the preservation of wild horses, and we are proud to have him as a member of the AWHC herd!

READ MORE

Thanks for all you continue to do to protect wild horses and burros!

— AWHC Team

BREAKING: The Biden Administration just released their proposed FY23 budget >>

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

The Biden Administration just released its proposed Fiscal Year 2023 budget for the U.S. Department of the Interior and called for $153.1 million to fund the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro Program. Meredith, that’s an increase of $16 million from the BLM’s approved FY22 program budget enacted earlier this month.

We’re disappointed to see the Biden Administration increase spending towards the BLM’s mismanaged programs, but compared to previous years, this increase is noticeably smaller — we’re hopeful that this marks a departure from the current mass round up and removal plan that would remove 100,000 wild horses and burros from public lands over the next five years.

So, we’re taking action. It’s time we start advocating for wild horse-friendly spending in the FY23 Appropriations bill to ensure the Biden Administration and our leaders in Congress enact a pro-horse agenda for the next year.

Congress already took historic steps this year when it passed the FY22 omnibus spending bill to ensure the BLM utilizes up to $11 million to implement a robust fertility control vaccine program for the remaining months of this year.

We know these vaccines are the best alternative way to manage horses in the wild, and that’s why we’re advocating for the same historic funding to be allocated in the FY23 spending bill. Will you call on your members of Congress and join us in this fight today?

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While there were aspects of Congress’ omnibus that were disappointing, the $11 million secured this year was the first time that Congress had directed the BLM to utilize scientifically-proven fertility control. And, that is a victory worth celebrating!

Meaningful implementation of a robust fertility control vaccine program means the BLM can’t afford to ignore the science. Our federal officials and BLM leadership will see once and for all that in-the-wild management works and means fewer removals for our wild herds.

But to ensure fertility control is prioritized, we must secure ongoing funding, which is why we need your help today. Will you call on your members of Congress to support $11 million in humane fertility control vaccine treatments in the FY23 spending bill?

TAKE ACTION

Thank you,

Suzanne Roy
Executive Director
American Wild Horse Campaign

ACT NOW: Keep wild burros OUT of the skin trade

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has grounded its helicopters for foaling season, but unfortunately this break only applies to our nation’s wild horses. The agency has turned its focus to wild burros and over 2,000 are in the agency’s crosshairs.

The BLM continues to press on with an aggressive plan to remove at least 19,000 wild horses and burros from federal lands this year. And since burros do not have a designated birthing season in the same way that wild horses do, the BLM plans to continue on with its round-ups, targeting thousands of burros for removal starting in just a few short weeks.

The repercussions for captured wild burros are especially devastating. The increasing number of BLM-branded burros that are arriving in kill pens and livestock auctions has raised serious concerns about burros being exported for slaughter. Some may even become victims of the donkey skin trade for the production of ejiao, medicinal gelatin that is made from boiling the hides of these animals.

Each year, millions of donkeys are brutally slaughtered for the production of ejiao. The donkey skin trade is now decimating global donkey populations — and every federally protected burro at a slaughter auction could be in danger of entering that trade.

We have a chance to stop this pipeline in its tracks. The Ejiao Act (H.R. 5203), has been introduced in the House of Representatives and would ban the knowing sale or transportation of ejiao made using donkey skin, or products containing ejiao made using donkey skin, in interstate or foreign commerce.

Will you contact your elected officials and ask them to sign on in support of this important bill?

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The BLM’s increasingly aggressive roundup strategies are putting more wild horses and burros in holding every year. And the agency’s Adoption Incentive Program (AIP) is funneling unseen numbers of these federally protected animals into the slaughter pipeline.

This isn’t an isolated issue — we’re seeing an uptick in the number of burros dumped in kill pens across the country that’s consistent with the start of the AIP and the increase in demand for ejiao too.

We need you to stand up for America’s wild burros. Will you contact your representatives and ask that they co-sponsor and support the Ejiao Act (H.R. 5203) today?

Thanks for your support,

AWHC Team

From the field ➡️ to Congress and the court

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

We’ll be the first to admit that protecting America’s wild horses and burros is no easy feat.

The weather conditions at roundup observation sites can be particularly harsh, the time spent preparing for legal battles can go into the late hours of the night, and sometimes we feel like broken records combatting the misinformation spread by the cattle industry to Congress.

But we know — how we feel in these uncomfortable moments, pales in comparison to the pain our cherished wild horses and burros feel when they are chased into traps, breaking family bands apart and costing them their freedom forever.

We’re on a mission to preserve the freedom of wild horses and burros on the public lands they call home. And that starts with oversight.

From the reporting done by our observers in the field, to sharing these findings with Congress, to enacting life changing legislation for our wild herds, and taking the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to court — we’re leading the charge for oversight and reform of the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program.

If you’re with us in our fight to preserve the freedom of America’s wild horses and burros, will you donate to fuel this critical work, today?

DONATE

The movement to protect these cherished animals has not happened overnight. Our team has taken a calculated approach to fight for the protection of our wild herds in the field, in the courts, and on the Hill. We will not stop until wild horses and burros have true freedom on the public lands they call home.

Between video footage taken at roundups and documentation from our observation team, we are creating progress and enacting historic change. Right now, legislation has been introduced in Congress that would effectively ban the use of helicopter roundups as a population management tactic by the BLM.

Every court battle won and every victory in Congress brings us one step closer to preserving the freedom of these innocent animals.

If you’re with us in our fight in the field, in court, and on the Hill to protect America’s wild horses and burros, will you donate to fuel our efforts today?

DONATE

Thank you,

American Wild Horse Campaign

Helicopter cameras — 1 way we can hold the BLM accountable

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Every year, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) uses helicopters to brutally round up thousands of wild horses and burros. The majority of these roundups occur in remote areas of the West — out of the public’s eye. Our team of observers work to document these operations to hold the BLM accountable and to educate the public as to what’s happening to our federally protected wild horses and burros.

The BLM and its contractors that execute these helicopter stampedes have placed a number of restrictions on public observation, creating a significant lack of transparency at the site of these traumatic roundups.

If these federal roundups continue, there is one way we can ensure accountability — cameras. If cameras are installed on every helicopter used to capture wild horses and burros we can create public transparency and independent oversight for any operations that occur out of the public’s view. Will you join us today by calling for the installation of cameras for all helicopter roundup operations?

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We’ve seen time and time again that the public observation areas for each roundup are simply not enough to hold the BLM fully accountable. At the Wyoming Checkerboard roundup this past year, our team was placed over a mile away from the trap site and in a spot where terrain blocked most of our view.

Oversight and documentation drive accountability. Accountability that is badly needed to preserve the freedom — and more importantly, the lives — of America’s wild horses and burros. If you’re with us, will you call on the BLM today to require contractors to install cameras on their helicopters used in roundup operations?

TAKE ACTION

Thanks,

AWHC Observation Team

The BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program needs oversight

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) may have grounded its helicopters for the 2022 wild horse foaling season, but thousands of burros are still stuck in the crosshairs starting next month.

We send humane observers to bear witness to these devastating roundups, and , they are reporting some recurring and upsetting themes; a significant lack of transparency from the BLM and its contractors during the operations and a concerning number of injuries and deaths.  

Today is the first email in a series where we’ll be sharing the costs and consequences of the BLM’s roundup program. Over the next few days, you’ll be hearing from us with observations from the field that highlight just why the BLM’s program urgently needs reform.

We’re using the documentation our team has accumulated to hold the BLM accountable. Will join us by calling for a Congressional oversight hearing on the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program?

TAKE ACTION

The massive roundup that ended earlier this year in Wyoming’s Checkerboard region resulted in the removal of an astounding 4,161 wild horses, making this the largest wild horse roundup in history. The toll was steep: 37 of these cherished animals lost their lives as a result of the helicopter roundup itself, while dozens more died in the holding pens in the month after the operation ended.

Our investigations, based on information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, have revealed that the BLM is dramatically under-reporting the mortality rate of helicopter roundups by excluding the deaths that occur in the holding pens days and weeks after the roundups end.

This is unacceptable. Wild horses are being chased to pure exhaustion in a run for their freedom and their lives. Far too many die after sustaining traumatic injuries such as broken limbs and necks.

Enough is enough. Congress must be presented with the reality of these roundups that we, the taxpayers, are paying for. Will you join us in calling on Congress to hold an oversight hearing on the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program? Reform of this disastrous program is needed now more than ever.

TAKE ACTION

Thanks for fighting alongside us,

Suzanne Roy
Executive Director
American Wild Horse Campaign

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