Over the holiday weekend, one of our roundup observers witnessed firsthand the devastating and inhumane treatment by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and its contractors of an innocent baby wild horse.
Reportedly, these contractors then hogtied the baby and threw the young foal to the ground once more before putting him into the back of an Off Highway Vehicle. These actions are deeply disturbing and unfortunately we know that this small foal is not — nor will he be — the only one to suffer this roundup season. During the hot summer months, vulnerable young foals are chased by low-flying helicopters and often sustain broken bones, injuries, and in some cases, die.
This will not be the only foal mistreated at the hands of the BLM contractors this roundup season. During last year’s roundups, many foals were seriously injured or died due to inhumane practices and helicopter chases.
Yesterday marked the first official day federal helicopters descended onto wild horses to roundup and remove them from their homes. By the end of this summer thousands of wild horses across the West will have lost their freedom, families and for some, even their lives as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) restarts its brutal helicopter roundups. The first roundup of the season has already begun in the Buffalo Hills Herd Management Area (HMA) in Nevada where over 350 wild horses are caught in the BLM’s crosshairs.
These horses need you. We send out field observers to document each and every roundup possible – and as you can imagine, sending our field representatives to remote areas of the West for each roundup takes a lot of resources. But with the record of injuries and animal welfare violations the BLM has accumulated, we know that we have to be on the ground. It is essential to bear witness to the atrocities committed by the BLM so we can stand up for these innocent animals. If we didn’t, no one would.
The Buffalo Hills roundup is only the beginning, Meredith → The BLM will be targeting at least seven other HMA’s through September 10, including the Triple B Complex and Twin Peaks HMA where a combined 4,000 horses will be removed in July alone.
AWHC will be on the ground for every roundup possible. We have spent the first part of the year bringing on new field representatives who are trained on the BLM’s Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program (CAWP) and are ready to document any and all violations committed against our beloved wild horses during these roundup operations.
When our field representatives report back any abuse or mistreatment they witness, we take action. Our Government Relations team alerts our Congressional champions, our legal team reviews the documentation, and we report the mistreatment directly to you. Without AWHC’s on the ground work, the public would not know what happens to our wild horses and burros at the hands of the federal government
But we’ll be frank, funding our observation teams isn’t cheap. It costs between $2,500-$3,500 to document each roundup for 7-10 days. Further, several of these roundups will be happening simultaneously, which means we need to deploy more field representatives so that we can continue to hold the BLM accountable for its mistreatment of wild horses and burros.
Roundup season begins tomorrow and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is planning on coming for me and my herd soon. The American Wild Horse Campaign (AWHC) says that the BLM is planning to roundup nearly 2,000 of my friends and family from our home in the 2.1 million acre Triple B Complex in Eastern Nevada.
I’ll be honest, I’m scared. Helicopter roundups aren’t just cruel, they can be deadly. I’ve heard that wild horses can get stuck in traps, break their legs, or worse — get killed after the BLM chased them with helicopters. Meredith, I really don’t want to join that list. That’s why we need organizations like AWHC who fight to protect horses like me.
Powerful ranchers in Nevada hold permits to graze their animals on our lands — they want most of us gone.
AWHC says the goal of this cruel roundup is to reduce our population so that these privately-owned cattle and sheep can continue to graze within our Complex each year. The ranchers want us eliminated because then they get to graze their animals for really cheap — discounted by your tax dollars too! These powerful interests have lobbied in Washington for decades, so they hold a lot of influence, influence that hurts horses like the ones in my herd and thousands more across the West.
That all doesn’t seem very fair, and to be honest, Meredith, I’d really like to keep my whole family together on the lands we’ve called home for centuries. That’s why I’m so glad you support an organization like AWHC.
There’s been a lot going on with our precious wild horses and burros, so we wanted to share some updates with you, including a Congressman’s bold efforts to save wild horses in California, and more!
On Wednesday, the House Appropriations Committee will hold a markup of its Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Interior spending bill, which includes funding for the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro Program. The Government Relations team here at AWHC has been working hard on Capitol Hill to divert funding away from the BLM’s helicopter roundups and toward humane fertility control vaccines that keep wild horses on public lands, but we need your help!
Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) is currently circulating a sign on letter to U.S.Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S Forest Service Chief Randy Moore regarding inhumane wild horse management practices in the Devil’s Garden Plateau Wild Horse Territory in California. While Congress has passed legislation prohibiting the Forest Service from destroying healthy wild horses and burros and selling these animals for slaughter for processing into commercial products, serious concerns remain about whether sufficient measures are being taken to protect the Devil’s Garden wild horses from slaughter, including measures to screen buyers and conduct follow-up compliance inspections after sales.
By now, you have heard that the BLM is planning on removing most of the wild horses from the Piceance Herd Management Area (HMA) in Colorado beginning July 15, despite calls from state and federal officials to delay the operation pending a review. A little digging into the history of the management—or mismanagement—of this herd tells the story of exactly how we got to where we are today with the pending removal of nearly 850 wild horses.Click below to learn more!
House Appropriations language for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 is being considered on Tuesday — and we urgently need your help to ensure next year’s spending bill includes efforts to protect wild horses and burros!
We are incredibly proud of the historic steps Congress took towards reforming the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program when it passed its FY2022 omnibus spending bill earlier this year. 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.
America’s wild herds are still in danger.
The BLM is accelerating its brutal roundups of these precious animals. Just yesterday, the BLM began a bait trap removal of the Piceance Basin wild horses outside of Meeker, Colorado, a roundup that wasn’t supposed to even start until the end of August.
Once captured, these horses are sent to overcrowded holding facilities where they are vulnerable to disease, injury, and death. In Piceance, the wild horses were originally supposed to be transported to the BLM’s Cañon City corrals — the same facility where 145 wild horses died from Equine Influenza Virus earlier this year and where an ongoing deadly ‘strangles’ outbreak is still occurring. Instead, the horses will now be transported across state lines to the Axtell holding pens in Utah, which have historically been plagued with strangles.
Our Government Relations team here at AWHC is working hard on Capitol Hill to divert funding away from the BLM’s helicopter roundups in favor of humane birth control vaccines that keep wild horses on the public lands they and their families call home. 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!
A LOT has happened already this month! Today, we wanted to share with you some of the past weeks’ news including an interview by our Executive Director, Suzanne, a recap of our recent webinar, and actions you can take to help protect Utah’s wild horses from proposed roundups. Read on and see how you can help to protect these cherished animals. >>
The freedom of the wild horses of the Bible Springs Complex in Iron County, Utah is on the chopping block once again. Four wild horse herds live within the 215,000-acre public land Complex and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is seeking to reduce the population from approximately 830 to just 80 horses.
To add insult to injury — 17 of the 19 grazing allotments that overlap with this wild horse habitat are failing the BLM’s land health standards and, according to the agency: they’re failing because of livestock grazing. Yet the BLM continues to unfairly scapegoat wild horses for the impacts of private livestock. The BLM must instead redirect its focus on reducing livestock’s impact in this Complex. Please speak up for these wild mustangs and show the BLM you stand in opposition of this roundup by submitting your comments today!
Late last month, we hosted A Wild Night: A Series of Short Films — a virtual event featuring a series of documentaries on our beloved wild horses and burros! The event also featured a fascinating panel discussion with some distinguished speakers.
Didn’t have the chance to attend? Don’t worry! We recorded the event for you to watch in case you missed it. Hear from our expert panel, watch the documentaries we shared that celebrate our cherished wild herds, and learn more about our work to keep these animals in the wild where they belong at the link below!
In the wake of 145 wild horse deaths at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Cañon City Off-Range Corral, we are calling for an emergency halt to all federal wild horse and burro roundups. Our call comes after the BLM recently released internal assessments documenting widespread animal welfare violations that place thousands of federally-protected wild horses and burros at risk of disease, injury, and death.
Our Executive Director, Suzanne Roy sits down with Fox5 Las Vegas to discuss. Watch her interview here:
In less than a month, Bureau of Land Management helicopters will descend on America’s beloved wild horse herds as roundup season begins in full force. The first target? The cherished wild mustangs that call California’s Twin Peaks Herd Management Area (HMA) home.
Families will be broken apart, innocent animals will lose their freedom forever, and there will be casualties from the BLM’s brutal helicopter roundup operations. Enough is enough.
We refuse to let this tragedy occur outside of the public eye. That’s why we send observers to document as many of these roundups as possible — we must show the world what is happening to our wild horses in these remote regions of the West. We also document these roundups to hold the agencies and government contractors accountable for the animal welfare violations that are routine at every roundup.
We need all hands on deck — this fight is not just about keeping wild horses free, it’s also a fight for their very lives.Because right now, wild horses are dying in two major BLM holding facilities that are experiencing infectious disease outbreaks. Even worse – according to the agency’s own internal assessments — there are systemic animal welfare violations across multiple BLM corrals that hold thousands of captured mustangs and burros.
We wanted to share some recent news about roundups, an update on the disease outbreak in the Bureau of Land Management’s Cañon City facility, and actions you can take to help protect Colorado’s Sand Wash Basin wild horses from further danger. Read on and see how you can help to protect these cherished animals!
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) removed almost 700 wild horses from the Sand Wash Basin in September 2021 due to what the agency determined as “drought conditions and lack of forage.” The roundup was stopped due to a public outcry after 684 horses were taken.
Now, concentrated Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) use, is proposed for close to 19,000 acres in the southern part of the HMA. Please take immediate action to urge the BLM to make sure that the recreation plan for the South Sand Wash Open OHV Area protects the wild horses and their social structures, and does not detract from historic wild horse viewing opportunities!
In the wake of 145 wild horse deaths at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Cañon City Off-Range Corral, we are calling for an emergency halt to all federal wild horse and burro roundups citing recently released BLM internal assessments documenting widespread animal welfare violations that place thousands of federally-protected wild horses and burros at risk of disease, injury, and death. Read the latest here:
AWHC Program Specialist, Mary Koncel has been on-site at several wild horse and burro roundups. Watching these iconic animals being chased by helicopters, driven into trap pens, separated from their family members, then trailered off to holding pens is nothing short of senseless, inhumane, and heartbreaking.
This year, wild burros are facing an unprecedented assault on their populations, thanks to the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) mass roundup and stockpile plan.
Even worse, the agency is using helicopters instead of bait trapping to chase the animals into traps. Historically, burro helicopter roundups have been traumatic for the animals. Unlike wild horses, burros are incredibly stoic and stand their ground in the face of danger. This has led to documented instances of abuse, such as helicopter skids striking a burro, as well as abusive handling practices by BLM contractors.
AWHC sent observers to document the first three operations on the schedule, and unfortunately witnessed many issues we raised concerns about when we heard the helicopters would descend on our beloved burros. Below is a recap of each roundup, but first we need you to speak up for wild burros and call for a halt to helicopter roundups!
The Centennial, Panamint, and Slate Range Herd Areas (HA) encompass roughly 1.7 million acres of public and private land and are home to an estimated 500 wild burros. The BLM has plans to remove every wild burro from these HAs — a decision AWHC legally appealed.
AWHC had a field representative on site but was not permitted by the BLM to view any of the operations citing “safety concerns.” We did visit the burros in the wild, and checked on those recently captured in holding throughout the week. There was no shade at the facility for the burros, where temperatures right now are reaching the 90s.
The goal of the operation was to capture 490 burros, zeroing out the whole population, but the roundup concluded early with 181 captured. There was one death after a jenny (female burro) suffered a head injury, and injuries such as “rope burn” were reported.
The Sinbad Herd Management Area (HMA) encompasses 99,241 acres of public and private lands and is currently home to 328 burros. As part of a 14-year-old plan, the BLM set the Appropriate Management Level (AML) for these burros to a mere 50-70 animals.
AWHC had field representatives on the ground for the majority of the operation. We witnessed several violations of the Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program including contractors reportedly leaving captured burros on stock trailers for potentially hours with no visible access to water and excessive roping, which led to a burro being knocked to the ground.
This roundup ended early, only capturing 153 wild burros instead of the BLM’s goal of approximately 300. There was one death, after a 7-year-old burro fell into a 5 foot crevice while being pursued by a wrangler. His body was left on the range, where AWHC observers found him the day after he was euthanized.
The Black Mountain HMA encompasses over 1 million acres of land in northwestern Arizona. This vast habitat is home to — according to BLM estimates — 2,900 wild burros, making these burros one of the largest and most genetically healthy burro populations in the country. The BLM planned to remove approximately 1,080 wild burros.
AWHC had field representatives on the ground, but the public observation was extremely limited. The BLM kept us over ~300 yards from the trap site on flat ground and the contractor’s trailers blocked our view of the captured burros in the trap. From the little we could see, burros were chased for long distances and seemed stressed. One burro even crashed into a gate panel and one burro entered the trap, obviously distraught and from what we could see, attempted to charge the wranglers. The BLM even granted the contractors permission to use electric cattle prods on several animals while loading them onto trailers. But the abuse didn’t stop there.
The BLM’s own Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program Assessment reported that the 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.” Despite the violations, the roundup continued on for several weeks. The operation concluded on May 25, with 1,109 burros captured.
Over the past several weeks, we’ve been keeping a close eye on the deadly infectious disease outbreak occurring at the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Cañon City facility in Colorado — and keeping you updated along the way.
By now, the Equine Influenza Virus (EIV) has killed at least 144 horses at the facility since April 23.
Yesterday, Colorado Governor Jared Polis took necessary action when he released a statement calling for a halt to the Piceance wild horse roundup planned for this summer while an investigation into the BLM’s Cañon City facility and the welfare of it’s warehoused horses is conducted.
“We have long advocated for the health, safety, and wellbeing of Colorado’s wild horses, and will continue to do so as we seek a humane future for our mustangs.” – Gov. Jared Polis.
EIV — a virus that is routinely vaccinated against in the equine world — is included in the BLM’s vaccine regiment for captured animals. And yet,all of the 144 deceased wild horses were either unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated against EIV, despite being rounded up late last summer and in the BLM’s care for nearly 10 months.
The crisis only confirms what we already know — our beloved wild horses are safest in the wild. Rounding up horses and confining them in cramped pens where they are susceptible to deadly diseases like EIV is unacceptable, especially when there is humane, scientifically-proven birth control readily available as an alternative to removals.
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.
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.
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:
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!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
