Actress Katherine Heigl Urges Congress to Halt Wild Horse Roundup

WASHINGTON, DC (June 3, 2021)-- Today, actress and Utah resident Katherine Heigl (Grey’s Anatomy, Firefly Lane) sent letters to the U.S. Senate and House, urgingCongressto take action to protect the famous Onaqui wild horse population in Utah. The letters askCongressto urge the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to reconsider its plan to capture and remove most of the herd, which is supposed to be federally protected. Instead, Heigl says, theBLMshould pursue a humane management proposal submitted by the American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) and the conservation organization Western Watersheds Project (WWP).

As early as July 12, theBLMwill begin ahelicopter roundup and removalof over 80 percent of the wild horses from the Onaqui Mountain Herd Management Area (HMA) just southwest of Salt Lake City. The herd, which is currently managed on public lands usingfertility control, is historically and culturally significant and is visited by tourists from all over the world.

“I stand with the overwhelming majority of Americans who support wild horse protection and oppose theBLM’s continuing “business as usual” practice of mass roundups and stockpiling of wild horses in off-range corrals for the rest of their lives,” said Heigl, co-founder of the animal advocacy foundation Jason Debus Heigl Foundation, in the letter. The actress also pointed to a recentNew York Times piecewhich shows thatmustangsremoved from the range are ending up at slaughter.

“The American Wild Horse Conservation is grateful to Katherine for speaking up to save the iconic Onaqui wild mustangs, who are threatened by theBLM’s inhumane mass roundup and removal plan set to begin next month,” said Brieanah Schwartz, Director of Policy and Litigation for the AWHC. “It’s time for the Biden Administration to reject the previous Administration’s broken and fiscally-wreckless approach to wild horse management and instead embrace humane alternatives that keep these cherished animals healthy, wild and free on our Westernpublic lands.”

In April, the AWHC and WWP submitted a proposal for the management of the Onaqui horses, focusing on the need to allow time -- just three more years -- for the PZP fertility program currently in place in the Onaqui HMA to stabilize population growth. The plan also emphasized the need forBLMto give wild horses a more equitable share of resources by decreasing commercial livestock grazing in their habitat, and asked that the entire Herd Management Area be open and accessible to the wild horses.

“Please join me and my fellow Americans in opposing theBLMplan to roundup and remove the majority of wild horses from the Onaqui HMA in Utah and direct the agency to pursue the reasonable, humane and fiscally responsible alternative that is on the table,” concluded Heigl in the letters toCongress.

Last week, Heigl joined the fight against the pending Onaqui roundup by posting a call to action to her more than 11 million followers on social media directed to the AWHC website, SaveOnaqui.com

TheAmerican Wild Horse Conservation(formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) is the nation’s leading wild horse protection organization, with more than 700,000 supporters and followers nationwide. AWHC is dedicated to preserving the American wild horse and burros in viable, free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage. In addition to advocating for the protection and preservation of America’s wild herds, AWHC implements the largest wild horsefertility controlprogram in the world through a partnership with the State of Nevada for wild horses that live in the Virginia Range near Reno.