American Wild Horse Conservation Responds to Steve Pearce Nomination for BLM Director

Leading wild horse advocacy organization stands ready to work with leadership to advance humane, cost-effective management 

WASHINGTON D.C., (November 7, 2025) – American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC), the nation's leading wild horse protection organization representing over 800,000 supporters, issued the following statement regarding the nomination of Steve Pearce to serve as Director of the Bureau of Land Management:

"American Wild Horse Conservation is reviewing the nomination of Steve Pearce for BLM Director with careful attention to the urgent policy challenges facing wild horse and burro management on our public lands," said Tracy Wilson, AWHC’s Nevada Conservation Director. "The next director will inherit a program that costs taxpayers over $100 million annually yet fails to achieve sustainable outcomes for wild horses or the landscapes they inhabit."

AWHC calls on BLM leadership to follow science and the recommendations of its own Advisory Board to reform its costly and cruel wild horse and burro program. The organization urges the agency to prioritize fertility control and on-the-range management over the mass roundups and removals that have long dominated the program

Current management practices are economically unsustainable, with the majority of BLM's Wild Horse and Burro Program budget consumed by warehousing thousands of horses in off-range facilities rather than managing them humanely in the wild.

AWHC’s peer-reviewed fertility control programs have demonstrated the feasibility of a new model—one that uses fertility control to effectively manage large wild horse populations across expansive habitats.

"With strong, bipartisan Congressional support, we've achieved significant victories, including securing $11 million for humane management in annual appropriations, but these efforts must become standard practice, not exceptions," Wilson continued. "We remain committed to working constructively with BLM leadership to advance management solutions that honor the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act while serving taxpayers and western communities."

The organization indicated it looks forward to engaging with Mr. Pearce on these critical policy priorities should his nomination advance.