Congress Invests Up To $11 Million in Fertility Control, Expects BLM to Scale Humane Management

Appropriations Bill Preserves Ban on Slaughter, Backs Shift Toward On-Range Management

(WASHINGTON D.C., January 16, 2026)  –  American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC) welcomes the Interior Appropriations bill passed by both the House and the Senate, which preserves protections against slaughter and delivers up to $11 million for immunocontraceptive vaccines. 

The bill expresses clear Congressional intent for the Bureau of Land Management to invest substantially in humane, in-the-wild management of America’s wild horses and burros. 

"Congress has invested up to $11 million and set clear expectations for its use,” said Patricia Miller, Board Chair for AWHC. "More wild horses are warehoused in holding than running free on public lands. Fertility control is a proven, cost-effective solution. It is time for BLM to finally implement it at scale."

Key provisions include:

• Up to $11 million exclusively for immunocontraceptive vaccines – enabling scaled up fertility control implementation
• Committee report language signaling expectation in commensurate increase in fertility control programs
• Preservation of the slaughter ban – protecting wild horses and burros from commercial exploitation
• Up to $11 million is for immunocontraceptive vaccines, not permanent surgical sterilization 

The Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board has repeatedly recommended fertility control. Congress has now funded it with clear expectations for expanded use. Peer-reviewed science confirms immunocontraceptive vaccines like PZP are safe, effective, and humane.

"Every helicopter roundup that pushes more horses into holding costs taxpayers millions while the agency continues to ignore the science that shows there’s a better way,” said Miller. “The Virginia Range model we've pioneered proves fertility control works at scale."

AWHC's Virginia Range program manages more than 3,000 wild horses through fertility control vaccines—demonstrating that humane, on-range management is both feasible and effective. The program has stabilized population growth while keeping horses free in their natural habitat at a fraction of the cost of roundup and removal.

“Wild horses are federally protected icons of the American landscape—not an inconvenience to be erased,” said Miller. “The Bureau of Land Management has an opportunity, and an obligation, to lead with conservation rather than removal”

American Wild Horse Conservation calls on BLM to immediately develop comprehensive fertility control plans for Herd Management Areas nationwide and halt unnecessary roundups that continue feeding an unsustainable holding system.

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About American Wild Horse Conservation

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American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC) is the nation's leading nonprofit wild horse conservation 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 horse fertility control program in the world through a partnership with the State of Nevada for wild horses that live in the Virginia Range near Reno.

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