Press Conference with U.S. Congressman to Demand Reform of BLM Wild Horse Roundup Program

Actress Wendie Malick and U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) to headline event at controversialBLMfacility 91 days after independent review tells agency to change course.

RENO, Nevada (September 3, 2013) — The American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign), a national coalition, and its founding organization, Return to Freedom (RTF), will hold a press conference on Tuesday, Sept. 4, at the Palomino Valley National Adoption Center near Reno, Nevada, to spotlight the need for reforms to the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM)wild horse and burro program.

Event Details

What:Press Conference with U.S Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Actress Wendie Malick, Neda DeMayo (RTF), and Deniz Bolbol (AWHC)

Where:BLMPalomino Valley Center (PVC) Wild Horse Holding Facility, 20 miles north of Sparks, NV on the Pyramid Highway (See directions below.)

When:Wednesday, September 4, 2013, 2:45 pm (Rep. Grijalva will tour the PVC facility at 2 pm, followed by the press conference.)

Background

The Palomino facility, where over 1,700 captured wild horses are stockpiled, dramatically illustrates the failures of the federal wild horse program. The horses, once living wild and free, were removed frompublic landsinroundupsand are now held in feedlot conditions – sometimes for years – at a cost to taxpayers of $5.75 per horse per day.

In all, 50,000 wild horses are held at facilities like these across the country, costing taxpayers at least $120,000 a day.

The press conference comes 91 days after the release of ascathing review of the BLM’s program by the National Academy of Sciences(NAS). After a nearly two-year investigation that theBLMitself commissioned and funded, the NAS warned that continuing “business as usual” for the program would be "expensive and unproductive for theBLMand the public it serves." The NAS recommended thatBLMmanage wild horses on the range with fertility control instead of continuing to round up and stockpile them en masse. Despite these findings, theBLMannounced plans in July to remove 1,300 wild horses from rangelands across the West before September.

In May, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell told theDenver Postthat she would look to the NAS report to guide her approach to reforming theBLMprogram. Since then, the only public statement Jewell has made about the NAS report came during Congressional testimony on July 18 in which she said the Interior Department andBLMare “reviewing the report in detail.”

“The NAS has provided Secretary Jewell with a clear roadmap for a fiscally responsible and transparent program that will ensure our wild horses and burros remain on their rangelands,” said DeMayo. “We are grateful to Rep. Grijalva for his leadership on this issue, as only pressure fromCongressand the Administration will bring necessary changes to the federal wild horse program. TheBLMhas proven time and time again that it is not an agency that is capable of reforming itself.”

In June, Malick, Grijalva, AWHC, and RTF joined 30,000 Americans — including 30 members ofCongressand celebrities — to call on Jewell to implement the NAS recommendations.

Additionally, a recentpollon the issue showed that 72 percent of Americans support protecting wild horses and burros, and that support cuts across party and gender lines.

Directions to the Press Conference

The PVC facility is located approximately 20 miles north of Reno/Sparks. From Interstate 80, take Exit 18 (Pyramid Way/State Road 445) – PVC is north about 20 miles. Turn east on Ironwood Road to reach the facility.

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