U.S. House Committee Advances Wild Horse Friendly Language to House Floor

Language cutsBLMfunding, prohibits slaughter, allocates up to $11 million for and prioritizes humanefertility controlvaccines, but allows for permanent sterilization.

(WASHINGTON D.C., June 9, 2024) – Today, American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC) commends the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations for advancing bipartisan language in itsFiscal Year (FY) 2025 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies funding billand its accompanying report, which continues to call for protecting wild horses and burros from slaughter, and other reforms to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)’s Wild Horse and Burro Program. The Committee maintained language directing as much as $11 million of the agency’s budget towards prioritizing immunocontraceptivefertility controlvaccines when appropriate.

The measure allocated $143,000,000 to fund the Bureau of Land Management’sWild Horse and Burro Program, which is 16% less than theBLM’s request for Fiscal Year 2025 and represents a 4% overall cut in funding to the program’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget. It also continues to call for an increase in public partnerships with military veterans and wild horse organizations.

This is the third consecutive year Congress has directed theBLMto invest in humanefertility controlvaccine programs. Despite this, historically, theBLMhas spent less than 1% of its budget on these critical initiatives. While the language allows for the use of funds for permanent sterilization, the House did not approve theBLM’s budget request for a $15 millionpermanent sterilization program.

AWHC remains firmly opposed to the use of permanent sterilants forwild horse managementand highlights thesuccess of its humane reversible fertility control programon Nevada’s Virginia Range as an alternative. In the last six months, AWHC administered 1,034 treatments to wild mares. That’s 215 more treatments than theBLMdelivered across its entire program in FY 2023.

“TheBLMmust substantially invest in humane, scientifically-backed solutions that keep wild horses and burros in the wild, helping to end the ongoing cycle of removing and confining horses in overcrowded holding facilities, saving millions of taxpayer dollars in the process,” said Suzanne Roy, executive director of AWHC. “We are grateful for the leadership of Reps. Titus, Ciscomani, Schweikert, Cohen, and thesupport of more than 70 other bipartisan Membersto secure a better future for America’s wild herds. We look forward to continuing to work withCongressto further strengthen wild horse and burro protections in the FY25 appropriations bill.

The agency is currently undergoing its summer roundup campaign and over the next several months will add nearly 10,000 more wild horses and burros to the 64,000 already confined in federal holding facilities.

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About American Wild Horse Conservation:

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 horsefertility controlprogram in the world through a partnership with the State of Nevada for wild horses that live in the Virginia Range near Reno.