2014 'Year of the Horse' - AWHC Achievements
2014 'Year of the Horse' - AWHC Achievements
The year 2014 marked significant progress for the American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) in its mission to protect wild horses and burros. From legal victories to rescue operations and policy influence, AWHC made strides in ensuring the safety and freedom of these majestic animals. This article highlights the key achievements of AWHC during this pivotal year.
1. Giving Wild Horses and Burros a Powerful Voice in Federal Court
We are challenging, through two lawsuits, the unprecedented Bureau of Land Management (BLM) wipeout of wild horses in Wyoming and the U.S. Forest Service’s attempts to reduce the size of the habitat for wild horses in California. Both actions are being implemented to appease area ranchers who don’t want to share the range with wild horses, despite their federal protections. At the same time, federal courts in Nevada and Utah have recognized our right to intervene in lawsuits filed by ranchers seeking the removal of thousands of wild horses and burros from public lands and the sale for slaughter of wild horses stockpiled in holding facilities. We are actively defending wild horses in both of these cases by seeking dismissal of the ranchers’ spurious legal actions.
2. Saving Virginia Range Mustangs
We helped save over 70 of these historic wild horses from slaughter after they were captured and removed by the Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDA). A cooperative agreement brokered by AWHC with the NDA and signed by our parent organization, Return to Freedom, allows us to purchase captured horses directly from the state, preventing them from being sold at a livestock auction. Thanks to the generosity of AWHC supporters, we have been able to purchase, transport, and place dozens of Virginia Range horses in forever homes. Blondie, the stallion, is the leader of one of the many bands that we rescued this year and saved from the slaughter auction. In many cases, we were able to find placements that kept these wild horse families together.
3. Keeping Wild Horses Wild
In what will be the largest-scale humane management project for wild horses ever, we are close to finalizing with the state of Nevada a second cooperative agreement that will allow us to work with our local coalition partners to implement humane management of the Virginia Range wild horse population, which ranges on private, state, and local lands in and around Reno. The agreement will allow us to implement birth control, diversionary feeding, fencing, and other measures to control population numbers, mitigate horse/human conflicts, improve public safety, and keep the horses out of harm's way. The goal is, whenever possible, to prevent their capture and removal from their homes on the range.
Turning around what could have been a disaster for dozens of wild horses and the BLM, we’re working with the local community in Gardnerville, Nevada where we helped negotiate a pilot program with the BLM to stop the planned removal of the Fish Springs horses outside the Pine Nut Herd Management Area (HMA). Instead of fighting the BLM, we’re working cooperatively with the agency to manage these beloved horses on the range with humane birth control. This pilot program provides a model for public/private partnership between local communities and the BLM for the humane management and preservation of wild horses.
4. Influencing Federal Policy
This year we reviewed, created alerts for, and submitted detailed comments on scores of federal environmental assessments and policy initiatives affecting wild horses and burros. We are the only entity out there that is reviewing the majority of grazing, energy development, mining, and other proposed activities that have the potential to affect wild horses and burros. Collectively we submitted an impressive 354,614 public comments on these initiatives. While we don’t always see an immediate impact, we are building a strong public record for protecting wild horses and burros that will play a critical role in legislation, litigation, and policy challenges down the line.
5. Growing the Grassroots
Since 2010, our ranks have increased by 60 fold -- and our grassroots supporter base is growing stronger every day. Only the power of the people can defeat the powerful commercial interests that want to see our wild horses and burros gone from the Western landscape. We are working steadily toward building the critical mass necessary to prevent government agencies and legislators from ignoring our wild horses and burros...and us!