Talking Points: Tell the BLM to Stop Using Helicopters to Round Up Wild Horses and Burros

On May 6, 2025 from 1-3 pm MST the Bureau of Land Management is hosting its legally mandated virtual meeting on the use of helicopters and other motorized vehicles in wild horse and burro management. These meetings provide an important opportunity for public input into the BLM's use of motorized vehicles during roundups and into the Wild Horse and Burro Program.

If you’re interested in providing virtual comments on the day of the meeting, please register here by May 5, 2025!

Register to speak at the meeting!

To help you draft your testimony, check out our talking points below

Opposition to Helicopter Roundups

• I strongly oppose the BLM’s continued use of helicopters to round up wild horses and burros.
  
  
• These roundups are inhumane, ineffective, and a waste of taxpayer dollars.
  
  
• Over 100,000 Americans have already spoken out against them in a Halt The Helicopters petition
  
  

Documented Cruelty

• Wild horses—including foals, pregnant mares, and older animals—are chased for miles across rugged, often dangerous  terrain.
  
  
• Many suffer broken legs, fractured necks, or die from exhaustion.
  
  
• In 2024, a contractor was caught on video kicking a downed horse in the head. This is abuse, not management.
  
  

Taxpayer Waste

• Helicopter roundups cost millions of dollars each year.
  
  
• Despite removing over 16,000 animals last year, the population dropped by fewer than 400—clearly an ineffective strategy.
  
  
• The system is broken and fiscally irresponsible.
  
  

Science Doesn’t Support Removals

• The 2013 National Academy of Sciences report found that mass removals disrupt herd dynamics and can actually increase reproduction rates.
  
  
• The BLM’s roundup-heavy strategy is not working—it’s backfiring.
  
  

There Is a Better Way

• Fertility control is safe, humane, and cost-effective.
  
  
• It keeps wild horses and burros on the range and reduces the need for removals.
  
  
• Yet the BLM dedicates less than 4% of its program budget to this solution. That must change.
  
  

Transparency Is the Bare Minimum

• If helicopters are still used, the BLM must require cameras on all helicopters, bait traps, and holding facilities.
  
  
• Recordings should be made publicly available to ensure transparency and accountability.
  
  

Final Message

• The public has spoken. It’s time for the BLM to adopt a modern, humane, and fiscally responsible approach to wild horse and burro management.