Campaign to Conservation: A New Era for Wild Horse Protection

Campaign to Conservation

Since our inception, American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) has engaged in a head-to-head campaign against federal government and commercial interests to safeguard the majestic wild horses and burros roaming free on our western public lands.

AWHC is more than a campaign

Over the course of more than a decade, in addition to demanding change and building a grassroots movement, we have been setting the standard for a new wild horse and burro conservation model.

We have created the first-ever land trust dedicated to wild horse and burro habitat conservation, securing 3,300 acres in Fish Springs, Nevada, as the inaugural project for this new approach.

Habitat improvement on a much more significant scale is our long-term sustainability goal. In the meantime, there are 62,000 wild horses and burros crammed into federal holding facilities who will be joined this year by 20,000 more, after a relentless, terrifying helicopter roundup campaign by the federal government.

Fertility control is the in-the-wild conservation solution that addresses the immediate danger to wild horses and burros. That is why we created the world’s leading wild horse fertility control initiative, at Virginia Range in Nevada, proving a new science-based protection model that is humane, cost-effective, and scalable.

We’ve partnered with local organizations to build fertility control programs in BLM Herd Management Areas in northwestern Nevada and we are expanding to Utah, working collaboratively with on-range partners to prove darting a large, very wild herd is feasible.

This is the critical step in persuading Congress that true in-the-wild conservation is the viable, scalable alternative to helicopter roundups and the only solution that is backed by science and sound fiscal policy.

As ancient DNA research solidifies the wild horse as a native North American wildlife species, and cutting-edge field studies debunk entrenched narratives portraying wild horses and burros as invasive by illuminating their crucial roles in western ecosystems, the conversation about their protection is about to change.

AWHC is more than a campaign

On March 1 - National Horse Protection Day - we become American Wild Horse Conservation, reflecting our commitment to setting the standard for wild horse and burro conservation in the West.

Our first act as American Wild Horse Conservation is to lead a nationwide Day of Action telling Congress to ban cruel and costly helicopter roundups by co-sponsoring the Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act, H.R. 6635, led by Nevada’s US Rep. Dina Titus, and to support Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations language to require the BLM to fund expansion of humane fertility control programs.

We hope you will join us in this nationwide effort to #HaltTheHelicopters and engage your networks to play their part in protecting the nation’s wild horses and burros.

I am profoundly grateful to all the supporters who have brought us to this pivotal point. Working together, we will realize our shared commitment to safeguard America's promise to wild horses and burros by ensuring their freedom and protection on our western public lands.

With Gratitude,

Suzanne Roy
Executive Director
American Wild Horse Conservation