Comprehensive Media Kit for Wild Horse Conservation

The American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) offers a comprehensive media kit to support the protection of wild horses and burros on public lands. This kit includes informational handouts, imagery, and detailed reports on various issues affecting wild horses, such as public lands grazing and legislative debates. Explore the resources below to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and efforts in wild horse conservation.

Overview

• Informational handout
• Myths and Facts

Imagery & Video

• Images Please notify AWHC before use. Photo credit to Kimerlee Curyl Photography
• Video clips Please notify AWHC before use. Video Credit to AWHC.

2018 Budget Debate

• Overview

BLM "Appropriate" Management Level = Extinction

• 25,000 wild horses and burros existed in 1971 when Congress passed a law to protect them because they were "fast disappearing." (See this article and the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act for verification.)
• BLM's "appropriate" management level is 17,000-26,700 horses, which is considered an extinction level. (See "on range population estimates" at this link and this link.)

Livestock vs. Horses

• BLM manages 245 million acres of public land in the U.S.
• Livestock graze on 155 million acres
• Horses present on 27 million (17%) of the BLM acres grazed by livestock.
• Since 1971, BLM has reduced wild horse habitat by "zeroing out" eliminating horses from 22.2 million acres.
• More than three-quarters of forage in wild horse habitat is allocated to private livestock instead of federally protected wild horses. (See email from BLM Wild Horse Specialist, also NBC News "Cruel or Necessary: The True Cost of Wild Horse Roundups")

Information on Public Lands Livestock Grazing

• Congressional Research Service - Grazing Fees Report (2016)
• Center for Biological Diversity: Costs and Consequences: The Real Price of Grazing on Public Lands
• Public Employees for Environmental Employees: BLM Scapegoating Wild Horses
• Center for Investigative Reporting: Ranchers denied drought while collecting drought subsidies
• Daily Pitchfork: Forbes Billionaires Top List of U.S. Welfare Ranchers

Polling: Public Opposition to Horse Slaughter

• 2017 national poll: 80% of Americans oppose slaughtering and killing wild horses.
• 2017 Similar polls in NV, UT, CA and NJ.
• 2018 Virginia Range Polling Results: 86% of Nevadans oppose mustang slaughter/killing
• Previous polls on horse slaughter and wild horse protection also show strong support for protection and opposition to slaughter.
• Poll showing only 29% of Americans want public lands available for livestock grazing.

Wild Horses and Slaughter

• Propublica: "All the Missing Horses: What Happened to the Wild Horses Tom Davis Bought from the Government?"
• Denver Post: Federal Report: Colorado Wild Horse Buyer Sold Mustangs for Slaughter

National Academy of Sciences Report

• 2013 Report, requested and paid for by the BLM, delivered a scathing rebuke of the BLM's wild horse and burro program.
• The NAS Report
• Key Findings of the NAS Report

Office of Inspector General Reports

• The Bureau of Land Management's Wild Horse Program is not Maximizing Efficiencies or Complying with Federal Regulations, October 2016
• Investigative Report of Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse Buyer, October 2015

In-Depth Media Reports

• TheAtlantic.com in-depth series by Andrew Cohen on wild horse issues.
• Cruel or Necessary? The True Cost of Wild Horse Roundups NBC News