Record Number of Congressional Representatives Call for Humane Wild Horse Management in FY 2026 Legislation

Record Number of Congressional Representatives Call for Humane Wild Horse Management in FY 2026 Legislation

(WASHINGTON, D.C., May 21, 2025): Today, American Wild Horse Conservation commends Representative Dina Titus (D-NV) for leading the bipartisan effort calling for humane wild horse management in the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) House Appropriations legislation. This effort, supported by 83 representatives, the highest number ever, signals a resolute call for change within the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Wild Horse and Burro Program.

The letter, submitted to the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, requests language in FY26 appropriations legislation requiring the BLM to spend at least 10% of the $140+-million-dollar Wild Horse and Burro Program budget to implement humane fertility control in at least five additional Herd Management Areas (HMAs). 

The record level of support follows the recent launch of the bipartisan Wild Horse Caucus, co-chaired by Reps. Titus, Ciscomani, Cohen, and Schweikert and a letter sent to Secretary Burgum by Reps. Buchanan, Schweikert, Ciscomani and Fitzpatrick urging program reform and the humane treatment of America’s wild horses and burros.

“Nevada is home to more wild horses than any state in the country,” said Congresswoman Dina Titus. “I am urging the House Appropriations Committee to continue supporting our horses and burros on public lands. We must implement more humane and cost-effective practices to protect these beloved icons of the West.”

“This record support from Congress is a clear signal that lawmakers are demanding change,” said Suzanne Roy, executive director of American Wild Horse Conservation. “The BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program is cruel to the animals and costly to taxpayers. We’re grateful for Rep. Titus’ leadership in pushing for commonsense, in-the-wild management solutions that protect these iconic animals where they belong, on our public lands.”

The requested language would also:

• Prohibit the use of funds for ovariectomy procedures
• Direct studies considering humane alternatives to the use of helicopters and manned fixed-wing aircraft
• Stop cash incentive payments for adoptions
• Identify HMAs and Herd Areas that could be redesignated for relocating horses as an alternative to off-range holding
• Maintain the prohibition on the sale or adoption of healthy wild horses and burros that results in their destruction.

“On this year's National Horse Protection Day, more than 100,000 people joined our call to Halt the Helicopters and end the BLM’s cruel and costly cycle,” said Roy. “The public is demanding humane, science-based solutions and Congress is clearly listening.”

For the last two years, Congress has directed the BLM to spend up to $11 million on the implementation of humane fertility control programs, yet the agency continues to round up and remove wild horses en masse.

In FY25, the BLM plans to round up and remove over 10,000 more wild equines, and administer fertility control to a mere 1,139 females, a target goal less than FY24’s 1,300 goal.

The BLM’s own Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board strongly recommended prioritizing humane, in-the-wild fertility control in its 2025 recommendations, noting that there are 45 HMAs that are at or close to AML where the agency should implement fertility control now, rather than waiting to hit federal population targets.

A peer-reviewed study published in the journal Vaccines last year affirms the feasibility and efficacy of fertility control programs on large wild horse populations in expansive habitats. The study, based on four years of data from AWHC’s humane fertility control program in Nevada’s Virginia Range, concluded that “[t]his method of immunocontraception was associated with providing an effective, humane, publicly acceptable, and practical alternative to the previous reliance on lethal, logistically demanding, or inhumane control methods.”

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‍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 horse fertility control program in the world through a partnership with the State of Nevada for wild horses that live in the Virginia Range near Reno.

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Photo by PhotoAdvocacy