It’s Time to Follow the Law: Restore Balance on America’s Public Lands

Western Justice stands with the 120+ wildlife, conservation, and land management organizations, representing millions of Americans, who are urging our federal leaders to uphold the law and restore ecological balance on our public lands. The health of these lands, and the survival of our native wildlife, depend on it.

For over 50 years, the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act has stood as a directive to maintain a “thriving natural ecological balance” on federally managed rangelands. Yet, for decades, Congress has inserted policy “riders” into appropriations bills that block the Act’s enforcement, stripping land managers of the tools necessary to follow the law and protect our lands, wildlife, and water resources.

We are now well beyond a crisis. Wild horse and burro populations are nearly three times what the land can sustain, and the burden on habitat, forage, and water is devastating to wildlife, livestock, and even the horses themselves. This is not compassion. This is a collapse.

More than 67,000 wild horses and burros are warehoused in federal holding facilities at a taxpayer cost of over $100 million annually. This amounts to over 70% of the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program budget. It is an unsustainable model.

Western Justice calls on Congress to:

1. Remove the destructive “rider” that blocks implementation of the 1971 Act as written.

2. Return authority to BLM and the Forest Service to reduce herd numbers through lawful and humane methods.

3. Uphold science-based management practices, including fertility control and proper removal of excess animals.

4. Protect our natural resources, ranching communities, and wildlife before it’s too late.

Time is of the essence. Congressional inaction has already led to catastrophic die-offs of horses, elk, antelope, and big- game during recent droughts and winters. The land can’t wait any longer and neither can we.

TAKE ACTION TODAY:

*Email the House Appropriations Committee: appropriations.house.gov

*Contact your Senators and Representatives.

*Tell them: “I support removing the appropriations rider and enforcing the 1971 Wild Horse and Burro Act as written.”

Let’s get back to science, sustainability, and the rule of law.