American Wild Horse Campaign

Advocacy & education: building a national movementin response to the federal government's unprecedented removal of more than 20,000 Wild horses and burros from their habitats, the organization initiated a national advertising and publicity Campaign titled "there's a better way." This Campaign focused on the cruelty of helicopter roundups and mass confinement of Wild horses and burros and the need for policies to protect these national symbols of freedom. The impact was measurable: the Campaign reached half a million new individuals, grew the organization's advocacy base by tens of thousands of citizens, and generated 700,000 calls, emails, and text messages to federal agencies. The outcomes were evident: an early halt to a Colorado roundup, congressional intervention due to Wild Horse deaths, and mounting pressure from state and federal lawmakers on the agencies responsible for managing Wild horses and burros to implement reforms.

Government relations: igniting Wild Horse protection policyin collaboration with the u.s. house natural resources committee staff, the organization drafted the Wild free-roaming horses and burros protection act of 2022, introduced by u.s. reps. raul grijalva, david schweikert, dina titus, joe neguse, brian fitzpatrick, and steve cohen. This bipartisan legislation aims to reinstate protections for Wild horses and burros, prohibiting slaughter, reducing helicopter roundups, and terminating the blm's cash incentive adoption program. Awhc also successfully lobbied for dedicated funding in the fiscal year 2023 consolidated appropriations act for humane fertility control as an alternative to roundups and for other necessary reforms. Furthermore, we engaged u.s. rep. ted lieu and over three dozen congressional colleagues in addressing the mismanagement of Wild horses in California by the u.s. forest service. These congress members urged the forest service to establish comprehensive animal welfare standards and posed questions about agency safeguards to prevent these animals from entering the slaughter pipeline.in addition, the organization is utilizing legal rulemaking processes to advance legal protection of Wild horses and burros, including work conducted through a partnership with the harvard law animal law program to strengthen and codify the blm's comprehensive animal welfare program guidelines as enforceable regulations.

Field programs: conservation through humane managementour world-leading Virginia range Horse fertility control program continued to deliver strong results in 2022, reducing the foaling rate by 62% in less than four years. This initiative effectively reduced population sizes without removals in critical areas facing encroaching development, addressing public safety concerns. We expanded our fertility control efforts to Utah, collaborating with the bureau of land management and a ranching permittee in the cedar mountain herd management area. The organization's field representative documented and individually identified over 500 cedar mountain Wild horses, developing plans for habitat improvement and a fertility control program to be implemented in 2023. These on-range programs are creating models for collaboration for humane and fiscally responsible Wild Horse management.

Communications: keeping the Wild horses and burros' plight in the public eyein 2022, the organization continued as the leading voice in Wild Horse and burro advocacy for the media. Throughout the year, the organization was an expert voice included in 1,200 national and regional news reports. This extensive coverage included in-depth examinations of Colorado roundups by distinguished outlets such as cbs news and Colorado politics. We were also featured in an episode of tbs' national news satire program, full frontal with samantha bee. The organization met with journalists from national geographic to showcase humane and sustainable Wild Horse management on Nevada's Virginia range. We also secured notable news coverage on prestigious platforms like cnn, cbs, and the Washington post, to name just a few.through the organization's roundup observation program, we generated daily reports with photographs and video documenting the majority of federal capture operations in western states. These reports led to regional and national news coverage of the tragic and preventable Wild Horse and burro deaths that are the inevitable result of helicopter roundups and confinement in holding facilities. This work brought the inhumane nature of federal Wild Horse management to the forefront, generating growing support for reform and true protection of these cherished symbols of our nation's heritage.rescue: saving livesthe primary focus of the organization's work is keeping Wild horses Wild, but we are often called upon to help horses and burros who are no longer free. In 2021, the organization provided direct financial assistance for the rescue of dozens of mustangs and burros from slaughter, providing them a lifeline to a safer future. Our rescue fund played a vital role in supporting rescue organizations by subsidizing the purchase of winter hay and training clinics. On the Virginia range, our foal rescue grant fund continued to make a difference, offering essential foal kits for rescuers to provide life-saving emergency care to vulnerable Wild foals. Furthermore, we extended our support to cover critical veterinary and supportive care expenses for orphaned Virginia range foals.science: innovating, researching, documenting in 2022, the organization added a conservation biologist to our staff and formed an internal science committee to guide our scientific work. Projects underway include data analysis and publication of our Virginia range fertility control program data in conjunction with the university of pretoria school of veterinary medicine; development of an ai-driven Horse identification system to improve options for the delivery of fertility control vaccines to Wild herds, and range restoration projects in conjunction with our flagship Nevada.