Hello and Happy Monday to everyone!
Mare Dolly is the featured horse in today’s blog. Dolly was born in 2006 and is still living wild and free in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Medora, ND. Dolly is an iconic mare in this herd and is a fan favorite for sure!
We are starting the week off with some good news!
The Interior Department Appropriations Bill has been submitted! It will be marked up tomorrow. There have been concerns about this particular bill supporting horses going to slaughter. Advocates have been anxiously awaiting this bill to see what the language is.
CURRRENTLY – the bill contains the slaughter ban and rejects the expansion of transfer authority. Please note that this bill has to pass the House AND the Senate. You can watch the markup of this bill on the committee’s website tomorrow here: https://appropriations.house.gov/schedule/markups/subcommittee-markup-fiscal-year-2026-interior-environment-and-related-agencies-0
This is VERY good news and something I know we and other wild horse advocates will be watching closely to make sure this language stays in the final version of this bill!
You may remember that Congresswoman Diane Titus recently created the Wild Horse Caucus. Last Thursday, Representative Titus put out the following press release: https://titus.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=5806
From the press release:
Today Representative Dina Titus, a Co-Chair of the Congressional Wild Horse Caucus, reintroduced the bipartisan Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act of 2025, along with Reps. Steve Cohen (D-TN) and Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ).
In efforts to control equine populations, the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is currently directed to “humanely capture” wild free-roaming horses and burros and set them up for adoption. To assist in the roundup, or “gathering”, of wild horses and burros, the BLM contracts directly with private enterprises, including helicopter companies, to pursue equines over long distances, creating situations that can be frightening and even deadly to the animals.
These roundup practices also come at a steep cost to taxpayers. In the past five years (2020-2024), at least $36.7 million has been spent on roundups, including over $6 million paid to helicopter roundup contractors in fiscal year 2022 alone. Scientific research has shown that more humane and cost-effective alternatives, like fertility control, are equally effective in controlling equine populations. The BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program, however, currently spends less than four percent of its budget on these methods. Rep. Titus’s Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act of 2025 would more effectively advance the BLM’s directive to humanely capture horses while providing significant savings for taxpayers.
“Nevada is home to more wild horses than any other state in our country. Tragically, these animals are subjected to taxpayer-funded helicopter roundups and removals that are all too often costly, ineffective, and inhumane,” said Rep. Titus, a Co-Chair of the Congressional Wild Horse Caucus. “My legislation would eliminate the use of helicopters in BLM wild horse gathers and require a report to explore the benefits of alternative methods for humanely gathering horses and the workforce opportunities for traditional cowboys. I am proud to introduce this bipartisan proposal that would protect these icons of the American West which remain a source of pride for Nevada residents.”
This is more GREAT news for our wild horses and burros!
Please note: NEITHER of these pieces of legislation have passed! We will continue to watch both pieces closely!
How you can help: As you are contacting your members of Congress, please add to your list for them to support the Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act of 2025.
As a reminder:
Last week we sent our petition asking for help with Wyoming’s Checkerboard herds to Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, Secretary Doug Burgum and President Donald Trump. Our petition was able to get just under 6,000 signatures in a few short weeks! THANK YOU! We also added some of our beautifully colored pages from our Coloring Campaign to the packets for each office.
Now we need your help to amplify these packets!
The Salt Wells Creek round up has been pushed back, but the Adobe Town round up is scheduled to begin on 7/15. That doesn’t give us a lot of time to change things!
We are asking that you CALL the following numbers, every day if you can, and ask that these roundups be stopped! When you call the Wyoming Governor’s office, if you are NOT a resident of Wyoming, please make sure you let them know that if the wild horses are eliminated from the Checkerboard areas, that you will not be visiting Wyoming in the future! These calls can also be made from people outside of the US!
Here are the numbers to call, as always PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL:
Governor Mark Gordon: 307-777-7434
Secretary Burgum: 202-208-3100 (press 0 and leave your message with your call back info please note – this doesn’t seem to always work. You can also press 4 for the BLM and then 3 for wild horse and burros and leave your message there.)
President Trump/White House switchboard: 202-456-1111 (10 – 3 EST Monday – Thursday)
Our easy Calls to Action for the Checkerboard herds are also still active. You can send emails every day! You do not have to be a US resident to take most of these actions:
- Contact your own members of Congress and educate them on this issue! This is ESPECIALLY TRUE if you are a resident of Wyoming! We created a one-click Call to Action that will email your legislators directly. We also strongly suggest that you also CALL your legislators directly. You can do ALL of these Calls to Action EVERY DAY! You can take this one click action here: https://secure.everyaction.com/GwZbUw4vr0ulNtzoZ7mOjw2
- We have a list of Wyoming state and federal legislators for you in our blog: CALL TO ACTION – PLEASE HELP WYOMING’S WILD HORSES! – CHWHA. We also have a one click email action you can take. We are urging you to DO BOTH!!!
- Please email Wyoming’s state and federal legislators. Again, this is even more important if you are a resident of Wyoming. We have listed phone numbers for Wyoming’s legislators below and have also created a one-click email: https://secure.everyaction.com/pMzBUGAfOEOKxYvYE0QnFg2 AGAIN, we are urging everyone to DO BOTH!
You can also learn more about our Coloring Campaign here: Coloring Campaign – CHWHA
The response to this campaign has been incredible! We just had another 1100 coloring pages printed! We expect the summer in Medora to stay busy! If you are able to help us with printing and mailing costs, you can make your tax-deductible donation to CHWHA here: https://secure.everyaction.com/wnK6YjHlTkCC2Aq57_7srQ2
In case you missed it, we are partnering with our friends at Oregon Wild Horse Organization to speak up for the Muddy Creek wild horses. You can take this one click Call to Action here: https://secure.everyaction.com/2BRiIhhoUEmULWIvCXPS9w2
Thank you for your continued support and have a great day!
Please help support our critical advocacy work! Click our logo below to make your tax deductible donation to Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates
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