Earth Day is an annual event celebrated around the world on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First celebrated in 1970, it now includes events coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network in more than 193 countries.

Today marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.

As wild horse advocates we are deeply committed to protecting our wild horses from abuse both on and off the range. Our work against abuse is ground breaking and has led to policy changes. Progress is possible, but there is a long way to go. The fight is on over.

Roundups begin long before a helicopter flies. Abuses to our wild horses begin long before capture. 

Young stallion severely cut up after trying to get through a barbed wire gate, left closed when it should be open, as he tried to get to the only water source in his immediate area. (there was also domestic livestock camped out in trespass at the only water source for wild horses in that area.)

Increasingly, our wild horses are facing drastic intrusions into their habitat. Our wild horses are only allowed to live on 12% of public lands. Inside that 12% they are given only about 16% of all available forage.

The Herd Management Areas (HMA) they live in are crisscrossed with miles and miles of barbed wire to keep domestic livestock in their grazing allotments. Often, wild horses are cut off from the vital grazing resources legally available to them. Gates that should be left open create artificial travel patterns on the range as the only was a wild horse can get from one area to another. Often these gates are closed, when they should be open, cutting wild horses off of forage and water.

In addition to having to navigate barbed wire allotment fences and overwhelming numbers of cows and sheep, wild horse territory is seeing a massive influx in mining and extraction.

Thousands of gallons of water are pumped out of aquifers each minute to run a hard rock mine. Some HMAs have more than a half dozen mining operations already with more in the planning stages each day! Not only do they pump vital water threatened the life of spring sources and all that live on the range, they threaten the quality of life as they use chemicals like Arsenic to dissolve rock to release the precious metals.

In these same areas oil and gas lease sales are running full steam ahead!

Our wild horses struggling on the range to survive day in and day out. Our amazing wild horses are minimized and abused on range each and every day so that profiteers can monopolize your public lands and fill their pockets off of public resources.

Our wild horses pay a steep price losing family, freedom and even their lives.

The little one on the left trying to suckle off another roundup orphan, after being run more than 10 miles and shipped over 200 miles, died. Every roundup orphans foals. Every roundup lives are tragically lost.

This Earth Day we ask that you take time to learn more about the wild ones you love. Be an active advocate for the wild horses and the land they stand. 

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Help us stay in the fight.

If you are shopping online you can help Wild Horse Education by choosing us as your charity of choice on IGive or Amazonsmile.com 

Reading links and action items:

Please help us STOP land management agencies from using the current health crisis as a smokescreen to ram projects and policy changes through! (learn and take action HERE)

In Wyoming BLM is set to decimate over 30% of the population of wild horses in the state! (learn and take action HERE)

The framework is being set to turn the Pryor Mountain herd into a range breeding program that is not genetically viable, fails to preserve critical bloodlines, fails to address habitat restoration. (learn and take action HERE)

WHE joins enviro groups against a mine that will devastate critical water sources (press release HERE)

Wild Horses 101: Webinar material free! (click HERE)

A fast overview of the land our wild ones stand on our sister site in progress PublicHorses.com (HERE)