Bachelor, Kiger 6/25

In just 28 days (or 668 hours) helicopter drive trapping begins to complete the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 schedule. The schedule for FY2026 begins October 1, made possible with funding made available by the FY2026 Appropriations bill.

This time of year pending helicopter roundups (coupled with the fragile foaling and breeding seasons) as debates in Congress on what will be funded/defunded, pending litigation and more is always filled with chaos and friction in advocacy. This time of year is always one of the most tense of the “seasons of advocacy.”

Last week, we broke down numbers, how to read the schedule, compared fiscal years and talked about two high profile herds targeted: Kiger/Riddle (OR) and Salt Wells/Adobe Town (WY). You can see more HERE.

Salt Wells, 2025

Right now many of you are asking “what can we do to impact roundups?” There are layers involved in any public lands subject and wild horses and burros are no exception.

You can take actions to protect our wild ones after capture, during capture and impact plans that lead to capture. There is no single action, but many. Below we list three ways you can participate in your own advocacy to protect and preserve our wild ones right now.

The hearings are about more than the helicopter.

DEMAND A RESPONSE Or Cancel Roundups

BLM is required under law to hold a Hearing on the use of Motorized Vehicles in the Wild Horse and Burro Program after helicopter drive-trapping was approved in the 1976 Federal Land Management and Policy Act (FLPMA) as the original 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act did not allow it. The use of trucks and planes for mustanging was insanely cruel and the Act prohibited it calling for “humane management.”

These hearings were written into law so that BLM would take testimony and suggestions from the public, analyze them and make revisions to practices. These hearings are not discretionary, they must do them.

Instead, BLM turned this into “take comments, shove them in a drawer and check a box that we had a comment period.” For discretionary hearings guidelines are very clear, BLM must respond exactly like they respond to any comment in the NEPA process (like a “gather-EA”). These motorized vehicle hearings are NOT discretionary (as noted in the previous paragraph) and BLM does not even rise to the lower standard of a discretionary hearing. In fact, because of the response and analysis requirement to Hearings, BLM can include them as meeting that requirement when they do a gather plan EA.

When BLM does a gather Environmental Assessment (EA) any comment they receive on helicopters (speed, drive distance, barbed wire collisions, etc.) is “outside the scope” as the requirement to analyze public comment is met by these helicopter hearings.

When we began to point out that gather-EAs were deficient because BLM never provided a single post-hearing response, BLM simply started publishing a (sort of) compilation summary of comments. No responses to those comments, just a compilation. (BLM page)

BOTH the Salt Wells/Adobe Town and Kiger roundups on the schedule are not in compliance with current law as they both cite the current year annual hearing as an underlying authority. BLM has not even published anything for the 2025 hearing. 

In our view, no roundup over the last decade is in compliance as BLM has NOT published any analysis document at all from these hearings and, in addition, has never had a single public comment period for the Comprehensive Animal Welfare Policy (CAWP). This is an avenue we are exploring in litigation.

You can join us in taking action.

Sign on to a letter HERE that tells BLM to provide a response or cancel gathers were their authority has not been validated. 

ANY WILD HORSE OR BURRO CAPTURED IS IN DANGER AS POLITICS DEBATE SALES TO SLAUGHTER AN OUTRIGHT KILLING

Many of you have been following the Appropriations debate for 2026. The Presidential Budget Requests omits prohibitions against killing healthy wild horses and burros or selling without limits (slaughter).

In 2017, The President did the same thing and, through hard work by advocacy, Congress put the language into the bill to continue these prohibitions. This fight was won before and can be again. In years past, in many court cases, BLM would say that they were removing horses, not killing them, so damages from roundups to Plaintiff’s were not egregious. In addition to outreach to Congress through Appropriations, we are exploring how a change in language in the budget bill could be fought in court directly or by reopening cases where this was a mainline defense. While we do outreach to Congress and research litigation avenues, you can help.

We have created a very fast and simple letter you can send directly to your lawmakers. 

Click HERE to send a letter to your lawmakers. 

You can also call your representatives in Congress. The number for the switchboard is: (202) 224-3121. Ask to be connected to your representative. The operator will ask where you live and connect you. 

You can say:

I am calling about the Appropriations 2026 bill for the Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse and Burro Program. As a constituent I am calling to urge you to ensure language to prohibit funding for the purposes of killing healthy wild horses or burros or selling them without limits (slaughter) is maintained in the Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2026. 

Silver King, comments due June 23rd

Get involved BEFORE roundup plans are finalized

BLM must complete numerous documents from management planning through proposed management actions. These processes take distinct forms and have different timelines on when they are considered an “full force” decision (in other words, the management plans are not in effect until time elapses for protest, but a proposed action like a gather plan, can happen right after the decision is signed). This is an important legal distinction as we continue our battler in court: gather plans are not management plans, even if BLM changes the name. Last year we won two important cases that clearly find gather plans are not management plans. Now we are fighting as BLM tries to just change the name of long term gather plans to pretend they are management plans.

While we fight it out in court, you can take action.

When you take action at the planning level, or “ground level,” you cannot just sign on a letter or petition. BLM only counts individually written and submitted comments. The “comment period” is the first step in engagement that can then lead to an appeal or protest within land use courts and then a lawsuit in federal civil court. However, comments made by members of the public (even if you cannot litigate yourself) demonstrate public interest in issues organizations like Wild Horse Education take into legal challenges. “Public interest” and “public good” are standards that BLM must meet and we must meet in any legal challenge.

So our action items at “ground level” involve us explaining what is happening (so you can decide on something personal you might like to add) and giving you sample comments you can them copy and paste into an email or directly into BLMs comment form (BLM will ask for one of these methods for comment submission).

Right now you can comment in Scoping for a management plan for Silver King before a roundup plan is written. WHE has active litigation in this area addressing grazing. See more here and learn how to comment, click text. 

BLM has drafted a new roundup plan for Triple B Complex and the Antelope Complex (where WHE has active litigation). BLM is trying to claim this roundup plan is a management plan and it simply is not. See more here and learn how to comment, click text. 

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Our team is working hard from the ground level up through the program engaging with lawmakers and the courts.

Our team is also preparing to continue our in-depth team coverage from roundups so you can stay informed.

None of our work is possible without your support. Together, we will take a strong stand to defend our precious wild ones.