Jack,

Just six days into the new year, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) launched a roundup of wild horses in the Fish Creek Herd Management Area (HMA) in Nevada. Over the course of four days, and in snowy, bitterly cold conditions, the BLM captured nearly 200 wild horses, threatening their lives and families and wasting thousands of taxpayer dollars in the process. Will you help us fight back against the BLM’s cruel, unnecessary campaign against our wild ones? 

This roundup posed a direct threat to the curly-coated wild horses who call the Fish Creek HMA home. And rather than ensuring their freedom, the BLM is spending $127,195 of our taxpayer dollars to remove them from the wild.

Photo from the Fish Creek HMA by AWHC observers

The Fish Creek HMA spans 230,675 acres south of U.S. Highway 50 in Nevada, and was home to an estimated 245 wild horses following the Spring 2024 foaling season. However, the BLM’s arbitrary and unscientific Appropriate Management Level (AML) for the area is just 101-170 horses — far too few to sustain a genetically healthy population.

Jack, this roundup should never have happened, and this is not the first time the Fish Creek herd has been the center of controversy.

• 2015: Ranchers blocked the release of mares treated with fertility control back onto the range. 
• 2020: American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC) submitted a formal proposal to the BLM to launch a humane PZP fertility control program in the Fish Creek HMA. The proposal underwent extensive review, but the BLM never granted final approval. No reason was ever provided.

Now, the BLM is removing horses that AWHC’s fertility control program could have prevented from being born, could have saved taxpayer dollars and preserved the genetic legacy of this herd. Both the horses and the taxpayers are paying the price for the BLM’s fiscally irresponsible and short-sighted decisions.

AWHC was on the ground to document this tragic roundup and advocate for the Fish Creek wild horses. We’ll continue to fight for humane, science-based management that protects wild horses and respects the will of the American people.

Will you donate $10, $25, or whatever makes sense for you right now, to power our fight for the horses of Fish Creek? 

Thank you for being a voice for America’s wild herds.

For the wild ones,

Team AWHC