American Wild Horse Campaign's 2020 EOY Report

2020 YEAR IN REVIEW

241,000 Newsletter Subscribers

626,000 Social Media Following

425,000 Public Comments

250,000 Petition Signatures

a decade, and we broke all records with our groundbreaking, volunteer-driven fertility control program for Nevada mustangs, which is setting a worldwide standard for humane management of these cherished and historic animals.

From the Executive Director As I reflect on 2020 so far, I’m struck by all the hardships our country has endured with a global pandemic, political division, drought, fires and other weather extremes.

We’ve also faced great challenges on the issue that is so near and dear to our hearts: protecting our wild horses and burros. These national icons have been firmly in the crosshairs of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) this year under the leadership of William Perry Pendley, who famously called wild horses an “existential threat” to public lands, even though these animals are not even present on 88 percent of the land his agency manages!

At the same time, I’m so proud of what AWHC has accomplished this year, and I’m overwhelmingly grateful for the incredible generosity of our steadfast supporters who make this work possible year after year.

566 Media Mentions

In just one year, we have made history with the first wild horse protection legislation introduced in Congress in more than

We’ve met the challenge of BLM’s accelerated wild horse and burro roundup schedule by expanding our team of observers - dedicated and courageous individuals who brave extreme weather, punishing hours and sometimes a hostile political environment to witness and share with the world the impacts of our government's brutal wild horse and burro management policies. And, we’ve been able to strengthen our staff with a new director of Government Relations, an increased public relations focus and expansion of our boots-on-the ground presence in Nevada to support our groundbreaking programs in the state that more than half of America’s wild horses call home.

Please read on for the many ways that we’ve moved the ball forward for wild horse and burro protection this year, while bringing much-needed transparency and public accountability to the mismanaged federal Wild Horse and Burro Program.

As 2020 comes to a close, please celebrate with us the incredible progress we’ve made, the challenges we’ve overcome, and the victories we have amassed!

Most of all, please accept our deepest gratitude for your unwavering support, without which none of this would be possible.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart -I cannot wait to see what we accomplish together next year!

Suzanne Roy

Suzanne Roy Executive Director American Wild Horse Campaign

MISSION

The American Wild Horse Campaign: Working to ensure the future of America's iconic wild horses and burros and the public lands where they roam.

AWHC’s comprehensive approach — through advocacy and grassroots mobilization, legislative and policy action, litigation, scientific collaboration, habitat stewardship, hands-on implementation of field solutions, and rescue of individual horses and burros when necessary and possible — is unique in the field of wild horse advocacy and has placed AWHC at the forefront of the fight to secure the future of the West’s wild horses and burros.

LEGISLATIVE AND POLICY ACTION

A “Breakthrough” Success in Congress

W

e teamed up with our Washington, DC-based coalition partners to introduce the first pro-wild horse legislation in Congress in over a decade. Passed by the House of Representatives, the wild horse protection amendment was sponsored by Tennessee Representative Steve Cohen and co-sponsored by 12 bipartisan House members.

If passed by the Senate, it will require the Bureau of Land Management to spend at least $11 million to implement humane and cost-effective PZP fertility control as an alternative to cruel and costly roundups and removals of wild horses from the wild.

Veteran Nevada journalist John L. Smith called the amend-

ment a “breakthrough for those people who love the wild horses and are trying to do something about [their plight].” It sends a strong message to the BLM to put the brakes on its plan over the next five years to remove as many wild horses and burros from public lands as are living free today… at a cost to taxpayers of more than $1 billion.

“[This amendment] really signals a change in philosophy, because this is a bi-partisan issue. That $11 million is basically a new chapter for the treatment of the horses and burros."

— JOHN L SMITH, KNPR

Strengthening Political Support Fighting Surgical Sterilization with Bipartisan Support: AWHC and the Animal Welfare Institute worked with members of Congress from both sides of the aisle on a letter to Secretary of the Interior, David Bernhardt, urging him to scrap a BLM plan to conduct cruel surgical procedures to remove the ovaries of wild mares in Utah, citing threats to mustang welfare and public opposition.

Exposing Forest Service Negligence in Management of California Wild Horses: AWHC and the Animal Welfare Institute worked together on a letter led by Representative Ted Lieu and co-signed by other members of Congress to the Secretary of Agriculture calling for calling for a moratorium on, and investigation into, the U.S. Forest Service’s policies on sales, adoption and transport of wild horses captured from California’s Modoc National Forest. These practices including selling these national treasures by the truckload for $1 a piece.

Secured the State of Nevada’s support for our habitat acquisition and improvement project to protect the famed Fish Springs Wild Horses in Nevada.

WHAT THEY SAID “I’m pleased this provision will force the Bureau of Land Management to move away from cruel and costly helicopter roundups toward humane management of these national symbols of our wild lands. It requires the Bureau of Land Management to utilize $11 million of its Wild Horse and Burro Program budget to implement PZP -a humane and reversible fertility control vaccine to manage wild horse populations” Congressman Steve Cohen, (D-TN) “I am grateful to my colleagues on the Appropriations and Rules Committees for bringing this important amendment to a vote before the full House. For too long, BLM has pushed dangerous and unpopular management protocols for our wild horses and burros. It’s past time that we recognize that safe, humane and scientifically proven fertility control options are key to the future of wild horse and burro management on our public lands. I hope all my colleagues will support this effort and vote in favor of our amendment.” Congressman Raul Grijalva, (D-AZ) “I serve as a representative from the great State of Nevada, which is home to the largest population of wild horses in the nation. Taxpayer-funded roundups and removals are not only costly, not only an ineffectual management strategy, but they also endanger the lives of these animals, as evidenced by the horrific death of a young mare witnessed during a roundup just this past weekend in Utah. We can and should do better, and this amendment is a step in the right direction.” Congresswoman Dina Titus, (D-NV)

Cultivating new wild horse champions on Capitol Hill: With continued leadership from stalwart defenders like Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Congresswoman Dina Titus (D-NV), we cultivated important new champions this year, including Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Reps. Deb Halaand (D-NM), Joe Neguse (D-CO), Steve Cohen (D-TN), David Schweikert (R-AZ), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), John Katko (R-NY) and Ben McAdams (D-UT).

Expanding our Influence: We’re laying the groundwork for real change in 2021 with the creation of the American Wild Horse Legislative Fund, our legislative arm, and a new PAC dedicated to protect America’s cherished horses, both wild and domestic.

“I am pleased to work with my colleagueson this bipartisan amendment to ensure humane methods are used to protect and manage our nation’s beautiful wild horses. I appreciate everyone reaching out to offer their support of this amendment.”

Congressman David Schweikert, (R-AZ) “For generations, horses have been a crucial part of our nation’s heritage, culture, and landscape. That’s why in Congress, I will continue to push for a more comprehensive strategy to effectively manage our nation’s wild horses and ensure they have necessary protections.” Congressman John Katko, (R-NY)

LEGISLATIVE AND POLICY ACTION

Addressing Roundup Abuse Making Humane Treatment Law: AWHC is working with the Animal Law & Policy Program at Harvard University on a rulemaking petition to turn the BLM's Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program (CAWP) standards for treatment of wild horses and burros at roundups and in holding facilities into legally enforceable regulations. Currently, they are only advisory, and compliance with them is at the discretion of the BLM. Our rulemaking petition will not only ask that these standards become enforceable, but it will also seek to improve the policy and add public observation standards. .

Bringing Transparency to Wild Horse & Burro Policy

Investigating the Pipeline from BLM to Slaughter: We launched an aggressive initiative with our coalition partners in the sanctuary and rescue fields in response to the rising number of mustangs and burros in kill pens as a result of the BLM’s Adoption Incentive Program (AIP) and its accelerated sales policies. We have developed a database to track horses and burros being offered through BLM auctions, and we’re beginning to match our records to wild horses and burros who wind up in kill pens. We’re also collecting records to document what is happening and establish the connection between BLM policies and the slaughter pipeline. Once we compile our evidence into a report, we will use all available legislative and legal avenues to address the tragedy of cherished, federally-protected wild horses and burros being placed at risk of brutal slaughter due to irresponsible BLM practices and policies.

Holding the Forest Service Accountable for Wild Horse Mismanagement: We continue to oppose and expose the U.S. Forest Service’s mismanagement of the Devil’s Garden wild horses in the Modoc National Forest in California. To date, our work for this historic mustang herd has resulted in national media coverage and state and federal legislation to prevent the Forest Service from selling captured wild horses without limitation on slaughter. We continue to utilize open record laws, eyewitness reports and extensive field tracking to expose continued Forest Service mismanagement and to harness political support and media attention to force policy change. As one example, AWHC was the only wild horse organization that sent observers this fall to document the latest wild horse roundup in the Modoc Forest and report to the public on the costs of this operation, both the horses and American taxpayers.

Young wild horse in a holding facility in Utah.

Photo by Kimerlee Curyl.

LEGAL EFFORTS

Building a Legal Firewall of Protection Gearing Up to Stop Surgical Sterilization… Again: Our three legal victories in federal court stopped the BLM from conducting brutal surgical sterilization procedures on wild horses in Oregon.

However, the BLM is trying again -- this time in Utah. We are gearing up to file yet another lawsuit to stop the agency from subjecting wild mares in the Confusion HMA in Utah to this dangerous and painful procedure that veterinarians have called “barbaric.”

Standing Up for Wild Horses Against Legal Attacks: We continue to intervene in lawsuits filed by ranching interests seeking the mass removal of wild horses from public lands.

Our previous interventions have succeeded in securing the dismissal of dismiss rancher lawsuits in Wyoming and Nevada.

Our latest case involves a lawsuit filed

by Beaver County, Utah livestock interests seeking the immediate removal of most of the wild horses living in the Sulphur Springs Herd Management Area (HMA). With AWHC’s involvement, the parties are entering into a settlement agreement that will give us a seat at the table to promote the interests of the horses and the long-term humane management of the HMA.

Filing Suit to Ensure Transparency: We’re fighting this administration’s lack of transparency and industry-friendly policies by filing a series of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to challenge the BLM’s willful withholding of public information related to key aspects of the Wild Horse and Burro Program.

Among the records we seek: documents that shed light on secret meetings between Interior Department and BLM officials and livestock industry representatives that will reveal how special interests influence federal mustang and burro policy.

It’s clear that the BLM and Interior Department have violated the law in failing to provide the records we requested. Now it’s up to the courts to hold the agency accountable.

ADVOCACY + GRASSROOTS MOBILIZATION

Shined Light on BLM Roundup Practices: AWHC plays a critically important role in the advocacy community by sending observers to nearly every wild horse helicopter roundup that occurred this year.

Our videos and photos were seen by millions of citizens, providing a window into the fate befalling our wild horses at the hands of our own government. In addition to creating awareness, this documentation strengthens our legal actions and holds BLM accountable for violations of its own animal welfare policies.

ADVOCACY AND GRASSROOTS MOBILIZATION

Spreading Awareness + Building Public Support Empowered Supporters to Use their Voices: We created action alerts and petitions through which concerned citizens could comment on virtually every federal action affecting wild horses and burros in 2020.

Strengthened Community Relations: Every month, the northern Nevada wild horse community comes together to put out the electronic newsletter, The Pinto Post. This newsletter is spearheaded by AWHC and is a collaborative effort between nine wild horse protection groups working hard to protect the wild horses of the Virginia Range. The Post highlights the various groups’ accomplishments and shares inspirational stories of daring rescues, dedicated volunteers and, of course, beautiful wild horses.

Launched Celebrity Ambassador Program: Our new ambassador program promises to elevate the profile of the wild horse issue and reach new audiences through the power of influencers, celebrities and artists. AWHC was thrilled in October to announce our first Ambassador, Kaitlynn Carter, a writer, entrepreneur and television personality on MTV’s “The Hills.” As an AWHC ambassador, Kaitlynn will educate her one million social media followers about the plight of wild horses and inspire them to take action to save these beloved animals.

Waged a Grassroots Campaign to Save Wyoming Wild Horses: In response to the federal government’s plan to eradicate the iconic wild horses of the Wyoming Checkerboard, we mobilized a high profile, grassroots campaign called “Keep WY Wyld.” The successful movement allowed our followers to take tangible online actions, raise their voices, and apply substantial social media pressure all aimed at the Wyoming Tourism Board, the Wyoming Governor and top BLM officials. The campaign culminated in 25,000 actions taken, and we look forward to pushing the limits of grassroots advocacy and elevating the voice of the American public in the upcoming year to stop the BLM’s plan to eradicate wild horses from this 2-million-acre area.

WHAT THEY SAID

Hosted Celebrity Packed Virtual Event: Hosted Celebrity Packed Virtual Event: Our third annual Stay Wild fundraising event, eld virtually this year, was a wild success! The event took our guests on a powerful journey across five states, providing an inside look at our programs and raising awareness about the inhumane treatment of wild horses and burros in the U.S. The star-studded event featured special appearances by American Wild Horse Campaign Ambassador Kaitlynn Carter, music duo and AWHC supporters Aly & AJ, iconic American photographer Brian Bowen Smith, and performances by famed artists including LP and Lukas Nelson. We are grateful to our event sponsors, silent auction donors and all the attendees who helped make this a special evening for wild horses and burros and AWHC! Reached New Americans: We added tens of thousands of supporters to our grassroots base this year alone, continuing to strengthen our army of citizens willing to speak up in defense of mustangs and burros!

Harnessed Our Voice: We created an AWHCbranded blog to release more content than ever. Some of our series included: Wild Horses Across the West, features on individual herds across the country, in-depth analysis of our legal cases, and feature stories on advocates hard at work in their communities.

Collaborated with Black Beauty Filmmakers: AWHC was pleased to provide input on the wild horse issue to the filmmakers of the Disney+ film Black Beauty, a remake of the classic story. In this version, Beauty is a wild horse who has been rounded up and taken from her family. By telling Beauty’s story, director Ashely Avis has created a powerful platform to educate the public about the plight of wild horses and inspire them to take action. We look forward to the movie becoming a huge success!

Launched a Webinar Series: We launched an educational series that takes a deep dive into the nuances of the wild horse issue so our supporters can be informed and effective advocates. So far, the series has covered the history of America’s iconic wild horses and the legislation protecting them. These webinars have been extremely popular, with over 400 hundred people registering to participate! Next year, we look forward to covering issues impacting wild horses such as livestock grazing, as well as humane solutions that will ensure the protection and preservation of these animals on our public lands.

IMPLEMENTING REAL SOLUTIONS

Collaboration to Keep Wild Horses Wild

T

This year, our PZP fertility control darting program in Nevada’s Virginia Range continues to break all records as the largest fertility control program for wild horses in the world.

The diversionary feeding program provides hay for wild horses, keeping them out of harm’s way in the final months before winter precipitation arrives.

AWHC is proud to help support the lifesaving diversionary feeding program in the Virginia Range, implemented through a cooperative agreement between the Nevada Department of Agriculture and our local coalition partner, Wild Horse Connection.

So far in 2020, our team of mostly volunteer darters and documenters has delivered 1,600 fertility control treatments to 1,100 individual mares, far surpassing 750 treatments that the BLM, with its $100 million-a-year wild horse and burro program budget, delivered last year.

Our program continues to expand and set the standard as a model for humane wild horse management that can be adapted throughout the West.

Helped Keep Nevada Mustangs Safe: Habitat loss due to development and drought have made an already tough year even tougher for Nevada's Virginia Range horses.

Lack of forage causes horses to walk farther from their water sources to search for food, and this often draws them across busy streets and roadways and into neighborhoods that have been developed in what was previously open range habitat.

AWHC Team Member, Steve Paige throwing hay for diversionary feeding. Photo: Wild Horse Connection

WHAT THEY SAID

“AWHC's work on the Virginia Range is monumental and precedent setting. I am so proud to be a part of the team of volunteers working to administer humane fertility control to the wild horses that roam this range.

Supported Local PZP Programs for Local Herds Continued our support for the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group’s hugely successful PZP program for the Salt River herd, in the Tonto National Forest.

Thanks to the program, just 14 foals were born in the herd this year, while last year saw 100 horses born into this habitat, which has been reduced in size by fencing in the National Forest.

Supported the Sand Wash Advocate Team’s fertility control program for the beloved Sand Wash Basin wild horses outside of Maybell, Colorado.

Worked to begin a humane fertility control program for the Fish Creek herd in Nevada, in an area where we have already trained two darters who are ready to launch the program as soon as the BLM gives the go ahead.

Members of our team of documenters, spotters, and darters are out nearly every day doing their part to reduce the population growth rate.

Together we are proving that humane fertility control is effective and possible. And their work doesn't stop there. In a habitat where expanding development has increased horse-human conflict, AWHC received a foal rescue grant that enabled us to save the lives of some of the youngest wild ones on our range. By funding not only veterinarian expenses but also foal rescue kits, our partners on the Range Management and Large Animal Rescue Teams had the supplies they needed to stabilize foals in the field for transport to vet care. AWHC's fertility control program and support of our many local wild horse organizations mean that together we can show that humane management of wild horse herds truly works. ”

Tracy Wilson, AWHC Volunteer

LEGISLATIVE AND POLICY ACTION

Members of the Fish Springs herd being released at AWHC Board Member’s sanctuary, Freedom Reigns.

Saving Individual Lives

W

hen the BLM captured four families of beloved Fish Springs wild horses in Nevada and then put them up for sale an adoption via an online auction, a coalition of groups and individuals came together to ensure that the horses would stay together with their families. It took a village -- and a coordinated bidding strategy -- to secure all the horses in the auction. AWHC worked in partnership with the Pine Nut Wild Horse Advocates, Freedom Reigns, Montgomery Creek Ranch, Skydog Sanctuary, and a local family to successfully adopt the horses for placement in sanctuaries. We were particularly proud of our successful effort to keep the families of beloved stallions Rocky and Rusty together and running free at Freedom Reigns, the wonderful sanctuary owned by our board member Alicia Goetz.

Coordinated the Rescue of an Elder Burro: In February, an AWHC team member noticed a dejected 21-year-old burro available for sale in a BLM auction. We immediately reached out to our friends at the Center for Animal Protection and Education (CAPE), a fantastic animal rescue and

education organization that specializes in special needs and older animal rescues. When CAPE staff learned of the elder burro, now named Papa Antonio, immediately agreed to take him in. AWHC granted CAPE funding to halter train Papa so that he could be safely cared for at their wonderful sanctuary. He is now living out the rest of his life with a newfound family of rescued burros in Grass Valley, CA.

Papa Antonio at his new home with CAPE.

Assisted Advocates in Saving Beloved Onaqui Mustangs: We teamed up with local advocates to launch a campaign called, #BringOnaquiHome to rescue several cherished wild horses removed from the Onaqui HMA in Utah.

AWHC raised funds to help Sweet Beau Equine Rescue and Great Escape Mustang Sanctuary transport and provide forever homes for popular horses like Cremello, Black, Ghost, and a mare who lost her eye after suffering an injury at a BLM holding facility.

Helped to Save Over a Dozen Wild Foals: Our rescue fund provided critical veterinary and supportive care for more than a dozen foals that were orphaned and/or injured on the Virginia Range during foaling season this year. We also provided a matching grant to LBL Equine Rescue to complete construction of a critical care foal nursery to provide round-the-clock care for critical foals. This nursery will even include sleeping facilities for volunteers doing overnight shifts (young foals need to be fed every two hours)!

Volunteer Tracy with orphan foal, Sinclair.

Helped Fund a Large Animal Rescue Vehicle: AWHC was pleased to make a grant to the Least Resistance Training Concepts (LRTC) Large Animal Rescue Team to retrofit a donated ambulance into an emergency response vehicle for foal rescues, a water rescue unit, a support unit for complex technical large animal rescues and much more on Nevada’s Virginia Range.

LRTC Rescue Vehicle.

Scientific Collaboration Partnering on Wild Horse Identification Technology: AWHC has begun working with software developers and information architects at the non-profit Wildbook.org to harness artificial intelligence (AI) technology to develop an identification system and App to identify wild horses in the wild. If successful, this project will be a major breakthrough in the effort to deliver humane management of wild horse herds and in harnessing the power of citizen science for wild horse protection.

Supporting Research on the History of Horses in North America: AWHC is pleased to have been able to support the cutting-edge research of the University of California Santa Cruz Paleogenomics Laboratory, led by Dr. Beth Shapiro, into the history of the horse in North America. The Original Horse Project traces the lineage of the horse since its evolution here hundreds of thousands of years ago to its reintroduction to the continent by Spanish explorers in the 1500s. The research has demonstrated that today’s wild horses in the American West share much of their DNA and evolutionary history with their ancestors who lived on this continent thousands of years ago.

The research adds further evidence for the classification of the horse as a native reintroduced North American wildlife species and casts doubt on the BLM’s characterization of wild horses as invasive, non-native species.

Making an Economic Case for Humane Wild Horse Management: AWHC has commissioned an analysis and report that looks at the true costs of the current wild horse management program and provides a cost-analysis of humane alternatives that keep wild horses in the wild. Such data is extremely timely as Congress considers a five-year BLM plan to round up 90,000 wild horses and burros –a number equal to the population living free today – at a cost to taxpayers of more than $1 billion.

Academic Analysis of Fertility Control Data: The AWHC Virginia Range fertility control program has amassed what is likely to be the largest wild horse data set in the world, particularly when it comes to the management of a large population with fertility control. We’re thrilled to have found an independent academic partner to analyze and publish this data and look forward to strengthening the scientific case for humane management of wild horse herds throughout the world. Look for further announcements on this soon!

IMPLEMENTING REAL SOLUTIONS

AWHC would like to recognize the generous individuals and companies that helped to further our work to Keep Wild Horses Wild in 2020.

Leadership Council

Champion

Defender

Alicia C. Goetz Ellie Phipps Price Gwendolyn Sontheim Lin Yeiser Coonan Aqualia International Foundation Bently Foundation Park Foundation The Summerlee Foundation

Ray Brown and Sarah Gorman-Brown Laurel and Tony Werner Kirby Jones Foundation Engelstad Family Foundation Project Frontier/Blockchains

Bill and Laurie Hake Patrice Ghanayem and Alexander Ghanayem KT Merry Print Shop Judie Stein Kathleen Chaix Eugenie Sotiropoulos Tommy Rosen and Kia Mille Jerey and Katherine Haas Kate Wilson Gil Purcell and Roxanne Sheridan-Purcell

WHAT THEY SAID

“These horses protect the wilderness that was set aside for all Americans and they take so little from it. When you get to know them, you see that they are worthy of our reverence, as they represent the best in us and the freedom that we all aspire to.

Finding AWHC was the answer to our prayers, as we sought truly dedicated partners with the passion to fight and give all their energy to protecting these horses.

Special Acknowledgement Montgomery Creek Ranch Freedom Reigns Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker LLP Chantecaille Beaute Durell Vineyard Dunstan Wines Thanksgiving Coffee Kimerlee Curyl Photography

We are humbled by the team’s commitment and are so proud to support them along with the many other extraordinary people we partner with around the world protecting lions and elephants, turtles and pangolins—all working directly and selflessly to save these endangered animals.”

Sylvie Chantecaille CEO & Founder, Chantecaille Beute

Meet the Team 2020 FINANCIALS

80%

$767,266 spent on programs

13%

$131,877 spent on fundraising efforts to support on going operations and membership development

7%

$68,900 on general operations

ADVOCACY + EDUCATION FIELD POLICY + GOVERNMENT RELATIONS LITIGATION RESCUE SCIENCE + RESEARCH

$294,507 $217,163 $108,524 $87,898 $28,444 $30,730

This figure is based on actual expenses through our third quarter 2020. A full report will be provided on our IRS 990’s as soon as available at AmericanWildHorseCampaign.org/financials

The American Wild Horse Campaign is a 501c3 nonproďŹ t organization and your contribution is tax-deductible.

AmericanWildHorseCampaign.org