Return to Freedom: Wild horse population estimate shows futility of BLM practice of capture and removal

LOMPOC, Calif., March 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A new estimate of the number of wild horses and burros on public lands overseen by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) underscores the futility of the agency doing business as usual.

The BLM continues to delay the use of safe, proven and humane fertility control that can lower population growth rates and end removals. 

"As we have said from our inception, managing wild herds solely through the inhumane practice of capture and removal has not worked and will not work," said Neda DeMayo, president of Return to Freedom (RTF), a national nonprofit wild horse and burro advocacy organization. "We advocate for minimally intrusive, on-the-range management. Unfortunately, due to conflict over the use of water and grazing, our wild herds are constantly at risk."

"Kicking the can down the road results in federally protected wild horses and burros suffering needlessly, and the government spending ever-greater amounts of money to warehouse captured animals in overcrowded holding facilities. This mismanagement by the BLM could lead to their mass killing if Congress grows tired of the growing expenditure, something we fight to avert every day in Washington, D.C." 

The BLM estimates that there are 85,466 wild horses and burros roaming the public lands that it oversees, as of March 1.

That brings the agency's annual population estimate back to within just 723 animals of where it stood in 2021 — despite removing more than 63,000 wild horses and burros from the range since then. 

The BLM has for decades tried and failed to reach its own population target of 25,592 wild horses and burros. The agency does so under a legal mandate to manage public lands for multiple uses, including the grazing of privately owned livestock that far outnumber horses and burros. 

The ceaseless cycle of removing wild horses and burros from the range continues because the BLM has opted not to address reproduction. The agency has only treated and released about 5,500 wild mares with fertility control since 2021, despite Congress providing more funding and calling for its use, thanks to the work of RTF and other stakeholders. 

RTF has long advocated for the use of fertility control as a tool that can begin phasing out capture and removal as the BLM's primary management method. Divergent public lands stakeholders now support fertility control use, too. 

The direct result of the BLM putting off the robust implementation of fertility control: Nearly 63,000 captured wild horses and burros are warehoused in off-range holding facilities without shade or shelter. That costs taxpayers more than $101 million annually. 

The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) oversees about 8,000 wild horses and burros. It too has focused on removals over fertility control. 

Population modeling has shown that the BLM and USFS must immediately implement fertility control to stabilize herd growth so that removals, which decimate family bands and herds, can be brought to an end, and off-range holding phased out. 

"Congress must demand that BLM begin the long-overdue transition to fertility control as its primary management tool now and not be misled by the agency into thinking it can be postponed," DeMayo said. "Agencies continue to push for sterilization methods and removals to lower wild horse and burro populations, so it is critical to continue to advocate for the non-hormonal, reversible alternatives that are available." 

Meanwhile, removals continue: The BLM plans to capture and remove 14,378 more wild horses and burros from the range this year while treating just 1,064 with fertility control.

Return to Freedom, Wild Horse Conservation (RTF) is a pioneering wild horse conservation organization focused on the preservation of wild horses and burros since 1997. RTF operates the American Wild Horse Sanctuary at two California locations, caring for nearly 500 rescued mustangs and burros on 2,000 acres. The sanctuary hosts experiential learning programs and models minimally intrusive management solutions that can be implemented on the range as an alternative to traumatic and costly roundups. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X, BlueSky, Tik Tok and Youtube.

SOURCE Return to Freedom Wild Horse Conservation