1. United States
2. Ill.
3. Letter

Dear Members of Congress, I am writing to urge you to protect America’s wild horses and burros and to oppose provisions in President Trump’s FY2027 budget proposal that would place these federally protected animals at grave risk. I am deeply concerned that the proposed budget eliminates the longstanding congressional prohibition against using federal funds to kill healthy wild horses and burros or to sell them without protections against slaughter. I urge you to restore and maintain this critical prohibition in the final FY2027 appropriations bill. I am also concerned by the proposed reduction in funding for the Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse and Burro Program—from $142 million appropriated for FY2026 to approximately $106.8 million proposed for FY2027. Cutting funding while removing essential protections is unacceptable. Wild horses and burros are not disposable commodities. They are an iconic part of America’s history and public lands, protected under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. We have a responsibility to manage their populations humanely and responsibly. I urge Congress to prioritize humane, scientifically supported, and fiscally responsible alternatives, including expanded use of safe, reversible fertility-control methods where appropriate. Investing in effective on-range management can reduce population growth while keeping more animals wild and decreasing the enormous long-term costs of government holding facilities. Please: - Maintain the prohibition against killing healthy wild horses and burros. - Prevent federally protected horses and burros from entering the slaughter pipeline. - Reject the proposed FY2027 funding cut to the Wild Horse and Burro Program. Reasonable people may disagree about the best ways to manage public lands, but allowing healthy, federally protected animals to be killed or sold for slaughter should not be the answer. Please use your authority to ensure that the final FY2027 appropriations legislation protects these magnificent animals and reflects humane, responsible stewardship. Keep America’s wild horses and burros wild and free.