Photo taken on the Salt Wells Herd Management Area in Wyoming by Meg Frederick.

Statement from Return to Freedom:

President-elect Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he will nominate North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to be secretary of the Department of Interior (DOI).

Burgum governs a state in which oil, gas and mining make up 17.6 percent of GDP. He backs Trump’s promises of boosting energy production on public lands and slashing spending and regulations.

Of great concern to Return to Freedom is how the incoming administration will balance its aims against other uses of our public lands, especially the DOI’s Bureau of Land Management oversight of wild horses and burros.

We do not know what Burgum’s overall position on wild horses is, though when the National Park Service mulled removing his state’s only herd from Theodore Roosevelt National Park, he joined the successful call for them to remain.

“These horses are a hugely popular tourist attraction, embodying the untamed spirit of the Badlands while also reminding us of the deep ties to Roosevelt’s ranching and conservation legacy…,” Burgum said. “The state remains ready and willing to collaborate with the Park Service to keep wild horses in the park in a manner and number that supports genetic diversity and protects the park for visitors now and long into the future.”

Should he become Interior secretary, Burgum’s many responsibilities will include the future of tens of thousands of wild horses and burros roaming the range and warehoused in government holding facilities.

The BLM has failed to meet its own arbitrary population targets for wild horses and burros through a ceaseless, costly cycle of capture and removal. A diverse array of stakeholders now supports slowing herd growth using safe, proven and humane fertility control, a tool that we have long used at our sanctuary and advocated for use on the range to end removals.

Burgum may soon be in a position both to press the BLM to stop stalling on-range solutions and to help secure resources needed for much-needed change. We hope that he would again support the conservation of America’s wild horses “now and long into the future.”

Send a letter to Congress supporting the use of fertility control to keep wild horses on the range

More ways to take action

Donate to RTF’s Wild Horse Defense Fund, which supports our lobbying, grassroots advocacy and selective litigation