BLM Kills Cloud's Grandson, Echo!
Ginger Kathrens and The Cloud Foundation received devastating news yesterday: the Billings BLM Field Office shot and killed Echo, Cloud’s lookalike grandson and the son of Bolder.
WHY?
BLM’s reasoning for this tragic action was that Echo appeared to be “in rough shape and lethargic”—and he didn’t run away when approached. But Ginger, who has documented the Pryor Mountain wild horses for over 30 years, knows poor body condition and conserving energy is normal for wild horses in early spring.
After enduring a long winter, Pryor horses often appear thin - sometimes to extremes. They are quiet. They conserve energy and graze peacefully as they begin to rebuild their strength. Ginger has spent countless hours with them in spring, observing this very behavior—horses calmly foraging on the first green shoots, often unbothered by human presence.
In fact, Pryor horses have grown up coexisting with people. They are not “tame”—they are wild, but they have learned to tolerate the quiet observation of respectful humans. Echo did not run because he was not afraid. He was simply being a wild horse.
Yet, under a 2021 BLM policy directive—PIM 2021-007 Euthanasia of Wild Horses and Burros Related to Acts of Mercy, Health or Safety— BLM granted itself the authority to kill wild horses deemed unfit and is now using it unilaterally. In the past, decisions regarding euthanasia in the Pryor herd have been made in consultations between BLM, The Cloud Foundation, and the Pryor Mountain Mustang Center. Not this time. Killing Echo was done without any input from these public groups, without any understanding of how wild horses survive from year to year. Nor was it done with the input of a knowledgeable vet—one experienced in wild equine health and behavior.
With approval from the Billings office, a range specialist new to wild horse and burro management made the call.
HIs bullet ended Echo’s life.
WHO’S NEXT?
Will another iconic Pryor horse fall under PIM 2021-007's vague and unchecked policy? How many wild horses and burros have already been killed in other HMA's where the horses aren't so closely watched and documented? Without oversight, compassion, or understanding of natural wild horse behavior, any one of the wild horses or burros could fall into BLM's crosshairs.
Killing Echo, the grandson of Cloud—the most famous wild horse in the world—is a desecration of the American West and the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act (WFRHBA/The Act).
The Pryor Mountain herd was the first to be federally protected, even before the passage of The Act. We must not let this precedent of protection be destroyed by BLM's policy and horrific actions.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
We are calling on you—on all who care about our wild horses—to act.
Do you know a whistleblower? A former or current BLM employee, or someone with inside knowledge on what is happening to our wild horses and burros? Please contact us.
In the meantime...
Start calling. Let your voice be heard.
Be polite. Be civil. Be unwavering.
📞 Billings BLM Office
406-896-5013
406-896-5000
406-896-5223
📞 Your U.S. Representative
Find your House Representative Here
📞 Your U.S. Senators
Find your senators here
📞 The White House
202-456-7041
202-456-1111
When you call, give your name and town. Speak from the heart. Tell them:
Killing America’s wild horses is a betrayal of our heritage and that PIM 2021-007 should NOT be used as a TOOL to secretly wild kill horses to lower herd numbers.
When calling, if you get voicemail, leave a message. Echo deserves that.
Let’s make sure Echo did not die in vain. Let’s stand for him—and for all the wild horses who have no voice.
LIGHT UP THE PHONE LINES.
ASK FOR ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE MANAGEMENT OF OUR HERDS
DEFEND OUR WILD HORSES
ENCOURAGE THEM TO KILL THIS POLICY BEFORE IT'S USED TO KILL ANY MORE WILD HORSES OR BURROS
With fierce determination,
Ginger & The Cloud Team
For the Love of Wild Horses & Wild Burros
