WY Lawmakers Consider Proposal to Allow Killing Wild Horses
Tom Horn, a wild stallion from the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, enjoys a good scratching bush on the Wyoming side of the range. His peaceful moment offers a glimpse into the everyday lives of the wild horses whose federal protections are now being discussed by Wyoming lawmakers.
Photo clipped from live action. TCF
October 13, 2026 | Wild Horse & Burro Advocacy
Wyoming lawmakers are considering a proposal that could have serious consequences for federally protected wild horses and burros across the American West.
According to an October 12 report by Wyoming Public Media, a draft resolution being considered by Wyoming's Select Federal Natural Resource Management Committee would ask Congress to change federal restrictions governing wild horse management.
The proposal seeks federal changes that would:
Allow the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to kill healthy wild horses and burros.
Permit private landowners to use aircraft or motor vehicles to capture or kill wild horses and burros.
Restore federal funding for horse-meat inspections, potentially reopening a pathway for domestic horse slaughter.
A Troubling Return to the Past
In 1959, Congress passed what became known as the Wild Horse Annie Act, championed by Velma Bronn Johnston. The law prohibited the use of aircraft and motor vehicles to hunt wild horses and burros for capture or killing on public lands.
Those protections helped lay the groundwork for the landmark Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, which recognized these animals as living symbols of America's historic and pioneer spirit.
In 1976, Congress authorized the use of helicopters for federal wild horse management under specified conditions, creating an exception to the earlier prohibition. That exception allows BLM to conduct authorized helicopter gathers today, but it does not provide private landowners with the same general authority.
Now, more than six decades after the Wild Horse Annie Act, Wyoming lawmakers are discussing changes that could undermine protections established to prevent the mistreatment of wild horses and burros.
What Federal Law Currently Allows
The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, as amended, includes provisions addressing the destruction of certain excess wild horses and burros.
However, congressional appropriations restrictions prohibit federal funds from being used to destroy healthy, unadopted wild horses and burros under federal jurisdiction or to sell them for commercial processing that results in their destruction.
Wyoming's proposal seeks changes to these restrictions, raising questions about whether healthy, federally protected animals could face lethal control as a management option.
Beyond Wyoming: The Future of Wild Horse Protections
Wyoming officials cite growing wild horse populations, impacts to rangelands, and conflicts involving horses crossing onto private property as reasons for seeking changes to federal law.
According to BLM estimates cited by Wyoming Public Media, approximately 7,100 wild horses currently roam 14 herd management areas in Wyoming, compared with a combined upper Appropriate Management Level (AML) of approximately 2,500.
However, BLM population estimates and AMLs nationwide warrant careful scrutiny. AMLs are agency-established management targets, not independent measurements of ecological carrying capacity. Decisions affecting wild horses should be supported by current, scientifically defensible information about herd populations, habitat conditions, and competing uses of public lands.
Humane, science-based management must account for habitat availability, livestock grazing, competing land uses, and the long-term consequences of fertility control and other management practices.
Wyoming lawmakers are also discussing coordinating with other Western states to seek congressional action—raising the possibility that changes initiated in Wyoming could affect wild horses and burros throughout the American West.
What Happens Next?
The resolution remains a proposal and is expected to be considered during Wyoming's 2027 legislative session. It has not been adopted, and Congress has not authorized the requested changes.
Nevertheless, the proposal raises serious questions about the future of federal wild horse protections and whether lethal control could become a more prominent part of federal management policy.
For generations, Americans have fought to protect wild horses and burros from inhumane capture and killing. The protections established through those efforts should not be reconsidered without rigorous public scrutiny and a full examination of the consequences.
America's wild horses and burros deserve responsible, humane, science-based management—not a return to practices that helped inspire their federal protection in the first place.
The wild horses deserve better. We can do better!
We will continue watching this developing issue and share updates as additional information becomes available.
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