Washington, D.C. – Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva today sent a letter, co-signed by a bipartisan group of 29 other House Members, to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell asking for review and reform of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro Program. An identical letter signed by more than 30,000 Americans – including celebrities such as Robert Redford, Carole King, Ali MacGraw, Viggo Mortensen, Ed Harris, Noah Wylie, Wendie Malick, Betty White and Valerie Bertinelli – is being delivered this morning to the Department of Interior. You can read Grijalva’s letter at http://1.usa.gov/1awLk0s.

The BLM program currently prioritizes roundups over alternatives that reduce the need for expensive stockpiling, and today 60 percent of U.S. wild horses live in government warehousing facilities. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) recently released ‘Using Science to Improve the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program: A Way Forward,’ which found that federal efforts waste taxpayer money and need major reforms. You can read the full report at http://bit.ly/12t8bta.

“I’ve been asking for changes for years, and NAS has confirmed that we can save taxpayer money and horses’ lives at the same time by improving this program,” Grijalva said. “We have the information we need. Now it’s time to do something with it.”

Secretary Jewell, Grijalva said, “has shown a true commitment to the conservation of America’s unique natural heritage, and I hope she gives America’s wild horses the attention they deserve. Congress had the wisdom to pass the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act in 1971. We can’t let mismanagement and waste be the only legacy of that far-sighted decision.”