Why Wild Burros Are Essential for the American West Ecosystem

Wild burros have roamed the American West for centuries, often misunderstood and undervalued. Yet, these hardy equines play a vital role in maintaining the balance of this unique ecosystem. Advocates for wild horses and burros emphasize the importance of keeping these animals wild, not only for their own survival but for the health of the environment they inhabit. This article explores the top five reasons why wild burros need to remain wild, highlighting their ecological contributions and the broader conservation efforts that support them.

Rescued wild burros at Skydog Ranch and Sanctuary Photo: WeAnimals.org

1. Wild Burros Help Maintain Plant Diversity

Wild burros graze selectively, which helps control the growth of certain invasive plant species. Their feeding habits promote a diverse plant community by preventing any one species from dominating the landscape. This selective grazing supports a variety of native plants, which in turn provides food and habitat for other wildlife.

For example, in areas where wild burros are present, native grasses and shrubs tend to flourish more than in regions where burros have been removed. This diversity is crucial for sustaining pollinators, small mammals, and birds that rely on a range of plants for survival.

2. They Support Water Access for Multiple Species

Wild burros are known as natural well-diggers. They use their hooves to dig into dry stream beds and arid soil, creating water holes that collect rainwater and groundwater. These water sources become critical for vertebrate species, including birds, reptiles, and mammals, especially during dry seasons.

By maintaining access to water in harsh environments, wild burros indirectly support the survival of many other species. This behavior highlights their role as ecosystem engineers, shaping the landscape in ways that benefit a broad range of animals.

Dr. Erick J. Lundgren is one of the top experts in the world on wild horse and burro ecology, with two peer-reviewed papers published in the highly prestigious journal Science. Dr. Lundgren and a team of researchers "detected 59 vertebrate species at equid wells, of which 57 were recorded drinking." In addition, the"results suggest that equids, even those that are introduced or feral, are able to buffer water availability, which may increase resilience to ongoing human-caused aridification."

3. Wild Burros Contribute to Soil Health

The movement and grazing patterns of wild burros help aerate the soil and distribute seeds across large areas. Their hooves break up compacted soil, allowing water to penetrate more easily and encouraging plant growth. Additionally, their droppings act as natural fertilizer, enriching the soil with nutrients.

By grazing on grasses, shrubs, and other plants, they contribute to the overall health of the landscape, preventing overgrowth and allowing for a diverse range of flora to thrive. This grazing behavior can stimulate new plant growth, benefiting other wildlife species that rely on a healthy and varied ecosystem. Moreover, wild burros are known to create pathways through dense vegetation, which can facilitate movement for other animals and promote biodiversity.

Healthy soil supports robust plant communities, which are essential for preventing erosion and maintaining the overall stability of the ecosystem. This natural process is a key reason why conservation efforts focus on preserving wild burro populations.

A rescued burro stands backlit by golden light in the natural landscape at Skydog Ranch and Sanctuary.

4. They Provide a Living Link to the Region’s History

According to Conservation Scientist, Nicole Hayes, in a recent article by American Wild Horse Conservation, "Wild burros are a fascinating and often misunderstood part of the American West. These descendants of African and Middle Eastern donkeys were brought to North America by Spanish colonists in the 1500s and have since adapted to the harsh landscapes of the American Southwest. Far from being a burden on the environment, wild burros play a unique and essential ecological role, embodying resilience and contributing to the health of desert ecosystems."

Historically, these animals were utilized for various purposes, including transportation and labor, particularly in mining operations and agricultural settings. However, as their practical utility diminished with the advent of modern machinery and transportation methods, many burros were left to roam freely, leading to the establishment of wild populations across the region.

Today, these wild burros are often seen wandering through the deserts and canyons, embodying a spirit of independence and tenacity. Far from being a burden on the environment, wild burros actually play a unique and essential ecological role within their habitats.

Equine advocacy groups emphasize that wild burros are not just animals but symbols of resilience and freedom. Their continued presence enriches the cultural landscape and offers educational opportunities for communities and visitors.

5. Conservation of Wild Burros Supports Broader Ecosystem Health

Conservation efforts are increasingly recognizing the importance of protecting wild burros, not only for their historical and cultural significance but also for their role in maintaining the ecological integrity of the American Southwest. \

Wild burros are more than just survivors of a tough environment. They are essential contributors to the health and diversity of the American West ecosystem. Their role as natural well-diggers, selective grazers, and soil enhancers supports a wide range of species and helps maintain the balance of this fragile landscape.

Three rescued wild burros enjoying their freedom on a desert hillside, supporting native plant growth and ecosystem balance in the natural environment of the 9,000-acre at Skydog Ranch and Sanctuary.

Wild Burros Are Essential for the American West Ecosystem

In conclusion, wild burros are more than just a remnant of colonial history; they are resilient survivors that embody the spirit of the American West. Their contributions to desert ecosystems are invaluable, and understanding their role can foster a greater appreciation for these remarkable animals and the unique environments they inhabit.

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For more information about how wild burros positively impact arid ecosystems, take a moment to watch American Wild Horse Conservation's fascinating video with Dr. Erick Lundgren, a leading global authority on wild horse and burro ecology. His understanding of the role wild horses and burros play in desert ecosystems is vital not only for equids but also for comprehending and conserving the natural ecosystems they inhabit.

Help raise awareness by sharing this article and video!

American Wild Horse Campaign is now American Wild Horse Conservation

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American Wild Horse Conservation

Wild Horse & Burro Protection Act

Wild Burros & Donkeys at Skydog Ranch

How Wild Horses Transformed Award-Winning Photographer Sandy Sharkey's Life

EquuStyle: When did you first become interested in photographing wild horses? What sparked that passion for you? 

Sandy Sharkey: In my early twenties, I was on a trail ride in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains near Banff.  One afternoon, I was lying on my back in an alpine meadow, my trail horse contentedly munching grass beside me.  Suddenly, everything shook- and I jumped up, convinced that I was experiencing an earthquake.  It wasn’t an earthquake.  It was a herd of wild horses, galloping past me on a rocky ridge.  It was over as quickly as it began- and the wild horses disappeared into a forest.  But it was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen. 

Wild mountain horses traverse the rugged landscape of the Alberta Rocky Mountains, showcasing their strength and resilience amidst the natural beauty of Canada.

At that time, I had no idea that wild horses existed.  My life was forever changed.  I needed to experience wild horses again and again, to capture their essence with my camera, and to share their stories of free spirited resilience.

 EquuStyle: What personal connection do you feel to the wild horses you photograph, and how does this influence your work? 

Sandy Sharkey: I think the most ‘free spirited’ time of our lives, is when we are kids-  before the wide ranging demands of society take root.  Over time, that free spirit of youth is diminished under the weight of responsibility.  When I’m with wild horses, I feel like that 8 year old kid again.  Wild horses are symbolic of freedom, embodying an unabashed free spirit that exists in all of us. 

A wild mare and stallion share a tender moment on the vast plains of Utah, embodying the spirit of freedom and companionship.

In many ways, connecting with wild horses can reconnect the adventurous soul that we’ve buried through adulthood.  Someone once told me, ‘it’s not how you feel about someone, it’s how you feel about yourself when you’re with that person’.  The same applies to wild horses.  When I’m with these magnificent animals, the awakening of my heart and soul influences my photographic work in a visceral way. 

If one of my images captures the free spirit of a wild horse, creating a beautiful connection between human and horse-  this is much more important to me than a technically perfect photo.  

 EquuStyle: Could you share a memorable encounter with a wild horse that deeply impacted you? 

Sandy Sharkey: There are so many to choose from.  But one encounter stands out. In the spring of 2018, I was photographing wild horses in Utah’s Onaqui range.  One morning, I saw this huge cloud of dust rolling across the desert floor like a scene from ‘Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner’.  The trail of dust was created by one scrappy, smallish wild buckskin stallion known as ‘Buck’.  He was covered in battle scars and several wounds were fresh, but nothing stopped him.  Buck was determined to steal the mares from every stallion in sight. 

Majestic and resilient, Buck the battle-scarred Onaqui stallion strides across the rugged landscape, embodying the untamed spirit of the wild.

He wasn’t successful that day, and I’m not sure that he was ever successful, but the huge spirit from this small package embodied persistence, true grit, and wild spirit; everything we love about wild horses.  Buck is my horse hero.

 EquuStyle: What initially drew you into wild horse advocacy? 

Sandy Sharkey: When I first started photographing wild horses, it wasn’t long before I began to learn about the challenges they face.  I couldn’t continue to share photos of beautiful wild horses without speaking out and raising awareness about the atrocities of wild horse roundups and the slaughter pipeline. 

"Utah Fiery Boy" is the title of a wild and free, Onaqui stallion rearing majestically against a backdrop of the rugged Utah landscape.

Along with photographic storytelling, I began to host wild horse retreats and trips to other wild horse areas in the world.  When we see mankind’s treatment of wild horses, and how it differs depending on geographic location, we can better understand and help shape a future where wild horses are protected and respected. 

In the American west, thousands of mustangs have been rounded up by helicopters and removed by the U.S. government, in deference to the demands of public lands ranchers.  The system is broken and the government is resistant to working for meaningful change. 

There are over 60,000 wild horses languishing in holding facilities.  In contrast, cattle ranchers in northern Portugal are accepting of the ‘Garrano’ wild horses.  In Chilean Patagonia, wild horses known as ‘Baguales’ are also revered, and have become a draw for adventurers.  In Mongolia, Przewalski’s horses were extinct from the wild, but due to a successful captive breeding program, they once again roam the Mongolian steppes. 

Wild Garrano Mare in Northern Portugal

Wild Przewalski's Horse, Mongolia

Sable Island wild stallion

The wild horses of Canada’s remote Sable Island are 100 percent protected, living wild and free with zero interference from mankind.   We have much to learn regarding mankind’s complex relationships with wild horses.

 EquuStyle: How do you believe your images help to shift perceptions and garner support for wild horses? 

Sandy Sharkey: My goal on social media is to have my wild horse images pack a one-two punch.  Hopefully someone is emotionally drawn into a photo, whether it’s a wild horse portrait, a wild horse family band or an action shot-  and they stick around long enough to read the text that goes along with it. 

My posts can include hard-hitting calls to action-  or they can be sweet or humorous.  I try to mix it up as much as possible, because different people respond to different things.

 EquuStyle: What are some of the biggest misconceptions about wild horses that you aim to dispel through your advocacy? 

Sandy Sharkey: Wild horses are sentient, intelligent, family oriented animals that have earned the right to exist peacefully on the landscape.  Those who profit from usage of public lands have created a false narrative about wild horses being a strain on the ecosystem.  Nothing could be further from the truth. 

Unfortunately the wild horse has become the scapegoat for rangeland damage caused by human activities, particularly public lands ranching.  My wild horse advocacy is rooted in dispelling the false narrative wrongly promoted by special interest groups.

 EquuStyle: As a speaker, when addressing audiences, what are the key messages you strive to convey about wild horses? 

Sandy Sharkey: It starts with instilling the knowledge that wild horses actually EXIST.  I shouldn’t be surprised that most people don’t know that wild horses live in wild spaces around the world.  I had no idea myself-  until that eye opening encounter in the Alberta wilderness so many years ago. 

Salt Wells Creek Wyoming Wild Stallion known as 'Jack

Utah Onaqui wild stallion known as One Ear

Wild Alberta Mountain Horses

Utah Onaqui Mare and Foal

Welcome to the World (Onagui)

As a speaker, I always begin by assuming that I’m introducing the wonder of wild horses to someone for the first time.  Following that, my role is to convey wild horses’ precarious relationships with humans, and how we can work together to elicit positive change. 

 EquuStyle: How do you engage and inspire individuals who may have little prior knowledge or connection to these animals? 

Sandy Sharkey: I try to engage people in a way that they can relate.  Storytelling is immensely important.  For example, to wild horses, family is everything.  When wild horse families are ripped apart by tragic helicopter roundups, the stallions, mares and foals desperately call out to each other after being indiscriminately packed into livestock trailers and separated forever.  We can’t begin to imagine the heartbreak.  But we can certainly relate to our own family relationships, and reflect on the tragedy of being separated from a loved one.  

"Wyoming Wild Family"

EquuStyle: Do you have a story about how your images of wild horses or a speaking engagement directly impacted wild horse conservation or policy?

Sandy Sharkey: In 2023, I was honored to speak at the Wild Horse Conference in Washington DC.  My presentation was titled ‘Storytelling for Change’.  Stories connect us all, and it’s the most powerful way to invoke positive change. 

Alberta Wild Stallion known as 'Maverick'

To help save wild horses, it’s important for people to have an emotional connection.  Strong storytelling can move mountains.  I love grassroots campaigns powered by the human heart.  I created the hashtag ‘#ButImJustOnePersonSaid300MillionPeople’ to encourage people to listen to wild horse stories and feel moved to act.  Every single voice is a megaphone.  

EquuStyle: Who are some individuals who have inspired you in your journey as a photographer and advocate? 

Sandy Sharkey: There are far too many to mention, and I would likely miss someone!  Over the years I’ve been fortunate to work with outstanding people who have dedicated their lives to wild horses.  I’ve stood shoulder-to-shoulder on wild horse ranges with advocates that know the herds and the individual horses, from birth to adulthood to death from old age (it’s always a unique gift when a horse lives wild and free for his/her entire life, which speaks volumes about the high odds of being captured long before that day). 

I’m inspired by the photographers, the writers, the organizers of webinars and rallies, the creators of film and music, and everyone who works tirelessly to ensure that wild horses will run free for generations to come.  And to the members of the public who don’t look the other way-  taking the time to make phone calls, write letters and share posts.  In many ways, they are my greatest source of inspiration.   

 EquuStyle: What inspired you to guide photography tours of wild horses on Sable Island? 

Sandy Sharkey: I want the world to know that a place actually exists, where wild horses are 100 percent protected.  Located 180 miles from Halifax Nova Scotia in the Atlantic Ocean, the grassy dunes of Sable Island are home to approximately 500 wild horses.  Here, they are free to form family bands, give birth, watch their foals grow, and share lifelong bonds with each other, with zero interference from mankind.  The horses are managed by mother nature, living an existence in harmony with the sea.  

'Dad and Me' Wild Horses of Sable Island

Wild Horses of Sable Island at Dusk

Wild Horses of Sable Island

Sable Island Wild Hippie

Being on Sable Island not only feeds our soul, it restores our hope that one day, all wild horses will be as revered and respected as the wild horses that have survived on this crescent-shaped island for over 350 years.  We must never give up hope.

 EquuStyle: For those interested in supporting wild horse protection, what concrete actions would you recommend they take?

Sandy Sharkey: It’s a good idea to follow wild horse organizations that provide excellent background information, along with current news and suggested calls to action. Here are some respected sources:

SaveOurWildHorses.net

WildHorseEducation.org

AmericanWildHorse.org

WildBeautyFoundation.org

It’s important to contact your legislators and ask for humane reform regarding the treatment of wild horses.  Elected officials can’t ignore an army of voices. 

And while the fight to save wild horses is in the category of ‘David vs Goliath’, I prefer to look at it this way: WE are not David, WE are Goliath.  Thankfully, those with empathy and compassion greatly outnumber those who profit from public lands and want the wild horses eliminated.  We just need to stay together and raise our voices. 

Remember: #ButI’mJustOnePersonSaid300MillionPeople 

Elected officials can’t ignore an army of voices.

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The Intersection of Art and Advocacy: Photographer Scott Wilson's Passion for Wild Horses

"Hazard" shows a mare and foal being chased over a barbed wire fence by a federal helicopter

EquuStyle: How did your encounter with the iconic stallion Picasso inspire you to become a PhotoAdvocate?

PICASSO THE LEGEND

Scott Wilson: Witnessing Picasso in full battle mode in Sand Wash Basin certainly piqued my artistic interest in wild horses, but my efforts on the PhotoAdvocacy front began a number of years prior, using my platform as a landscape and wildlife photographer to build awareness of colon cancer, the benefits of early detection, and the need to reduce the age of funded screening eligibility from 50 to 45. 

Encountering Picasso cemented my desire to train my wildlife lens on wild horses. It was a few years later, with the impending helicopter roundup in September 2021, that I really found a voice as an advocate and cause-related photographer for wild horses.

EquuStyle:  In what ways do you believe photography and photojournalism support animal welfare causes?

Scott Wilson: There is a virtuous circle created by photographic art and photojournalism where the art plays a key role in helping to make us more aware and appreciative of the wild lives with whom we share the planet, while photojournalism brings home the conflicts, threats and human menace impacting their livelihoods and habitat.

EquuStyle:  Please give some examples of ways your images not only informed, but drove action or specific changes to benefit wild horses.

Scott Wilson: Real change, at the legislation level, often requires a tipping point when legislative efforts meet public momentum. It’s rarely one moment or a single act that will create the change, but a plethora of actions and noise. That’s where advocacy, and within that PhotoAdvocacy, have key roles to play in building the head of steam that will eventually blow the lid off the pressure cooker.  

The helicopter roundup at Sand Wash Basin in September 2021 stopped two days early, due to the weight of advocate pressure and outspoken political leadership from Governor Polis while images of incidents such as a wild mare and her foals being driven into barbed wire at Piceance Basin, in 2022, while being chased by a federal helicopter achieved front-page coverage adding to the weight of public opinion in favor of a different approach.

"West Douglas" is an image of the ongoing helicopter roundups of America's wild horses and burros. Learn more today at https://www.photoadvocacy.org/about

Real change, at the legislation level, often requires a tipping point when legislative efforts meet public momentum. It’s rarely one moment or a single act that will create the change, but a plethora of actions and noise.

In 2023, Colorado passed the first state-funded Wild Horse Working Group into law which has seen $1.5m state dollars invested into a more collaborative approach to wild horse management. My hope is this becomes a model for federal-state collaboration which other states will follow. 

The world’s largest photojournalism agency, We Animals, has built a collection of wild horse roundup images, supported by extensive editorial captions, which is made available to media outlets covering wild horse issues. I also provide roundup images to American Wild Horse Conservation and these are used to highlight extensive flaws in an inhumane federal management program which is stockpiling wild horses in costly off-range holding ($105m in 2024) while more affordable in-the-wild conservation measures remain dramatically underfunded.

There are myths perpetuated by livestock special interests and the roundup industry that wild horses neither have a sense of family, nor feel suffering when they are separated through roundups. PhotoAdvocacy helps to challenge some of those myths. 

Perhaps one of my most evocative roundup images, Wild Unfree, captured moments after a family band of mares and foals were confined in holding, while their band stallion ran free, evokes all of same fear and emotion in their newly-captive faces that a human separated from his or her family would feel and affirms wild horses as sentient being deserving of our respect and their place on the landscape. 

EquuStyle:  You contribute images to support We Animals, the world’s leading Animal Photojournalism Agency. How does We Animals help organizations tell their stories?

Scott Wilson: We Animals’ global investigations and stories expose our complex relationships with animals. They work with NGOs, media and advocates to initiate ethical and cultural shifts in society, and empower human capacity for compassion and change.  The We Animals stock platform is a free global resource for anyone helping animals. They empower campaigners, writers, researchers, students, and activists with the visual tools they need to increase and engage their audiences.

“Wild Unfree” is a disturbing image of two panicked and exhausted Colorado mustang horses moments after being rounded up a helicopter. Authorities shepherded them into holding pens to await shipment. PhotoAdvocacy / We Animals

Alongside images, We Animals includes interviews, research, data, and stories to educate us about animal sentience and behaviors, so all the information needed to spark conversation, awe, and change accompanies the image.

In 2024, We Animals carried out 22 assignments in 11 countries, shedding light on critical animal welfare issues. Over 38,000 visuals were downloaded from the We Animals stock site, contributing to advocacy campaigns worldwide and more than 350 media publications featured work by their Animal Photo Journalists, including The Guardian, Vox, and The Dodo. 

EquuStyle:  How did you capture the photo Anger Management that won the Top Natural World and Wildlife prize in the 2022 World Photography Awards?

Scott Wilson: At the natural history level, Anger Management depicts the drama and tension of a wild Colorado stallion pounding the dirt in his home in Sand Wash Basin, in the northwest corner of the state.  It’s the middle of summer and he has just emerged from a mud pool which is beginning to cake on his body as he kicks up the dust demanding his place at the water hole.

"Anger Management" received the Natural World & Wildlife Award at the 2022 Sony World Photography Awards, organized by the World Photography Organization.

At a higher level, Anger Managements is intended as a statement piece about the challenges wild horses face in the American West, where they basically are under permanent threat of roundup while their land is cleared for the livestock industry. 

Thankfully, the judging panel agreed and the awards coverage helped raise awareness of wild horse issues in 140 countries worldwide. 

EquuStyle:   At the 2022 Sony World Photography Awards, you won Open Photographer of the Year. How did this award influence your photography going forward?

Scott Wilson: I was asked a similar question a couple of years ago, while giving a talk to photography students at a High School in Colorado and it really helped me process the role the award played in helping me to break out of a purely artistic pursuit, to focus more heavily on the advocacy merits of my work and heightened my interest in the photojournalistic side of the wild horse question.

EquuStyle:  Through the Window is a dramatic visual journey. What is the story behind this project?

Scott Wilson: When I was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer in 2016, part of my treatment regime involved an immunotherapy drug called panitumumab. The side-effect of the drug is an extreme photosensitivity meaning I had to avoid sunlight entirely, which threatened to put a stop to the landscape photography pursuits which I knew would be essential therapy through my treatment. It was then that I recognised the abundance of wonderful wildlife in state parks on our doorstep which I could view and photograph from the protective shade of my car. I began shooting ‘through the window’ between chemotherapy treatments and compiled a book of  wildlife images, accompanied by tales of my cancer journey.  I published the book as a fundraiser for the Colorectal Cancer Alliance in the Fall of 2017, just after I was confirmed to be NED (No Evidence of Disease).

EquuStyle:  As a resident artist at Gallery 6 in Denver, you create Art & Advocacy Events. What was the response to the recent event to support ZUMA'S Rescue Ranch's equine-assisted therapy program for people affected by cancer?

Scott Wilson: It has been a dream to combine my advocacy passions – horse protection and cancer prevention – to support the development of a mental health program that tackles the many challenges that come with a cancer diagnosis for patients, survivors and families.

My own children, Andrew and Alba, were 14 and 10 when I was diagnosed with a ten per cent chance of living another five years. I wanted to see more resources that might have helped them process that life-changing news at such a young age.

My familiarity with sanctuaries has taught me the extraordinary connection between horse and human, and the proven therapeutic benefit that veterans suffering PTSD – which has well-documented parallels with the trauma of cancer - have found in equine-assisted mental health programs, such as the Zeal series at Zuma’s. 

Licensed mental health therapist, Misty Sherbondy LCSW, used her experience with veterans at Zuma’s to develop a dedicated cancer-focused program covering topics such as shared experience, coping skills, working with feelings of loss, reducing anxiety and continued healing for patients, survivors and families.

My own children, Andrew and Alba, were 14 and 10 when I was diagnosed with a ten per cent chance of living another five years. I wanted to see more resources that might have helped them process that life-changing news at such a young age.

We held an Art & Advocacy event in Denver in March, 2025, designed to raise awareness and funds to launch a pilot for the Healing Herd Program. The support from attendees was fantastic and we exceeded our target for the pilot which launched at the end of April. 

I am so grateful to Jodi Messenich and the team at Zuma’s for their commitment to bringing the program together. 

EquuStyle:  In what way has surviving cancer motivated you to share your story with others?

Scott Wilson: It’s all about prevention. If you are diagnosed with colon cancer at stage 1, you have a 90% chance of survival. If you are diagnosed at stage 4, you have a 10% chance of living another 5 years. Being in that incredibly lucky 10% gives you a very heightened awareness of how close you were to a different outcome. A colonoscopy will make all the difference, so I simply do not understand folks who are eligible for free screening yet delay or turn it down. 

EquuStyle:  The Sand Wash Basin BLM horse management area (HMA) seems to be a favorite spot for your work. What makes this place special?

Scott Wilson: It has become my human sanctuary. The remoteness, the wildness, the rugged beauty of the landscape and the incredible survival instincts of the wild ones. I often say “their freedom is our freedom” and it is truly liberating to spend time in their company.  

WILD PALOMINO PINTO STALLION METEOR © PhotoAdvocacy

DIAPHANOUS GOLD © PhotoAdvocacy

EquuStyle:  Tell us about your role as the Director of Strategy and Awareness at American Wild Horse Conservation.

Scott Wilson: Everything we do is built around a clear purpose to keep America’s promise to wild horses and to drive towards a vision of lifelong freedom where protected wild horses are able to live and die in the wild. 

Our policy and conservation programs are built around improving the standards and scale of in-the-wild conservation, such as humane fertility control, and rewilding of wild horse habitat which has been systematically diminished from 54m acres in 1971 to less than 27m acres today. 

That starts with leveling the playing field versus special interest livestock groups which dominate public lands lobbying and giving a voice to wild horse conservation.

"Midnight Blue" a wild Blue Roan stallion

America now holds more displaced wild horses in captivity (62,000) than there are running free in the wild (53,000), at an extraordinary cost to the taxpayer who funded $105m in off-range holding costs in 2024 alone. It is thirty times cheaper to treat one mare with fertility control, and keep her eating free in the wild, than it is to remove and confine one horse for life in holding ($48,000).

Most Americans are pleasantly surprised to learn that we still have wild horses roaming ten western states and have little or no knowledge of the permanent threat of roundup by helicopter. 

Our awareness role is opening the public’s eyes to the natural beauty, management failure and fiscal waste on their doorstep and motivating a movement that demands a better outcome for the nation’s protected wild horses and burros. 

Ultimately, we see a sustainable future built on in-the-wild conservation, habitat restoration, ecotourism and legislative recognition of the integral role wild horses play in a modern American ecosystem. 

Everything American Wild Horse Conservation does is built around a clear purpose to keep America’s promise to wild horses and to drive towards a vision of lifelong freedom where protected wild horses are able to live and die in the wild. 

EquuStyle:  You had an extensive career in the corporate world, particularly with Molson Coors Brewing Company. How has this experience influenced your current role at AWHC?

Scott Wilson: You might be surprised by some of the parallels I’ve observed between the worlds of alcohol and wild horses. Both are both high profile issues characterized by opposing views on how they should be handled. In the early 2010s,  I was asked by the UK Department of Health to lead the industry representation on a national effort to tackle alcohol harm in the UK and reduce levels of irresponsible drinking. 

It was one of the most potentially divisive projects, yet the shared mission and collaborative approach to problem solving turned out to be one of the most constructive and creatively rewarding processes that I have worked on. 

The coming together of radically opposing views, recognition that we all have a valid stake in the solution and that no one party will eliminate another, is a real enabler of common ground. 

I believe that’s the mindset driving progress with the Colorado Wild Horse Working Group and really underpins my belief that a sustainable long term solution can be built with the right people around the table. 

Freedom

EquuStyle:  Protecting wild horses and burros is a challenge you have embraced. How can people support their protection and preservation in today's environment?

Scott Wilson: When I talk about PhotoAdvocacy, I am always clear that there isn’t an expectation that everyone gives up their careers and throws themselves at their chosen advocacy issue. The key is identifying the cause that you believe in, where you believe you can make a positive difference,  and intersecting that with the skills and time that you have at your disposal. For some, that might be volunteering a few hours on a Saturday at their local wild horse sanctuary. For others it might be registering as a Volunteer Ambassador for American Wild Horse Conservation and engaging local policy makers on the issue and legislative solutions.  

I happen to have found a movement that allowed me to bring my experience in photography, advocacy, corporate responsibility and communications together in a hybrid career supporting a cause I believe in full-time. 

And the work is far from done.  

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