The fight to get congressional attention for the Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act just got a boost in momentum with the help of Diane Lane, the actress who achieved success in animal abuse protection with the Shark Fin Trade Elimination Act of 2017. Diane offered to help Ashley Avis, founder of the Wild Beauty Foundation, after seeing the documentary Ashley produced to expose the immediate and long-term danger to the US wild horse population.
Ashley first became aware of the issue while filming the remake of Black Beauty for Disney+. She subsequently worked for five years to make WILD BEAUTY: Mustang Spirit of the West, to show how government-financed mass helicopter roundups are ridding public lands of tens of thousands of mustangs and having devastating impacts in the process.
The film was an absolute passion project – a real independent film with a cause- that ended up becoming critically acclaimed. WILD BEAUTY was nominated for a Critic’s Choice Award alongside studio contenders that included Steven Spielberg and James Cameron projects; and was called a leading Oscar contender by every major entertainment trade publication, all which led Diane to see the film.
Diane and Ashley subsequently scheduled an event in Congress on April 30, 2024. They went to Washington, DC, ahead of time to lobby as many elected officials as possible to spread the word. Ashley also created a 5-minute video of the feature-length WILD BEAUTY documentary focusing on what H.R. 3656 represents, and they used that to drive home their ask for support. Ashley said they walked the halls of Congress, meeting ten Congressional members in person and visiting 25 offices altogether. “Many members have no idea about the issue at all, much less the cruelty and inequality of the helicopters,” Ashley said.
Their goal in DC was to garner signatures from members of Congress in support of the bill, which is bipartisan, with Congresswoman Dina Titus (D-NV) introducing the original bill in 2023 along with Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN), and Congressman David Schweikert (R-AZ). The reintroduction is co-sponsored by Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA), with Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), who also co-sponsored the April 30 event.
The bill is important because it will set a precedent for what is lawful in handling wild species and will prevent the Bureau of Land Management from continuing to spend millions of dollars on helicopter contracts. One company alone has been “awarded over $30 million by the federal government to round up wild horses,” Ashley said. “It’s an industry for profit, and they’re leaving just enough horses out there to continue to be a smokescreen for the livestock industry, and it’s a vicious cycle.”
To help spread the word, Ashley said, “We need megaphones.” To illustrate that she hand-delivered dozens of letters as part of the Wild Beauty Foundation’s multi-year “I Stand With Wild Horses” campaign for children to write letters to their members of Congress. She said everyone was very moved by the grassroots support.
Next Steps: National Fly-In Day
“This is the most momentum this bill has had since it was reintroduced…and thanks to Diane, we got a number of members of Congress to turn their heads to this issue for a moment,” Ashley said. To build on that momentum, she hopes to organize “Wild Beauty Day,” a day for people to come to Washington, DC, and lobby their representatives on behalf of the bill. She’s targeting September or October for the event after Congress returns from their August recess.
The ultimate goal is to “supercharge national press” because that’s what Ashley thinks the bill needs because she feels the public is uninformed. With “Wild Beauty Day,” passionate advocates for wild horses – including 150-200 children and their families – will stand on the steps of the Capitol and say, “I stand for wild horses.” Ashley is also working on a children’s program called “Wild Horse Week” with experts donating their time to create a curriculum. They started filming for that while in Washington, DC, and Ashley hopes to release the program in tandem with Wild Beauty Day.
To learn more, listen to or watch Ashley’s podcast interview with Dr. Nancy, check out the Wild Beauty Foundation website, and read the specifics of H.R. 3656 as presented. If you’d like to lend your voice to stand for wild horses, you can do so at istandwithwildhorses.com.