Field Evidence & Photos
Real, documented field photos of wild mustang bands driven by low-flying contractor helicopters, the federal secrecy that hides these operations from the public, and the eyewitness record the BLM does not want seen.
Eyewitness Photos: The Reality of Helicopter Stampedes
While the BLM asserts these roundups are humane, on-the-ground advocates and field observers document low-flying helicopters terrorizing healthy, muscular bands across rugged rocky terrain in brutal temperatures. Foals are separated from mothers, horses suffer fatal neck and limb fractures, and families are torn apart.
Low-flying contractor helicopter pursuing running herd at point-blank range over rugged desert terrain.
Head-on view: Federal contractor helicopter driving a herd toward hidden jute-netted trap corrals.
Exhausted band including young foals stampeded across rocks and sagebrush in high summer heat.
Helicopter hovering directly above running wild horses, kicking up dust and driving mares and foals to physical exhaustion.
Archival record of mass stampedes: Hundreds of wild horses driven down mountain slopes into temporary capture corrals.
The Federal Secrecy & 1-Mile Media Blackout
The BLM routinely keeps independent media and observers up to a mile away behind ridges so trap pens cannot be filmed. Federal contractors refuse telemetry cameras on helicopters to prevent public scrutiny.
Why You Can't See More
The BLM routinely issues Temporary Closure Orders barring the public from thousands of acres during roundups, positions the few allowed observers more than a mile away behind ridges that block the view of trap pens, and refuses to mandate telemetry cameras on contractor helicopters. Up to 90% of a helicopter chase occurs out of sight of designated observation zones — by design.
See the 5 questions reporters must ask the BLM