Wild Beauty Takes Home Awards at DOC LA Film Festival

Our most recent screening of Wild Beauty was at the prestigious Los Angeles Documentary Film Festival (DOC LA), organized by the Parajanov-Vartanov Institute. DOC LA showcases stunning examples of documentary filmmaking in both world and American cinema. The festival was held last weekend, with Wild Beauty receiving two major awards. Ashley Avis was awarded Best Director and Kai Krause, for Best Cinematography. We are so proud to see the overwhelming response Wild Beauty is receiving on the film festival circuit; our wild ones deserve this spotlight.

Wild Beauty Producer, Richard Avis, attended the screening of Wild Beauty: Mustang Spirit of the West and hosted a Q&A following the film where audience members learned more about the plight of wild horses in our country. There were several wild horse advocates in the audience, and we thank them for attending and supporting Wild Beauty. We believe that initiating conversation about the cause is a great way to work toward solutions. This is why we at WBF urge you to advocate by using #IStandWithWildHorses to tell your stories of wild beauty. 

As Wild Beauty continues to make an impact in cities across the U.S. we would like to thank all of you who have supported this film and our mission to protect America’s wild horses. 

Photo Credit: Carol Walker

This Week’s News on the Alpine Wild Horses

Three weeks have passed since the massacre in the Apache Sitgreaves forest. Volunteers have found 38 horses dead, leaving 12 missing. Simone Netherlands of Salt River Wild Horse Management Group reports that horses from different bands are beginning to regroup and find safety in the surviving herd members after this tragedy.

The reward for information concerning the shooting currently stands at $35,000. We at WBF want to see the individual(s) responsible for this crime brought to justice, and that begins with contacting Arizona officials and expressing concerns. Wild horse advocates fear that these absolutely inhumane actions will continue to occur if we do not speak out and demand further investigation.

On October 26th, the Forest Service issued a press release regarding these events. In the statement, The Forest Service reports that they do not have investigatory jurisdiction over livestock in the state of Arizona. Unfortunately, due to the Forest Service’s false narratives that these horses are feral, despite a history of living wild in the forest for hundreds of years, they are unable to follow through with proper investigation themselves. This is yet another reason that we must fight for the label of “unauthorized livestock” to be removed from wild horses on our public lands. Fortunately, the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests have been supporting the investigation. Our wild ones deserve better protection and we can’t reach this unless the Forest Service, the BLM, and the individuals benefiting from private interests are held accountable for their false narratives.

At this time, the Apache County Sheriff has not issued any updates on the investigation. We urge the county sheriff’s office to speak publicly on the massacre against the Alpine wild horses, especially now that a public statement has been made by the Forest Service. The public deserves to be updated on how officials are handling this situation and what developments are being made.

In the meantime, you can continue to express your concerns for the safety of remaining wild horses in this area by contacting the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest Supervisor’s Office below:

Judith Palmer

30 S. Chiricahua Dr.
Springerville, AZ 85938

(928) 333-6280

or by contacting the Public Affairs Officer, Jeffrey Todd at

(928) 333-6263

We at WBF are frustrated with the Forest Service’s lack of commitment to this investigation and we hope to see changes made as we continue to speak out.

Stone Cabin Wild Horse Complex Environmental Assessment Open for Public Comment

This week the BLM began accepting public comment on the environmental assessment proposed for the Stone Cabin Complex outside of Nye, Nevada. You can find the BLM’s full press release here.

 This complex includes the Stone Cabin and Saulsbury Herd Management Areas that are home to approximately 930 wild horses. According to the proposed Environmental Assessment, the BLM plans to reduce the complex to a mere 404 wild horses total living on over 542,000 acres of public land. WBF supports that there is no scientific backing to the BLM’s “Appropriate Management Levels” and most reflect low numbers that favor the desires of special interests, such as livestock grazing.

This Environmental Assessment also proposes the use of fertility control methods such as gelding and IUDs, which are irreversible and potentially damaging to natural herd dynamics. We believe that the only fertility control methods implemented must prove to be reversible, in order to prevent a complete eradication of wild horse populations across our west.

Photograph by Chad Hanson

This Week’s Call To Action

Submit a Public Comment on the Environmental Assessment of the Stone Cabin Complex