# Plain Language Summary: Veterans for Mustangs Act

The federal government manages wild horses and burros that roam on public lands across the West, and their populations have grown so large that they're damaging the land and competing with livestock for food and water. This bill changes how the government tackles that problem by requiring it to use birth control methods on these animals instead of just rounding them up and removing them. The bill specifically directs the Department of Interior to prioritize using nonsurgical, medically safe fertility control methods—like a vaccine called PZP that prevents pregnancy—to keep wild horse and burro populations at healthy levels.

Here's where veterans come in: the bill creates a new opportunity for military veterans by having the government recruit and train them to apply these fertility control methods to wild horses and burros. Veterans would go through a certification program (like the one offered by the Science and Conservation Center) and then could be hired as contractors to do this work on public lands. The government would pay for their training and compensate them for their work. This gives veterans job opportunities in land management while also addressing the overpopulation problem in a way that doesn't involve removing animals from the range.

The practical effect is twofold: public lands get better protection from overgrazing and damage caused by too many wild horses and burros, and veterans gain access to meaningful employment and training in a specialized field. Rather than the current approach of capturing and removing excess animals (which is expensive and controversial), this method keeps animals on the range but controls their numbers through birth control, while creating work for people who've served in the military.

Veterans for Mustangs Act

McClain, Lisa C.

Veterans for Mustangs Act This bill directs the Department of the Interior to prioritize use of nonsurgical, medically safe on-range fertility controls to manage populations of wild, free-roaming horses and burros. In implementing such fertility controls, the Bureau of Land Management shall prioritize the recruitment of military veterans to train and become certified in the application of fertility controls, including the certified PZP applicator certification offered by the Science and Conservation Center's Certification Program. Interior shall provide appropriate compensation to military veterans participating in such a certification program. The bill authorizes Interior to contract with military veterans who have completed the training program to carry out fertility control activities.