The federal government proudly featured wild horses in celebrations surrounding America’s 250th anniversary — from the U.S. Postal Service’s “American Icons” stamp collection, to the Bureau of Land Management’s ongoing national tour with a wild horse and burro pair named Freedom and Liberty. Despite showcasing wild equines as symbols of independence and the indomitable American spirit, federal management of these animals has devolved into a multimillion-dollar bureaucratic failure that betrays those very ideals.

Following this milestone anniversary, it’s time we urge our government to bridge the gap between rhetoric and policy so these animals remain free.