The U.S. Senate’s proposed spending bill for fiscal 2018 calls for the Department of the Interior (DOI) to explore “politically viable” options for maintaining wild horse herds under Bureau of Land Management (BLM) jurisdiction.

The legislation differs from a budget bill passed in July by the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee that some wild horse advocates believe would ultimately allow the sale of unwanted mustangs for slaughter.

Released on Nov. 20 by the Senate’s Appropriations Committee, the proposed $32.6 billion DOI fiscal 2018 budget allocates $1.23 billion for the BLM, $16 million below the enacted amount enacted for fiscal 2017.

The measure also contains a so-called explanatory statement from the Committee’s chairman that calls for “a range of humane and politically viable options” to put the wild horse and burro program “on a path to sustainability