Unfortunately, in 2005, Congress enacted and President Bush signed into legislation changes to the original 1971 Act, allowing the BLM to euthanize and/or sell these animals. Currently, the BLM is considering euthanizing 2,300 horses and selling another 8,000 for slaughter.
The BLM is partnered with the Public Lands Council which consists of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, the American Sheep industry and the Association of National Grasslands. These are the people who have tried to get rid of wild horses for years. They argue that the federal lands cannot support all of the mustangs and burros and yet over three million cattle are grazing the same land.
Make your voice heard. The BLM can be influenced by public outcry and congressional objection to the current policy. If you'd like to weigh in with your opinions and support, there are a number of links near the bottom of this page with information.
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Contents at a Glance
Wild Burros in the Gerlach, NV area. Photo copyright Theresa Rose/RoseGraphics
Wild Burros
"Jacks" and "Jennies" on the range
Half the wild Horses and Burros live on Nevada rangelands. Wild Burros are about half the size of a horse and can be domesticated.Early New World explorers brought both horses ad burros to America. Some escaped, and some were simply released into the southwest U.S. During the gold rush, miners brought even more burros to this area. Today, the Red Rocks area and the Marietta area have the largest populations of wild Burros.
Wild burros originally descended from Africa, where they were used as pack animals and were valued for their hardiness in arid country. Sure of foot, they can carry heavy burdens in hot, dry environments.
They eat a variety of plant life including Mormon Tea, grasses, and Palo Verde plants. Foraging takes place during the daytime most of the year but in the summer they search for food during the cooler hours of morning or evening.
Like the mustang, wild burros are available for adoption from the BLM holding pens. Visit http://www.wildhorseandburro.blm.gov to find out more about the adoption program.
Wild Mustang
Wild Mustang - Montgomery Pass, NV - photo copyright Theresa Rose/RoseGraphics
Explore Mustang Country
Here are a few things you will need to access the area:
Purchase and carry 1:100,000 scale topographic maps of the area - Denio, Eugene Mountains, Gerlach, High Rock Canyon, Jackson Mountains, and Vya;
High clearance, four-wheel-drive or all-terrain vehicles (ATV) are necessary for most travel off State or County designated roadways;
Closed routes are signed as closed, please keep vehicles and ATVs off of them;
The High Rock Canyon road is closed from about the 1st of February until the second weekend in May. The closure is to prevent damage to the historic Applegate-Lassen emigrant trail and reduce human disturbance to lambing bighorn sheep and nesting raptors;
Explore the area prior to hauling in a trailer to assess access. Pulling horse or other trailers off of State or County designated roads should only be done with prior operator knowledge of the road. Many roads are narrow, rough, steep, or impassable. Turning around may be difficult or impossible, especially with a trailer;
Tire blowouts are common. Six-ply tires or better are recommended. Carry several, good, full-size spares for each vehicle and trailer;
Bring extra gasoline as gas consumption is greater on rough, slow roads;
Bring and carry at minimum one gallon of drinking water/person/day;
Be respectful of private lands and property and obey all signs.
Make sure to come prepared as supplies and services are very limited and there is no reliable cell phone coverage in these areas.
(info from BLM, Mustang Country booklet)
Wild Mustang pair
Wild Mustangs - PahRah Range, NV - photos copyright Theresa Rose/RoseGraphics
Group of Wild Mustang
Wild mustangs near Montgomery Pass, NV- copyright Theresa Rose/RoseGraphics
Adopt a Mustang
So many of these beautiful horses need homes!
I took the following pictures at the BLM adoption center in northern Nevada. The corrals are usually full of horses waiting for adoption.
Can you offer a loving home?
Mark Your Calendars!
Western States Wild Horse & Burro Expo 2009
Your opportunity to adopt a Wild Mustang or Burro.
The Wild Horse and Burro Expo will be August 21-23, 2009
Reno Livestock Events Center
1350 N. Wells Avenue
Reno, NV
(775) 853-4182
Call for more information.
Madeleine Pickens - ABC Person of the Week
Suspend the Roundups
Viggo Mortensen Wild Horse PSA
"There are less than 30,000 wild horses on federal land but there are at least 3 million grazing cows"
Unadopted Mustangs and Burros - Animals in Crisis
What happens to the mustangs and burros that no one adopts?
A quarter of the wild horses brought in by the Bureau of Land Mangement never find homes. Sanctuaries in Kansas and Oklahoma have taken 2,000 of the older 'unadoptable' horses, but there are at least 5,000 horses in BLM holding facilities at any given time. As of July, 2008, nationwide, the captive herd numbered around 30,000.
There has been heated controversy about the the BLM's plan to euthanize unadopted horses. Is euthanaia an acceptable solution for eliminating the cost of boarding and feeding horses that the BLM contends overtax the meager habitat of the Great Basin?
The BLM claims that the agency can't "allow horses to multiply unchecked on the range without causing an environmental disaster." But there are less than 30,000 wild horses on the range versus at least 3 million grazing cows.
What is the real story?
Author, Deanne Stillman sums it up well in an article in the Huffington Post:
George Bush is No Richard Nixon
Wild Horse Merchandise
Adopt a Living Legend Women's Light T-Shirt
Price: 17.99 
American Mustang Long Sleeve T-Shirt
Price: 25.99
American Mustang Hooded Sweatshirt
Price: 41.99
Real American Horsepower Women's Long Sleeve Dark
Price: 30.99
Adopt Mousepad
Price: 13.99
More Wild Horse Merchandise!
Call Of The Wild Wall Clock
Price: 14.99
Western Cowboy Keepsake Gift Box
Price: 25.65
Women's Long Sleeve Dark T-Shirt
Price: 28.99
Sticker (Bumper)
Price: 4.25
Tote Bag
Price: 18.99
Books about the Wild Mustang and Burros
Mustangs, Wild Horses & Burros of the American West
Amazon Price: (as of 11/12/2009)
List Price: $53.50
Mustangs: Wild Horses of the West
For more than five years, Marie-Luce Hubert and Jean-Louis Klein lived side byside with mustangs in a mythical quest that took them from North Dakota to Nevada, where the forests, canyons and plains still echo with the hoofbeats of these magnificent animals.
Amazon Price: $26.37 (as of 11/12/2009)
List Price: $39.95
Usually ships in 24 hours
All the Wild Horses: Preserving the Spirit and Beauty of the World's Wild Horses
As founder of the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary and a lifelong rancher, Hyde offers heartfelt, passionate essays that perfectly complement the work of photographers Rita and Charles Summers. Internationally renowned for their images of wild horses, they present work here that is nothing short of astonishing.
Amazon Price: $26.40 (as of 11/12/2009)
List Price: $40.00
Usually ships in 3 to 5 weeks
Spirit Horses
The two sides of the human relationship with horses are reflected in a new book celebrating the practical and the spiritual. Stromberg is a professional photographer who came to horses and riding later in life. Horses became his teachers, reminding him of valuable truths about the connection of people and nature.
Amazon Price: $26.40 (as of 11/12/2009)
List Price: $40.00
Usually ships in 24 hours
Mustang: The Saga of the Wild Horse in the American West
In this epic history of wild horses, journalist and author Stillman traverses her longtime beat and passion, the American West, for a detailed look at 400 years of New World history. Many readers may be unaware of the mustang's precarious political situation or that, currently, "a bizarre war is underfoot" against them; Nixon's landmark 1971 legislation protecting free-roaming horses was recently undone by President Bush (who, as governor of Texas, "presided over two of the country's three remaining horse slaughterhouses").
Amazon Price: $17.15 (as of 11/12/2009)
List Price: $25.00
Usually ships in 24 hours
Visit Nevada and see the beauty of our high deserts, mountains, rivers and lakes.
While you are here, seek out the wild mustang and burros for a photography adventure.
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Fetching RSS feed... please stand byWild Horse and Burro Links
- The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign
- Dedicated to preserving the American wild horse in viable free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage. Its grassroots efforts are supported by a coalition of over forty organizations.
- Bureau of Land Management - Adoption site
- Information on the Adopt-a-Horse-or-Burro program and how to qualify for adoption. This program is run by the Bureau of Land Management.
- Help Us Save Our Wild Horses
- Save Our Wild Horse. Latest News! What's New! ... In the '50s and '60s it was virtually open season on the wild mustangs of the West. ...
- Wild Horse and Burro Groups and Registries
- A listing of bona fide wild horse and burro advocacy, adoption and interest groups and registries.
- Nevada's Wild Horses
- "In the end, we need 33,000 good homes. If we can't find them, we only have a few options. These are very tough decisions," said Stokke, referring to the horses already in holding facilities.
- Nevada-Home to the Nation's Wild Horses
- Nevada is home to most of the nation's wild horses and burros.
- Welcome to Nevada's Wild Horses and Burros
- Half of the Nation's wild horses and burros live on Nevada rangelands managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The current population is about 13,665 wild horses and 998 burros. These Living Legends move with the seasons within Herd Management Areas. This website has information primarily about these sturdy creatures on the rangelands.
- Northern Nevada & Its Wild Horses
- On October 21, 2008 the Nevada Department of Agriculture asked the Virginia Range Wildlife Protection Association to help find a sanctuary that would accept 23 mares, one stallion and 10 of their off spring.
- TELLING THE STORY OF NEVADA'S WILD HORSES
- Wild horses conjure up an image of an earlier time -- they are a reminder of our country's mythical and untamed past. Their role in the history of the West and their impact on Native American culture is profound. The mustang is enshrined in our collective imagination as a cultural icon, enduring as the bald eagle, the grizzly bear or the wolf.
- Madeleine Pickens
- Wild horses on federal land are living symbols of the history of the American West and must be protected. My view is for a wild horse sanctuary that will be a tourist destination where Americans and tourists from around the world can observe and be a part of this great part of American history. If we can together establish a plan for the permanent retirement and care of these magnificent animals, it will be a legacy that all Americans can be proud of.
- Wild horses saved, but much work to do to change the way the BLM manages wild horses
- As you now know, Madeleine Pickens has saved the 33 thousand wild horses, but we have to continue the work to change the way the BLM manages wild horse for the future.
- American Herds -Devoted to the Preservation of Wild Horses & Burros
- n this 10 year anniversary, a video memorial of the brutal and senseless crime that shocked the Nation, inspired Deanne Stillman's book, "Mustang" and changed laws - but with little justice served.
- National Geographic News
- U.S. Wild Horses: Too Many Survivors on Too Little Land?
- Save Our Wild Horses
- Article from the Las Vegas Sun
DVD's about Wild Mustangs
Touching Wild Horses
After a terrible car accident involving his family, 12-year-old Mark is sent to live with his Aunt Fiona (Jane Seymour) on a beautiful and remote island. Isolated from most of the world, Fiona and a park ranger are the only human inhabitants of this wind-swept island, home to a herd of wild horses. Her reclusive personality makes Mark's new life on the island difficult, but he soon begins to see the beauty of the nature and the animals around them - including the horses they are forbidden to touch.
Amazon Price: $9.98 (as of 11/12/2009)
List Price: $9.98
Usually ships in 24 hours
Cloud: Wild Stallion of the Rockies / Cloud's Legacy: The Wild Stallion Returns (PBS Nature)
Look for Cloud and his band in the Beautiful Rocky Mountains - Program 1 - Cloud: Wild Stallion of the Rockies Cloud is a wild horse of a different color - almost pure white. And his regal bearing and feisty personality make him stand out all the more. From the day of his birth in the Rockies, he so enthralled Ginger Kathrens that she began to follow his story, filming him and his fellow wild horses of the Arrowhead Mountains over the course of seven years. But in the highly competitive "culture" of wild horses, was Cloud capable of becoming the great band stallion she expected? This first of two films documents the challenges he faces on the way to maturity.
Amazon Price: $17.99 (as of 11/12/2009)
List Price: $19.99
Usually ships in 24 hours
The Silver Stallion
Starring Russell Crowe-In the mountainous high country above the Australian bush, wild horses run free: Australians call them wild "brumbies." Author Elyne Mitchell's book, The Silver Brumby, on which this movie is based, is about a magnificent silver stallion, Thowra. The story opens on a dark and stormy night in the high country. Elyne (Caroline Goodall), spins a tale to comfort her daughter, Indi (Ami Daemion).
Amazon Price: $10.49 (as of 11/12/2009)
List Price: $14.98
Usually ships in 24 hours
Nickers and Snorts
Let's hear those comments!
ElizabethJeanAllen wrote...
Hi,
My name is Elizabeth Jean Allen and I am the new group leader for the Nature and the Outdoors Group.
Welcome.
Lizzy
Posted May 24, 2009
susanelainegalloway wrote...
Hi Teri,
Really enjoyed reading this one too, also thanks for your kind comments yesterday.
In Spain we have the same plight with Horses and Donkeys too and also the Grey Wolves which still abound. People are dead set on polishing off the whole lot of them. But there are People who are rescuing them when and where they can.
Thanks for telling us about their plight.
Another good bit is that the Spanish Bull also is finding supporters against the cruelty they render on this poor animal.
Take Care.
Sue.xxx
Posted February 02, 2009
danismom97 wrote...
Fabulous lens!! Thank you so much for submitting it to my ANIMAL ENTHUSIASTS group, it is a very welcome addition! :)
Posted January 28, 2009
naturegirl7 wrote...
Wonderful lens and cause. The wild mustangs and burros are part of our heritage and should be preserved. Welcome to the Naturally Native Squids group. Don't forget to add your lens link to the appropriate plexo and vote for it.
Posted January 20, 2009
by Stinky
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