Hearing Scheduled on Children-Led Legislation to Designate Wild Mustangs as Nevada State Horse

RENO, NEVADA (March 2, 2023) — On Tuesday, March 7, the Nevada Senate Committee on Natural Resource will consider SB90, a bill aimed to designate the wild mustang as the official state horse of Nevada. The effort is being led by Washoe County school-children and is supported by local business leaders.

• What: Hearing on SB90 in the Senate Natural Resources
• When: Tuesday, March 7, 2023 at 3:30 pm
• Where: In-person: Nevada Legislature, 401 S. Carson St, Carson City, Room 2144
• Live-cast: Grant Sawyer Building, 555 E. Washington Ave. Las Vegas, NV 89101
• Photo Opp: School children visiting the Capitol on Tuesday for the hearing and dropping off pictures they have drawn of wild horses.

Fourth graders and their teachers from Doral Academy will be conducting a virtual “lobby day” to visit with their in-district representatives. As part of their school curriculum leading up to the hearing, the children will be prepared to tell their representatives what the state mustang designation means to them and drop off pictures they drew of wild horses on Tuesday.

Nevada is home to more than half of the West’s wild horses and already celebrates the Wild Mustang on the Nevada State Quarter, a move that was also spearheaded by Nevada youth.

Polling shows that 86 percent of Nevadans agree that mustangs should be protected as important symbols for the state and the West and Nevada leads the world in humane wild horse management through the largest humane fertility control management program for mustangs on the 300,000-acre Virginia Range in the greater Reno area.

“The wild horses, like Nevadans, are rugged, self-reliant, independent and free,” said Kris Thompson, Project Manager of the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center, home to the Tesla Gigafactory and Google. “This simple, short legislative declaration would enshrine what is already true here in Nevada and in the hearts of Nevada voters.”

“Nevada isn’t Nevada without its wild horses,” said Ronni Hannaman, Executive Director of the Carson City Chamber of Commerce. “These animals are an important part of our state’s history, culture and tourism and should be recognized as such.”

Velma Johnston, known as “Wild Horse Annie” – a Reno native born in 1912 – earned a place in history for her crusade to save America's mustangs. Her successful campaign to protect America’s wild horses began with the Northern Nevada wild mustangs on the Virginia Range. It culminated in Congress’ unanimous passage of the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act, granting these animals federal protection akin to that of the American Bald Eagle.

Twelve states in the U.S. have state horse designations and most breeds, such as the Morgan horse in Vermont and the American Quarter Horse in Texas were chosen as the state horse because of the close connection between the breed and the state’s history.

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The American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) is the nation’s leading wild horse protection organization, with more than 700,000 supporters and followers nationwide. AWHC is dedicated to preserving the American wild horse and burros in viable, free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage. In addition to advocating for the protection and preservation of America’s wild herds, AWHC implements the largest wild horse fertility control program in the world through a partnership with the State of Nevada for wild horses that live in the Virginia Range near Reno.