Solving the Wild Horse Dilemma: Funding and Compromise Needed
Nevada faces a pressing challenge with the Virginia Range wild horses, requiring a long-term solution that balances humane management and economic interests. Adequate funding and compromise are essential to address this issue effectively.
It’s time for Nevada to get serious about a long-term solution for the Virginia Range horses. Unfortunately, that will require resources that have been in short supply so far: sufficient funding, trust, and compromise.
Unlike BLM-regulated wild horses in other parts of the state, the Virginia Range horses are under the protection and authority of the state itself. The Nevada Department of Agriculture and its erstwhile nonprofit partner, the American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign), had an agreement to manage the estimated 2,500 to 3,000 horses. Though there were several moving parts to the agreement, it essentially boiled down to an agreement by the AWHC to administer a program of capture, adoption, birth control, and diversionary feeding, and the NDA not to sell the horses for slaughter.
Things had been running smoothly until recently, when both sides accused the other of violating the spirit and/or the letter of the agreement. The state says AWHC tried to abandon their obligations except birth control administration, and the AWHC says the state put the program at risk of lawsuits by bringing in third-party nonprofits to handle diversionary feeding, in an effort to keep wild horses away from roads and human population centers.
In December, the Board of Agriculture voted to walk away from wild horse management altogether. On Tuesday the NDA began seeking bids from nonprofit groups to take over ownership of the horses — and the nonprofit that takes over might have altogether different plans to manage the horses. The NDA says it has neither the staff nor the equipment to manage the horses — and that the agency isn’t intended to manage feral livestock, regardless.
The RGJ Editorial Board believes there’s still hope to restructure an agreement between the state and the AWHC — not only for the sake of the horses, but for the symbolism that helps drive some of Northern Nevada’s biggest economic engines.
We ask the state to begin properly funding the management of the wild horses. It would make sense from a business aspect. After all, the wild horses are part of Nevada’s marketing — of all the possible representations to feature on our state quarter, Nevada chose wild horses as the centerpiece. More specifically, Tahoe Reno Industrial Center director Lance Gilman says the free-range horses have been a part of the appeal when attracting businesses to Nevada. Even Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made comments on his social media accounts touting the proximity of wild horses to the Gigafactory. (Are the Virginia Range horses a game-changing intangible when we’re attracting new industry? It’s difficult to say, but when billions of dollars of investment are at stake, we think it’s worth an additional outlay of tax dollars.)
And we ask wild horse advocates to take the state at its word that, even though they voted to end the agreement, the Department of Agriculture has no plans to send the Virginia Range horses to slaughter. It’s not helpful in any way to suggest that horses will die because the Board of Agriculture voted to end the existing partnership. AWHC also must recognize that proper wild horse management requires a well-coordinated, multifaceted effort rather than an ad-hoc plan that outsources public safety concerns to law enforcement and transportation officials.
Even with the recent spirit of acrimony, we think the best opportunity for the horses’ future will be a new partnership between the Department of Agriculture and the American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign). All we need now is trust – and proper funding.
Editorials reflect the consensus of the Reno Gazette Journal editorial board and are written by one of its members. Ryan Kedzierski is the RGJ’s president. Kelly Ann Scott is the newspaper’s executive editor. Brett McGinness is the RGJ’s engagement editor. Community members include Enrique Carmona, Barbara Courtnay, Lee Herz Dixon, and Sam Stynen. The editorial board operates separately from the newsroom. Its opinions do not affect news coverage.
Originally posted by Reno Gazette-Journal