Your monthly recap of local groups coming together to protect the Virginia Range horses

October 23rd day of actions

October 23rd was a very busy day for Virginia Range wild horse protection. Tracy Wilson and others from local wild horse organizations came together for a Reno City Council meeting to address a development that will cut off water to a few hundred horses

The city council issued a continuance. Tracy and a dedicated group of volunteers are continuing to work with the developer, the city, and RTC to establish a water plan that will benefit all. Stay tuned for more updates!

AWHC held a press conference in Reno hits Back at anti-wild horse propaganda on October 23rd. Northern Nevada business leaders, conservationists Erik Molvar, Executive Director of Western Watersheds Project  joined AWHC and local wild horse organizations at a press conference in Reno on Wednesday, October 23, to counter an escalating propaganda campaign being waged against wild horses by the BLM and the commercial livestock industry.

AWHC president Ellie Phipps Price opened the press conference, joined by AWHC Executive Director Suzanne Roy and AWHC Director of Field Operations.

Mr. Gilman, the real estate developer who created the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center, spoke powerfully about the business community’s strong support for protecting Nevada’s wild horses. His business partner, Roger Norman, Sr. was in the audience at the press conference as a show of support for Nevada mustangs, as were representatives from tech companies Blockchains LLC and Switch.

Erik Molvar, wildlife biologist and Executive Director of Western Watersheds Project, called the assertion that wild horses are the major land health problem “fake news.” “Cattle — not wild horses — are the main problem causing overgrazing and damage to native habitats on western public lands.” You can read Erik’s statement here.

Louise Martin of Wild Horse Connection and the Virginia Range Wildlife Protection Association spoke on behalf of the local, boots-on-the-ground Nevada wild horse organizations who oppose the livestock industry plan (also endorsed by the HSUS, ASPCA and Return to Freedom) to round up 130,000 wild horses from public lands over the next ten years.

Following the press conference, members of VRWPA and the Wild Horse Preservation League protested at the Nevada Museum of Art outside the screening of a biased and misleading propaganda video entitled “Horse Rich Dirt Poor,” which scapegoats wild horses for damage to BLM lands without ever mentioning the fact that 88% of BLM land has no wild horses on it, while virtually all BLM land in the continental West is grazed by livestock. 

It was a busy day, but with the assistance of some experts, we achieved our goal of getting the pro-wild horse protection point of view in the media coverage of the film screening. 

AWHC Documentary

This October, AWHC sponsored a documentary filmed on the Virginia Range. The videographer, Michael Alfuso of Outpost Digital Cinema, featured interviews with darters, documenters, spotters, business partners, and the rescue crew. The documentary will tell the story of the VR fertility control program sponsored by American Wild Horse Campaign. The feature will be shown at a later date this year so stay tuned! AWHC will be promoting the documentary on social media as well as email

Virginia Range wildlife protection association (VRWPA) store

VRWPA has hand made necklaces for sale to help fund a fencing project featured in last month’s Pinto Post. They are made by two local VRWPA members. Each one is unique, and handmade. They are made with Agate slices with horse charm on one side and Wild & Free charm on the other side, and have an adjustable length slip knot. If you want a certain color message VRWPA on Facebook and they will send you photos of the options! Go to vrwpa.com and click on the VRWPA store to pay for it. VRWPA also has beautiful Christmas wreaths for sale this Holiday season! They 22" Noble fir wreaths for Christmas and will be available by Thanksgiving. They cost $25 each and they are adding a horse ornament to the wreath! Be sure to check it out and place your orders ASAP!

OLLI Meeting 

On Thursday October 3rd, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) held a Wild Horse and Burro field presentation at the Northern Nevada Correctional Facility. The group held this event to inform people about the Wild Horse and Burro Prisoner Training Program. They invited special guests to present on the current challenges that face the Wild Horse and Burro programs. 

Justin Pope, the prison ranch manager, took 38 members on a tour to review the ranch operations which include the Wild Horse training and holding, dairy operation, hay and corn farming and full circle compost recycling. 

During the lunch meeting, a few organizations were invited as guest speakers,  including American Wild Horse Campaign (AWHC) Director of Field Operations, Greg Hendricks and seasoned AWHC volunteer and PZP fertility control darter Maureen Daane. They shared the success of the PZP fertility control program within the Virginia Range and informed the attendees about the efficacy of the PZP vaccine and how it works. Maureen shared her experiences and the overall success of the program. Both made clear that we can manage large areas with large numbers of horses using PZP fertility control.  With the attendee follow-up questions, it became clear that the message was well received! Others invited were local BLM representatives from the Carson City District Lisa Ross, Public Relations Officer and John Axtel, Wild Horse and Burro Specialist.  

Great job Greg and Maureen! 

The BLM held an auction of trained BLM Mustangs October 19 with the top trained mustang, Tahoe, going for $6600! Several other trained mustangs fetched some high dollar bids as well.