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Apr. 18, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Singer joins fight to save wild horses

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CARSON CITY -- Country singer Willie Nelson has joined a fight to preserve a wild horse herd roaming mountains near the old Nevada mining town of Virginia City, and Gov. Jim Gibbons is getting a lot of calls as a result.

Gibbons press secretary Ben Kieckhefer, asked about a message Wednesday from Nelson that aired on his XM radio show, "Willie's Place," urging calls to the governor, said dozens of people concerned about the horses phoned Thursday from around the country.

Singer-songwriter Lacy J. Dalton, who lives near Virginia City, asked Nelson to help stop what she and other wild horse advocates saw as a move by the Nevada Agriculture Department to round up a herd of about 1,200 horses for eventual livestock sales, where they could be sold for slaughter.

"That's exactly what they intend to do," Dalton said.


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    • "Over my dead body will they take those horses," said Dalton, who toured with Nelson, also a wild-horse advocate, in the 1980s. "It's wrong, it's stupid and shortsighted."

    Kieckhefer said Tony Lesperance, head of the Agriculture Department, is working on a management plan for the horses in the Virginia Range, but added it will be several months before anything happens, and public concerns will be incorporated into that plan.

    "That range can't support the number of horses there in the long term," Kieckhefer said. "But there's enough foliage to support the herd for the time being. There are no plans in place to remove animals. Everything is status quo."

    Whether on state, private or federal lands, the wild horses in Nevada total more than 20,000. That's the largest number for any state.



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    Emily Elias wrote on April 21, 2008 10:27 AM: Go Willie!

    I'll help if I can. Herd management is one thing, mass removal is another. The horses will find the forage they need and they will manage themselves if given the chance, just like any other wild herd. There are good times and bad, but the genetic pool must be maintained for truely healthy herds. They know how to do that! If it's the cow interest that's pushing for this, the cows eat what the horses won't, so there is plenty for everyone! Don't be a land hog just so you can have your steak and eat it too! Save the wild horses, they are part of our National Heritage and identity!

    Emily in Oregon


    fluffy wrote on April 18, 2008 10:28 AM: "Everything is status quo."

    That's all we need to know, folks, about government, from all sides of any political "aisle."


    VS wrote on April 18, 2008 10:26 AM: Yes Lawrence, you are a 100% correct. My family bought alot of those well broke mustangs from the NV ranchers. We used them in a dude string at Lake Tahoe for over 25 years till they became the property of the federal government. They were very kind gentle trusting horses for an inexperianced rider. It is now high time, that those who wish for them to be protected step up and pay the cost.


    Judy wrote on April 18, 2008 08:40 AM: Why is it this state allows ranchers to graze thousands of head of cattle on OUR public (federal and state) lands but it is the horses that there does not seem to be enough grazing lands for? Stop allowing the free range public subsidized grazing of private herds and the range could easily support all the wild horses it can breed.


    Roger wrote on April 18, 2008 08:06 AM: I say tax Lawrence Hyde more than the rest of us for being such an A-hole...


    Lawrence Hyde wrote on April 18, 2008 07:35 AM: Back in the old days, which I was a part, of the wild herds of horses were controlled by the local ranchers. That was before the wacko treehugger's and the government got involved. The sick and old were cut out of the herds and sold for what then was called chicken feed. Bud was actually dog food. (Chicken feed came from the amount these animals were worth $0.O2 per pound). The old studs were taken out of the herd and replaced with new younger ones to prevent inbreeding. The ranchers then used these herds to get saddle horses as needed. Some really good ranch animals came from these herds. Now they are inbred and mostly useless. But still the government uses taxpayer money to take care of them. I say let the treehugger's and willie nelson pay for taking care of them.


    br wrote on April 18, 2008 07:32 AM: Shut up and sing, Willie.


    ET wrote on April 18, 2008 05:59 AM: Let the Casinos put up the $$$.


    David Johann wrote on April 18, 2008 04:02 AM: Let Willy Nelson foot the entire bill for the non-native horses with no natural predators.