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A Nevada rancher and a wild horse advocacy group have proposed creating a mustang sanctuary in the desert hills 160 miles north of Reno and have asked the Bureau of Land Management to release 1,700 captive horses into the sanctuarys care.

The proposal comes from the nonprofit Return to Freedom, which runs a horse sanctuary near Lompoc, Calif., and the Soldier Meadows Ranch, a resort and cattle operation 65 miles north of Gerlach. The proposed public-private partnership would hold most of the mustangs on 5,200 acres of private, fenced pastures around the Soldier Meadows property.

BLM officials say they are soliciting suggestions and public comments relating to the development of a new strategy for managing wild horses and burros.

The BLM will consider any proposals from individuals or organizations with ideas on ways that the bureau can more effectively deal with the myriad challenges facing its wild horse and burro program, said Tom Gorey, BLM spokesman in Washington, D.C.

In February, the BLM rounded up 1,922 wild horses north of Gerlach. Most of those animals are being temporarily held in corrals in Fallon and Palomino Valley. They will be transported to other states for long-term holding. About 34,000 wild horses are in federal captivity, costing taxpayers an estimated $35 million this year for care and feeding.

Wild horse adoption adoptions have fallen off, particularly with the downturn in the economy. The agency plans to move captive mustangs to pastures in the Midwest and to round up another 8,000 mustangs this year.

Backers of the Nevada sanctuary proposal said the idea is a win-win solution for both the public and the BLM.

The proposal offers an innovative and cost-saving five-year pilot program, wrote Neda DeMayo, founder of the Return to Freedom horse sanctuary. We believe this proposal realizes (the governments) vision for reform of the wild horse and burro management program by managing horses on the range with fertility control, establishing specially designated wild horse preserves for historically significant and unique herds, developing public/private partnerships to further the wild horse management goals and promoting environmental tourism in rural areas.

Jim Kudrna, owner of the Soldier Meadows Ranch and Resort, said if the government approves the sanctuary plan his cattle operation will be changed to be compatible with a horse sanctuary.

We are also planning to bring in some historic breeds of livestock such as oxen, draft horses and other animals in addition to our high-quality beef cattle, he said. Visitors be able to see how the livestock have changed over the last 150 years. It should be a fun thing for the history-minded folks who visit our destination.

He said although all the numbers havent been worked out, the sanctuary should save the BLM millions of dollars it would have spent to feed and care for the horses in Midwestern pens and pastures.

The proposal suggests a reimbursement rate of $350 per wild horse per year, $131 less per animal than the BLM is now paying for mustangs in long-term holding facilities.
Kudrna said the plan includes water improvements and horse-proofing of natural water sources that would benefit all wildlife in the area. Birth control methods would keep the herds in check and the number of horses involved would be within the level that range scientists say the area can sustain.

The goals, he said, are a healthy range, a vibrant wild horse herd and a thriving native wildlife population.

WILD HORSE CONFLICT

The government says wild horse and burro herds are destroying rangeland. Last year, the Bureau of Land Management said the free-roaming population of 37,000 horses and burros on Western rangelands exceeds by more than 10,000 the number that the BLM has determined can exist in balance with other public rangeland resources.

• Wild horse advocates argue the range is being managed for the benefit of cattle ranchers, energy firms, mining companies and hunters to the detriment of the federally-protected wild horse herds.

• In 2009, 32,000 wild horses were being held in government-funded corrals and pastures. This year, the care and feeding of the captive animals is expected to reach $35 million, a figure that both sides in the debate agree is unsustainable.

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