PrintEvery Wednesday a group of wild horse advocates gathers in front of the Nevada State Capitol building in Carson City to draw attention to the plight of wild horses. On the Capitol's lawn is a statue of trailblazer Kit Carson carrying a rifle astride his horse, commemorating his famous search for a route across the Sierras.
No mention is made of the many horses that died on the trail. Nor is much mention made on any public square of the horses that perished so that America could live, the legions that died in the Spanish conquest, the Revolutionary War, the trek to the West, the trek to the Yukon, the Civil War, the Indian wars, World War I, and now, the modern range wars.
Wild horses populated North America before the Ice Age, died out, and were reintroduced by conquistadors. They still roam the West, and it's fitting that they are most plentiful in Nevada, the country's most extreme state, a kind of 24/7 mosh pit where part of the state was blown to smithereens during the age of atomic testing, rivers are bled dry so hotels in Las Vegas can have fountains, and--some say--an alien autopsy happened on a military base.
Today the Nevada state tourism commission sells the extreme image, running full-page ads in adventure magazines with a photo of a dusty woman in front of Nevada scenery, evidently just having climbed up Bloody Shins Trail, "challenge #6" on the state's list of mountain biking trails. "Rage before beauty," the headline says. "This is a 91,000-square mile provocation to seize life by the throat and throttle it like a rag doll."
The problem is that some people in Nevada--and at their behest, the federal government--do exactly that, which is why wild horses are under siege and very possibly about to exit the American stage. The modern war against the wild horse is waged by cattlemen and ranchers, lone nuts and wayward members of the military, sagebrush rebels with a copy of the Second Amendment tucked into their back pockets, all operating under the cover of various national mantras and laws. In one way or another, the war is officially backed: by government agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management and the Nevada Department of Agriculture, by sheriffs and small-town officials and others who are marching to the great American battle cry, "Don't tread on me."
As many ranchers see it, wild horses are thieves that steal food from cattle. All over the west, people who like to go out in the desert and shoot animals routinely kill wild horses--and usually get away with it; the status quo mitigates against any free-ranging animal that isn't a cow. And now, if the Bureau of Land Management has its way, most of the remaining wild horses in Nevada will be gone by 2005.
The demonstrators who meet on old Highway 395 (the Kit Carson Trail) hoping to stop this plan include high school students, regular citizens who don't often get involved in causes, and long-time friends of the wild horse. Last week, one participant waved a big American flag. Others carried placards that said, "Public Lands in Public Hands," "Goodbye Spirit of the West," and "As It Should Be/Wild Horses Running Free." Many who drove through downtown Carson City slowed as they saw the protest, read the signs and honked their support. One woman pulled over and called out "Remember Wild Horse Annie!"
No mention is made of the many horses that died on the trail. Nor is much mention made on any public square of the horses that perished so that America could live, the legions that died in the Spanish conquest, the Revolutionary War, the trek to the West, the trek to the Yukon, the Civil War, the Indian wars, World War I, and now, the modern range wars.
Wild horses populated North America before the Ice Age, died out, and were reintroduced by conquistadors. They still roam the West, and it's fitting that they are most plentiful in Nevada, the country's most extreme state, a kind of 24/7 mosh pit where part of the state was blown to smithereens during the age of atomic testing, rivers are bled dry so hotels in Las Vegas can have fountains, and--some say--an alien autopsy happened on a military base.
Today the Nevada state tourism commission sells the extreme image, running full-page ads in adventure magazines with a photo of a dusty woman in front of Nevada scenery, evidently just having climbed up Bloody Shins Trail, "challenge #6" on the state's list of mountain biking trails. "Rage before beauty," the headline says. "This is a 91,000-square mile provocation to seize life by the throat and throttle it like a rag doll."
The problem is that some people in Nevada--and at their behest, the federal government--do exactly that, which is why wild horses are under siege and very possibly about to exit the American stage. The modern war against the wild horse is waged by cattlemen and ranchers, lone nuts and wayward members of the military, sagebrush rebels with a copy of the Second Amendment tucked into their back pockets, all operating under the cover of various national mantras and laws. In one way or another, the war is officially backed: by government agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management and the Nevada Department of Agriculture, by sheriffs and small-town officials and others who are marching to the great American battle cry, "Don't tread on me."
As many ranchers see it, wild horses are thieves that steal food from cattle. All over the west, people who like to go out in the desert and shoot animals routinely kill wild horses--and usually get away with it; the status quo mitigates against any free-ranging animal that isn't a cow. And now, if the Bureau of Land Management has its way, most of the remaining wild horses in Nevada will be gone by 2005.
The demonstrators who meet on old Highway 395 (the Kit Carson Trail) hoping to stop this plan include high school students, regular citizens who don't often get involved in causes, and long-time friends of the wild horse. Last week, one participant waved a big American flag. Others carried placards that said, "Public Lands in Public Hands," "Goodbye Spirit of the West," and "As It Should Be/Wild Horses Running Free." Many who drove through downtown Carson City slowed as they saw the protest, read the signs and honked their support. One woman pulled over and called out "Remember Wild Horse Annie!"
