"Working to preserve and
protect all species of wildlife
on the Virginia Range in
Nevada"
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May 19 Is Next Meeting
Annual Election of Directors
Will Take Place
The next VRWPA meeting is scheduled for
May 19. The meetings take place at the VCH Fire Station
(corner of Cartwright and Lousetown) in the Virginia
Highlands at 6:30 PM.
Meetings are open to the
public and you are cordially invited to attend.
The following letter appeared
in the May 1 Reno Gazette-Journal regarding the Department
of Agriculture's plan to remove wild horses from the
Virginia Range. It was written by Craig Downer, a noted
wildlife expert:
"Jeff Turnipseed's letter [Voices, April 21] concerning the
wild horses of the Virginia
Range is very biased, misleading and far from the greater
truth.
He fails to recognize the scientifically substantiated
"returned native" status of the horse in North
America, portraying them as ecologically destructive,
particularly to big game species. What he fails to mention
is the gross imbalance the Nevada
establishment's near-exclusive promotion of big game and
livestock has caused! This includes predator elimination and
consequent population disequilibrium of prey, overgrazing,
especially of riparian habitats, decreased native
biodiversity, massive soil erosion, huge damage to
watersheds, etc.
It has long been the mode among many unthinking and
unobservant vested interests to use wild horses as
scapegoats for abuses for which they, in fact, are
responsible. The wild horses fill an empty niche, seeding
many native plants and building the water-absorptive humus
of soils -- both via their feces. They greatly aid in
reducing dry flammable vegetation for which their digestive
system and semi-nomadism are perfectly adapted. And they
contribute their earthly remains to the ecosystem.
We people could learn a very important lesson from wild
horses. It is we who are overpopulating here! "
Craig C. Downer, Minden
HELP SAVE THE VIRGINIA RANGE WILD
HORSES
Your Donations are needed to help
fight the war against Governor Gibbons and the Nevada
Department of Agriculture (see story to the right).
Please send you donations to:
VRWPA
PO Box 536
Virginia City, NV 89440
Storey County Appoints "Large Animal
Evacuation Coordinator"
Storey County Sheriff, Jim Miller, has
appointed Sharon Dixon, a Highland's resident, as the "Large Animal
Evacuation Coordinator". This is a new program that is now in
the development stage.
Both the Highland
Ranches Property Owner's Association (the "10's") and the Virginia
City Highlands Property Owner's Association (the "1's") have agreed
to donate $1,000 each to help fund the initial stages of the
program.
Wild bears have recently been
sighted in the Virginia City Highlands. Be "Bear-Aware" and
learn how to live with bears. Click on this link for
valuable information about bears:
You can now purchase a wild horse
license plate from the Department of Motor Vehicles and even have it
personalized. Click on this DMV link for more details:
DMV
Horse License Plates
INTERIM DIRECTOR OF THE NEVADA
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE TONY LESPERANCE STATED ON APRIL 11
THAT THE VIRGINIA RANGE HORSES ARE ‘"STARVING TO DEATH" AND THE
VIRGINIA RANGE HAS ‘NO VEGETATION’.
Lesperance told the Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee that
he will come up with a plan to remove many of the horses. “I am
far more concerned about the decline of the Virginia Range as an
environmentalist than I am concerned about those horses,” he said
Wednesday.
STATE ASSEMBLYMAN TOM GRADY
AGREES WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
THE VRWPA AS WELL AS OTHER WILD HORSE
ADVOCATE GROUPS HAVE BEEN MEETING AND PLANNING. PLEASE GO HERE TO
READ WHAT HAS BEEN GOING ON SO FAR. I WILL UPDATE THE WEB SITE AS
NEW THINGS HAPPEN.
WE ARE FIGHTING THESE OUTRAGEOUS
LIES!!!! PLEASE EMAIL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES BELOW. I HAVE ADDED TOM
GRADY’S EMAIL ADDRESS TO THIS LIST; HE TOO NEEDS TO HEAR FROM
EVERYONE HE REPRESENTS.
If you would like to sign or circulate a petition objecting to the
removal of wild horses from the Virginia Range, please click on this
link "Petition" and
download the petition.
If you would like to send a letter to Governor Jim Gibbons, please
click on this link "Letter to
Governor" and download the letter.
Our Mission
The Virginia
Range Wildlife Protection Association is a volunteer nonprofit
corporation organized to act on behalf of free-roaming
horses and wildlife in the Virginia Range, north of Virginia City,
Nevada. VRWPA engages in educational, scientific, developmental
and range management activities, and on matters pertaining to the
environment and the preservation of wildlife habitat. This
organization is organized exclusively for the charitable purposes
within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue
Code.
VRWPA finds good adoptive homes
for Estray wild horses picked up by the State of Nevada,
monitors the horses, the range, and the laws to insure the
survivability of a viable, ecologically balanced herd. If you would
like to get involved, please call us for more information
Wild Horses Released In
Storey County
Feb. 15 –
Thirty-seven wild mustangs that were being held by the State of
Nevada were released back into the wild today (see pictures
below). The horses had been picked up by the Nevada Department
of Agriculture because of complaints from area residents. The
state could no longer afford to feed the horses and their likely
fate was to end up in a slaughterhouse.
However, thanks
to the combined efforts of Lacy J. Dalton’s Let ‘em Run
Foundation, the Virginia Range Wildlife Protection Association,
Least Resistance Training Concepts, and the Nevada Department of
Agriculture the story has a happy ending. The aforementioned
groups approached Lance Gilman, the developer of the Tahoe-Reno
Industrial
Center, the world’s larges industrial center. He gladly agreed
to let the horses be released on the 102,000 acre industrial
complex. It was quite a Valentine’s present for the horses.
The horse were
released as family groups and quickly disappeared into the
distant hills. If this experimental release is successful, there
are plans to release more horses in the future. You can view
more pictures of the horse release by clicking on this Reno
Gazette Journal link:
RGJ Horse Pictures
Three mustangs dash for
freedom at the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center
Jeanne Gribbin, President of
VRWPA, Susan Austin, Sarah Osborne, and Sarah's mother,
Becky Osborne
Another lucky mustang
Off they go to their new
home on the Virginia Range
Lance Gilman, developer of the TRI
Industrial Center, Susan Austin, and Lacy J. Dalton of the Let 'em
Run Foundation
Mike Holmes, Nevada Department of
Agriculture, being interviewed by Terry Russell of KOLO
Ch. 8.
Craig Downer, wildlife
ecologist, has written an article on "The Past, Present and
Future Status of Wild Horses" that appeared in Natural
Horse Magazine. You can view the article by going to
this link:
http://www.naturalhorse.com/wildhorses.php.
Craig made an interesting
presentation about wild bears at the August VRWPA meeting.
Birth Control
Test Program Initiated for the Wild Horses
VRWPA
and the Nevada Department of Agriculture in conjunction with
University of Nevada-Reno, Pennsylvania State University,
and the National Wildlife Research Center are conducting a
birth control study on some of our Virginia Range mares.
(more)
West Nile Virus Has Reached the Reno
Area
As anticipated, the deadly West Nile Virus has finally
reached the Reno area. This virus is deadly to horses, but
can be prevented if you have your horses vaccinated. Contact
your Vet to arrange for the vaccination. Once your horse has
been stricken with the virus there is no cure.
(more)
Since 1/1/2000 you are visitor #
Last update :
05/05/08
Colt
Rescued and Adopted by VRWPA
Read the story about the
"Rescue of Spirit", a colt that was bitten by a
rattlesnake and rescued through the efforts of VRWPA and
a group of kind-hearted truck drivers.
(more)
