Longtime Las Vegas residents recall that in the early 1990s wild mustangs were a common sight at Red Rock Canyon, a popular hiking destination west of the city.
The Bureau of Land Management said the horses had to be removed to protect local grasses and promised they would be returned, but more than 30 years later the mustangs are no longer present in the area.
The region later became a fire hazard due to brush overgrowth, and a 2005 fire in Goodsprings burned 30,000 acres. BLM blamed the high grasses for the blaze and removed the few remaining wild horses. "It just doesn't make any sense to a cowboy like me that they would take them (the horses) out and create such a fire hazard as they do have here now," said Robbie Franks of Cowboy Trail Rides in 2009.
Wild horses have roamed the area for thousands of years, and Congress passed the Wild and Free‑Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 to protect them. Years of neglect and mixed messages from Washington have led to the near‑destruction of Nevada’s wild mustangs, a story chronicled by 8 News Now reporter George Knapp in his 2009 special "Stampede to Oblivion."
Sources: 8 News Now
Original reporting: 8 News Now →
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