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NEW MEXICO FIRST TO ESTABLISH STATE- OWNED SANCTUARY FOR WILD HORSES?
New Mexico Gov.
Bi ll Richardson an- nounced on Sept. 16 he would use $2.8 mil- lion in funds awarded to the state under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to purchase the 12,142-acre Ortiz Mountain Ranch from the Nature Conser-
vancy, an international land conservation organization, and a private owner. T e pur- chase would expand the Cerrillos Hills State Park to create the sanctuary. T e New Mexico Department of Energy,
Minerals, and Natural Resources would main- tain the sanctuary, said department spokes- person Jodi Porter. A nonprofi t agency would
likely manage horses that would reside there. “Establishing the sanctuary is a multi-step process,” Porter said. “First we have to acquire the land, then it will take between 12 and 16 months to create a management plan.” T e department also must submit a sanctu-
ary proposal to the BLM in order to receive animals from BLM-managed herds. BLM spokesman Hanson Stuart said his agency has not yet received a formal proposal from the state of New Mexico regarding the sanc- tuary. “Once that proposal is received, the BLM
would conduct an environmental impact study of the proposed range’s condition and its capacity and would then solicit public opinion regarding the placement of BLM horses there,” Stuart said. Wild Horse advocate Jerry Finch supports
the notion of the state-owned sanctuary if the site operates outside BLM control, and if the nonprofi t chosen to manage it is accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctu- aries, adopts a so-called “no-kill” rule that would prevent sanctuary horses from sale for slaughter, and limits the use of contraception drugs to control herd growth. “Under those guidelines, I am 100% for it
and truly hope that other states follow suit,” Finch said. Richardson initially introduced the pos-
sibility of a state-owned sanctuary in New Mexico at the White House Conference on America’s Great Outdoors in Washington, DC, in April. In announcing his plan in New Mexico earlier this month, Richardson said expanding the park and creating the sanctu- ary would benefi t wild horses and enhance New Mexico’s economy by creating jobs and promoting tourism. However, in a commentary published in
the New Mexican on Sept. 20, State Senator John Arthur Smith, chairman of the New Mexico Senate Finance Commit ee and vice chairman of the Legislative Finance Com- mit ee, opposed the use of stimulus funds for the project on the grounds that “the state is simply not in the fi nancial position to invest in recreational opportunities.” Porter said though the land purchase would
be made using federal stimulus funds for use at the governor’s discretion, the state’s Board of Finance must approve the expenditure.
86 October 2010 •
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VETERANS AND SOLDIERS HONORED AT MORGAN SHOW
T e Grand National & World Champion-
ship Morgan Horse Show is dedicating its evening performances on Oct. 13 to military veterans and soldiers. T is year’s Grand Na- tional takes place October 9-16 in Oklahoma City. “It is an honor to recognize veterans from
both our Morgan family and in the Oklahoma City area,” said Fred Dills, chair of the 2010 Grand National. “Wednesday evening will feature a variety of Morgan show classes that we hope will entertain the men and women who have given so much for all of us.” AMHA is proud to “Salute the Troops” and
has adopted the 340 members of Vermont’s National Guard 172nd squadron, which took the name “Task Force Morgan” when they de- ployed to Afghanistan in the fall of 2009. T e Morgan horse is closely related to Vermont and its military history, playing an important role in many important Civil War bat les. For more information on America’s origi-
nal horse breed, contact the American Morgan Horse Association, Inc., 4066 Shelburne Road, Suite 5, Shelburne, VT 05482; (802) 985-4944;
www.morganhorse.com
MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION HELPS 7-YEAR-OLD’S DREAM TO SHOW AT MINIATURE HORSE NATIONALS COME TRUE
Alexis Close may only be seven, but she has
big dreams when it comes to her American Miniature Horses. Alexis, who was born with a heart defect and had a heart transplant when she was only 16 months old, asked the Make- A-Wish Foundation and The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto for a trip to the 2010 annual American Miniature Horse Registry (AMHR) National Champi- onship Show in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “Her doctors and the transplant
team keep asking her if she wanted to go to Disney World, but she doesn’t want to do that. Her dream is to go to the Nationals with her minis,” said Tammy Close, Alexis’s mom. “We have never been to the Nationals but I can see
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