The Tourism Connection

VIRGINIA CITY, NV – 2002 started with a bang. In May, Lacy (our president) had the honor of speaking and performing at the Nevada Women's Funds Awards Banquet with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. It was the perfect opportunity to promote Let ’em Run’s notion that tourism can be a superb financial and educational engine to help promote and preserve the wild horses in sanctuaries here in Nevada and almost anywhere wild horses are found. We discovered, for instance, that the Sanctuary Islands of Assateague and Chincoteague, off the coasts of Maryland & Virginia respectively, get 450,000 tourist visitors a year to see their herd of shaggy little wild ponies! Incidentally, that's about twice the number of visitors that go to see the Bison in South Dakota, the Elk at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and the Grizzly bears at Yellowstone Park. Even more exciting, the Kentucky Horse park in Lexington gets 850,000 (and growing) horse-interested visitors each year.

Don't be misled; we're not talking about cramped little zoos here. We're promoting generous sanctuaries where most of the horses will be relatively undisturbed, living out their lives as wild and free as is possible, allowing for the growing pressure of civilization. At each of these sanctuaries, the adoptable animals can be placed where they might be viewed by the public, and observed as they are being gentled and schooled prior to adoption. The herd's history and heritage can be studied and then shared with visitors. We are certain the public will be not only educated and entertained, but also inspired by these amazing animals ability to adapt, survive, and succeed against amazing odds.

The public has already proven at Assateague and Chincoteague Islands, in Kentucky and various other locations, that it is willing to pay to experience horses. Properly marketed, the wild horses have the ability to earn their keep! They can draw tourists to even somewhat remote, though historic and culturally rich, locations. Even thought it is not particularly remote, Virginia City is a good example of a historic place that will benefit from the proximity of a Wild Horse Sanctuary. Another example might be that of an Indian Reservation where interested tribes might develop a tribal horse such as the Nez Perce have done in Idaho. For instance, the “Sioux Horse” could help attract visitors onto the reservation to see Sioux arts, artifacts, experience Sioux culture and history, and be itself a source of pride and reverence for the Sioux as it is for the Nez Perce tribe.

We at Let ’em Run think this could be one way to help find refuge for the 25,000 wild horses the Bureau of Land Management has pledged to remove from the range in Nevada over the next four years.