The Bureau of Land Management says educating the public is a key reason they’re proposing a wild horse sanctuary near Lander. It would be the second sanctuary of its kind in Wyoming.
The BLM regularly removes wild horses from public lands in the western U.S. and often, the animals are shipped to long-term pastures in the Midwest. But the BLM’s Scott Fluer says keeping them closer to home has some advantages.
“This would allow the public to be able to come out and take a look at these horses and be able to see them in more of a natural environment,” Fluer said.
But Wild horse advocates say the public will get false impressions by visiting the horse sanctuaries. They argue that they are not natural, because the horses are fenced in and the genders are separated.
The BLM is taking public comments about the proposed new sanctuary until March 4th.