Nevada’s Wild Horses Featured At Reno Block Party
June 10, 2011 by admin · Leave a Comment
American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign Sponsoring Downtown Reno Art & Music Festival
Reno, Nevada (June 10, 2011) – A celebration of Nevada’s wild horses will be a centerpiece of the Reno Block Party, tomorrow (Saturday, June 11) in downtown Reno’s Wingfield Park, thanks to event sponsorship by the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign (AWHPC), a national coalition.
As live music fills the air at this all-day art and music festival, AWHPC will be reaching out to the hearts and minds of local residents to learn about the plight of the last remaining wild horses and burros. Reno-area coalition supporters the Hidden Valley Horse Protection Fund and the Wild Horse Preservation League, and the national organization Return to Freedom, will join AWHPC at the event.
WHAT: Wild Horse Coalition at First Annual Reno Block Party
WHEN: Saturday, June 11, 2010 — 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
WHERE: Wingfield Park, Reno
Representatives of the national coalition and Reno-based wild horse advocacy groups will be available for interviews.
As a featured exhibitor, AWHPC will have a large booth colorfully adorned with banners celebrating the beauty and splendor of America’s wild horses and the increasingly bleak future that faces these cherished animals. Information about getting involved — from helping wild horses in and around Reno, to joining the national fight to save America’s mustangs – will be offered. Handicrafts, clothing, stationery and other items will also be on sale.
“Many Reno residents are familiar with wild horses in the area and the Reno Block Party is a great opportunity to get out the word about how Nevadans can protect these iconic animals,” said Deniz Bolbol, AWHPC Communications Director. “With the federal government’s stepped up assault on wild horses and burros, now is the time for citizens to get involved to protect and save the animals who made possible the settlement of the West.”
The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign (AWHPC), supported by a coalition of over 40 organizations, is dedicated to preserving the American wild horse in viable free-roaming herds for generations to come. For more information, see www.WildHorsePreservation.org
Background
America’s wild horses and burros are protected by an act of Congress as “living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West.” The intent of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 was to protect these animals, but a decades-old federal program, administered by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM), has turned the law on its head. The costly and cruel BLM program rounds up mustangs by the tens of thousands off public lands in the West in order to make room for taxpayer-subsidized, commercial livestock grazing. Today, the federal government warehouses more wild horses in off-the-range holding facilities (45,000+) than are left free on the range (<33,000).
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