The Mesa Verde Project

While Mesa Verde is celebrated nationwide for its cliff dwellings and archeological sites, it also hosts a surprising population of wild horses. The National Mustang Association of Colorado has undertaken the Mesa Verde Project to relocate these horses, aiming to preserve the park's archeological sites. You're watching the "Local News Network" brought to you by Big O Tires and Blondie's Trophy Room. I'm Sadie Smith. Horses have roamed Mesa Verde for centuries, long predating its status as a national park. The relocation project will apply to the remaining 40 to 50 wild mustangs over the coming years.

The Mesa Verde Project is an agreement between the Mesa Verde National Park and the National Mustang Association, Colorado. It took several years to get it into place, and under the agreement, National Mustang Association, Colorado has agreed to take title to any of the horses that are removed from the Mesa Verde National Park.

The park's decision to remove the horses stems from their role, which does not include horse management responsibilities. Under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, managing and protecting herds on public lands falls under the Bureau of Land Management and US Forest Service.

After the horses had been discovered, well, some horses died on the park and people were concerned. The park would not provide them with water because they didn't want to be encouraging horses to be in the park. And so the Mesa Verde National Park just agreed to start working with NMACO after several rounds of communications. And NMACO wanted to be part of the solution

To capture the horses, NMACO follows a detailed plan involving familiarizing the horses with humans using water, salt, and feed as bait and employing gentle trapping methods to ensure a low-stress gathering process. Unlike helicopter roundups, which involve herding horses into pens using helicopters, this method is much gentler, making the horses easier to tame and more appealing as adoption candidates.

The two options that are preferable for what happens to the horses after they're gathered is that they will go into sanctuary. That's the least disruptive approach for the horses. And so if there is enough room at a sanctuary for a group of horses, that's ideal. And so they can remain wild and they will have a place to be. The next option is to rehome them, and that is to have the horses prepared for being homed and domesticated. And so that requires a little bit more effort and funds.

The NMACO is always looking for volunteers and donations to continue their mission of preserving and protecting wild horses.

The goal is to grow the capacity financially and also with human capital so that it can sustain.

As of the end of 2023, NMACO has successfully captured and placed 36 horses from Mesa Verde into sanctuaries or made them available for adoption. For additional details about Colorado's wild horses and the Mesa Verde Project, visit NMACO's website. For more information about this and other stories, visit montezumalocal.news. Thank you for watching this edition of "The Local News Network". I'm Sadie Smith.