For 57 years, local wild horse advocates have had a close working relationship with the Bureau of Land Management in the ongoing management of the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range.

The Pryor Mountain horses, recognized as true descendants of Spanish mustangs that were brought to America 500 years ago, were protected starting in 1968 by the formation of the first federally designated wild horse range, and given that status of both the range and the horses, a special kind of management was developed over the course of five decades that has taken into account the blood lines and family lineage of the herd. 

That management has included the BLM working closely with those who know the horses best: the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center.

That unique wild horse herd and the specialized management employed to help them thrive — management practices now threatened under a new plan — was the theme of a presentation by Mustang Center director Nancy Cerroni at the August 18 membership luncheon of the Lovell Area Chamber of Commerce. 

Cerroni gave a PowerPoint presentation during which she keyed on the word “special” — the special nature of the horses, their special role as an economic driver of the local tourist economy, the special relationship between the BLM and Mustang Center and the special management practices the BLM has employed for many years.

After many decades of cooperation and a close working relationship with the BLM Billings Field Office in the management of the horse range, the BLM has done an about face this year to move away from the specialized management of the horses under the new management plan for the horses and range, Cerroni said. She said it is no longer taking input from the Wild Mustang Center and, thus, is moving away from the practice of closely following blood lines in future horse gathers. It is also drastically reducing the size of the herd to a level that eventually would not be genetically viable.

“They are not taking any input from us, and it essentially has ended the longtime collaborative efforts with the Mustang Center, which go back to the days of 1966,” Cerroni explained. “The plan would reduce the herd size to 108, which is the low end of the population range. Right now the population is 184, which is high, I agree. But please keep in mind that about two years ago the population was right around 210, and without (human) management the population is reducing itself because of mountain lions. The mountain lions have just devastated the past three foal crops. So management is happening without intervention from humans.

“The new plan would require a series of removals using a random selection process based on age and gender, with no management plans to preserve the Colonial Spanish traits. So rather than using careful selection based on the huge record that we have and we have willingly shared with them, they just want to do a random gathering.”

The concern Cerroni has with a severe reduction to the 108 range using a random selection process without input from the Center is whether a much lower population would carry on the Colonial Spanish heritage with no mitigating factors to preserve that heritage. 

And she also worries whether the population would be large enough to maintain genetic diversity in general.

She also worries whether a much smaller herd and less diversity would decrease the unique qualities of the herd to where they become “just another herd of wild horses” and whether that status would impact visitation.

“People come here because they want to see the Pryor horse,” Cerroni said. “They want to see one that looks like that little short, stocky thing. It’s a story. It’s a horse of history. … How will the reduction in the herd size affect visibility of the horses and, thus, cause a reduction in visitation? It certainly could do that.”

Wrapping up, Cerroni asked the gathered chamber of commerce members to be a voice of support for Mustang Country and the Pryor Mountain horses. As the Mustang Center reaches the point of appealing the new plan after the BLM issues a decision notice, she asked members to be engaged in the process, noting, “We would love to have some letters to describe how the Pryor horses contribute either to your business or the local economy. … Cameron (Miller, chamber president) would do one for the chamber, but if there’s individual businesses, it would be really helpful, too.”

Lovell Area Chamber manager Linda Morrison said the Pryor Mountain horses are part of what she calls “the whole package.” 

Individually, she said, the Big Horn Mountains, the Big Horn Canyon and the Pryor Mountain wild mustangs are great, but the real impact is in the entirety of the area. She said some German visitors recently spent four days in Lovell, “and they’ve done it all, and they love it,” she said.

Chamber president Miller said Cerroni has put together a small committee to work on the issue, and if anyone is interested in serving, they can contact the Mustang Center at 307-548-6453.