May 17

By Monica, Founder of Wild Horses Lives Matter

When Congress allocates half a million dollars to protect wild horses and improve public safety, we should be able to trust that the money will be used as promised. Unfortunately, on the Virginia Range, it appears a classic bait-and-switch is underway—one that threatens to cut thousands of wild horses off from their only water sources, while failing to deliver the safety improvements our community was promised.

It is time to look closely at where our tax dollars are going, what they are actually building, and why we must demand a better, more humane solution.

The Promise: Safety Fencing for High-Traffic Roads

In late 2022, U.S. Senators Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto secured a $500,000 Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) grant for the Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDA) . The statutory language and the Senators' own press releases were crystal clear about the intent of this funding. It was authorized to:

"...implement a pilot study in cooperation with local partners to count and verify current feral/estray horses and develop long-term management solutions... and erecting fencing in high traffic areas to complement private entity fencing efforts."

The Reality:

Fast forward to today. The NDA recently announced that the $500,000 CDS is "completely expended." Yet, the critical six miles of high-traffic road fencing repair was never completed as the community expected. When advocates ask for a breakdown of how the money was spent, the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) and the NDA refuse to provide public accounting without formal Public Records Requests .

Instead of fixing the fences near the highways, the BLM has quietly rolled out a massive new project: DOI-BLM-NV-C020-2026-0016-CE. This project proposes building 14 to 23 miles of brand new, four-wire barbed wire fencing along the western boundary of the Virginia Range .

This new fence is not in a "high traffic area." It is a rural exclusion fence.

Most alarmingly, as shown on page 58 of the BLM's own environmental assessment, the "Jumbo West" segment of this new fence bisects known wetlands and floodplains. This fencing will physically block the Virginia Range horses from reaching vital natural water sources. We are not just talking about keeping horses off roads anymore; we are talking about a project that could cause mass dehydration and mortality events.

To make matters worse, Senator Rosen has now submitted a new FY2026 funding request for $1,000,000 for the NDA . This time, the limiting language about "high traffic areas" is entirely gone. It is simply a request to fund "installation of fencing."

The Solution: Build Crossings, Not FENCING

The NDA and BLM claim this new rural fencing is about public safety. But if the goal is truly to stop vehicle-horse collisions, fencing animals away from their water until they die of thirst is not a solution—it is animal cruelty.

There is a proven, cost-effective alternative that achieves both public safety and animal welfare: Wildlife Crossings.

The Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) already knows this. According to NDOT, wildlife crossings can reduce animal-vehicle collisions by up to 90% . While massive highway overpasses can cost millions, the roads bordering the Virginia Range are primarily smaller, two-lane roads. We do not need a $20 million bridge.

For the $1,000,000 Senator Rosen is currently requesting, the state could implement highly effective, scaled-down solutions designed specifically for two-lane roads:

1.Wildlife Underpasses (Box Culverts): Large concrete box culverts placed under the road allow horses and other wildlife to pass safely beneath the traffic to reach water. According to the Federal Highway Administration, large mammal underpasses can be constructed for between $250,000 and $600,000 .

2.At-Grade Smart Crossings: In areas where underpasses are not feasible, the state can install high-tech, at-grade crossings. These systems use infrared motion sensors to detect approaching horses and trigger flashing warning beacons to slow drivers down, combined with funnel fencing that directs the horses to cross only at these protected points.

A Call to Action

We cannot allow taxpayer dollars to be quietly redirected from urban road safety to rural exclusion fencing that cuts wild horses off from their lifeblood.

Wild horses don't vote, but we do. We must urge Senator Rosen, Senator Cortez Masto, the BLM, and the NDA to halt the Jumbo West fencing project. We demand transparency on the expended $500,000, and we demand that the new $1,000,000 funding request be explicitly earmarked for wildlife crossings and underpasses, not exclusionary FENCING

Let's use our public funds to build safe passages, not death traps.