Ecosanctuaries Proposed As Option For Wild Horses

Over population of wild horses on public lands coupled with declining adoptions has Bureau of Land Management officials trying new ideas.

Ecosanctuaries are public-private idea still in the early stages and BLM managers are soliciting for proposals from private landowners.

Tom Gorey, BLM spokesman, says any proposed sanctuaries would need to be publicly accessible with a potential for ecotourism,

"Perhaps there would be tours. The landowner could charge for that tour and then the money generated by that would go into the running of that ecosanctuary."

Goreys says the costs of running traditional long term holding facilities is seen as  unsustainable. Proposals for wild horse ecosanctuaries must be for lands able to support at least 100 wild horses.

One proposal, he says, in southern Wyoming is currently in the environmental review stage.

Closing date for new applications is August 29th

The official notice of solicitation can be found at www.grants.gov. To submit an application, an applicant must register on www.grants.gov and must first obtain a Data Universal Number System (DUNS) number. This can be obtained by going to http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform/index.jsp.