Ambitious Plan Considered to Save Nevada's Wild Horses

Updated: KLAS-TV, Nevada

The new Obama Administration is giving hope to advocates for Nevada's wild horse herds. An ambitious plan to save the horses is quietly being shopped in the capitol.

The plan is being put forward by Madeleine Pickens, wife of billionaire oilman T. Boon Pickens. She wants to create a million-acre wild horse sanctuary in northern Nevada, getting 30,000 wild horses out of government pens.

The BLM has said it can't afford to feed the horses anymore and that it might have euthanize most of the horses.

"In a short four to five years, this would save over $100 million. Using Mrs. Pickens figures that she submitted, that would save $100 million. Given that it helps them out of the short-term crisis, saves them over $100 million, and puts them on a course to save many of these horses that otherwise have an uncertain fate, it's hard to imagine they are going to walk away from this deal," said wild horse advocate Jerry Reynoldson.

The BLM has not given the Pickens plan the ok. Horse advocates are lining up support in Congress, including Nevada's new congresswoman Dina Titus.