public lands

For decades, ranchers and wild horse advocates have traded barbs. Yet now that Nevada’s wild horse population has reached an all-time high, most agree that some herds have too many horses. The eastern side of the state in particular has thousands more horses than the Bureau of Land Management says the area can sustain, and many ranchers say the horses are overgrazing, which is costing them big.

Wild horses roaming in the Virginia Range made national news when they were photographed on the campus of the Tesla Gigafactory. Though the photos are idyllic, the state says there are currently about 2,500 more horses than the land can sustain. Because this population is more accustomed to humans, that actually makes it a good place to try fertility control for managing the herd.  

Nevada’s wild horse population has exploded to an all-time high of more than 43,000 horses. That’s 60 percent of all the wild horses roaming the West — and it’s nearly quadruple the 12,800 equids the Bureau of Land Management says that Nevada’s land can sustain. There's long been controversy over just how to manage wild horses in the West, and some would say the result has been no management at all.

Some students in Incline Village are among the newest members of an organization dedicated to promoting humanitarianism, conservation and environmentalism. As KUNR’s Paul Boger reports, the group’s founder, famed primatologist Jane Goodall, was in town to welcome them aboard.

Polling in Nevada’s U.S. Senate race has been neck and neck for months with any advantage well within the margin of error. And last Friday, the top contenders for the position sparred over the biggest issues in that race. To talk about the debate between Jacky Rosen and Dean Heller,  KUNR’s Bree Zender spoke to Senior Political Reporter Paul Boger to get the breakdown.

The two candidates running for Congressional District 2 in Northern Nevada are clashing over how to manage public lands.

Reno Public Radio’s Noah Glick reports.

Republican Mark Amodei and Democratic challenger Chip Evans are facing off for a chance to represent Northern Nevada in the U.S. House of Representatives.

One important issue facing Nevada's 2nd Congressional District is who should be in charge of its public lands.