Wild Horses and Urbanization

Reno, Nevada, one of the fastest growing cities in America has encroached on the range of the Nevada wild horse herds. The wild horses of the desert find themselves living in the suburbs amidst paved highways, stockade fences and swing sets. Their once naturally pristine landscape is now riddled with man's burgeoning suburbs, power lines and traffic.

Some of the citizens of Reno are enchanted with the wild horses. But not everyone loves the wild horses wandering the shared domain. Some people build walls and put up fences to keep them out. Dawn Lappin has lived in Reno all her life, and she's seen what happens when the modern world collides with the spirit of the mustang. She sees the potential for more problems down the road.

"The wild horses of the desert find themselves living in the suburbs amidst paved highways, stockade fences and swing sets."

Animal activists lobby for more land in protected refuges, fewer cattle on federal lands, and more habitat for the horses. Ranchers are their opponents. Some environmentalists fight to have the number of wild horse herds drastically reduced, pointing out the feral animals compete with and limit the growth of natural species like big horn sheep, elk and deer. Developers and homeowners worry that the wild horses will injure someone as they continue to graze suburbs now inhabited by burgeoning subdivisions and strip malls.