Pickens' wife calling attention to plight of wild horsesSaturday, Jan. 16, 2010
FORT WORTH — Amid the hundreds of horses taking part in the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo’s All Western Parade, Madeleine Pickens was trying to draw attention to the plight of wild horses thousands of miles away.
The wife of Dallas billionaire Boone Pickens was accompanied by SMU football coach June Jones in Saturday’s parade as she walked alongside three mustangs that she adopted last year after they were captured in federal round-ups.
Her mustangs were just one of 212 entries in the parade through downtown Fort Worth that was blessed with relatively warm weather.
Madeleine Pickens, who is pushing for the creation of a million-acre sanctuary for wild horses in northern Nevada, has turned to local sports figures like the
SMU football coach, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, former Cowboys stars Emmitt Smith and Roger Staubach, and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. All serve on Saving America’s Mustangs ( savingamericasmustangs.org), which Pickens founded.
"Instead of going to Washington as a little blond animal lover, now I’ve got America’s testosterone behind us," Pickens said. "People listen to football. Football matters in this country."
Pickens donated two mustangs to
SMU as June Jones tried to set a tradition for the football team. The horses made their first appearance in October.
But
June Jones, who serves as chairman of the advisory board, said his interest now extends far beyond starting a winning tradition for the football Mustangs.
"I don’t understand why this isn’t on the front page and in the forefront of everybody’s thoughts," Jones said. "I told her I could help bring some attention to her cause and get her some exposure for this effort she has been working on for the last 10 years."
Pickens’ plan to purchase a million acres for a mustang sanctuary has met resistance from the federal government and Nevada cattle raisers.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has proposed moving many of the mustangs to the Midwest and the East.
"The current path of the wild horse and burro program is not sustainable for the animals, the environment or the taxpayer," Salazar said in October.
The Bureau of Land Management maintains about 32,000 mustangs and burros, including 9,500 in short-term pens. The cost of holding wild horses was about $29 million last year, which was roughly 70 percent of the program’s entire budget.
Ron Cerri, president of the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association, wrote on the group’s Web site this month that his organization has been unfairly demonized by wild-horse advocates. He said mustang supporters want federal land used strictly for horse grazing.
"When our public lands are managed for one special interest, every other user of the public lands loses," Cerri wrote.
But Pickens says the creation of her sanctuary would put less stress on cattle raisers. She is confident that she will eventually be able to create a small sanctuary as a test case to convince federal officials that it will work.
Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 3:13 pm