BLM reviews plan for wild horse sanctuary in Nev. planned by wife of T. Boone Pickens

Wife of Pickens buys NV ranch for horse sanctuary

RENO, Nev. — Madeleine Pickens, the wife of Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens, says she has bought a Nevada ranch to serve as a wild horse sanctuary.

Pickens says she and U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials are discussing a pilot program calling for 1,000 mustangs now in short-term government-funded facilities to be sent to her Mustang Monument preserve.

BLM officials say they’re reviewing the plan and are encouraged after meeting with Pickens about the sanctuary in Elko County near the Utah border.

If approved, the plan would mark the first time the government has released such a large number of mustangs to such a sanctuary.

Pickens purchased the massive 14,000-acre Spruce Ranch about 70 miles east of Elko for an undisclosed price.