The Storey Teller News and commentary on what’s really going on in Storey County.
Virginia Range Wild Horses To Get Much Needed Financial Support From New DMV License Plate
The Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) issued a new license plate to directly support the Virginia Range Wild Horse Herds this month. This plate is the brainchild of the Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund (HVWHPF) and will support many of the local groups dedicated to preserving the Virginia Range Herd.
The Virginia Range Horses have been the focus of the Nevada Department of Agriculture and have been in the news with the recent roundup with the Paiute Indian tribe.
“Range management, Horse wellbeing, and public safety are our top priority. By keeping the horses on the range and away from the highways and residential areas, both the horses and the public are served” explained Shannon Windle of the Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund.
“We will use the money from the license plates to work with a wide cooperative of wild horse groups within the Virginia Range Herd’s territory. Groups like VRWPA in the Virginia City Highlands, Wild Horse Preservation League in Dayton, Wild Horse Mentors in the Stagecoach/Silver Springs area as well as folks in Lockwood and the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center,” Windle said.
“While HVWHPF submitted the application for the license plate, the money will benefit the herd wherever they are. We will coordinate with a committee volunteers from Washoe Valley, Carson City, Fernley, Silver Springs, Reno, the USA Parkway corridor, Virginia City, Dayton, and Mound House. This committee will identify different projects that will focus on keeping the horses on the range,” Windle told The Teller.
Wild Horse License Plate Will Support A Variety Of Projects
“These projects include putting up fences, installing cattle guards. They will also focus on the main reason the horses come into congested areas; seeking water. Some projects are easy fixes, but some are long term. Working together with the volunteers in the area and these groups, we will identify the best use of these funds.
It is unknown how much money the license plate funds will generate. The Virginia Range Horses compete with 32 other plates for interested parties. The Horse Power license plate benefiting horses has been available for ten years or so before it was taken off the approved list. As a result, none of the money from renewals of these plates will be helping horses. The Horse Power plate generated $150,000 a year.
“We are required to maintain 3000 active license plates annually. Each plate will generate $25 the first year and $20 thereafter. Our goal is to maintain a minimum of 5000 license plates. This will give us a baseline that we can use to forecast our projects,” explained Windle.
5000 plates would generate $100,000 annually.
Transparency Critical To Success
Windle told The Teller HVWHPF is focused on transparency. Given the controversy surrounding the Horse Power plate, this is critical to maintaining the trust of the Wild Horse supporters. Below is their proposed budget outlining how they will spend the money raised by the new plate.
You don’t have to wait for your registration to expire to start supporting the Virginia Range Wild Horses. You can bring your old plates to a DMV Full Service Office or the Storey County County Courthouse. If you wish to keep the old plates, you must bring the rear plate and surrender the decal in person.
If you want to keep the same expiration date, DMV will issue new plates, registration slip, and decal. A $6 substitute plate fee will apply in addition to the specialty plate fees. To learn more about the license plate process, visit the DMV by clicking here
This getting one of these license plates is an easy way for supporters to keep the horses and the public safe. The application for the special license plate is below this article, as well as the application HVWHPF submitted. It goes into the details of what the mindset was and is an interesting read.
To learn more about how the license plates are helping the Virginia Range Herd, Visit HVWHPF’s website, check out their facebook page or email them at hiddenvalleywildhorses@gmail.com.
