Legacy of protection continues: Wild Mustang Center to join in wild horse summit
The Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center is participating in a free online wild horse summit January 30 through February 3. The wild horse summit is being hosted by Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates, an advocacy group from Southwestern North Dakota, Save Our Wild Horses and the Wild Narrative Project.
There will be presentations on what people can do in becoming an advocate for wild horses such as building a relationship with your legislator, understanding the violations for the existing laws and knowing about the federal agencies who enforce the laws.
“The name of this summit is ‘Putting the ‘A’ in advocacy – arming yourself with knowledge to effectively advocate for wild horses and burros in 2025,’” said Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center director Nancy Cerroni. “All presentations will be online, and if you would like to attend the summit online, you must sign up for each presentation you want to watch.”
Cerroni said she will be doing a presentation called Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: a half century of work for the Pryor wild horses. She said the purpose of doing this presentation is about the people who made it possible for her to do the work she loves to do in protecting wild horses.
“The reason for this presentation is, yes, I am doing this work now; however, my work is guided by people who were here from the start,” Cerroni said. “The Pryor Mountain Horse Range is the first federally protected public wild horse herd in the United States, and it was accomplished by the citizens of Lovell.”
According to Cerroni, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) wanted to remove the wild mustangs from the Pryor Mountains. She said it was concerned citizens and activists, who made it possible in keeping the horses on the land.
“It was a group of concerned citizens, including the Lovell Chamber of Commerce, who got involved saving these horses,” Cerroni said. “They knew even back then there was something special about these horses. Early on, people understood the Spanish influence, but they also recognized the economic benefit these horses have for local tourism.”
Cerroni said local and broadcast media played an important part in reporting about the wild horses, especially from ABC News. She said the news reporting got everyone’s attention about the horses.
“The Lovell Chronicle played a huge part in informing people about the wild horses,” Cerroni said. “The Chronicle was able to bring the news out to the state and national spotlight, and it caught the attention of ABC News reporter Hope Ryden, and the story was broadcast across the United States.”
According to the American Wild Horse Conservation, Ryden was a pioneering force in the conservation of wild horses in America. In 1968, Ryden worked as a photojournalist for National Geographic, where she discovered the mustangs on the Pryor Mountains.
The Lovell Chamber of Commerce has a long history in their involvement in raising awareness of the protection of the wild horses, Cerroni said. Tourists always have a deep interest in seeing the horses in the Pryor Mountains, which brings in revenue for Lovell, she added.
“For a long time, during the early years, the community has come together in support of protection of the mustangs,” said Lovell Area Chamber of Commerce director Linda Morrison. “Since my time, our chamber has become much more aware of how important the mustangs are to tourism in Lovell. Many tourists stop by the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center as well as the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area visitor center.”
According to Morrison, Highway 37 is important because it is the entrance to the wild horses. She said the chamber promotes Highway 37 to help tourists understand about all the things they can see when touring Lovell.
“What’s so incredible is, if folks know about the overlook in the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area and they come to see it, the tourists’ bonus is that it’s on the wild horse range,” Morrison said. “Our town has such an incredible amount of beauty and natural wonder with these horses, and they are protected. The only way to get to the horse range, which is mostly in Montana, is through Wyoming.”
Morrison said tourists can stop by the chamber to get any information they need. She said the chamber is committed to bringing tourists what they need to tour Big Horn Canyon country.
“Our chamber is participating in various travel journals and travel guides,” Morrison said. “We want to get the word out to folks that this range is here, and it is free, where you can spend all day enjoying the beauty of the range and the freedom of the horses. There is just so much to see for our tourists.”
If you are visiting Lovell or any part of Big Horn County and you want additional information on where you can go sightseeing, visit the Lovell Chamber of Commerce at 287 E. Main Street, call 307-548-7552 or visit the chamber website at https://visitlovell.org.
Anyone interested in attending the wild horse summit may visit the Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates website at https://chwha.org/2025-wild-horse-summit/. Presentations available are listed by the day and time, along with the speaker and how to sign up. One can sign up for as many sessions as desired.