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Photo credit: Kerry O’Brien
MAKING AN IMPACT
BEGINNINGS WITH THE SPRING CREEK BASIN HERD IN DISAPPOINTMENT VALLEY
Pati Temple, a passionate and dedicated animal welfare advocate, sparked a handful of dedicated volunteers to found what would become the National Mustang Association Colorado (NMACO). In 1997, the volunteers operated as a chapter under the auspices of the National Mustang Association Utah.
Once Pati learned of the Bureau of Land Management’s culling of the wild horse population in the drought-stricken Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, she felt driven to help the wild horses remain in their home range.
From 1997 through 2011, Pati and volunteers worked tirelessly to support the wild horses of the Bureau of Land Management’s Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area. The volunteer team acquired $45,000 in grazing rights for horses to ease competition for forage, invested in and installed water catchments, removed dangerous fencing, installed new fencing, and more. The volunteers invested over $175,000 to support the Spring Creek Basin horses. Pati also strongly advocated for then-NMACO board member TJ Holmes to become the caretaker of what is now the Disappointment Valley Mustang Sanctuary. This sanctuary, owned by the Serengeti Foundation, was established to take in horses removed from the adjacent Bureau of Land Management’s Herd Management Area. TJ Holmes remains the caretaker as of 2024 and thirty-one mustangs make the sanctuary their home.
Not only did Pati advocate for better treatment of wild horses on-range, but she also advocated for the use of PZP immunocontraceptive darting to manage horse populations located within the Bureau of Land Management’s Herd Management Areas. A contraceptive darting program would reduce the need for culling horses from the range. The volunteer chapter provided funding to enable TJ Holmes to obtain immunocontraceptive darting training from Dr. Jay Kirkpatrick–a move that continues to pay dividends today.
Pati Temple advocated for wild horses until her death from cancer in 2013.
The Force of Nature that Was Pati Temple
Horses are watched over by Temple Butte in Disappointment Valley. Temple Butte was named after Pati Temple in 2019 in honor of her dedication to the Spring Creek Basin horses in Disappointment Valley.
In 2019, Pati’s friends and acquaintances celebrated the dedication of Temple Butte in Pati’s honor.
NMACO is A 501(c)(3) TAX EXEMPT ENTITY
In 2020, to expand fund-raising opportunities and its effectiveness in carrying out its mission for wild horses, the organization applied for and was granted a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status as a Colorado-based nonprofit.
THE nmaco board
Brenda Van Keuren, President
Kathy Klix, Vice-President
Bonnie Anderson, Treasurer
Laurie Hutton, Secretary
David Temple, Director
THE MISSION LIVES ON
NMACO have volunteers turned their attention to other horses in Southwestern Colorado that require humane intervention. Learn about the Mesa Verde Project here.
the SPRING CREEK BASIN UPDATES
Leading the way to more effective and humane on-range management, in 2011, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved a fertility-control program in the Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area (HMA) using native PZP immunocontraception administered to mares. As a volunteer partner to the BLM and under a volunteer agreement, TJ Holmes provides methodical immunocontraceptive darting in the Spring Creek Basin HMA. In 2020, the BLM’s new wild horse management plan for the Spring Creek Basin increased the acceptable management level of horses from range of 35-65 horses to a range of 50-80 horses. The Spring Creek Basin HMA’s progress was largely due to the support of BLM’s Rangeland Management Specialist and Spring Creek Basin Herd Manager Michael Jensen, who retired in mid-2024. The key steps implemented by the Spring Creek Basin HMA are noteworthy and represent model improvements that other HMAs can make on behalf of the federally protected horses. The Spring Creek Basin herd is an amazing success story of hope and tenacity.