As Wild Love Preserve moves into our 11th year of Idaho wild horse conservation on home turf, we’ve launched our Keeping It Wild in 2021 Campaign. Within our Annual Goal our pressing emphasis is to raise $150K for wild horse operations through June. Securing this amount through donations, grants, and sponsorships is key in enabling us to adopt the remaining Challis wild mares from the 2019 BLM roundup and transport them to Wild Love Preserve this Spring. Time is of the essence regarding raising this initial $150K, and we are almost halfway to reaching this ASAP goal. Every bit adds up.
Like others, the Covid pandemic has severely impacted us, and we’ve made necessary adjustments to ensure our work remains in full-swing on all fronts. While we continue fundraising for our permanently protected Idaho wildlife preserve and subsequent move, our primary focus at this time is daily operations at our leased 400-acres with Wild Love Preserve’s 165+ adopted Challis-Idaho wild horses from the 2012 and 2019 Idaho BLM Roundups. Operations include our annual lease, increased supplemental winter hay, and implementation of our wild horse conservation and education programs. 100% of every donation supports our boots-on-the-ground work with Idaho’s wild horses on home turf.
Thank You for considering a tax-deductible donation at this most purposeful and vital time. The difference you make with your kind support, makes all the difference in wild lives and their lasting wildness.
“And in the end, all that matters is how you loved and what you gave."
Happy Valentine's From The Wild Side. Spread Love.
Andrea + Wild Love Preserve
“To see them be able to be who they are, with no strings attached, I just find that it’s really, really important. And they are so happy being who they are, and we are able to set a precedent of creating a wild expanse right here at home.” -Andrea Maki, WLP Founder, May 24, 2016
KPVI News feature: “The Balancing Act Of The Challis Wild Horses” - KPVI6 NBC News Idaho
We're saying so long to 2020 with this video sharing some bright spots from this ever-challenging year. In April, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of Wild Love Preserve and later welcomed new family members, bringing our total number of Challis-Idaho wild horses to 165.
In these last days of 2020 we're also continuing our year-long effort to raise $250K to support Wild Love's 165 Challis-Idaho wild horses and operations. In addition to our collaborative work on the range keeping wild horses wild, Wild Love Preserve also exists to ensure Idaho wild horses that are removed from public lands have an opportunity to remain wild on their native turf. In July of 2020, we adopted and purchased the first group of 24 wild horses from the 2019 Challis roundup needing placement, bringing our number of permanent residents to 165. As per our mission, Wild Love adopts and purchases those Challis-Idaho wild horses that do not find homes through other BLM adoption programs, and as we did following the 2012 Challis roundup. Once with us, they live forever wild and together on their terms in Idaho at Wild Love Preserve, we do not adopt out or gentle.
Our preservation of America’s iconic wild mustangs and respective wild places speaks to our greater good, now and for future generations. From the start, as a nonprofit, Wild Love Preserve has been a WE project made possible by donations, grants, sponsorships, in-kind services and volunteers. As we move into 2021, our work is all the more imperative. From all of us at Wild Love Preserve, we invite you to join us with your support, and thank you for your kindness and consideration.
Happy Winter Solstice! From our family to yours, may your holidays be filled with love, kindness, and good energy. Bring On The Light! Andrea + Wild Love Preserve
In a year of relentless challenges that show little sign of letting up any time soon, Wild Love Preserve has been rated as a GreatNonprofits 2020 Top-Rated Nonprofit because of your kindness and support, and our appreciation is truly immeasurable.
Friends - Today, December 13, is the National Day of The Horse!
North America is the literal birthplace of equus and the wild horse. The magic of the horse originated on this land, then culminated globally and marked a turning point in the history of mankind. No other animal has had such influence and impact on humankind's development. To the wild horse, to the tamed horse, we owe immense gratitude and respect, for the horse gave two-leggeds a massive advantage and was instrumental in our development and our survival. Humankind will forever owe a great debt to the horse.
For more about the history of our beloved horses, visit: NATIVE FACT
Friends, Giving Tuesday is happening on Dec 1st and we’re hoping you can show us some love. Every bit helps and early donations are welcome. To Donate, visit:
We are fundraising to support Wild Love's 165 Challis-Idaho wild horses + operations. As per our mission, Wild Love Preserve is adopting and purchasing the Challis-Idaho wild horses from the 2019 BLM roundup not otherwise adopted, and as we did following the 2012 Challis roundup. Our first group of 24 arrived in late July, bringing our number of permanent residents to 165. Once with us, all of our Challis-Idaho wild horses live a forever life of wildness together on their native turf in Idaho at Wild Love Preserve. We do not adopt out or gentle. While we continue fundraising to secure our permanent home and subsequent move, our Plan B due to the Covid pandemic is in full swing at our leased 400-acres. We are raising funds for our modified logistics, increased supplemental winter hay, daily operations, and our new family members.
Wild Love Preserve is made possible by grants, donations, and sponsors. This is a WE project and the difference you make with your support helps us do what we do for these wild wonders and their lasting wildness.
Wild Love Preserve's 2021 calendar features some of our 165 Challis-Idaho wild horses. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, Wild Love Preserve ensures that Idaho wild horses removed from public lands have an opportunity to remain wild and together on their native turf. As per our mission, Wild Love adopts and purchases those Challis-Idaho wild horses that do not find homes through BLM adoption programs, and as we did following the 2012 Challis roundup. Once with us, they live a forever life of wildness together and on their terms in Idaho at Wild Love Preserve.
Available in two sizes. Proceeds for this calendar support the work of Wild Love Preserve. Photographs + Words by Andrea Maki, WLP founder. View + purchase here: bit.ly/Wild-Love-2021-Calendar
We’ve had a great time hangin’ with the A-Team in Idaho, filming wild horses at Wild Love and on the Challis HMA, along with stakeholders from all sides that have come together over the last decade to make this innovative model in wild horse conservation on home turf possible. Together we are saving wild lives and nurturing respective native ecosystems as an interconnected whole, all while saving millions in taxpayer dollars.
Ten years ago, when I founded Wild Love Preserve in central Idaho, I set about creating a new and inclusive means of wild horse management on home turf by bringing stakeholders from all sides together in a new light. I imagined that if I could turn regional wild horses into an asset for the community, region, and state, everyone would win, and our model could also help other wild horse regions in the west. Initially, many told me it would not be impossible to bring stakeholders to the table in this manner. Some called me a traitor for working with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the agency in charge of managing our wild horses on multi-use public lands, and with the ranchers who graze their cattle on our public lands where indigenous wildlife and wild horses reside. However, I stayed true to my belief that common ground can always be found through fluid communications and mutual respect when we choose to rise above drawn lines. The fact being, we save wild lives by working together.
By design, the work of Wild Love Preserve engages public and private lands to address all facets of regional wild horse populations on home turf with community engagement and benefit. From our collaborative work on the range with the BLM to our, now, 165 adopted Challis-Idaho wild horses, and the creation of our permanently protected Idaho wildlife preserve. Kindness, mutual respect, conflict resolution, accountability, science, and education drive the Wild Love mission to protect and preserve western wild horses in their native habitats and nurture the legacy of respective indigenous ecosystems as an interconnected whole by way of bridging divides and working together.
The magnificent Wild Red Stallion has continued to lead the charge for Wild Love, even after his crossing in 2013.
Last November, we at Wild Love Preserve were in attendance and addressing logistics of the Idaho BLM's 2019 Challis helicopter roundup, which was the first conducted since 2012 due to our collaborative work with the BLM and successfully slowing the population growth with Native PZP-1YR, versus every 2-3 years. It was not easy for me to witness wild horses we had been working with for the last seven years being run into the chutes by helicopters and removed from the Challis Herd Management Area. While some wild horses were released back to the range, leaving the total count at 185, most were trucked away and prepared for public adoptions.
In November 2019 the Idaho BLM conducted their first helicopter roundup of the Challis herd since 2012. The WLP-BLM collaborative work implementing Native PZP-1YR has proven successful in safely slowing population growth.
In June, I received word from the BLM about the first group of wild horses from the 2019 Challis roundup needing placement at Wild Love Preserve. As per our mission, Wild Love adopts and purchases those Challis-Idaho wild horses that do not find homes through BLM adoption programs, and as we did following the 2012 Challis roundup. Once with us, they will live a forever life of wildness together on their native turf in Idaho at Wild Love Preserve. We do not adopt out or gentle, and by design, our population management program with Native PZP-1YR mirrors our collaborative work on the range.
Like others, the Covid-19 pandemic has severely impacted our work and vital fundraising efforts. So, while we continue fundraising for the purchase of our permanent 10,000-acre wildlife preserve and subsequent move, it was necessary to orchestrate a Plan B to enable us to take these 2019 wild horses at our current leased 400-acres. Sleepless nights were many as I worked to address the multi-layered logistics and raise initial funding for implementation, to be followed by continued fundraising for increased supplemental hay expenses, our monthly lease, and operations into 2021 for our 165 Challis wild horses.
Everything came down to the last minute, literally. We drove all night and arrived in Challis on July 20. The next morning we met with the BLM at the Challis wild horse corrals and saw the first 24 geldings we were adopting and purchasing. The cloudless sky was a vibrant blue, and it was going to be another blazing hot day. I felt my usual excitement seeing the horses, smiles hard to contain. They had no idea they had won the lottery and would soon be running wild again. As we stood talking, a sorrel horse with a broad white face stripe caught my attention. He was walking my direction, and he looked familiar. I asked the BLM guys if he had a nipped left ear, and the answer was yes. My heart skipped a beat. I walked closer to look him over, and I kept looking, thinking to myself, "Is this happening?"
In the moments Little Red and I recognized one another at the BLM’s wild horse corrals in Challis.
Sure enough, it was Little Red, the offspring of the magnificent Wild Red Stallion. Wild Red and I had a special bond from the start of this journey in 2010. My heart broke in two when he crossed over in 2013, but he has continued to lead the charge for Wild Love Preserve. As he walked on, the White Mask Stallion assumed Wild Red's mares, and subsequently, he ran Little Red out on his own at a young age. Little Red was the spitting image of his father with the attitude to match, so it was no wonder. There is only room for one lead stallion. I had searched for him over the years and looked back on my photos and videos of him as a baby and yearling, wondering where he was and if he was okay. Did he have a family and mares of his own? I had been afraid I would see him in the temporary holding corrals during the November roundup. Now, here he stood in front of me at seven years old, magnificent like his father and recognizing me as we chatted. It was wonderfully surreal. To this moment, I catch myself shaking my head in disbelief, pinching myself that I have officially adopted Little Red, and now I know he will forever run wild and protected at Wild Love. It was the sign I needed from Wild Red as we celebrate the 10th anniversary of Wild Love Preserve. Now Little Red is here, and will lead our charge into the next decade and beyond, and my heart is full as my spirit soars.
Little Red, 2013
Little Red + Auntie Arapaho, 2013
Little Red, Mama Cochise + Little Red, Sister Mojo, Auntie Arapaho, 2014
Little Red, Mama Cochise, Little Sister Mojo, 2014
Little Red, Sister Mojo + White Mask Stallion, 2015
Little Red + His Family Band, 2015
Papa Wild Red and the White Mask Stallion, 2012
Our dedicated crew worked through the relentless heat, preparing all day for the arrivals of our new family members. All our eyes were on the prize. The next morning, July 22, my excitement was hard to contain. We arrived at the corrals early to load the older authority horses we purchase first because they are at high risk. It is always nerve-racking when we load wild horses into trailers because you never know how they might react or spook. Thankfully they loaded okay, and we drove as a caravan to Wild Love Preserve and opened the trailer doors to their lasting wildness.
There are no words to adequately describe moments like this after working so hard and tirelessly to get here. When the trailer doors open and the horses start leaping out. You can feel their trepidation soon turn to wild exuberance as they realize this is freedom when they are greeted and welcomed by our existing wild horses. They are home, their forever home, and free to be who they choose to be.
The following morning, July 23, we met again at the corrals, this time to load our adopted horses. Little Red, of course, led them into the trailer, and the doors were closed behind them. Again, we caravaned to Wild Love Preserve, this day with me following in my truck just behind the trailer, pinching myself the whole way. When we arrived and opened the trailer doors, the horses came bounding out as they do, the last one being Little Red, who slowed and looked at me as he passed by, and as I said, "Welcome home, Red, I love you."
Watch Video of Day 2: Footage of BLM wild horse corrals, loading up, transport, and initial arrival of Little Red and others at Wild Love Preserve.
All grown up. Red is now 7 years old and will remain forever wild and free to be at Wild Love Preserve in Idaho.
Wild Love Preserve allows for Idaho wild horses removed from public lands to remain wild and together, to be who they are on their terms, establishing family bands, relationships, and instinctual dynamics. WLP programs on and off the range since 2013 have saved taxpayers over $8.5 million and resulted in new forms of revenue for the local community.
As a legacy project, Wild Love Preserve includes our innovative wild horse conservation program, conflict resolution, education platform, youth programs and employment, comprehensive range health fixed on sustainability, and public engagement. The creation of our permanently protected Idaho wildlife preserve is central to our work, nurturing and ensuring the lasting wildness of this indigenous ecosystem as an interconnected whole through our diverse partnerships. Our preservation of America’s iconic wild mustangs and respective wild places speaks to our greater good, now and for future generations.
-Andrea Maki, Founder, September 2020
Watch Full Video: The Arrival of Challis Wild Horses From The BLM’s 2019 Challis Roundup, July 2020
This summer is flying by and there are hardly enough hours in each day to check off everything on the to-do list. Many have been asking about our new arrivals and how things are going, also if we are being impacted by Idaho wildfires. At this time, all is okay.
Our first group of 24 new guys from the BLM's 2019 Challis roundup that arrived in late July are happy, and quickly settled into their forever wild home together at Wild Love Preserve. Above is a photo I took of the older authority horses, which we always purchase first because they are at high risk. They continue to stick together as a group of 13 and have no interest in confrontations with our other horses, even when Tornado, the instigator, tries to start something. Magical Asher, in white, has taken the lead, and he will back up and walk around to avoid a conflict, the others follow suit. It is incredibly heartwarming to see them so comfortable, relaxed, and free to be who they choose to be. To read more about the arrivals of our new family members and watch the video, visit: 2019 Challis Wild Horses Arrive at Wild Love.
Here is a video of random snips from Wild Love Preserve on July 24, 2020, with a perfectly fitting song that sums up this wild love. “Got a way of keeping me up most nights, it’s always worth the sleep I sacrifice. Love is too precious to trade for rested eyes... I will always find a way to love you."
Thank you to those who have donated to our 2020 fundraising efforts. We are still working toward our goal of raising a total of $250K by year's end. 100% of all tax-deductible donations directly support our 160 Challis-Idaho wild horses at Wild Love Preserve and their lasting wildness together on their home turf in Idaho. If you would like to help, please click on the button below.
The difference you make, truly makes all the difference.
BIG News! It’s been some months since we at Wild Love were in attendance and addressing logistics of the November 2019 Challis roundup, which was the first since 2012 due to our collaborative work on the range and successfully slowing population growth with Native PZP-1Yr. As per per our mission, Wild Love Preserve also adopts and purchases those Challis-Idaho wild horses not otherwise adopted. As we did following the 2012 Challis roundup, we are giving those remaining from the 2019 roundup a forever life of wildness on their native turf in Idaho at Wild Love Preserve. WATCH the video above that features our first 2019 Challis wilds arriving at Wild Love on July 22 and 23, 2020. It was breathtaking to see them fly from the trailers to their forever home of lasting wildness. They were quickly greeted and settled in with the rest of our 136 Challis-Idaho wild horses. To say the least, they are very happy campers.
Wild Love Preserve’s creation of our permanently protected wildlife preserve on native turf allows for Idaho wild horses removed from public lands to remain wild and together, to be who they are on their terms, establishing family bands, relationships, and instinctual dynamics. We do not adopt out or gentle. All Idaho wild horses we adopt and purchase have a forever wild life at Wild Love Preserve.
Our fundraising campaign for Wild Love Preserve operations and the arrival of our new family members is in motion and we invite your support. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit founded in 2010, 100% of every tax-deductible donation directly benefits the lasting wildness and care of our Challis-Idaho wild horses on their home turf. As well, the example we set with our inclusive wild horse conservation model in Idaho serves to help wild horses in other western states.
Thank you for supporting Wild Love + the Challis-Idaho wild horses, click below.
We’re sharing this story from the July 2020 issue of IdaHome Magazine about Challis-Idaho wild horses and their preservation on home turf by way of bringing stakeholders together in a new light.
“What girl isn’t a horse girl? I don’t know any’” laughs Andrea Maki, who is a visual artist and photographer, as well as founder of Wild Love Preserve. “I have always used my work as a tool to help spread awareness for different causes. In 1999, I had an exhibition that featured wild horses in eastern Washington (tribal ponies). In 2005, I was looking to do a follow-up body of work, and things were shifting, at this time, with regard to wild horses and their protections. I found myself putting my artwork aside and doing what I could in the ways that I know how to help spread awareness and garner support for the issue,” she explains. Continue reading here.
“Wild Love Preserve’s creation of our permanently protected wildlife preserve on native turf allows for Idaho wild horses removed from public lands to remain wild and together, to be who they are on their terms, establishing family bands, relationships, and instinctual dynamics. We do not adopt out or gentle. All Idaho wild horses we adopt and purchase have a forever wild life at Wild Love Preserve.”
Wild Love Preserve is preparing for the arrival of Challis wild horses not otherwise adopted from the BLM's 2019 helicopter roundup of the Challis Wild Horses, as we did following the 2012 Challis Roundup. While we continue fundraising to purchase our permanent location we have the first group of 2019 Challis wild horses coming in so we need to create a corralled area at our current leased location that meets specific BLM guidelines. We have those logistics figured out, but need to raise immediate funding for implementation. This will be followed by hay feeding, compliance checks, etc. After one year we will be able to turn them out with the rest of our 136 Challis-Idaho wild horses. Once we finally have our permanent location acquired, we will move all of our horses and that will be a wonderful thing. In the meantime we're racing to collectively raise funding we need in short order so that we can save these wild wonders that have been removed from public lands, but will remain forever wild and together at Wild Love Preserve. Every bit adds up, if you can help at this time.
We're sharing our new selection of Wild Love ambassadors. This is a great and fun way to help, whether for you or as gift for someone special. You can Sponsor a Wild Horseat Wild Love Preserve. Click here for our sponsorship packages. Receive a sponsorship certificate, color photo, even a signature Wild Love stuffed pony. The difference you make, makes all the difference.
Friends - Today is #GivingTuesdayNow! We are fundraising for Wild Love Preserve + the lasting wildness of Idaho's wild horses on their home turf at this vital point in time.
As Wild Love Preserve celebrates 10 years since our work began with the Challis-Idaho wild horses, our programs continue to evolve on and off the range by working with our partners and stakeholders from all sides. Time is of the essence as we continue our tireless work in raising the necessary funding to acquire Wild Love Preserve's permanent home to be protected in perpetuity. Now, during these unprecedented times with far-reaching impacts, your collective support is all the more vital. 100% of every donation directly benefits the lasting well-being and wildness of Idaho’s wild horses on their home turf and respective indigenous ecosystems as an interconnected whole.
Special Thanks for considering a donation support this time. The difference you make, makes all the difference. To donate, visit:bit.ly/wlp-give
WILD LOVE PRESERVE’S CONSERVATION WORK IN PET CONNECTION MAGAZINE MARCH-APRIL 2020
“Since 2010, Wild Love founder, Andrea Maki’s, consistent and devoted attention to the plight of wild horses has been amazing to witness. A 30,000-foot view and her obvious political savvy have created an unlikely coalition of ranchers, environmentalists, wild horse advocates, and government agencies, working in delicate concert to save these majestic animals. She should be the envy of any activist looking to make a real impact.” —Stone Gossard, Pearl Jam + The Vitalogy Foundation
When they were 14 years old, Seattle natives Andrea Maki and Stone Gossard met at The Northwest School and became fast friends. In the following four decades, their lives took different paths: Gossard went on to play guitar in the Pacific Northwest-based bands Mother Love Bone and Temple of the Dog and was a founding member of Pearl Jam, while Maki became a contemporary visual artist and photographer who founded Wild Love Preserve, a nonprofit Idaho wildlife preserve to help protect and preserve America’s vital wild places, including the wild horses of Idaho’s Challis area. But their friendship and support of one another remained constant. Stone and the Vitalogy Foundation, a nonprofit founded by Pearl Jam in 2006, have proudly supported Wild Love’s innovative work.
Since Wild Love was founded in 2010, Andrea has saved countless Idaho wild horses from being rounded up and shipped off, instead, they’re living, wild and free, on the open range and at Wild Love Preserve. Currently, Wild Love is leasing 400 acres, but Maki’s longtime goal, joined by Gossard, is for a 10,000-acre preserve that will provide a permanent home to Idaho’s wild horses. As such, Maki and Gossard are collaborating on a campaign to acquire this land.
“Wild Love Preserve is about finding new solutions and ways of bringing people together,” Maki said. “If you approach with respect, kindness, patience, and sincere interest in listening to differing perspectives, you can find common ground. We can rise above drawn lines if we so choose.”
It’s that sense of collaboration that’s yielding results. Because of Wild Love's pro-active efforts with the Challis-Idaho BLM and the implementation of their collaborative and humane management program on the range, there has only been one helicopter roundup of the Challis wild horses since October 2012, versus every 2-3 years. Wild Love Preserve’s programs have saved American taxpayers over $7.5 million since 2013 and created new revenue streams for regional communities.
America’s iconic wild horses symbolize pure Americana, but their management is controversial and polarizing. They have been protected by law since 1971, with the introduction of the Free-Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is responsible for managing America’s wild horses on 26.9 million acres of multi-use public lands covering 10 western states. From big energy to recreational use to ranchers looking for grazing permits on public land, there’s a lot of competition for a limited amount of space. As a result, public land for wild horses has decreased dramatically since 1971.
In November 2019, the BLM conducted its first helicopter roundup of the Challis wild horses since 2012. As she did in 2012, Maki worked on behalf of the horses to reduce conflicts between the advocates, public and BLM, leading up to and during the roundup. This seven-year hiatus was due to Maki and Wild Love Preserve’s collaborative efforts with the Challis Idaho BLM and their implementation of a successful fertility management program. The BLM’s helicopter roundups and wild horse removals cost American taxpayers $80 million annually – and rising – so Maki set to work creating a new inclusive conservation model a decade ago, believing there was better way for the horses, environment, stakeholders, and for the American public.
“Stone and Pearl Jam's Vitalogy Foundation have been instrumental to our efforts from the onset in 2010, along with generous support from Duff McKagan, Raymond James Endowment Fund, The Earth and Humanity Foundation, ASPCA, Humane Society of the US, the Gates Foundation, The Science and Conservation Center, Summerlee Foundation, and other private donors,” Andrea said.
To support Wild Love Preserve, you can make a donation of any size via their website. “Even the smallest amounts count and can be a big help in supplying food, water, and other essentials to the horses each and every day,” Andrea said.
“You can also become a sponsor of one of the wild horses living at Wild Love Preserve,” Andrea said.
For more information, visit the Wild Love Preserve site: www.wildlovepreserve.org.
Please join us in thanking Andrea Maki and Wild Love Preserve for helping protect one of America’s true gems – and for preserving our wild places.
Pet Connection Magazine, The Annual Superhero Issue, March/April 2020
