Madeleine Pickens, wife of billionaire T. Boone Pickens, made known her intentions to adopt not just the doomed wild horses but most or all of the 30,000 horses and burros kept in federal holding pens. Lifelong animal lovers, the Pickenses just a few years ago led the fight to close the last horse slaughterhouse in the United States.

One year ago this week, dozens of wild horses were found dead on the Tonopah Test Range. The BLM and Air Force announced at the time that a full investigation would be launched to find out the cause of death. Twelve months later, the public is still waiting for answers.

Animal rights activists and ranchers are clashing over a federal proposal to euthanize wild horses as a way to deal with their surplus numbers.

A crew from Twelve Horses, a major media and marketing firm that has developed a number of Nevada tourism promotions, came out Wednesday to shoot footage of the range and the Virginia Range horses.