Officials have long been concerned with how to manage the estimated 48,000 unbranded feral Navajo Nation horses residing on the 18 million-acre reservation in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. | Photo: Don Graham/Wikimedia Commons

The Navajo Nation is testing a plan that would offer a reward for every horse surrendered to the nation’s agriculture department to reduce the number of feral horses residing on overgrazed, drought-ravaged tribal lands.

The Nation’s Department of Fish and Wildlife (NDR) has long been concerned with how to manage the estimated 48,000 unbranded feral Navajo Nation horses residing on the 18 million-acre reservation in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. The horses compete with elk and deer for rangeland resources. In the past the nation has used gathers to help stem herd growth, but the tactic was not highly successful, said NDR Director Gloria Tom.

More recently, concern over the herd garnered wide-spread attention in May when persistent drought conditions were blamed for the deaths of more than 190 Navajo Nation horses near a stock pond in the Cameron Chapter