Aired on April 20, 2016 - Wild Love Preserve Founder, Andrea Maki, interviewed by Beth Markley on Elemental Idaho on Radio Boise. Listen Here: http://bit.ly/Maki-ElementalIdaho

After making a commitment to help some Challis wild horses in April 2010, Andrea Maki has quietly and diligently made countless road trips over the last six years, driving back and forth between her home in Seattle and the Central Idaho High Desert to the Challis Wild Horses. A 14-hour drive one way, and at her expense, because she says, “this really matters, and I believe in integrity and follow-through.”

Founded in April 2010 by contemporary visual artist, Andrea Maki, the focus of Wild Love Preserve has been in bringing people together in a new light to collectively develop and implement new working solutions which serve to benefit wild horses and the whole. Wild Love Preserve (WLP) addresses all facets of regional wild horse conservation on home turf in central Idaho, from the 130 Challis, Idaho wild horses WLP rescued as result of the 2012 Challis Helicopter Roundup, to their collaborative work on the range and creation of a protected wild expanse in the heart of Idaho wild horse country. WLP’s preservation of this American icon speaks to our greater good and collective well-being by bridging divides and bringing stakeholders together to collaboratively address total range health, sustainable ecosystems, co-existence with all wildlife, and livestock where applicable. Kindness, mutual respect, science, and education drive WLP’s mission.

Since 2010, 100% of Maki’s life, talents and resources have been dedicated to her non-profit, Wild Love Preserve and the lasting protections of our wild places. She has tirelessly fundraised for six years, however full project funding has continued to fall short, and not necessarily surprising when one is blazing a new trail, establishing a new system and pilot program. In addition to not having the means to take a salary for six years, she has leveraged her personal resources and loans to the tune of a $650,000 debt to cover WLP wild horse program expenditures, while simultaneously saving American taxpayers $7.5 million since 2013. 

No matter the odds, Andrea Maki has walked her talk and created a two-part model in wild horse preservation on home turf in Idaho. “Too many people are of a moment, then they are off to the next and assume someone else will take care of it. Hypothetical discussions don’t result in change,” she says. “Change only happens with action.” No matter the challenge, the naysayers, lack of funding or follow through from others, Maki has stayed the course on behalf of creating a new model in wild horse conservation that engages all stakeholders, nurtures respective indigenous ecosystems as an interconnected whole, and benefits the community. Now that is commitment. If you would like to make a difference, support Wild Love Preserve with a contribution today at WildLovePreserve.org.

Read full story in New Zealand's Horsetalk Magazine: http://bit.ly/1q7YLiX

Click Here To Watch Wild Love Preserve Videos By Andrea Maki