A mustang crisis looms in the West

Challis, Idaho • Dawn broke over the peaks of the Lost River Range, revealing a chase in the wide open valley below. Seven wild horses crashed through the sage, dark manes billowing in the golden light, pursued by a government contractor in a glossy helicopter that dodged left and right like a mechanical border collie, driving the band forward into a hidden corral.Within hours, the captured mustangs had been sorted, loaded onto trucks to be stamped with an identification number and sent to