Wild Horse Information

This is a page dedicated to the wild horses that are left around the United States.  There will be information on call in days, updated information on situations that come through, and any other wild horse related information. 

(Note from Brandi:  This is from a forward, so I don’t know anything more than what you see here.)

Take Action

Tell the BLM "No" to Wild Horse Removals In The Desatoya Mountains Area in Central Nevada 

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is combining a wild horse roundup with a vegetation- and tree-killing project. The agency refers to this ill-conceived proposal as a "Habitat Resiliency, Health, and Restoration Project." Our friends at the Western Watershed Project describe it as a "massive deforestation and sagebrush/pinyon pine-killing scheme" that will also victimize wild horses.  

Included is the removal of 450 to 525 horses from within and around the Desatoya Mountains Herd Management Area (HMA). Please take a minute to oppose the removal of wild horses from the Desatoya HMA and support environmentally-sound range management by

http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=urog%2BsG9ZwEMUN6v9LlgdmhbXgCXC%2F8w  clicking here or below.

http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/6931/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=10118  

Fw: [New post] Alberta Government Decimates Wild Horse Herds

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Wed Mar 14, 2012 6:17 am (PDT)

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New post on Canadian Horse Defence Coalition's Blog
Alberta Government Decimates Wild Horse Herds
by canadianhorsedefencecoalition
In a ruthless ploy to protect grasslands from wild horse herds that have roamed Alberta for centuries, the province's Sustainable Resource Department (SRD) has put a large dent in the population of horses living in the Sundre/Olds area of Alberta. According to Bob Hamilton of WHOAS (The Wild Horses of Alberta Society: http://northernhorse.com/wildhorses/), "Over 130 horses that we know about were taken." Evidently the government is so anxious to rid the province of these majestic wild horses that even its customary capture application and license process has been waived this year. The horses have been rounded up and many have gone to slaughter.
Why would the SRD think to rob wild horses of their land - and their lives? The usual answer in similar situations has been greed, and once again, the burgeoning needs and wants of ranchers seem to have been given the upper hand. Even with miles and miles of grassland rolling on farther than the eye can see, the wild Alberta horses, whose birthright would surely include the capacity to remain on those lands, have become the target of greed and corruption amongst ranchers and short-sighted government officials who are paranoid that the horses will somehow impact upon the livestock industry.
Only small herds of these iconic, breathtakingly beautiful horses now remain. If the ranchers and the government have their way, the wild horse herds of Alberta will become extinct. It is believed that these horses could be descendents of Spanish Mustangs, introduced from Spain during the early conquest of the Americas, but that doesn't seem to matter to those whose world revolves around profits.
The Alberta government needs to hear from citizens everywhere who are opposed to the mindless roundups and killing of these horses. Please consider contacting the following officials with your concerns:
Hon. Frank Oberle
Minister of Sustainable Resource Development
Legislature Office
420 Legislature Building
10800 – 97 Avenue NW
Edmonton, AB
Canada T5K 2B6
Phone: (780) 415-4815
Fax: (780) 415-4818
E-mail: SRD.minister@gov.ab.ca
Premier Alison Redford
307- Legislature Bldg
10800-97 Ave
Edmonton, AB
T5K 2B1
Ph.: (780)-427-2251
E-mail contact form: http://alberta.ca/premier_contact.cfmcanadianhorsedefencecoalition | March 13, 2012 at 22:10 | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/pUJ26-Lr
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Fw: Oppose Wild Horse Roundup in Idaho; Obama Proposes Small Increas

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Wed Feb 22, 2012 1:58 pm (PST)
Please sign the petitions and share.
Dear Marge, February 22, 2012
If you are having trouble viewing this email, please click here.
Take Action
Please Oppose Another Mustang Roundup in the Challis (ID) HMA
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is planning another roundup of wild horses in the remote Challis Mountains in Idaho. The action will take place three years after the capture of 366 wild horses in this area in a 2009 roundup that killed at least 11 mustangs. The BLM allows just 185 wild horses to live in the Challis Herd Management Area (HMA), while authorizing at least five times as many cattle to graze there. Please take action today to oppose another roundup at Challis by clicking here or below. (Photo of Challis mare and foal before the 2009 roundup by Elissa Kline.)
--
Reminder: Speak Up for Burros in Arizona
Earlier this month, we told you about the BLM's proposal for a massive burro roundup in the southwestern part of Arizona on the California border. If you have not done so yet, please take a moment to oppose this ill-conceived roundup, which aims to remove 350 burros and return of 50 castrated Jacks (male burros) to the range. Please click here or below to oppose this misguided plan.
Feature
Obama Proposes Small Increase to 2013 Grazing Fee
President Obama’s proposed 2013 Interior Department budget includes a tiny bit of good news for western public lands: a $1 increase in the fee charged for livestock grazing on BLM-managed rangeland.
The fee, which ranchers must pay to “utilize” forage on lands belonging to the American public, is assessed by the “Animal Unit Month.” (1 AUM equals the amount of forage necessary to feed one cow/calf pair or five sheep for a month). The Obama Administration proposal would raise the fee from $1.35 per AUM (the lowest allowable by law) to $2.35 per AUM.
The modest fee increase has public lands ranchers screaming, but the total grazing fee still does not come close to covering the cost of administering the federal grazing program, and the fee is still a fraction of the going market rate for grazing on private lands. As wild horse advocates well know, wild horses, wildlife and the American taxpayers remain victims of the Welfare Ranching program, but the Obama Administration proposal to raise the grazing fee is a small step in the right direction. Read more by clicking here or below.
News
Investigative Journalists Continue to Expose BLM Mustang Mismanagement and Hidden Agendas
Two recent, hard-hitting media stories have exposed bad faith and mismanagement in the BLM's wild horse and burro program.
In his piece, The Lasso Tightens Around America's Wild Horses, award-winning journalist Andrew Cohen writes on TheAtlantic.com of the BLM's appointment of a pro-slaughter cattlewoman to represent the interests of the "general public" on the BLM's Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board. And in a two-part television news story, award-winning journalist George Knapp of KLAS-TV in Las Vegas profiles Philanthropist Madeleine Pickens' Battle to Save Nevada's Wild Horses in the face of opposition by local ranchers and intransigence on the part of the BLM. Kudos to both reporters for staying on this story and exposing the forces behind the destruction of America's wild horse herds.
--
AWHPC Founding Sponsor Honored for Support of Wild Horse Campaign
AWHPC founding sponsor, Road Ranger, recently received a well-deserved honor -- the Convenience Retailing Award for community leadership. Not only does Road Ranger provide AWHPC with critical financial support, but also the company involves its customers in the fight to save America's mustangs by publicizing the campaign and distributing literature at its 80 service stations and convenience stores throughout the Midwest. AWHPC extends our sincere congratulations to Road Ranger for this award and our sincere gratitude to everyone at the company for the financial, grassroots and moral support! Be sure to like Road Ranger on Facebook and read more about the award by clicking here or below.
The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign (AWHPC) is dedicated to preserving the American wild horse in viable free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage. Supported by a coalition of over 40 organizations, its grassroots campaign seeks:
* A suspension of roundups in all but verifiable emergency situations while the entire BLM wild horse program undergoes objective and scientific review;
Help expand the grassroots network of citizens willing to speak up for mustangs & burros! ...
Help support our work!
Spread the word through social media!...
FiVisit our coalition partners....
Learn about AWHPC's founding sponsor.

Fw: Action Alert: National Protest Day for Wild Horses

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Thu Feb 23, 2012 9:07 am (PST)

Action Alert: National Protest Day for Wild Horses
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National Wild Horse & Burro
Protest Day
March 1, 2012
Dear Friends of Cloud and the Wild Horses;
I fear for our wild horses that have been captured and are now in government holding facilities. Why has Secretary Salazar appointed yet another pro horse slaughter person to the BLM’s National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board?
Please read the following, mark your calendars, and on March 1st act to block the appointment of this latest threat to all captive wild horses.
Happy Trails!
Ginger
Safe in the wild, Cloud enjoys a foggy morning.
On Thursday, March 1, 2012:
Join thousands of concerned and caring Americans around the country.
Protest Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s appointment of Callie Hendrickson to the BLM National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board[1] representing the General Public.
Background: Callie Hendrickson is the Executive Director of the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts representing ranching interests, many of whom have permits to run livestock on public lands in northwestern Colorado. The organization successfully petitioned to become an intervenor on the side of BLM to completely remove the West Douglas Creek Wild Horse Herd on the Western Slope of Colorado.
a.. Ms. Hendrickson supports the sale without limitation of all unadopted wild horses to the highest bidder (including slaughter buyers)
a.. Ms. Hendrickson will speak at the second pro-slaughter conference (Summit of the Horse) in Oklahoma City this spring. (Sue Wallis' creation.)
Does Callie Hendrickson represent you? If your answer is NO, then please call, fax, and email Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and politely, but firmly ask that Callie Hendrickson’s appointment to the Advisory Board be rescinded immediately.
Tell the Secretary that she does not represent you or the 80% of the General Public opposed to horse slaughter[2].
Number to Call: (202) 208-3100
Number to Fax: (202) 208-6956
Address to Email: feedback@ios.doi.gov
--
[1] The nine-member BLM Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board recommends management strategies to the BLM. Hendrickson would join Jim Stephenson (appointed June 2011) on the Board. Stephenson openly advocates for horse slaughter. BLM has discussed killing wild horses in holding since at least 2008. With Hendrickson, they may have just the Board they want —a Board that could recommend to BLM that they dispose of the wild horses in holding.
[2] A recent nationwide poll reveals that 80% of Americans oppose the slaughter of U.S. horses for human consumption. The survey shows that Amerricans in all parts of the country, regardless of their gender, political affiliation, whether they live in an urban or rural area, or whether they own horses or not, are against the slaughtering of our nation’s equines. The survey was sponsored by the ASPCA and conducted by Lake Research Partners.
You are receiving this email because you have asked to be on our e-mail list. If you have received this e-mail in error, please unsubscribe. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience!
Our mailing address is:
The Cloud Foundation 107 South 7th St Colorado Springs, CO 80905
Our telephone:
719-633-3842
Copyright (C) 2008 The Cloud Foundation All rights reserved.
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The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has found in favor of plaintiff L

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Tue Feb 14, 2012 12:20 pm (PST)

We won on all counts!!
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The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has found in favor of plaintiff Laura Leigh, a Horseback Magazine photojournalist, against the federal Bureau of Land Management in a major First Amendment press access case. Leigh was represented by Reno attorney Gordon Cowan. She is unaware of the victory because she is currently attempting to observe a BLM wild horse roundup in a remote region near Tonopah, Nevada outside of communication range.
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T | Privacy Policy.
Horseback Magazine | PO Box 681397 | Houston | TX | 77268

Silver Springs Weanling Center Opens

We need to see more of this for our wildhorses!Check it out!:

A project dreamed up by Ron Brayton, an employee at the Wal-Mart Distribution Center at the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center, officially opened its corral gates on Wednesday in Silver Springs.  The purpose of the project is to provide "continuing education" for orphaned mustang foals that are brought in off the range and from holding facilities.  This project is a joint venture of Least Resistance Training Concepts (LRTC,) the Let 'Em Run Foundation and Wal-Mart's "Volunteerism Always Pays" community outreach program.  Through the VAP program, Wal-Mart provides financial assistance to qualifying non-profit projects in which Wal-Mart employees participate as volunteers.
The water tank at Wal-Mart Distribution Center No. 7048.  "Horse friendly" and "team driven."

The need for this project has been self-evident.  Two groups, LRTC and Wild Horse Organized Assistance, have historically been the only organizations in the region equipped to provide critical care for orphaned mustangs.  In the past two years the two groups received 43 injured and orphaned mustang foals.  Caring for orphaned foals, some which are newborns, is labor intensive and the foals become extremely human-dependent.  This dependance can produce undesirable psychological issues when they grow older if they haven't learned that they are horses, how to appropriately interact with people when they are no longer receiving constant attention, and how to successfully interact socially with other horses.  Unfortunately, when orphan foal caregivers become swamped with critical care foals there isn't much time to provide necessary social development experiences.
The Braytons recognized this problem and encouraged the development of a project that would provide basic training for weanling age foals.  The project's objective is to create an atmosphere where the foals can more successfully adjust to a typical adoption environment and where they can learn to socialize and interact successfully with other horses.  Since orphans would not likely survive if turned out into the range, it is critical that they be emotionally prepared to thrive with adopters.  The ultimate objective is for any adoption experience to be a positive one for both the horse and adopter.
The first arrivals - Sassafras (Sassy) and Valentina (Tina,) "graduates" from orphan care.

Checking out a spacious new corral.

Visiting with their soon to be "mentor horses," one that was a former neglect rescue.

While the orphan foal project has historically involved collaboration and support from a broad consortium of horse groups, this particular project could have not gotten off the ground without the efforts of the Braytons, Wal-Mart employees and the Let 'Em Run Foundation coming on board as a partner organization.
This project is still under development.  Updates will be posted as this project matures.
":O) Willis

Fw: [New post] Gov Rick Perry’s Office Says “NO

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Thu Jan 19, 2012 10:23 am (PST)
WordPress.comThank God this self-centered SOB is out of the race!!
New post on Straight from the Horse's Heart
Gov Rick Perry’s Office Says “NO” to Petitions to Stop Shooting Wild Burros
by R.T. Fitch
At a Statehouse dominated by elephants, the donkey got some love in a short parade in downtown Austin on Wednesday.
The occasion was a protest of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department's shoot-to-kill policy concerning feral burros in Big Bend Ranch State Park. Marjorie Farabee , founder of the Wild Burro Protection League and director at the Wild Horse Freedom Federation, had a helper drop some 103,000 petitions against shooting the burros at Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst's office.
"Because Gov. Perry's office refused authorization of delivery," Farabee said. "Be sure you write that."
Read more of this post
R.T. Fitch | January 19, 2012 at 10:00 AM | Tags: Donkey, Marjorie Farabee, Rick Perry, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, wild burro | Categories: Horse News, Wild Burros | URL: http://wp.me/pyapj-3BJ
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Proudly announcing pivotal book for America's wild horses and burros

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Thu Jan 19, 2012 3:01 pm (PST)

Proudly announcing the publication of a pivotal book for America’s wild horses and burros that has been over 4 years in preparation.
THE WILD HORSE CONSPIRACY
by Craig C. Downer, Wildlife Ecologist and Author
(Date of Publication: 1/18/2012)
This stirring and amply illustrated, 300-page book fully justifies America’s magnificent wild horses and burros while countering the biased machinations against them. Written by an ecologist who grew up observing these animals in the West, it presents new evidence concerning their history and evolution in North America then describes their many positive contributions to soils, plants, animals and people. Though true restorers of this continent’s ecosystem, they have been unfairly targeted for elimination. Over the centuries, they have borne our burdens and helped us along life’s way—which makes it doubly unfair that they should be blamed for what we humans have done. As always, they stand ready to help us do the hard work now so desperately needed to restore our shared home. Many of the author’s personal experiences with these animals, their diverse herd areas, and the multicolored people involved with them are herein vividly shared. Urgently required now at the 40th anniversary of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act is a strategy to reverse the negative schemes that are causing their demise the wild. As described, Reserve Design provides a way for establishing self-stabilizing populations through intelligent and caring programs executed with enthusiasm. Their lesson for humanity concerns how to share freedom and the land with such paragons of nature. Soaring beyond mundane pettiness and with an inspired vision for the future of all life, the elevated perspective and compassionate spirit of this book will prove key to accomplishing its critical goal. In the wild the vigor of any kind is preserved. And the entire horse family—as the Earth itself—needs America’s wild horses and burros to continue at vital levels into the future here in their evolutionary cradle and worldwide.
The author has defended wild horses/burros against attacks for over 40 years and observed many of the West’s colorful herds. He has also studied the endangered mountain tapir and is president of the Andean Tapir Fund, also dedicated to saving wild horses/burros (www.andeantapirfund.com).  A member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission and board member of The Cloud Foundation, he has written popular and scientific articles and books, including action plans for endangered species, enjoys nature photography and musical composition, lives in Nevada, and is proud companion of mustangs Lightning, a palomino stallion, and Princess Diane, his curly mare, both of whom he knew in the wilds of NW Nevada before they were captured by BLM in 2010.
To order Craig’s groundbreaking book, make out and send $25 (which includes taxes, shipping & handling) either to Andean Tapir Fund (as a tax-deductible contribution to this 501 c 3 organization) or to Craig C. Downer, both at P.O. Box 456, Minden, NV 89423-0456 USA. Alternatively, you may use PayPal to purchase the book by calling up www.andeantapirfund.com and clicking on PayPal. To order more than one book, please pay $20 per book for up to 5 books, $15 for over 10 books (which includes taxes, shipping & handling). For any questions or to arrange for a speaking, picture showing and book signing event, write the author at the above address, or call (775) 267-3484 or (775) 901-2094 or email ccdowner@aol.com (ccdowner @ aol.com).

Fw: [New post] $500 reward offered to find wild horse harassing yout

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Fri Jan 13, 2012 6:05 am (PST)

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New post on Tuesday's Horse
$500 reward offered to find wild horse harassing youths
by Vivian Grant
Cross-posted from the Reno Gazette-Journal A Dayton, NV based wild horse advocate group is offering a $500 reward for information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of youths that allegedly chased a band of wild horses in the Stagecoach Valley on Dec. 28, ultimately causing the stallion to break its leg and be [...]
Read more of this post
Vivian Grant | Jan 13, 2012 at 8:01 am | Tags: dayton, mustang abuse, mustang deaths, nevada, wild horse preservation league, wild horses | Categories: wild horses | URL: http://wp.me/p6VVi-4FI
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[New post] The Shame of the BLM

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Sat Dec 17, 2011 5:58 am (PST)

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New post on Straight from the Horse's Heart
The Shame of the BLM
by R.T. Fitch
Forty years ago this week, the American people spoke with one voice on an issue that clearly touched the heart of the nation. The Wild Horse and Burro Act was signed into law, over the objections of the powerful cattle industry. Congress was flooded with more letters and telegrams about wild mustangs than for any other issue save the Vietnam War. They insisted that wild horses must be preserved on public lands. That demand became law.
Read more of this post
R.T. Fitch | December 17, 2011 at 7:40 AM | Tags: BLM, Bureau of Land Management, Cruelty to animals, George Knapp, Horse, Nevada, wild burro, Wild Horse | Categories: Horse News, The Force of the Horse, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs | URL: http://wp.me/pyapj-3vK
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Fw: [New post] RIP “Wild Thing”

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Wed Nov 30, 2011 1:26 pm (PST)
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New post on Art and Horses (Laura Leigh's Blog)
RIP “Wild Thing”
by Laura Leigh
Yesterday a mare broke her neck and was euthanized.
She was the last horse to load after receiving PZP-22 and was agitated and broke her neck on the panel. Story coming to Horseback magazine soon.
link to "gather" report: http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/wfo/blm_programs/wild_horses_and_burros/TriState_Calico/gatreports.html
The young grulla mare was a beauty and full of spirit. RIP little "Wild Thing."
"Wild Thing" during branding and PZP treatment
Please donate to keep observations going if you can. Calico will go on through the end of the year and without you this work can't continue.
Laura Leigh | November 30, 2011 at 12:27 pm | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/pOAos-Nq
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Fw: [New post] Carelessness….

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Tue Nov 29, 2011 4:14 am (PST)
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New post on Wild Horse Education
Carelessness….
by Laura Leigh
There are several disturbing reoccurring issues with this contractor. From water, feed and pilot conduct. To access to witness actions facing further restrictions. Many revolve around simple carelessness.
This horse was driven into a chute that had the side panel open. He makes a break but the neck rope is in place. The struggle is impressive and on video. The contractors that should be on the opposite side of the chute are not present and the one wrangler is left to call for help.
Video will be up by Wednesday evening. I have to prep for tomorrow. Please donate to help this documentation of the management practices of BLM and their chosen contractors to continue.
11-28 Calico
Carelessness could have been a disaster
Laura Leigh | November 28, 2011 at 10:58 pm | Categories: Calico Complex | URL: http://wp.me/p1sfxY-cg
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Fw: [New post] BLM Continues Cruel Treatment of Captured Wild Horses

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Sat Nov 12, 2011 11:51 am (PST)

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New post on Straight from the Horse's Heart
BLM Continues Cruel Treatment of Captured Wild Horses in Utah
by R.T. Fitch
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (November 11, 2011) – The Cloud Foundation (TCF) has received a report from wild horse advocate, Lisa Friday, regarding the conditions of two Bureau of Land Management (BLM) wild horse holding facilities in Utah. Friday was following up on the wild horses she found living in squalor at the Herriman holding facility outside Salt Lake, who have been moved to other facilities in the state. Despite finding the horses living in clean pens with plenty of hay, Friday's report contains stills and video which reveal more inhumane treatment of wild horses.
Read more of this post
R.T. Fitch | November 11, 2011 at 10:59 PM | Tags: BLM, Bureau of Land Management, cloud foundation, Cruelty to animals, Horse, Wild Horse | Categories: Horse Health, Horse News, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs | URL: http://wp.me/pyapj-3rm
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Fw: [New post] Another Study Verifies Wild Horses in North America E

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Sat Nov 5, 2011 4:49 pm (PDT)
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New post on Straight from the Horse's Heart
Another Study Verifies Wild Horses in North America Eons Ago
by R.T. Fitch
The genetic history of six large herbivores -- the woolly rhinoceros, woolly mammoth, wild horse, reindeer, bison, and musk ox -- has shown that both climate change and humans were responsible for the extinction or near extinction of large mammal populations within the last 10,000 years. The study, which is the first to use genetic, archeological, and climatic data together to infer the population history of large-bodied Ice Age mammals, will be published in the journal Nature.
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R.T. Fitch | November 5, 2011 at 6:40 AM | Tags: Climate change, Horse, Ice age, University of Copenhagen, Wild Horse | Categories: Horse News, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs | URL: http://wp.me/pyapj-3pQ
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Judge: BLM Must Respond to Inhumane Handling Allegations

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Sun Oct 30, 2011 11:02 pm (PDT)
Judge: BLM Must Respond to Inhumane Handling Allegations
by: Pat Raia
October 11 2011, Article # 18949
A federal court judge has ordered the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to respond to allegations that certain mustang handling procedures are inhumane. The order stems from an amended complaint seeking an injunction permanently prohibiting the BLM from engaging in inhumane conduct toward wild horses removed during the gathers at the the Triple B, Maverick-Medicine, and Antelope Valley Herd Management Areas in Nevada and the Cherry Springs Wild Horse Territory, in Nevada.
On Aug. 24 wild horse advocate Laura Leigh, vice president of the Wild Horse Freedom Federation (WHFF), filed a complaint and a companion temporary restraining order asking the U.S. District Court, Nevada District to stop the gather on grounds that during roundups animals in holding facilities lack water, are inappropriately fed, and that helicopter pilots fly dangerously close to exhausted animals during roundups.
On Aug. 30 U.S. District Court Judge Howard McKibben declined to prevent the BLM from completing the gather, but issued a temporary restraining order banning any mistreatment of mustangs during BLM gathers. The order was connected to an Aug. 11 video of the roundup depicting a helicopter striking a horse. McKibben agreed that the helicopter pilot flew too close to the animals in violation of the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971.
According to Leigh, during the temporary restraining order hearing, McKibben said he would hold the complaint for injunctive relief and consider the ruling identical unless he received significant information that a hearing was necessary.
On Sept. 8, after documenting the BLM procedures and public access restrictions during the agency's Barren Valley Complex mustang gather, Leigh filed an amended complaint alleging that BLM roundup conduct observed at the Triple B gather was likely to occur during other gathers. The amended complaint asks the court to permanently order the BLM to prevent pilots of helicopters used in the gathers from flying "dangerously close" to animals. It also asks the court to order the agency to provide sufficient amounts of water and feed for mustangs gathered and residing in holding areas. Finally, the amended complaint seeks a court order compelling the BLM to create and publish specific standards for the humane handling of wild horses and burros during gathers.
On Sept. 23 BLM Director Bob Abbey announced that a team composed of agency personnel would review existing agency procedures used at the Triple B gather relative to the alleged instances of animal abuse including those depicted in the video. The review team is scheduled to report its findings on Oct. 12.
On Oct. 6 McKibben ordered the BLM to answer humane treatment issues.
Tom Gorey, BLM spokesman, said the agency had no comment on the order.
Leigh was glad McKibben ordered that the agency reply to the humane claims: "Set standards with consequence for violations is long overdue."

Fw: [New post] BLM MUST Answer Inhumane Wild Horse Handling Allegati

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Thu Oct 13, 2011 5:19 am (PDT)
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New post on Straight from the Horse's Heart
BLM MUST Answer Inhumane Wild Horse Handling Allegations
by R.T. Fitch
A federal court judge has ordered the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to answer allegations that certain mustang handling procedures are inhumane. The order stems from an amended complaint seeking an injunction permanently prohibiting the BLM from engaging in inhumane conduct toward wild horses removed during the gathers at the the Triple B, Maverick-Medicine, and Antelope Valley Herd Management Areas in Nevada and the Cherry Springs Wild Horse Territory, in Nevada.
Read more of this post
R.T. Fitch | October 13, 2011 at 6:03 AM | Tags: Bureau of Land Management, Cruelty to animals, Horse, Injunction, Laura Leigh, Wild Horse, Wild Horse Freedom Federation | Categories: Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs | URL: http://wp.me/pyapj-3lG
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Fw: [New post] Triple B horses, adoption event, already

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Wed Oct 5, 2011 4:59 am (PDT)
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New post on Art and Horses (Laura Leigh's Blog)
Triple B horses, adoption event, already
by Laura Leigh
The horses taken from Triple B are hitting the adoption program or shipping already to long term. That's how fast this happens folks. https://www.blm.gov/adoptahorse/onlinegallery.php?horseCategory=297
You can go to the Internet adoption site. (Horses listed as Maverick-Medicine are also "Triple B." )
On that page you will see age, color, capture date and place... but nothing at all about the horse. Nothing at all.

Most of the horses have no bids in an auction that has gotten no press... as BLM's new "head," Guilfoyle, does PR release after release with her new energy stooge reporter from Greenwire, Phil Taylor. Does she mention once that the horses from the roundup supposedly being "investigated" are up for adoption? Does she tell you somewhere in that mix are the babies that survived and the horse that we saw that was actually hit? No.
But I'll tell you.
They look at you... like they don't know what has happened. Some look at you with curiosity because you are not trying to move them or process them... but sit there quite. Some are so bored that they come to smell you and see what you are. Others stand there and wait for you to run at them or yell to move them.... some just don't seem to care.
A few still have family members near... and the bonds are strong.
These two... now called "4517" and "4617" are bonded. Neither has a bid. "4517," the little bay, is more dominant... and very brave. "4617" followed closely as her buddy came to say "hi" to me... and then followed suit. Both horses are built well. There will be no mention that these two should go to a new home together... no mention that the stresses they have been through should be minimized to ease transition into man's world... no mention.
Horses at PVC on the Internet adoption site
I will tell you more tomorrow about these horses... but I need to get some sleep.
These horses were taken in a brutal summer roundup. These horses were held in a facility where I had to argue to get them water... these horses were taken in a roundup where "Humane care" became the subject of a Federal Lawsuit....
They will slip through BLM's processing mentality that will do NOTHING to promote them as unique beings suitable for relationship... each and every one of them matters... even if they are not "showcase horses" like the Kigers... that adoption event is being promoted and "worked." BLM is NOT a "National Program," and is riddled with prejudice... "desert rats" and "canners" just don't rate.
Yes.... I'm cranky. I look at these pictures and remember them free.... and then see the way they were treated at the roundup...
I'll write more tomorrow....
Laura Leigh | October 5, 2011 at 12:21 am | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/pOAos-K3
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Willie & The Nelson Family Release “Wild Horses” Video to Help Raise Awareness for America’s Wild Horses 

Washington, D.C. (October 4, 2011) – Earlier this year the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) was honored to announce the exclusive release of the Rolling Stones’ classic "Wild Horses" - performed and produced by the legendary Willie Nelson and his family members.  Now, Willie & The Nelson Family have followed up with the release of a video for the song featuring Willie, his daughter Paula, son Lukas and many others from the Nelson family.  The video, filmed and produced by Luck Films, was shot at Willie’s ranch in Luck, Texas and features some of the over 40 horses, both wild and domestic, that Willie has helped rescue from slaughter.  Willie & The Nelson Family are donating the proceeds from the sale of the song to AWI’s campaigns on behalf of wild and domestic horses. Willie and the entire Nelson family are long-time supporters of AWI and its efforts to end horse slaughter and preserve the right of wild horses to roam free. 

"The BLM has been rounding them up at an alarming rate, supposedly for their own good. Sadly, there are more wild horses in holding pens than in the wild. Something is wrong with that, so we must act now before the BLM has managed these magnificent animals into extinction," said Willie Nelson. "It’s time for the cowboys to stand up for the horses." 

The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act was enacted in 1971 to halt the disappearance of these iconic animals from public lands in the American West. Since then, however, over 21 million acres of land set aside by Congress for wild horses have been removed from their range, even as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)—the very agency charged with their protection—claims there is not enough land to support existing herds. The BLM is unnecessarily removing horses based on spurious claims of damage to range and other adverse impacts. The BLM’s mismanagement of America’s wild horses is largely designed to benefit a livestock industry that has, for decades, exploited western public lands while profiting from massive subsidies funded by taxpayer dollars. Willie & The Nelson Family and AWI are calling on the BLM and the Obama administration to immediately halt all wild horse round-ups, restore the land provided by law to wild horses and stop warehousing horses on private lands at even greater expense to the taxpayer. 

"There is no greater voice than Willie Nelson when it comes to speaking for the underdog. For decades, Willie has fought to protect family farmers in America, while also advocating for the humane treatment of horses and other animals," said Chris Heyde, deputy director of government and legal affairs for AWI. "We are so grateful for the support of Willie and the entire Nelson family and we hope this song will raise awareness of the deteriorating situation facing wild horses and help turn things around before they disappear from their lands forever." 

For more information about the problems facing wild horses and what can be done to improve BLM’s wild horse program, please visit www.awionline.org/wildhorses.

 To download your very own copy of Willie & The Nelson Family singing “Wild Horses,” please visit www.awionline.org/willienelson today! You can download a copy from your favorite service such as iTunes, Amazon and CD Baby. Join us in our effort to save America’s wild and domestic horses before it is too late! Be sure to share this release with your local radio station and encourage them to play the song for America's wild horses. 

Direct link to video: http://www.awionline.org/ht/display/ReleaseDetails/i/49118/pid/200

Direct link to download song:  http://www.awionline.org/willienelson 

##30## 

For More Information Contact:

Chris Heyde, (202) 446-2142

Wild Horse Education's Newsletter

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Sun Oct 2, 2011 10:10 am (PDT)
WordPress.com
----- Original Message -----
New post on Art and Horses (Laura Leigh's Blog)
Quick post
by Laura Leigh
Wild Horse Education's newsletter has been uploaded to the webpage: http://wildhorseeducation.org/2011/10/01/wild-horse-education-newsletter-fallwinter-2011/
Hope you get a chance to read it.
Have a nice "First Sunday" of October.
Laura Leigh | October 2, 2011 at 7:36 am | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/pOAos-JY
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Burros in Big Bend Park

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Sun Sep 18, 2011 7:56 am (PDT)

This is extremely disturbing and discussing! Please read the report!
Here you can read the very sad, personal testimony of the Parks Complex Director, Peace Officer and other operations staff at the park. Also, you can read the disturbing account of Mike Hill who was then Region 1 Director for TWPD and participated in the killings of 71 burros for which he kept records, more burros were killed but without keeping track. Since then they killed another 46 that we know of. Their staff estimated in May, 2008 (after the 71+ killings) that there were 300-500 burros in the park. We hope there are more than 300 remaining. Park's has NOT done a population survey of the wild burros, they keep track of dead burros not live ones.
http://www.saveourwildhorses.org/PDF/Herd-Stat/BurroInfo/BigBend-TX/BigBendIAReport_11-07.pdf
www.saveourwildhorses.org
Marge

AAEP’s BLM Task Force Publishes Recommendations to Improve Captive Wild Horse Care and Handling in Holding Facilities

August 30, 2011

The following announcement was received today via a press release from the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP). The AAEP reaches more than 5 million horse owners through its over 10,000 members worldwide and is actively involved in ethics issues, practice management, research and continuing education in the equine veterinary profession and horse industry.

The American Association of Equine Practitioners’ Bureau of Land Management Task Force today released its evaluation and recommendations for improving the care and handling of the nation’s wild horses. The report comes at the request of the Bureau of Land Management, which asked the AAEP in June 2010 to evaluate the handling, health care, and welfare of the horses and burros at BLM wild equid gathers and holding facilities.

Read more here:

http://blogs.equisearch.com/horsehealth/2011/08/30/aaep-wild-horses-blm-task-force-welfare-equine/

Fw: [New post] BLM, if you are going to LIE

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Mon Aug 22, 2011 4:40 am (PDT)
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BLM, if you are going to LIE
Laura Leigh | August 21, 2011 at 10:50 pm | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/pOAos-I3
At least make it a challenge to catch you.
And if you want to lame this on poor communication, again... you really need to fire everyone in that loop.
BLM>Nevada>District Offices>Ely District Office>Gather Reports
Print Page
Ely District Office
Triple B, Maverick-Medicine and Antelope Valley Herd Management Areas Wild Horse Gather
---
Gather Reports
Date/2011 Comments
Saturday,
Aug 20 Summary: The BLM gathered 35 horses today. The BLM did not ship horses this morning.
Animals gathered: 35 (11 studs, 17 mares, 7 foals)
It was observed that a foal was orphaned and was laying down while in holding. It has since paired up with a blue roan mare, and was nursing the mare when staff left for the afternoon.
It was also observed that contractors had difficulty loading an uncooperative mare into the trailer at holding. Both CORs reported that a cold (not charged) hotshot was used to load the mare. The mare eventually cooperated and was loaded into the trailer, without being shocked.
Gather related animal deaths: 0
Cause: None
Non-gather related animal deaths: 0
Cause: None
Temperature Status: Low of 58, high of 80 degrees.
Weather Forecast:
Sunday and Monday - Sunny with a high near 86 degrees.
--
The mare was NOT that difficult. She was also not loading into a trailer... at least that one. I'm sure the hotshot was used more than once that day.
AND there was no BLUE ROAN in the pen. NOT ONE.
I also have pics of "Junior" coming in off the range... wanna post a pic of mom and I'll post my pics? You show me yours and I'll show you mine?
Video am.
I'm fighting with the internet connection and need to sleep.
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Fw: [New post] Wild Burro Shooting Texas Parks and Wildlife to hold

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Mon Aug 22, 2011 5:26 am (PDT)

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Wild Burro Shooting Texas Parks and Wildlife to hold Annual Public Hearing
R.T. Fitch | August 22, 2011 at 6:36 AM | Tags: Bureau of Land Management, burro, Hunting, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, wild burro | Categories: Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs | URL: http://wp.me/pyapj-3cJ
Wild Horse Freedom Federation's (WHFF) Director of Wild Burro Affairs, Marjorie Farabee has brought to our attention that this week the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) will be holding an annual hearing. It is interesting to note that with all of the controversy swirling around the TPWD's policy of shooting wild burros on sight there is no mention of them or their policy on the proposed agenda, Marjorie intends to change that with your help.
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--- On Thu, 8/18/11, American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign <contact@wildhorsepreservation.org> wrote:
August 18, 2011
Speak Up for the Famed Wild Horses of the Pryor Mountains - Submit Comments Now!
BLM Proposes to Remove More Mustangs from Cloud's Herd
Just two years ago, the Interior Department Bureau of Land Management (BLM) conducted a controversial helicopter roundup in the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, permanently removing 52 wild horses from their homes on public lands on the border of Montana and Wyoming. The Pryor Mountains are home of the famed wild stallion Cloud and a herd prized for its Spanish colonial ancestry.
Now the agency is proposing to remove more mustangs from the Pryor Mountains in 2012. The BLM is not specifying the number of horses who will be targeted, but the sudden removal of a large number of wild horses from this already small population could have negative impacts on the health of this nationally significant herd.
This area of the Pryor Mountains is specifically designated as a national wild horse range, one of just three in the country, and as such it should be managed according to the highest standards. Please get your scoping comments in today to ensure that the BLM considers alternatives to the proposed removal of wild horses from the Pryor Mountains, including measures to accommodate the current number of wild horses remaining there and re-open seasonal access to traditional grazing grounds in the Custer National Forest, which were fenced off from the horses last year.
--

AWHPC's Lawsuit to Stop Castration of Free-Roaming Wild Stallions "Won" According to Federal Court Judge
AWHC was successful with its lawsuit to stop the BLM from proceeding with the castration of 177 free-roaming stallions in the White Mountain and Little Colorado Herd Management Areas (HMAs) in Wyoming. In addition, AWHPC commissioned (thanks to a generous donor) a range report on the White Mountain/Little Colorado HMAs which outlines that the upcoming roundup scheduled to begin this Saturday, August 20, 2011, is unnecessary.
In her court order dismissing the case, U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson noted that we had "won" by forcing the BLM to back off the gelding plan. On behalf of AWHPC and our co-plaintiffs Western Watersheds Project, photographer Carol Walker and Greg and Donna Duckworth, our attorney, Katherine Meyer of Meyer, Glitzenstein and Crystal made clear to the court and to the BLM that we are prepared to challenge any similar castration plans as a serious violation of federal law.
AWHPC continues to closely monitor BLM decisions for upcoming roundups. The BLM recently clarified that there would be no castration of free-roaming stallions during the Barren Valley roundup in southeastern Oregon.
If you come across any newly issued Decision Records or BLM requests for public comments on proposed roundups please be sure to forward them to us at contact@wildhorsepreservation.org.
AWHPC Founding Sponsor      Advocacy Sponsor
The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign (AWHPC) is dedicated to preserving the American wild horse in viable free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage. Supported by a coalition of over 40 organizations, its grassroots campaign seeks:
* A suspension of roundups in all but verifiable emergency situations while the entire BLM wild horse program undergoes objective and scientific review;
* Higher Appropriate Management Levels (AML) for wild horses on those rangelands designated for them;
* Implementation of in-the-wild management, which would keep wild horses on the range and save taxpayers millions of dollars annually by avoiding the mass removal and stockpiling wild horses in government holding facilities.
www.WildHorsePreservation.org
You are subscribed to the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign's email list. You can unsubscribe here.
Also of Note...
Update on Twin Peaks Litigation
Earlier this week, a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel dismissed as "moot" an appeal to stop the Twin Peaks roundup which took place last summer. The sole dissenting judge on the three-judge panel pointed out that a remedy still existed should the roundup be deemed illegal. This remedy involves return of captured horses - currently in BLM holding facilities - to the range. However, the two other judges on the panel decided that the appeal of the roundup was "moot" given that the action had already taken place.
On the positive side, the court noted that the plaintiffs (In Defense of Animals and Dreamcatcher's Wild Horse Sanctuary) had raised serious questions on substantive provisions of the law protecting the wild horses. The Twin Peaks litigation continues in district court. Read more about the case here.
Triple B Roundup Continues
Photo by Laura Leigh
The largest wild horse roundup of the summer is still underway in the Triple B Complex in northeastern Nevada. Since July 20, the BLM has captured 1,046 wild horses from this one million acre range. Nine horses have been killed in the roundup, the majority of them young foals.
AWHPC's Deniz Bolbol observed the Triple B roundup for eight days and has posted new video documenting the incompetence of the BLM roundup contractor and the cruelty of the roundup, as evidenced in the relentless chase of a mare who had sustained a previous (but healed) leg injury and was subsequently killed by BLM after she was captured. View AWHPC's updates on the Triple B roundup, including BLM data as well as our field observations here.

This happened last month-wasn’t sure who hadn’t seen it yet.RIP beautiful wild ones!

http://pryorwild.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/july-25-2011-official-press-release/

Fw: Shocking inhumane treatment on American soil

Posted by: "Horse Helping" horsehelping@gmail.com   eaglewhowatches

Tue Aug 9, 2011 9:44 pm (PDT)
----- Original Message -----
From: TCourt5096@aol.com
Shocking inhumane treatment on American soil, far from the reform Robert Abbey promised.
When BAD IS THE NORM - just as that seems the constant motto of BLM values.
In light of recent and current tragic events surrounding the relentless and cruel round ups by BLM, we must pay homage to the victims of their inhumane mismanagement practices.
Unbelievable that this happens here, under the watch of all those who claim to make changes, create transparency, increase humane standards and mostly, keep fooling all of us with their ever repeating self-accommodating rhetoric. Betrayal in pictures, see below.
http://teddyhilton.com/2011-08-09-video-scary-wild-horse-round-up?relate
Monika Courtney

Feds bust Utah horse-smuggling operation

“The federal Bureau of Land Management has busted an alleged wild-horse-smuggling ring that authorities believe was attempting to ship animals out of the country for slaughter.”  See more at the link below.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52347937-78/horses-blm-warr-wild.html.csp

Fw: [New post] Triple B- August 4

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Fri Aug 5, 2011 4:31 am (PDT)
WordPress.com New born foals left behind to die..........
Triple B- August 4
Laura Leigh | August 4, 2011 at 11:02 pm | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/pOAos-GM
Back at Triple B.
An advocate came out to help and had serious health issues that took priority.
Considering the issues at Triple B... I came back.
Added an extra 4 hours of additional driving to an already long day to go to temporary. )and an extra half a tank of gas). Many of the issues are so unnecessary and sad.
It is almost 11. Just finished loading video and images... So I will get all of that to you tomorrow.
But want to kind of give you a flavor of the sense of frustration with this simple story in pictures.
We have all seen the issues with bands being broken during the drives. During foaling season this is even more of a problem Foals get left behind or separated from mom.
This band broke in two. Four members were chased around a hillside. Two were chased back. a foal and a grey. The grey was driven in. The foal roped. The other two ...? At temporary I saw the grey... it's a stud.
4 driven
2 driven back
grey driven in
foal chased (why? just spot from distance as runners come in)
foal roped
pregnant mare
I'm tired... much more to post... but if you have babies just weeks old and pregnant mares you have newborns out there. But no newborns are brought in.
BLM... it's foaling season. Your handbook prohibits roundups during foaling season... just because you say it is not foaling season doesn't make it the truth.
I am sorry I am posting so late but I will get video and more up tomorrow. The extra 4 hours to go to Temporary took it's toll.
If you can help with expenses: http://wildhorseeducation.org
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Fw: [New post] Chernobyl's Przewalski's horses are poached for meat

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Wed Jul 27, 2011 12:35 pm (PDT)
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Chernobyl's Przewalski's horses are poached for meat
Vivian Grant | Jul 27, 2011 at 2:06 pm | Tags: chernobyl, endangered horses poached, horse meat, przewalski horses, ukraine, wild horses | Categories: wild horses | URL: http://wp.me/p6VVi-4rb
By Victoria Gill BBC NATURE A herd of Critically Endangered wild Przewalski's horses in the Chernobyl exclusion zone is under threat from poachers, say scientists. Researchers in Ukraine say that the population may be in decline because poachers have been removing the animals faster than they are breeding. Thirty-one horses were taken from a Przewalski's [...]
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Fw: [New post] Triple B_ Day 4

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Wed Jul 27, 2011 5:09 pm (PDT)
WordPress.com Triple B_ Day 4
Laura Leigh | July 27, 2011 at 4:57 pm | Categories: Triple B, Wild Horse Education, Wild Horses | URL: http://wp.me/pOAos-G1
This is the last video that will be posted for a bit. Editing video takes an incredible amount of time. I will go back to archiving the video in case the documentation is required and posting still images. But I think this series of three days gives you an idea how frustrating this is. It will not give you a clear picture of the wear and tear on your vehicle, the damage done to your equipment or the toll it takes on your face.
Day 4 began at holding and the lame excuses about the medical treatment of these foals (that were now euthanized) set the tone. Sometimes my hands will shake from the stupidity. It is like being a teacher in Kindergarten... but the Kindergartners make the rules.
Yes, thew tone of this report is terse. But being with this contractor every day but two during Antelope and now watching this at Triple B is like chewing on tin foil.
I am usually very patient and quiet. I do my observations and reports. This time I am trying very hard not to allow the frustration to drive me.
On another front there may be some good news soon, but that will have to wait for another day. So pray that sanity can begin to take root somewhere.
Day 4 brought with it frustration after frustration.
It began with the excuses about water and food with no indication that anything would change. It continued with the absurd assertions about the injured foals.
At the trap the radio was again left so I could not hear anything until one time Heather Emmons left it loud enough that I could pick up a call. It was the pilot asking Alan Shepherd to glass a horse that could not keep up. I was given no further information as to the age or reason the horse could not keep up... and of course I was held to a position that did not allow me any observation.
The horses the pilot drove into the trap came in two groups.
Then 4 runners went out and the pilot. The pilot asked Shepherd the location and was told it should be right under you. It was apparently a bush.
I asked if I could go to the rise and look. I said that all eyes should be utilized. I was not granted permission nor was it denied. I stayed behind the tape. It is my belief that this agency attempts to push the limits of control until we are tempted to break them... only to utilize the unreasonable restraints against us.
After almost an hour of no information, BLM personnel reading newspapers, I asked to go give my dog water and check on him. That permission was granted. I hung out in the vehicle with the dog as it is much cooler there. I saw two runners beating it back to the trap so I went back to the observation area only to find out that the runners were coming back... not because they had found anything... but because the pilot was driving horses to the trap.
Shepherd had given the authorization for resources to abandon the search and begin operations. The other two runners also returned to the trap. I expressed my outrage in no uncertain terms and informed personnel that I had called people from my vehicle and the public knew they had stopped looking. I informed them I was not leaving until the horse was located.
After the drive Heather was called down to speak with Alan.
Miraculously the horse that had now been missing for over an hour and a half had been found. It had "run back home" and hooked up with a stud. A trailer went down the road and in less than ten minutes came back... with a load that looked much like it did when it left.
As I am not permitted to travel the same road as the trailer it would take me about an hour longer to reach holding. I would not see this animal unload.
The animal was allegedly a 4 month old that was so deformed it couldn't run correctly and was euthanized. The same animal that ran almost to the trap and back again...
Have you pulled out all your hair yet? Have you gritted your teeth so badly that you have broken molars? Have you bitten your lip so hard it bleeds? Have you vowed to god you will not allow this "spoiled child agency" to continue without challenge... no matter what it takes?
If you can help me with expenses please donate to http://wildhorseeducation.org
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Fw: [New post] Triple B_Day 3 Part 2

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Fw: [New post] This one's for you, BLM

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Fri Jul 22, 2011 4:46 am (PDT)
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This one's for you, BLM
Laura Leigh | July 21, 2011 at 11:22 pm | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/pOAos-Ff
My readership has risen over the last month. Many are wild horse advocates that have come to expect me to report on the issue. But many of my readers are government personnel from various agencies.
I realize that my observations today will not make officials "happy." But I report what I observe and the logical conclusions that can be made.
If it is good I will say so.
The Kiger/Riddle roundup had serious access issues at both the trap and holding. But with what could be observed there were no issues with pilot performance, so it was not mentioned nor criticized. At the Burns Corral I was actually given access. What I saw was reported honestly. Yes, it was a professional (that is what I am) assessment of performance. The staff at the Corral has every right to be proud of what they do.
Today I saw very real indications that the issues I observed at the Antelope roundup with this same contractor are repeating at Triple B. The most basic assessment tool is still denied me, the ability to take a respiration rate. (That no official nor contract staff was taking either, btw) However being able to see the sexes of the horses and the time frame it took to bring them in, give me every pause that there are still serious issues. I could see the "signature" flying at the mouth of the jute fir the first run and knew the pilot.
This time of year is extremely fragile in a wild equine population. Roundups should not be occurring in the state of Nevada at all in July. The combination of foaling season and heat create a dynamic where only the "best" should attempt any such operation.
11 horses is not enough to confirm, but it is enough to raise the question. Yet the opportunity to further evaluate that issue through observation of sorting by sex as the horses leave the range will not be available again and other "tools" will come into play.
The "padding" that could be seen was not on each bar that should have had it and it was significantly inadequate,no more than a "see we did it" statement. LOOK at your own Corral in Burns.
Today the PR staff was a pleasure to be with. Chris Hanefeld and I have spent more time alone together over the last year than I have with any man in a long time. He is a pleasant human being. Jeff Fontana came in from Twin Peaks. Jeff is also a very nice man who really does like his job and people. He is a great "front guy." Jeff is also very willing to have discussions that contain mutual respect and a willingness to discuss areas that could be imporved and Jeff and I agree on many things.
Yet neither Chris nor Jeff make policy. Too bad.
This is for those in DC reading my blog: Access to evaluate must occur. An actual discussion about how to assess a wild population must occur. I am amazed at how little basic tools are utilized by onsite "vets" and the lack of comprehension for the value of those tools.
There needs to be serious reform and standards of review that have consequence... and not just to the horses anymore.
Just had to get that "off the chest."
Oh... and tell your Rangers to lighten up. Not one armed guard was there to glare and bark at Kiger, not one. They sit at the area of operation entrance to monitor any incoming traffic and that was it. I'm a journalist and wild equine subject matter expert. I use "my big girl words" and have always followed directions.
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BLM Solicits Pasture Facility Bids

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Thu Jul 7, 2011 12:48 pm (PDT)

BLM Solicits Pasture Facility Bids
by: Pat Raia
July 07 2011, Article # 18492
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is seeking bids from landowners interested in providing new long-term holding pastures for BLM mustangs removed from the ranges.
The agency annually removes some animals from their ranges to control herd growth and maintain the integrity of rangelands. There are 38,500 wild horses and burros roaming BLM managed ranges in 10 Western states. Another 40,000 wild horses and burros are cared for in either short-term corrals or long-term pastures. Both groups are considered free-roaming animals under BLM's jurisdiction according to the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971. Some wild horse advocates oppose the gathers and long-term holding of animals on grounds that removing the animals from the range violates the Act and that roundups endanger the animals.
On July 5 the BLM announced it is soliciting bids for one or more new long-term pasture facilities to accommodate between 800 to 5,000 animals. Agency spokesperson Tom Gorey said the pastures may be located anywhere in the continental United States and be able to provide humane care for a one year period, with a renewal option under BLM contract for four one-year extensions.
"If any of these bids seem suitable, we'll go out, do a site visit, and analyze the site to make sure there's enough forage for the animals," Gorey said.
The solicitation is open until August 19 and is 100% set aside for small businesses under the North American Industry Classification System, Gorey said.
The BLM's bidding requirements are posted in solicitation L11PS00651, and all details regarding the solicitation are available at www.fedconnect.net.
http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=18492

Screening of Wild Horses & Renegades - Washington D.C.

Thursday, July 7 · 6:00pm - 9:00pm

Location:

U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, Orientation Theater South, beneath the East Front plaza of the U.S. Capitol at First Street and East Capitol Street

Washington DC film premiere of new documentary to highlight brutality and wasted tax dollars of Bureau of Land Management wild horse roundups
Congressmen Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) is honorary host of free July 7th screening
Washington DC, June 29, 2011.... A new full-length documentary by director James Anaquad-Kleinert will premiere in Washington DC on July 7th to draw attention to the horrific mismanagement of wild horse roundups conducted by the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management. The free screening supports proposed federal action that will reinstate protection of America’s wild horses and our public lands.
With dramatic footage, Wild Horses & Renegades exposes how millions of taxpayer dollars are being used to corral the few remaining American wild horses, which are then underfed, forced into inhumane and diseased living conditions, and sold for adoption or to Mexican slaughterhouses for human consumption. The Bureau of Land Management estimates it has over 40,000 wild horses in holding facilities, costing taxpayers $120,000 a day.
What: Free Washington DC Premiere of Wild Horses & Renegades, with honorary host Congressmen Raul Grijalva (D-AZ).
When: Thursday, July 7th, 2011, 6 PM
Where: U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, Orientation Theater South, beneath the East Front plaza of the U.S. Capitol at First Street and East Capitol Street
Who: Director James Kleinert, Michael Blake (author of Dances with Wolves), Raoul Trujillo (actor in Cowboys & Aliens) and Congressmen Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) will be in attendance.
In Wild Horses & Renegades, Anaquad-Kleinert weaves shocking footage of actual roundups with the story of a horse named Traveler and his journey from a strong stallion on the range to a broken inmate at a Bureau of Land Management processing center in Canon City, Colorado. Shot in high definition, this film’s incredible aesthetics contrast with the mismanagement of our last wild public lands.
In the film, Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Viggo Mortense, Raoul Trujillo, Daryl Hannah and Dances with Wolves author Michael Blake join with former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) to highlight how the great symbol of the American West is being purposefully driven to extinction by a corrupt Bureau of Land Management. The documentary captures the corporate benefits of wild horse roundups, including clearing land for Uranium mining claims, oil and gas pipelines and corporate cattle grazing.
Anaquad-Kleinert is offering the film as a tool to spark support for an executive order ending Bureau of Land Management wild horse roundups and an a congressional investigation into the Department of the Interior. “Whereas most Americans would be shocked that the very symbol of the American West is ending up being sold for human consumption, the Bureau of Land Management shows very little regard for the life of wild horses,” said Director James Anaquad-Kleinert. “The federal attack on the American wild horse is an indicator of what is to come of our public natural resources.”
Wild horse advocates are seeking:
A moratorium of roundups in all but verifiable emergency situations while the entire BLM wild horse program undergoes objective and scientific review;
Higher Appropriate Management Levels (AML) for wild horses on rangelands designated for them;
Implementation of in-the-wild management, which would keep wild horses on the range and save taxpayers millions annually by avoiding the mass removal and stockpiling of wild horses in government holding facilities.
“If the public could view what’s being done to wild horses, the public would stand up and take action. This is not a film just about America’s Wild Horses, this is a film about what is happening to America itself,” states Michael Blake, author of Dances with Wolves, in Wild Horses & Renegades.
Wild Horses & Renegades is available for review on request. More information is available at HYPERLINK "http://www.theamericanwildhorse.com/" www.theamericanwildhorse.com.
About James Anaquad-Kleinert
Always ready to tackle challenges, James Anaquad-Kleinert, the former World Cup
competitor in aerial freestyle skiing, has been hailed for both his high action winter sports films and his in-depth environmental films with a strong Native American element.
Anaquad-Kleinert produces from his company, Moving Cloud Productions based in Santa Fe, New Mexico ( HYPERLINK "http://www.movingcloud.com/" www.movingcloud.com). Other works include The Edge of Telluride and Spirit Riders, an award-winning documentary that showed in part on HBO.com ( HYPERLINK "http://www.spiritridersmovie.com/" www.spiritridersmovie.com).

The Animal Welfare Institute’s updated report on the state of America’s wild horses is now available.  If you would like a copy you can click on the link below or if you would like to order a large number of the booklets please email me directly with your request. 

Thanks, Chris 

Chris Heyde

Animal Welfare Institute 

http://www.awionline.org/ht/d/ContentDetails/id/2646/pid/2456

Managing for Extinction:

Shortcomings of the Bureau of Land Management's National Wild Horse and Burro Program

An overview of the BLM's failure to properly manage these symbols of the American West, 2011, 30 pages.

Executive Summary

A government program biased against the very animals it is designed to protect threatens today’s wild horses and burros.  Our national Wild Horse and Burro Program and related federal lands management policies are so flawed that the long-term survival of these animals is in serious jeopardy, as is the health of public lands on which they reside.  The federal agencies assigned management authority for the program, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the US Department of the Interior and the US Forest Service (USFS) in the US Department of Agriculture, have lost sight of their legal mandate to “protect” wild horses and burros.  Instead, agency officials have focused almost exclusively on accommodating livestock and other commercial uses – at the expense of the welfare of wild horses and burros.  This report will demonstrate that: 

-The BLM and USFS are not in compliance with laws and regulations governing the management of public lands and the protection of America’s wild horses and burros; 

-The BLM and USFS Wild Horse and Burro Program and related public lands management policies strongly favor private livestock and other commercial interests to the detriment of wild horses and burros, as well as the health of the land; 

-The agencies’ claims regarding wild horse and burro populations in the wild today and estimated rates of increase are questionable; 

-The “Appropriate Management Levels” (the number of wild horses and burros deemed suitable by the BLM and USFS to live on the range) are arbitrary;

-The agencies’ mismanagement of the wild horse and burro program wastes millions of tax dollars each year; and 

-Their strategy for the future management of wild horses and burros is scientifically reckless, economically unsound and ethically unjustifiable.

 This report describes the history and politics of the controversial and deeply interwoven issues of wild horse and burro management and taxpayer-subsidized livestock grazing on public lands.  It offers a new vision of how to better address these often-conflicting interests for the long-term benefit of wild horses and burros, the public lands on which they reside, and the American citizenry.

--

CHRIS HEYDE

Deputy Director

Government and Legal Affairs 

ANIMAL WELFARE INSTITUTE

900 Pennsylvania Ave., SE

Washington, DC 20003

www.awionline.org ~ www.compassionindex.org

Facebook ~ Twitter 

The Animal Welfare Institute has been working to alleviate the suffering inflicted on animals by humans since 1951.

Please join us in our work to protect animals – visit our website to find out more and to sign up for AWI eAlerts: www.awionline.org.  

Please consider the animals and their habitat before printing.

Wild Horses Died of Stress

By Sandra Chereb (Associated Press Writer)

RENO, Nevada (AP) -- Nine young mares that survived the barren deserts of the West died of stress induced by their capture and a 1,000-mile truck ride to Colorado.

The horses died of "capture myopathy,'' a condition in wild animals triggered by anxiety of capture, according to test results released Tuesday by the Bureau of Land Management.

Forty mares and 10 studs were loaded into a truck Feb. 17 (1998) at the BLM's center in Palomino Valley north of here for the 24-hour trip to a similar facility south of Denver.

Nine horses arrived showing signs of distress. None survived.

Handling of the animals is a topic being addressed by a new advisory board looking into issues surrounding the estimated 44,000 wild horses and burros that roam free across 11 Western states.

"The advisory board will be looking into ways to minimize stress, whether on the range, during gathers or as they move through the adopt-a-horse program,'' said Robin Lohnes, a board member and the executive director of the American Horse Protection Association in Washington, D.C.

The 26-year-old adoption program was intended by Congress to reduce the number of animals competing with ranchers' cattle for scant forage on federal lands. Horses are rounded up into corrals and put up for adoption.

The establishment of the advisory panel followed reports last year by The Associated Press that thousands of animals adopted through a federal program were sold for slaughter with BLM employees among those who profited.

The AP also reported that the BLM lost track of about 32,000 adopted animals and that agency officials gave false information to Congress.

Fw: Big Day! Mustang Monument Got Its First Horses!

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Fri Jun 3, 2011 4:00 pm (PDT)

Some good news!
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Mustang News
Please Continue to Share Our Message to Oprah YouTube Video:
Click here to watch. We are over 12,000 views! Let's reach our goal of 50,000 by sharing this link with all your colleagues, friends, and family!
Paiute Horses Get Delivered to Mustang Monument!
Dear Friend and Supporters,
Mustang Monument: Wild Horse Eco-preserve made history yesterday! I'm going to try my best to begin to let you know the power of Mustang Monument.
Yesterday, we were blessed with the arrival of the first truckload of the Paiute mares and foals. These are the lucky mustangs that were rescued days from slaughter last December.
During the unloading process there was such a huge windstorm that kicked up. Luckily the dust started to settle as the mares and foals were unloaded into a temporary round pen built with bales of hay. Then, we opened the gates to set them free in one vast, but still fenced off area.
Literally hundreds of acres was theirs for the taking.
As they saw the gate was open, they each were looking around, and very gently the lead mare floated forward with her mane and tail flowing in the wind. Each of the other horses happily followed her lead. They were all now at their forever home. The sight was truly overwhelming. It was so emotional for me with tears of joy and relief streaming down my cheeks.
I cannot aptly describe the experience, but this is definitely a mission driven by God. He has blessed us all with this wonderful gift. I felt that the wind storm was so poignant to this situation, because when God created the earth and man, there was a mighty storm. It's rather like a birthing. We are so lucky. I am so lucky. I've been surrounded by so many supporters and friends and I can't thank you all enough. I am overwhelmed, speechless, and very fulfilled. It's a new beginning.
Love, Madeleine and the mustangs xxxxx
Click here to watch the first horses to set hoof on Mustang Monument!!!
To Learn More about this issue, please visit our website: www.SavingAmericasMustangs.org
and please join us on Facebook and Twitter!
www.facebook.com/mustangmonument
www.twitter.com/mpickens
Quotables
"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
-Abraham Lincoln
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New Bill needs co/sponsors to go any where.

Posted by: "Tommy Lee" phazzii@yahoo.com   phazzii

Mon May 30, 2011 9:34 pm (PDT)
This bill needs co/sponsors to move.
May 26, 2011 - Introduced in House. This is the original text of the bill as it was written by its sponsor and submitted to the House for consideration. This is the latest version of the bill currently available on GovTrack.
HRES 284 IH
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 284
Honoring wild horses and burros as important to our national heritage.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 26, 2011
Mr. GRIJALVA submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
RESOLUTION
Honoring wild horses and burros as important to our national heritage.
Whereas the evolutionary origin of equines is found in North America;
Whereas wild horses and burros are part of the ecosystem and rangelands of the United States;
Whereas wild horses and burros are an important part of our national heritage;
Whereas the National Wild Horse and Burro Program should provide for continued long-term existence and well-being of wild horses and burros on public lands; and
Whereas Cloud, the most famous and revered wild stallion, was born May 29, 1995, on the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, and embodies the essence of wild horse values of freedom and family: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) honors the 16th birthday of Cloud;
(2) encourages the people of the United States to observe and celebrate the 16th birthday of Cloud and the intrinsic value of all wild horses and burros;
(3) recognizes wild horses and burros as living symbols of the western development era and honors their hardy nature; and
(4) recognizes that with the American frontier long since closed, wild horses and burros remain among the last representatives of the freedom and spirit of the Old West.

Message to Oprah from Celebs: Not Ready to Say Goodbye to Our Wild Horses

Celebrity supporters and Saving America's Mustangs have come together in a viral video to generate awareness and the importance of protecting our American mustangs from extinction. The video is directed to the attention of Ms. Oprah Winfrey. We need the support of influential teachers like her, to get this out to the world before it's too late. We know Oprah's show is ending, but it there is a person that can make change happen, it's her.
Sharing is caring. Please share this video to your entire contact list and via Facebook and Twitter.
Together, we can create positive change for our wild horses.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-klWJoM-MH4

For Immediate Release:

Nevada Attempts to Legally deny Wild Horses and Burros Water 

On Friday, May 13, 2011 at 3:30 p.m. Assembly Bill 329, which was already passed by the Nevada State Assembly, will head to the Senate Committee on Natural Resources.  If approved, it will give the State of Nevada the legal power to deny wild horses and burros water by removing them from the definition of the term "wildlife".   

The only way to stop this legislation is to call, fax and/or email the Senate and tell them that you strongly oppose AB 329. 

 There is power in numbers, so the more people that call the better. These offices are set up to tally responses. Contact information is listed below.  Let's stop this legislation before it's too late for the living symbols of American history that are supposed be protected by Federal Law.

 Please forward this email to your friends and contacts. 

Governor Brian Sandoval                    

775-684-5670 

Fax: (775) 684-5683

Nevada Senate Natural Resources Committee Members: (Mark Manendo, Chair)

1.  Senator Mark Manendo        

    775-684-6503

    mmanendo@sen.state.nv.us  

    Fax  702-451-9060

2.  Senator David R. Parks                   

    775-684-6504

    dparks@sen.state.nv.us 

3.  Senator John J. Lee              

     775-684-1424

     jlee@sen.state.nv.us 

 Fax  702-647-0951

4.  Senator Dean A. Rhoads     

    775-684-1447

   drhoads@sen.state.nv.us

   Fax  775-756-5544

5.  Senator Michael Roberson    

     775-684-1481

 mroberson@sen.state.nv.us

Speak Up For Wyoming's Mustangs

Please submit your comments by May 6

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is accepting public comments on the Environmental Assessment (EA) for a plan to capture 90 percent of the wild horses living in the White Mountain and Little Colorado Herd Management Areas (HMAs) in Wyoming. The BLM wants to permanently remove 696 of the mustangs in a mid-July 2011 roundup, a time when the agency has admitted that "foals are smaller," "water requirements are greater," and horses "may become more easily dehydrated."

Summer roundups last year resulted dozens of deaths, including at least 15 caused by dehydration-related complication.

Please click here now to submit your comments (https://secure2.convio.net/ida/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=1875&autologin=true&JServSessionIdr004=qbxmidnni3.app244b)

to President Obama and other officials today! We've set up a sample letter for you that you can personalize and edit or send as is. Thanks!

Submit comments on this proposed roundup by May 6.

In Defense of Animals, located in San Rafael, Calif., is an international animal protection organization with more than 100,000 members and supporters dedicated to ending the abuse and exploitation of animals by protecting their rights and welfare. IDA's efforts include educational events, cruelty investigations, boycotts, grassroots activism, and hands-on rescue through our sanctuaries in Mississippi, Mumbai, India, and Cameroon, Africa.

In Defense of Animals is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. We welcome your feedback and appreciate your donations. Please join today! All donations to IDA are tax-deductible.

Fw: 2011 Budget = Bad News For Mustangs; Oppose Proposed WY Roundup

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Roundup Reality

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Tue Apr 12, 2011 6:01 am (PDT)

Wild Horse Education has uploaded the next section in the free book “Wild Horse Education,” to the website.
The section titled "Roundup Reality" addresses some of the contradictions between the theory of roundups and what are witnessed by public observers.
“There are no consistent government standards for the way roundups are conducted,” said author Laura Leigh “no rules for pilot conduct, no rules for time animals spend without water. The only rules that seem to exist, even inconsistently, are those limiting public access.”
The section centers on discussion of the protocol surrounding helicopter roundups. Some of the assertions on the Bureau of Land management website are addressed. Among the challenges made in this section are: the statistic used representing mortality rate, the minimization of the stress induced by the helicopter chase and the published “foaling season.”
The next section is titled “What FOIA?” This section explains what the FOIA request is, where it is useful and how to make one. This section will be uploaded soon so check back!
WHE would like to remind all of you that it is not too late to express to your Legislators how you feel about Appropriations.
Find Your Representatives http://www.congress.org/congressorg/officials/congress/?lvl=C&azip=Your%20ZIP%20code%20here
Website: http://WildHorseEducation.org
Free Book: http://wildhorseeducation101.wordpress.com/work-in-progress/
scroll to bottom of post for downloadable sections.

The Daily Reporter (http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/c5913ef35f4647e1bf1c03a86a8209d6/NV--Wild-Horses-Abuse/)

A wild-horse advocacy group has released videotape of a Utah holding facility that it says shows mustangs living in unhealthy conditions.

The Cloud Foundation said the video shot by activist Lisa Friday last month at the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Salt Lake Regional Wild Horse and Burro Center in Herriman, Utah, underscores the need for the agency to halt further roundups of the animals from the range in the West.

Among other things, the group based in Colorado Springs, Colo., said THE VIDEO SHOWS HORSES THAT WERE UNABLE TO MOVE FROM A KNEE-DEEP MIXTURE OF MUD, MANURE and URINE.

“I saw more than 10 HORSES IN ONE PEN TRYING TO ESCAPE the quagmire, but their legs were suctioned deep into the mud,” Friday said, adding she also saw 30 HORSES LAYING DOWN IN THE MUD THE ENTIRE THREE HOURS she was at the facility.

Read the Entire Report by The Cloud Foundation (http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/index.php/news-events-a-media/press-releases/599-pr-butterfield)

The video  contains disturbing images of once-wild horses penned in areas where they were unable to navigate out of a knee-deep mixture of mud, manure, and urine. Friday, a wild horse adopter and long-time horsewoman, reports of seeing 30 horses laying down in mud and excrement for the entire three hours in which she was at the facility. ”They never got up,” she states.

“I saw more than 10 horses in one pen alone trying to escape the quagmire but their legs were suctioned deep into the mud,” explains Friday.

“Seeing wild horses in this kind of squalor is heart-breaking,” says Ginger Kathrens, Director of The Cloud Foundation who has spent 17 years documenting the wild lives of horses in her Cloud productions for PBS.  “I don’t understand how BLM can justify the removal of these animals from the safety of their wild homes, only to dump them into these hellish conditions. I seriously doubt that the American taxpayers want their money used for this kind of cruelty.”

HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP THE ABUSED WILD HORSES AT THE BUTTERFIELD FACILITY

CALL THE BLM SALT LAKE CITY OFFICE AT 801-561-4632, ask for Tami Howell, Horse Wrangler

EMAIL TAMI HOWELL, HORSE WRANGLER AT thowell@blm.gov

FAX THE BLM SALT LAKE OFFICE AT 801-977-4397

CALL BLM STATE DIRECTOR IN UTAH, JUAN PALMA AT 801-539-4010

EMAIL BLM STATE DIRECTOR IN UTAH, JUAN PALMA AT Juan_Palma@blm.gov

FAX BLM STATE DIRECTOR IN UTAH, JUAN PALMA AT 801-539-4013

CLICK HERE (http://www.contactingthecongress.org/) TO FIND YOUR FEDERAL  REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATORS.

CALL, EMAIL & FAX ALL OF YOUR REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATORS.

CONTACT THE THREE T.V. STATIONS IN SALT LAKE CITY LISTED BELOW  AND ASK FOR INVESTIGATION PLEASE.

CBS:   EMAIL newsdesk@kutv.com

ABC: http://www.abc4.com/content/about_4/contact/reportnews/default.aspx

NBC: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=205

FAX BLM IN WASHINGTON D.C. OFFICE AT 202-208-5242

SPEAK UP NOW FOR OUR WILD HORSES WHO ARE BEING ABUSED AT THE HANDS OF B.L.M.  OUR WILD HORSES & BURROS NEED OUR HELP NOW.

Fw: Ted Turner Signs on with Saving America's Mustangs

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Tue Apr 5, 2011 5:36 am (PDT)

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To Learn more about the wild horse issue, please visit our website
Ted Turner Joins SAM!
Since the early 1970's, Ted Turner has stepped into the international spotlight with one accomplishment after another. Whether in billboard advertisement, cable television, sports team ownership, sailing, environmental initiatives or philanthropy - Turner's vision, determination, generosity and forthrightness have consistently given the world reason to take notice.
Turner now dedicates his time and resources to making the world a better, safer place for future generations. His current philanthropic interests include: the Turner Foundation, the United Nations Foundation, the Nuclear Threat Initiative, the Captain Planet Foundation, and the Turner Endangered Species Fund.
www.tedturner.com
Ted Turner Joins the Saving America's Mustangs' Advisory Board!
We are pleased to announce that Saving America's Mustangs has a new Advisory Board member, Mr. Ted Turner!
"The Turner Foundation looks at the earth as a precious asset that has been lent to us. As a family, we believe it is our job to do whatever we can to leave it better than we found it." R.E. Turner, Chairman
Turner is a true champion of animals and the environment. We are so honored to have his support with our wild horse eco-preserve project.
Please note, on April 14th I will be in Washington, DC testifying before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies on the Bureau of Land Managements' Wild Horse and Burro Program. I will testify as a public witness and then directly following me, Congressman Burton will speak. As always, we will update you immediately following the hearing on our fan page, www.facebook.com/mustangmonument, so don't forget to click "like" so you can get up to the minute details.
We also want to thank Mark Terrell of Wild Horses of Nevada Photo for donating his gorgeous photograph for us to use on our billboards for Mustang Monument. Please look at his website and see how he captures the beauty of not only the wild horses, but the beautiful landscape in Nevada as well!
Together, we will save our wild horses!
Best,
Madeleine Pickens & all the mustangs
Let's Be Social...
Please join us on Facebook and Twitter. We love to get to know our fellow wild horse supporters. Please share these links with your friends and family. We are creating a huge army of supporters and we will prevail!
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/MustangMonument
Twitter: www.twitter.com/mpickens
Website: www.savingamericasmustangs.org

Wild Horse Education Room 101

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Mon Apr 4, 2011 4:29 pm (PDT)

Wild Horse Education is proud to announce a new project “Wild Horse Education Room 101.”
This project is designed to explain the process of management of wild herds on public land. Terminology, public involvement and basic management practices will be addressed in a free book being offered to the public as it is written in draft form.
“Time is of the essence here” said journalist Laura Leigh, founder of Wild Horse Education “often I see extreme frustration in the eyes of those that ask basic questions about wild herd management simply because of the terminology used on a website. Hopefully this project can help people understand how to help our American Treasure.”
Irreparable damage is being done to our wild herds as roundups occur and policies are carried out that are leaving our herds in a form of genetic bankruptcy. Herds are being pushed below population levels that can reproduce new members that are genetically sound toward sustainability.
The Bureau of Land Management, BLM, manages more wild herds than any other agency. Currently we have about half the number of areas managed for wild populations as we did when the Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act was passed in 1971. Of those areas less than half have a population that can hope to recover from the policies that are being carried out at “break-neck” speed on public land.
“It is our hope that this new project helps quell some of the frustration,” said Leigh “Right now our herds need as many effective voices to be raised as they can get.”
To get a copy of the book go to www.WildHorseEducation.org scroll to the bottom of the page and click the picture captioned “Free Book”
Wild Horse Education is a registered non-profit in the State of Nevada. All of the work, including the First Amendment lawsuit protecting your right to know how your horses are handled by your government, is supported by contributions to Wild Horse Education. Thank-you.
Marge
"You can't be liberated in your thinking if you're conservative in your approach."

BLM Plans Dangerous Summer Roundups of Oregon Mustangs

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Wed Mar 30, 2011 11:46 am (PDT)

BLM Plans Dangerous Summer Roundups of Oregon Mustangs
Send In Your Comments Opposing Unnecessary Actions Today!
The Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is requesting public comments on the Environmental Assessments (EAs) for roundups in the Three Fingers and Jackies Butte Herd Management Areas (HMAs) in southwestern Oregon. The proposed action will utilize helicopter stampedes conducted during the dangerous heat of August. The BLM is targeting 460 mustangs for capture; 310 of them will be permanently removed from the range. Only 75 mustangs will be left in these HMAs where BLM allocates nearly three times more forage and water to livestock than to wild horses.
Please get your comments in today to oppose these roundups, which continue BLM's gross mismanagement of our nation's wild horses and burros. Take Easy Action Here.
Marge
"You can't be liberated in your thinking if you're conservative in your approach."

Wild Horse Education.org

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Sat Mar 26, 2011 4:46 am (PDT)

Laura Leigh Launches New Wild Horse EndeavorToday is the launch of WildHorseEducation.org.
The purpose of this new organization is to provideinformation to the public and to other wild horse and burro advocacy groups. This will be accomplished through documentation and distribution of material related to the care of wild herds “One month ago today I received a text message while at the Antelope roundup,” said Laura Leigh, founder, Wild Horse Education “It said the roundup was over, three days early. Armed with information the pressure was put on by the public to stop heavily pregnant mares from being driven in. That is the power of timely, accurate on public land and subsequent care and disposition by government agencies.information.”
This seemed a fitting anniversary to launch the new project.
Data gathered in the field and research from volunteers will be shared through this organization. It is the hope of those beginning WHE that a vehicle is created to share this information in the spirit of unified action to protect America’s wild herds.
Legal actions begun through the filings by attorney Gordon Cowan of Reno, Nevada will be continued through the work of this organization. “I have taken the oath to defend the Constitution many times in my career,” said Cowan “that is what this is all about.”
To join the mailing list for WHE send an e-mail to: WildHorseEducation@gmail.com
Website: http://WildHorseEducation.org
Marge
"You can't be liberated in your thinking if you're conservative in your approach."

Call to Action: Let’s Go Viral for the Wild Horses and Burros

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Sat Mar 26, 2011 5:02 am (PDT)

Call to Action: Let’s Go Viral for the Wild Horses and Burros
Clog the Faxes and Turn Up the Volume!
Attention Wild Horse and Burro (WH&B) Warriors across the Nation – Suggested action needed for our wild ones!
Please foward this entire post to all your email lists, FB, Twitter, networking groups and blogs asap and ask them to do the same.
Then, take the recommended actions listed below:
Congress is working, as we type, on the FY11 CR (Continuing Resolution) and the FY12 Budget. The FY11 CR is due for another vote on or before 4/9. Starting Mon, 3/28 and going through 4/8 we MUST pull out all the stops to call, fax and email our reps in DC to reject ANY increases to the WH&B program budgets which will, in turn, suspend roundups/removals temporarily so that reforms can be implemented.
Congress needs to be pressured from thousands of constituents before they’ll take the right action on behalf of our wild ones. So, here’s our chance to make a difference. Follow these easy steps:
1) Go to http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt?action=myreps_form and type in your zip code to get the names of your two Senators and House rep.
2) Click on each rep name, then click on the Contact tab to get their DC phone and fax numbers and jot them down (save for future use).
3) Click on the rep’s website link, then the Contact link to get to the rep’s webmail/email page, select ‘Budget’, ‘Federal Budget’ or ‘Animals’ as the Topic, if applicable, cut and paste the Subject and message below into the webmail and send that off.
4) Cut and paste the Subject & message below into a document addressed to your 3 reps from you, with your address, the date, print it out and fax it to each of them.
5) Call your 3 reps’ offices in DC and recite to them the message below.
6) Do the above steps as many times as you can in the next 2 weeks.
Subject: DOI/BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program – Stop Funding & Stop Roundups/Removals though FY11 and FY12 Appropriations
I am an American taxpayer and citizen who wants our iconic wild horses and burros to be properly protected and preserved for generations to come on their legal Western homelands.
This is not happening with the current mismanagement of the program by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). They are using the sole strategy of cruel and deadly roundups, removals and warehousing of wild horses and burros at huge taxpayer expense when more cost-effective, on-the-range management strategies could be utilized.
The BLM is, literally, managing America’s Western heritage to extinction and must be stopped until the entire program is scientifically revisited and completely reformed.
As your constituent, I request you to categorically support appropriations language right now that:
- rejects the additional $12M funding for the program in the FY11 CR & FY12 Budget and maintains the FY10 level of $64M both years.
- suspends roundups/removals in all but verifiable emergency situations while the NAS conducts a scientific review of the Program.
- prohibits the use of any funds to euthanize healthy wild horses and burros directly or indirectly for slaughter.
- funds public/private partnerships and allow conversion of private livestock grazing allotments to wild horse and burro use.
- funds an independent, state-of-the-art census of wild horse and burros on the range and in holding to obtain an accurate population baseline.
- requires truly reformed, humane wild horse and burro handling protocols.
Thank you for your immediate attention. I would appreciate a response from you on whether or not you will support this request in the committee negotiation stage and/or when it comes up for vote on the floor in the near future.
Sincerely; John Caring Public
Come on Advocates, this is one message that needs to be spread around to anyone that you know or who you have met. If Wild Horse Annie did it with school children writing letters to Congress we can SURELY do it with the high tech tools that we have at hand. Make a difference, hit the buttons below and spread the word for the sake of the horses and burros.

For more information on Wild Horses send your friends to visit us, here, at: Straight from the Horses Heart

Anti-Wild Horse Bill Passes Nevada Senate Committee

LAS VEGAS -- With all the financial trouble Nevada is in, you might think state lawmakers would welcome a project that will bring millions of dollars to the state and attract tourists from around the world.

Read More here:

http://rtfitch.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/anti-wild-horse-bill-passes-nevada-senate-committee/

Protect Wild Horses

After years of mismanaging wild horse and burro populations by unjustifiably — and often inhumanely — removing them from their environment by the thousands through cruel, costly roundups, the the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is now soliciting input from the public on how to reform its broken program and ultimately create a more humane, fiscally responsible, sustainable approach to managing wild horses and burros on our public lands.

Please take a moment to submit your comments (https://secure.humanesociety.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=4982) urging the BLM to implement humane and cost-effective approach, such as increasing the use of fertility control, to manage our wild herds. Thank you for all you do for animals.

Wayne Pacelle, President & CEO  

Please send to NV contacts and post on Facebook  Thanks. 

 -----Original Message-----
From: Kitty McAbeer [mailto:cquincy@sbcglobal.net]
Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 5:36 PM
Subject: Fw: Please tell Nevada Senators to vote NO on SJR5

From: Madeleine Pickens <no-reply@madeleinepickens.com>
Subject: Please tell Nevada Senators to vote NO on SJR5

Date: Tuesday, March 22, 2011, 4:31 PM

Having trouble viewing this email? Click here (http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=yjwty5eab&v=001QhuZciaLI3WAQbd1nNvGOsD3skE8xdX9jfjDl6M4vz5mKhGOicdpYT6-cIUwX9PG810JTwT8k6SaOktIbt0bzG47VEiXUllYYwVKGBphkqA6F6r0NNoh7A%3D%3D)

Saving America's Mustangs

UPDATE  

Dear Supporters & Friends,

We want you to be aware of the Senate Joint Resolution 5 (SJR 5), which is an anti-wild horse measure backed by a small group of special interest cattlemen that opposes wild horse preserves.

The Saving America's Mustangs Foundation is currently developing Mustang Monument: Wild Horse Eco-Sanctuary, in Nevada, that will generate jobs and revenue to the state; especially the rural communities in Northeastern Nevada. Mustang Monument will be a patriotic living museum that showcases Nevada's rich history and culture, the wild west, and of course, America's beloved wild horses.

So, we have to ask, why in the middle of the worst budget crisis in decades, is the Nevada Legislature considering a resolution to impede an important source of tourism dollars?

 Please take action today by the clicking the button below to tell your legislators to vote "NO" on SJR5, because it is bad for Nevada and bad for our mustangs.   

http://www.capwiz.com/madeleinepickens/issues/alert/?alertid=36490501&type=ML

We thank you for your continued supportand lending your voice to this cause. As always, we encourage you to tell your friends, neighbors, family, and teachers about the plight of the mustangs. Together, we will get a positive change for our 4-legged American icons.

SAM Cam March 22, 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MsjYCPhT-mM

Best,

Madeleine Pickens & all the mustangs 

Join Us-  

Please join in on the great discussions on our fan page today. www.facebook.com/mustangmonument and on Twitter: @mpickens
 Visit our website for up to the minute information:www.savingamericasmustangs.org

Mustang Monument Website

Become a supporter of the wild horse issue:Click here (http://www.savingamericasmustangs.org/info/signup/)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 

Willie & The Nelson Family Sing “Wild Horses”
Country Music Legend Covers Stones Classic to Help
Animal Welfare Institute Protect America’s Horses

March 22, 2011 (Washington, D.C.) – The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) is honored to announce the exclusive release of the Rolling Stones’ classic “Wild Horses” - performed and produced by the legendary Willie Nelson and his family members.  Willie & The Nelson Family are donating the proceeds from the sale of the song to AWI’s campaigns on behalf of wild and domestic horses.  Willie and the entire Nelson family are long-time supporters of AWI and its efforts to end horse slaughter and preserve the right

of wild horses to roam free.

"The BLM has been rounding them up at an alarming rate, supposedly for their own good. Sadly, there are more wild horses in holding pens than in the wild. Something is wrong with that, so we must act now before the BLM has managed these magnificent animals into extinction," said Willie Nelson. “It’s time for the cowboys to stand up for the horses.” 

The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act was enacted in 1971 to halt the disappearance of these iconic animals from public lands in the American West.  Since then, however, over 20 million acres of land set aside by Congress for wild horses have been removed from their range, even as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)—the very agency charged with their protection—claims there is not enough land to support existing herds.  The BLM is unnecessarily removing horses based on spurious claims of damage to range and other adverse impacts.  The BLM’s mismanagement of America’s wild horses is largely designed to benefit a livestock industry that has for decades, exploited western public lands while profiting from massive subsidies funded by taxpayer dollars.  Willie & The Nelson Family and AWI are calling on the BLM and the Obama administration to immediately halt all wild horse round-ups, restore the land provided by law to wild horses and to stop warehousing horses on private lands at even greater expense to the taxpayer. 

“There is no greater voice than Willie Nelson when it comes to speaking for the underdog.  For decades, Willie has fought to protect family farmers in America, while also advocating for the humane treatment of horses and other animals,” said Chris Heyde, deputy director of government and legal affairs for AWI.  “We are so grateful for the support of Willie and the entire Nelson family and we hope this song will raise awareness of the deteriorating situation facing wild horses and help turn things around before they disappear from their lands forever.”

 For more information about the problems facing wild horses and what can be done to improve BLM’s wild horse program, please visit www.awionline.org/wildhorses. 

To download your very own copy of Willie & The Nelson Family singing “Wild Horses,” please visit www.awionline.org/willienelson today!  You can download a copy from your favorite music service such as iTunes and CDBaby.   

Join us in our effort to save America’s wild horses before it is too late! Be sure to share this release with your local radio station and encourage them to play the song for America's wild horses. 

Song Details: 

Willie Nelson (lead vocals/lead guitar/co-producer), daughter Paula Nelson (lead vocals), son Lukas Nelson (lead vocals/harmony vocals), daughter Amy Nelson (harmony vocals/co-producer), grandson-in-law Matt Hubbard (vocals/bass/co-producer), son Micah Nelson (vocals/Charango), daughter Susie Nelson (vocals), grandson Anthony Brewster (vocals), granddaughter Rebecca Thomas (vocals), great-grandson Zack Thomas (vocals), granddaughter Martha Jewelle (drums), grandson Nelson Fowler (vocals), grandson Bryan Fowler (vocals), great-grandson Dean Hubbard (vocals), Landis Armstrong (rhythm guitar/ vocals), Waylon Payne (harmony vocals) Mastered by Nick Landis at Terra Nova Digital Audio, Austin, TX, engineered and mixed by Matt Hubbard and released by Folk Uke Records. 

##30## 

For More Information Contact:

Chris Heyde, chris@awionline.org, (202) 446-2142

The Bureau of Land Management announced today that the National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board will hold a two-day meeting in Phoenix on March 10-11. The two-day event will take place at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel, 340 N. 3rd Street, Phoenix, Arizona, 85004.

If you can not attend, please send your comments to the BLM -

http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/index.php/news-events-a-media/commentsresponse-letters/574-phoenix-instructions

Action Alert: BLM Public Meeting

Posted by: "Barbara Dunn" barbara@darkhorseranch.com   eldespejo

Wed Feb 16, 2011 6:14 pm (PST)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: The Cloud Foundation <news@thecloudfoundation.org>
Date: Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 1:50 PM
Subject: Action Alert: BLM Public Meeting
Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=b16d80346618d3ce64e8e9877&id=6998182d10&e=cfc83693af
http://thecloudfoundation.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b16d80346618d3ce64e8e9877&id=f33d005ea1&e=cfc83693af
BLM Public Meeting in March
Come join the Cloud Foundation in Phoenix and give a voice to wild horses and burros
Dear Friends of our Wild Horses and Burros;
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is holding a meeting Thursday and Friday March 10-11 in Phoenix, Arizona, to discuss its proposed new wild horse and burro management strategy. This isthe first meeting in nearly a year and an opportunity for the American public to stand in front of the Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board and the BLM to voice your opinions on the management policies of the agency, the complicity of their carefully selected Advisory Board, and solutions available to right the many management wrongs. Or, just simply come to support others making comments.
We will be attending this meeting, and I urge you to join us. We cannot allow the BLM to continue rounding up the last of these great symbols of the West. The roundups themselves have devolved into shoddy, careless actions in which wild horse families are destroyed, burros are hot-shotted and knocked to the ground by helicopters http://thecloudfoundation.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b16d80346618d3ce64e8e9877&id=e924cc7989&e=cfc83693af,
and old, weak animals are harassed into collapse http://thecloudfoundation.us1.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=b16d80346618d3ce64e8e9877&id=4e99c66bd0&e=cfc83693af.
We need to present a united front and ask for the following (pick your
favorite topics):
- Halt all roundups, at least temporarily
- Raise the number of wild horses and burros (AML’s) allowed to live on
their legally designated ranges
- Allocate the majority of forage in herd management areas to wild horses
and burros (“principal” users as stated in the WHB Act)
- Improve existing water sources
- Remove fencing to allow for truly free roaming behavior
- Allow for genetically viable populations
- Abandon the artificial skewing of sex ratios, return to a natural 50-50
- Protect mountain lions that have limited wild horse populations growth
naturally
- Return healthy wild horses in holding into zeroed out herd areas
- Sincerely explore public-private partnerships
The public comment period of the meeting will be held on Friday, March 11, from 9 AM to 12 PM. People who wish to speak need to arrive by 8:30 AM to register, and per BLM “must provide a written statement of the comments, which may be brought to the meeting.” The BLM’s notice of this meeting can be found here http://thecloudfoundation.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b16d80346618d3ce64e8e9877&id=c8f795603e&e=cfc83693af.
If you are unable to attend the meeting, the BLM is accepting electronic comments through their website here http://thecloudfoundation.us1.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=b16d80346618d3ce64e8e9877&id=816ae7ecad&e=cfc83693af.
You can find a sample form on the Cloud Foundation website.
The meeting itself will be held at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel at 340 N. 3rd Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004. (We are looking into reserving less expensive hotels in the area as the Sheraton is pricy---what a surprise! Our tax dollars at work!)
Show up for the mustangs and burros! See you there.
Happy Trails!
*Ginger*
You are receiving this email because you have asked to be on our e-mail list. If you have received this e-mail in error, please unsubscribe. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience!
Unsubscribe  from this list.
Our mailing address is:
The Cloud Foundation 107 South 7th St Colorado Springs, CO 80905
Our telephone:
719-633-3842
Copyright (C) 2008 The Cloud Foundation All rights reserved.
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**
* Barbara Anne Dunn*
*www.DarkHorseRanch.com *
*www.OurCapturedHearts.com*

John Holland Interviewed by France 24 International News

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Thu Feb 3, 2011 5:06 pm (PST)

Today's News
Please visit the site for the full article, links, videos and to comment.
http://observers.france24.com/content/20110203-video-us-wild-horse-capture-branded-animal-cruelty-activists-BLM-mustang-roundup
Video of US wild horse capture branded animal cruelty by activists
Wild mustangs - majestic herds of undomesticated horses that roam free across ten US states - are a symbol of the American Wild West. Animal rights activists, though, say that government-planned roundups to control the herd's population are nothing short of animal cruelty - and claim they have videos to prove it.
The mustangs have been protected since 1971 under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. According to the American Bureau of Land Management (BLM), there are an estimated 38,400 wild horses and burros roaming on 31.9 million acres of BLM-managed rangeland. The agency says this number is 12,000 above the number that it asserts would ensure the herds' health and allow them to "exist in balance with other public rangeland resources and uses", ie, there are too many mustangs.
As a result, the agency employs subcontractors to carry out regular roundups (or, as the government calls them, 'gathers') of wild mustang herds, most of which are done by helicopter. The animals are then taken to a long-term holding factilities. Animal rights activists have called for a moratorium of roundups, saying they are cruel and brutal to the animals. The BLM says this stance is "untenable given the fact that herds grow at an average rate of 20% a year, and the ecosystem of public rangelands are not able to withstand the impacts from overpopulated herds"
NY bill to ban horse slaughter
MA bill has one day left to get cosponsors
Please visit the below two articles for information and action items.
New York: http://www.animallawcoalition.com/horse-slaughter/article/1569
Massachusetts: http://www.animallawcoalition.com/horse-slaughter/article/1519
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Fw: [New post] Antelope Roundup: Mare Collapses after Helicopter Sta

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Sat Jan 29, 2011 4:32 am (PST)
WordPress.com
Disgusting!!
Antelope Roundup: Mare Collapses after Helicopter Stampede
Vivian Grant | Jan 29, 2011 at 2:34 am | Tags: antelope complex, blm, helicopter roundups, mustang roundups, nevada, tom gorey, wild mare collapses | Categories: wild horses | URL: http://wp.me/p6VVi-3Hk
Cross-posted from Equine Advocacy Examiner Written by MAUREEN HARMONAY The BLM and its contractors have gone on record lately to vehemently protest the characterization of their wild horse roundups as "stampedes," with BLM spokesman Tom Gorey going so far as to tell Horseback Magazine's Steve Long that the use of the word is nothing more [...]
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Fw: [New post] Renowned Wild Horse Expert Disputes BLM's Flawed Math

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Fw: [New post] Nevada "Wildlife" Board Wants Wild Horses to Die of T

Posted by: "Marge" redmm97@cox.net   redmm97

Sun Jan 30, 2011 4:46 am (PST)
WordPress.com
Nevada "Wildlife" Board Wants Wild Horses to Die of Thirst
R.T. Fitch | January 30, 2011 at 12:02 AM | Tags: Bureau of Land Management, Cruelty to animals, Horse, Ken Salazar, Mustang, Nevada, Public land, United States, United States Department of the Interior, Wild Horse, Wild Mustang | Categories: Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs | URL: http://wp.me/pyapj-2CW
HOUSTON, (Horseback) – Nevada wild horses and burros could face a thirsty spring if a proposal to the state’s water engineer by the board overseeing wildlife is passed and implemented.
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BOISE, Idaho (AP) - A federal judge has ruled in favor of an environmental group seeking to reverse the Bureau of Land Management's decision to renew grazing permits in central Idaho's Pahsimeroi River Watershed.

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/jan/09/judge-rules-against-blm-on-idaho-grazing-permits/

The BLM, Carson City District-Stillwater Field Office, is suspending the Clan Alpine HMA wild horse gather that was scheduled to start approximately Feb 1, 2011. "An aerial census conducted in late December of the wild horses in the Clan Alpines shows that the population is low enough that gathering horses in that area to treat the mares with a fertility control vaccine is not warranted at this time"

Clan Alpine HMA 2011 Gather

www.blm.gov

Please forward and post on Facebook.  Thanks. 

Please continue to let your legislators know how you feel - call, fax and e- mail them: 

Congress.org: http://www.Congress.org
USA Senate: http://www.senate.gov
USA House of Representatives: http://www.house.gov
Congressional Switchboard: 202-224-3121 or call their local offices 

-----Original Message-----
From: Zelda [mailto:zpenzel@twcmetrobiz.com]
Sent: Monday, January 10, 2011 11:22 PM
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;
Subject: Foundation Demands BLM Call Off Massive Winter Mustang Roundup
Importance: High

Foundation Demands BLM Call Off Massive Winter Mustang Roundup 

Plan to roundup over 2,000 American Mustangs on Delaware-sized range, where thousands of livestock graze, contested

Reno, NV (January 10, 2011)—The Cloud Foundation opposes spending millions of taxpayer dollars to wipe out America’s wild horses. Currently the BLM plans to roundup and remove up to 2,228 alleged “excess” wild horses from the 1.3 million acre Antelope Complex in northeastern Nevada. The Foundation asks that all roundups halt until the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) completes their study and new Appropriate Management Levels (AMLs) are set to prevent the American wild horses and burros from being managed to extinction. This dead of winter roundup is scheduled to begin January 20, 2011, and last for 40 days.

The Antelope mustangs’ range (to be managed principally for them in balance with other wildlife) is larger than the entire state of Delaware at 1.3 million acres, but is allocated for grazing by a monthly average of more than 7,700 head of privately-owned livestock. At the same time BLM has set the allowable level for wild horses in the Antelope Complex at only 407 animals. 

“The Cloud Foundation is calling for an evaluation and reallocation of forage rights for wild horses in burros in the Antelope Valley Complex and beyond,” explains Cloud Foundation Director,Ginger Kathrens.

In 2007 BLM conducted a deadly winter roundup in the Antelope Complex, removing 847 mustangs and leading to scenes like those depicted in a series of disturbing photographs (posted online here). 

Should this action go forward, the herd will be left with a predominately male sex ratio. More than 200 mares will be given the experimental infertility drug, PZP-22 that should be applied only in late winter or early spring according to experts. Drugs and sex-ratio manipulation will lead to unknown levels of social disruption among once-stable wild horse family bands as mares continually cycle with an unknown number giving birth at the wrong time of the year. 

A new and relatively inexperienced roundup crew, Sun J, will conduct the roundup as contracted by the BLM. The roundup is estimated to cost at least $4.5 million and leave only one wild horse per 3,100 acres.

It is time to re-slice this pie and give wild horses their fair share of our public rangelands,” states Kathrens. “In Antelope and beyond they are given only a pitiful sliver.”

"Lack of forage is not the issue. Looking at the Antelope Complex you see allotments where 3,500 sheep are allowed to graze—but only 6 horses are allowed to live on the land,” explains Kathrens. “On another allotment where more than 450 cattle graze year round, only 40 wild horses are permitted. The bias favoring welfare livestock is shocking. BLM needs to put this and all other roundups on hold to develop sustainable policy before wild horses are managed to extinction."

The Foundation and more than 200 other organizations and celebrities began a unified call for a moratorium on all roundups more than a year ago. In July 2010, 54 members of Congress sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar requesting a moratorium on roundups alongside a National Academy of Sciences report.  Massive winter roundups such as the one planned for the Antelope Complex will leave dozens of American mustangs dead. Last year the winter Calico Roundup in Northern Nevada more than 112 died and at least 40 mares suffered late-term induced abortions from the stress of the roundup. At least two foals’ hooves literally separated from their feet, suffering an excruciating pain prior to their deaths. 

BLM repeatedly blames wild horses for range damage while allowing exorbitant numbers of livestock to graze in wild horse and burro management areas. Nationwide, “welfare livestock” are estimated to do up to a billion dollars of damage to public lands annually. Again and again, healthy wild horses are removed to allow for public lands grazing leases that do not even recover their grazing program administrative costs, running in the red by at least $123 million annually. Nearly 40,000 wild horses and burros are currently held in captivity by the US government while less than half that remain in the wild on their rightful rangelands.

“Our wild horses and burros are a valuable asset to our public lands ecosystems,” explains Kathens. “They are clearly not starving, destroying their habitat or in need of ‘rescue’. It is time for the BLM to take a time out and sit down with the public to re-establish how American treasures are to be managed.”

##

Links of interest:

Photos from winter 2007 Antelope Roundup http://bit.ly/hfemwT

New CNN series on roundups http://exm.nr/ifONib

The Cloud Foundation’s Comments to BLM re: Antelope Gather Env. Assessment http://bit.ly/dXj6Dn

Roundup Schedule: http://bit.ly/roundupsched

Wild horses die and foal born in frigid roundup http://exm.nr/hQR407

Video shows colt pushed by helicopter in roundup http://exm.nr/dpDqOw

Antelope Complex Gather Environmental Assessment http://bit.ly/AntelopeEA

54 Members of Congress protest BLM management http://bit.ly/gFJDs1

Stampede to Oblivion: An Award Winning Investigative Report from CBS Las Vegas: http://bit.ly/iiNNYs

Independent Report to Defund Roundups: http://bit.ly/gCyiu0

American Herds - "What's Left?" http://americanherds.blogspot.com/2009/12/whats-left.html 

Wild Earth Guardians report on public lands grazing http://bit.ly/eVMwJv

Congress Sends Letter for Wild Herds to Secretary Salazar: http://bit.ly/54sign

Mestengo. Mustang. Misfit.  America’s Disappearing Wild Horses - A History: http://bit.ly/8ZCk8e

Short link to this release: http://bit.ly/fYQQ7q

Past Cloud Foundation releases: http://bit.ly/9XD0TE

Media Contacts:                

Makendra Silverman 

Makendra@TheCloudFoundation.org 

Tel: 719-351-8187

Anne Novak

Anne@TheCloudFoundation.org

Tel: 415-531-8454

Photos, video and interviews available from:

The Cloud Foundation

makendra@thecloudfoundation.org

The Cloud Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to the preservation and protection of wild horses and burros on our Western public lands with a focus on protecting Cloud's herd in the Pryor Mountains of Montana.

107 S. 7th St. - Colorado Springs, CO 80905 - 719-633-3842

www.thecloudfoundation.org  

FYI and action. Orgs, please post on your websites. Others please post far and wide. All links below take comments unless indicated otherwise. The Vegas Summit and pro-slaughter is being widely covered by newspapers/radio/TV. Here's our chance to share "the other side of the story".
Please also note in your comments that wild horses and burros are native to N. America by fossil evidence, are wildlife by case law (ie Colvin v. Hodel) and by Congressional designation. Wild herds consume less than 2% of all forage allocated to grazing wildlife and domestic livestock on the public domain. Habitat reductions and herd removals have threatened and endangered these species of special designation. Hundreds of individual herds are now extinct on the public lands.
FYI, here's a recent article on the horse slaughter summit from Animal Law Coalition:
http://www.animallawcoalition.com/horse-slaughter/article/1490
Thx for any and all comments you can make to the links below.
For the wild ones, Carla B
--
http://www.latimes.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-us-wild-horses-nevada-summit,0,4928273.story
"BLM chief attends Las Vegas horse summit organized by euthanasia supporters" (AP-Cristina Silva)
--
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-wild-horses-20110105,0,16207.story
"U.S. official opposes wild-horse slaughter for food" (LAX-Ashley Powers)
--
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2011/01/wild-horse-advocates-clash-with-proponents-of-horse-slaughter-at-las-vegas-summit.html
(AP)
--
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703808704576062064022541024.html
"Rethinking Horse Slaughterhouses - Animal-Welfare Groups Are Joining Ranchers in a Push to Revive an Industry That Died in 2007" (WSJ-Stephanie Simon)
--
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/01/04/general-us-wild-horses-nevada-summit_8236789.html
"Vegas summit advocates return to horses as food" (AP clip-Silva)
--
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fn%2Fa%2F2011%2F01%2F04%2Fnational%2Fa120521S39.DTL
(AP)
--
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/business/7365902.html
(AP)
--
http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_17008071?nclick_check=1
(AP)
--
http://www.theolympian.com/2011/01/05/1495053/las-vegas-summit-advocates-return.html
(AP clip)
--
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2013840910_apuswildhorsesnevadasummit.html
(AP)
--
http://www.seattlepi.com/business/1310ap_us_wild_horses_nevada_summit.html
(AP - no comments, needs LTE)
--
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/04/2000187/vegas-summit-advocates-return.html
"Vegas summit advocates return to horses as food" (AP-Silva)
--
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/04/2000851/us-official-opposes-wild-horse.html
"U.S. official opposes wild-horse slaughter" (LAX's)
--
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/05/horses-food-summit-las-vegas_n_804552.html
(AP)
--
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/jan/04/nv-wild-horses-nevada-summit/
"Vegas conference calls for return of horse meat" (AP clip-no comments, needs LTE)
--
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/jan/02/nv-wild-horses-summit/
"BLM director urged to shun Nevada horse summit" (AP 1/2/11-no comments, needs LTE)
--
http://www.thesunnews.com/2011/01/04/1902632/vegas-summit-advocates-return.html (AP-Silva)
--
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9KHNQVG0.htm (AP clip-no comments, needs LTE)
--
http://www.nevadaappeal.com/ARTICLE/20110105/NEWS/110109866/1064/RSS
(AP)
--
http://democratifi.com/news/Vegas-summit-advocates-return-to-horses-as-food-1495805.html
(AP)
--
http://republicanifi.com/news/Vegas-summit-advocates-return-to-horses-as-food-1495805.html
(AP)
--
http://www.kentucky.com/2011/01/04/1587419/us-official-opposes-wild-horse.html
U.S. official opposes wild-horse slaughter (LAX's article)
--
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=12538943
"Vegas Summit Advocates Return to Horses as Food" "BLM chief attends Las Vegas horse summit organized by euthanasia supporters" (AP-Silva)
--
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/01/04/132662890/at-vegas-summit-a-heated-discussion-on-eating-horse-meat?ft=1&f=103943429
"At Vegas Summit, A Heated Discussion On Eating Horse Meat" (by Eyder Peralta)
--
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/01/04/ap/business/main7212782.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CBSNewsCourtWatch+%28CBS+News%3A+Court+Watch%29
"Vegas Summit Advocates Return To Horses As Food" (AP-Silva, no comments, needs LTE)
--
http://www.ktnv.com/story/13784047/horse-summit
"Summit proposes regulated horse meat processing in U.S." (Channel 13 + video)
--
http://www.kjct8.com/news/26370910/detail.html
"Horse Slaughter Idea Causes Stir - Conference In Las Vegas Includes Slaughter Discussion"
[Channel 8 (CO) + video]
--
http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/Vegas_Summit_Advocates_Return_to_Horses_as_Food_112898339.html
"Vegas Summit: Horse Advocates vs. Horses as Food" (AP)
--
http://www.fox4now.com/Global/story.asp?S=13781911
(AP - no comments, needs LTE)
--
http://www.mynews3.com/story.php?id=34981&n=5035
(AP clip + video)

The Horse | Judge Denies Motion to Dismiss Pryor Mustang Herd Case

Posted by: "DianneC" philosopherdogs@mac.com   mercifulfate@ymail.com

Mon Dec 27, 2010 3:03 pm (PST)
http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=17450
Dianne Channell
the Truth about Pits: http://dontbullymybreed.org/
www.GSDwest.com
http://web.me.com/tendogs/Louisiana/Vermilion_Area.html
See:"The Sociopath Next Door"

From: ASPCA Advocacy Alerts

Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 5:44 PM

Subject: USA: Budget Spells Disaster for Wild Horses--Act Now!
Having trouble viewing this email? Read it online in your browser.
Dear Animal Advocates,
As you may know, Congress is currently trying to pass a federal budget for fiscal year 2011. Unbelievably, although the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro Program is widely known to be broken and unsustainable, the House of Representatives has approved increasing its funding.
The BLM plans to use this funding to remove another 10,000 wild horses from public lands next year. If this happens, the population of mustangs warehoused for life in government holding facilities would swell to 45,000—to the tune of $50 million in taxpayer money. Meanwhile, privately owned herds of cattle are allowed to graze on the same land that was “overcrowded” with wild horses.
We do have a chance to stop this: the Senate is still debating the 2011 federal spending bill, but the deadline to make changes and pass it is midnight on Saturday, December 18.
Now is the time for the Senate to hear, loudly and clearly, that Americans are tired of wasteful spending on mismanaged, inhumane government programs such as the Wild Horse and Burro Program.
What You Can Do
Please act fast—send an email to your two U.S. senators urging them to vote NO on any version of a fiscal year 2011 spending bill that allots money for the removal of wild horses from our public lands.
Visit the ASPCA Advocacy Center now to send your email. (http://capwiz.com/aspca/issues/alert/?alertid=20819646)
Thank you for taking action for America’s wild horses, who, without your help, could soon become extinct.

Visit www.aspca.org

There is a group in Utah called the "Utah Sulphurs", a group trying to save these historic wild mustang herds in Utah, as they are a "national heritage species" in Utah.

Dr. Gus Cothran stated, Sulphurs have a clear Spanish component in its ancestry. Sulphurs have 56% "dun factor" in feral herds, which is the highest known to occur in any feral herd.

Dun factor are all of the "zebra-like" markings. 

The Sulphur Horse's ancestors ran with the Native Americans and the cowboys of the Old West, they fought with Spanish Colonists in Southern California, they invaded Mexico with the Conquistadors and crossed the Atlantic with Columbus.

In 1971, when the US Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act mandated the protection of these Wild Horses as a "national heritage species", to live on "public lands" for all to enjoy, America mistakenly, put their trust into the hands of the BLM.  Now the very same people who are supposed to protect America's Mustangs are exterminating them.  The PURPOSE of this Group is to encourage the Utah Senate and Congress to proclaim The Sulphur Springs Mustang as Utah's State Horse, keeping the herd intact and in Utah, forever!

The BML in Utah plans another roundup beginning 12/8/10 thru 12/16/10.

Please write to the BLM people below so they will know we're watching and oppose what they're doing:
Ken Salazar - feedback@ios.doi.gov
Robert_Abbey@blm.gov
Don_Glenn@blm.gov
Edwin_Roberson@blm.gov
(Utah's #1 Mustang guy) gus_warr@blm.gov
(Utah's #2 Mustang guy) chad_hunter@blm.gov
(Utah's #3 person) lisa_Reid@blm.gov
director@blm.gov
Selma_Sierra@blm.gov
in.approp@mail.house.gov

INT@appro.senate.gov
Chair@ceq.eop.gov 

If you're on facebook, please consider joining/liking the Utah Sulphurs.

Information from todays Federal Register

--

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Land Management 

[LLMTC 00900.L16100000.DP0000] 

Notice of Public Meeting, Eastern Montana Resource Advisory Council Meeting 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior, Montana, Billings and Miles 

City Field Offices. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) and the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972 (FACA), the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of 

Land Management (BLM) Eastern Montana Resource Advisory Council (RAC), will meet as indicated below. 

DATES: The next regular meeting of the Eastern Montana Resource Advisory Council will be held on Dec. 2, 2010 in Billings, Montana. The meeting will start at 8 a.m. and adjourn at approximately 3:30 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: When determined, the meeting location will be announced in a news release. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mark Jacobsen, Public Affairs Specialist, BLM Eastern Montana/Dakotas District, 

111 Garryowen Road, Miles City, Montana 59301. Telephone: (406) 233– 2831. 

SUPPLEMENTARYINFORMATION: The 15- member Council advises the Secretary of the Interior through the Bureau of Land Management on a variety of planning and management issues associated with public land management in Montana. At these meetings, topics will include: Miles City and Billings Field Office manager updates, subcommittee briefings, work sessions and other issues that the council may raise. All meetings are open to the public and the public may present written comments to the Council. Each formal Council meeting will also have time allocated for hearing public comments. Depending on the number of persons wishing to comment and time available, the time for individual oral comments may be limited. Individuals who plan to attend and need special assistance, such as sign language interpretation, tour 

transportation or other reasonable accommodations should contact the BLM as provided above. 

Dated: October 25, 2010. 

M. Elaine Raper, 

Manager, Eastern Montana—Dakotas District. 

[FR Doc. 2010–27594 Filed 11–1–10; 8:45 am] 

Conquistador, Grumpy Grulla Relocated with Freedom Fund Horses

http://horsebackmagazine.com/hb/archives/4465

Today (Monday Nov. 1) we had what we considered to be a very positive meeting with Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and some key members of her staff.  Representing the advocates were Carrol Abel, Bonnie Matton, Shirley Allen and myself, along with Mike Holmes as our side's "expert."

Having everyone in one room, we discussed a whole array of issues ranging from what we considered to be violations of state laws in how Virginia Range horses were being sold by the Department of Agriculture, as well as our allegations involving extortion, the Susan Pohlman horse dumping incident, improper cancellation of cooperative agreements, improper destruction of public records, and what might and what might not be criminal violations as opposed to civil violations (violations that do not have criminal penalties attached to them under Nevada law.)

Since we were still pursuing possible criminal issues, it probably is not appropriate to comment other than to say that certain staffers were instructed to look into certain occurrences.

It is my personal observation that the members of Ms. Masto's staff came away with a better understanding of some terms and issues that specifically relate to horses and livestock, and we came away with a better understanding of some of the nuances of Nevada criminal procedure.

With respect to the Virginia Range horses that are presently standing at the Fallon Livestock Exchange, I was informed by Mr. Wayne Howle, Ms. Masto's Solicitor General, that a directive had been issued basically instructing the Nevada Department of Agriculture to not sell any horses in its possession until Ms. Masto's office could review the situation and determine the procedures that the Department must follow.  We thank Attorney General Masto for her quick response to this particular request.

Now that we don't have to worry about horses being sold tomorrow (Tuesday) we will focus on resolving what we can of the other issues that we raised.  Ms. Masto and her staff offered some suggestions that might prove beneficial in seeking long term resolutions to some of the concerns that we raised.

At the very least we all now have a better understanding of the various aspects to the problems that we were discussing.  As a result we should be able to effectively address those issues that are addressable, and present a case to the Legislature regarding those areas where the state statutes were overly ambiguous so that they can amended to eliminate "manipulation" by individuals wishing to subvert the law.

On behalf of the advocates present, we thank Ms. Masto and her staff for facilitating some very constructive dialogue.  Now we just need to stay on course and get results where we can.

":O) Willis

Annapolis, MD. Rally for our horses!
Speak out against horse slaughter and the roundups of our wild horses!
Date: Friday, October 29, 2010
Time: 10:00 AM to 12:00 Noon
Where: Lawyers Mall, located across the street from the State House
Parking: Naval Academy Stadium lot is best option (410-212-2211); street parking is very limited (time alloted and spaces available)
Contact: Maria Kimble (mlk@acmeemail.com (mlk @ acmeemail.com)) or Ann Marini (rashm2@comcast.net (rashm2 @ comcast.net))

Please post on Facebook and pass along to friends and family who may want to join us in Annapolis!

Best regards,

Maria

Please Send One E-Mail Today To Help Thousands Of Wild Horses

Every decade the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) district offices revise their Resource Management Plans (RMPs) which guide how resources such as water and forage are allocated. At this level long-term plans are made for the administration of the public lands – this is when the usually arbitrary and artificially low “appropriate management levels” are established for wild horses and burros.

Support horses in 20 Herd Management Areas (HMAs) in the Winnemucca District Office’s jurisdiction by commenting on the office’s RMP (https://secure2.convio.net/ida/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=1669&autologin=true&AddInterest=1022&JServSessionIdr004=u7cijfpjg1.app245b). The deadline for comments is Monday, October 25, so please don’t delay.

Utah Mustangs Under Treatment for Strangles

http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=17134

NYC Judge Ruling Makes More BLM Deaths a Certainty as “Gathers” Stampede Onward

http://horsebackmagazine.com/hb/archives/4241

Video shows colt pushed by helicopter skids during Twin Peaks wild horse roundup

http://www.examiner.com/equine-advocacy-in-national/video-shows-colt-pushed-by-helicopter-skids-during-twin-peaks-wild-horse-roundup?cid=examiner-email

We appear to have resolved the "mystery" over a directive that came out last week regarding picking up Virginia Range horses.  This directive was originally attributed to Governor Gibbons.

As most of you may recall, word got out that attributed a comment to the Nevada Dept. of Agriculture that the Governor had issued a directive to start picking up horses.  The Governor's office staff said that they didn't know anything about it.  Then word circulated that the Department had been the one to issue the directive and that the Governor had "signed off" on it, or words to similar effect.

Ms. Rombardo of the Governor's office actually found a copy of this document and graciously forwarded it to me. It is now posted on the AOWHA web site.  The directive actually came from Director of Agriculture Tony Lesperance and according to the document, it was merely cc'd to the Governor's office and wasn't received by that office until the 19th.  Therefore according to the written record, Governor Gibbons did not initiate this action.

This document can be viewed here.

http://aowha.org/documents/lesperance_letter_101015.pdf

This document has a few problems associated with it beyond the strange use of the English language (i.e., directing a state employee to "start estraying.")

One interpretation of the directive is that it can be used to place all the responsibility on Darryl Peterson who is employed as a brand inspector, not a horse manager. Peterson, a field person who sits at the bottom of the Department's totem pole is routinely assigned blame for things gone wrong in the office.

In the directive Director Lesperance directs Peterson that horses that are picked up have to be advertised (a procedure that the office has failed to properly do on occasion, not Peterson whose duties are out in the field and do not include advertising.)  Based on our past experience with Director Lesperance, this statement appears to be a bit of misdirection.

More importantly this "directive" includes a patently false statement.

Director Lesperance declares that the horses "must be sold at auction precisely as described in NRS 569."

NRS 569.080 and NRS 569.075 indicate that the Department may sell the horses if they cannot be placed with a cooperator (e.g., the prison training program, qualified horse groups, etc.)

NRS 569.080 is a little ambiguous since the language pertaining to placement through cooperators was added a few years after the original language indicating that the horses could be sold, however NRS 568.075 states, "The Department may sell all feral livestock which it has gathered if the Department determines that the sale of the feral livestock is necessary to facilitate the placement or other disposition of the feral livestock."

In reading the minutes from the State Legislature, the legislative intent here is unequivocally clear.  Former Director of Agriculture Don Henderson proposed the added language because placement of horses through cooperators was preferential, and his department would not receive assistance from other agencies if horses were picked up and sold for slaughter.  If the cooperators were unable to accept horses for placement, then the Department had the option to make a determination that placement alternatives did not exist in which case the Department was obligated to sell the horses.

The present Virginia Range horse fracas appears to boil down to two hot button issues.

1.  Director of Agriculture Tony Lesperance has created the present "crisis" (horses showing up on highways) by refusing to authorize agents or cooperators to engage in the historic methods of controlling horses through "diversionary feeding" programs.  In looking over historic data, the trend shows a four fold increase in horse-vehicle related problems since the diversionary feeding authorizations were rescinded.  The present rash of horses-in-traffic problems is directly attributable to Director Lesperance.

2.  Because horses that are removed are going directly to the auction, and in some instances horses have been sold without the legally required advertising (including to a kill buyer,) it appears that neither the Nevada Department of Corrections or the BLM will assist the state in picking up these horses.  I'm not sure what effect that development will have on NDoA's ability to trap and remove horses.

Nonetheless, these are the issues that are relevant at the moment and need to be satisfactorily resolved.

Additional details relating to the history of the Nevada Department of Agriculture and Virginia Range horses can be viewed in the archived copies of AOWHA notices.

":O) Willis

Carson City, Nev. – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Carson City District, has issued the Decision Records for the Final Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Pine Nut and Pilot Mountain Wild Horse Gather Plans. Fertility control will be used on the Pine Nut and Pilot Mountain gathers to slow population growth to reduce the need for future gathers.

The Pine Nut HMA is located five miles east of Carson City, Nevada.  The decision is for the BLM to gather approximately 118 wild horses from within the Pine Nut HMA, vaccinate approximately 45 of the mares with a two year fertility control vaccine, and then release all 118 horses (including the 45 treated mares) back into the HMA.  Approximately 67 additional wild horses are residing well outside the HMA (up to 12 miles away), often congregating on private property in the Fish Springs (Douglas County) area, creating a public safety hazard on roads and damaging private property.
These 67 excess wild horses will be gathered and removed.  The gather is tentatively scheduled to begin mid-November 2010, and will last about one week.
The Pilot Mountain HMA is located approximately 25 miles east of Hawthorne, Nevada.  The decision is for the BLM to gather approximately 242 wild horses from within the Pilot Mountain HMA, remove approximately 53 excess wild horses, vaccinate approximately 76 of the mares with a two year fertility control vaccine, and then release 189 horses (including the 76 treated mares) back into the HMA.  Approximately 104 additional wild horses are residing well outside the HMA, often congregating on and along highway U.S. 95 near Walker Lake, Nevada, creating a serious public safety hazard.
In February - March 2010 at least seven wild horses were killed in vehicle accidents. These 104 excess wild horses will be gathered and removed.  The gather is tentatively scheduled to begin in late-November 2010.
Treating selected mares with a two year fertility control vaccine on the Pine Nut and Pilot Mountain HMA gathers will assist in maintaining the Appropriate Management Level (AML) of horses and reduce the number of excess wild horses that would need to be removed in the future. The utilization of the PZP-22 vaccine will help reduce population growth and assist in maintaining a population size within the AML.
The gathers are needed to achieve the Appropriate Management Level (AML) in order to maintain a thriving natural ecological balance for the remaining wild horse population, wildlife, permitted livestock and vegetation within each HMA. The AMLs were established upon completion of an in-depth analysis
of habitat suitability, resource monitoring and population inventory data.
The upper limit of the AML range is the maximum number of wild horses that can be maintained within an HMA while maintaining a thriving natural ecological balance and multiple use relationship on the public lands.
Establishing the AMLs within a population range allows for the periodic removal of excess animals (to the low end) and subsequent population growth (to the maximum level) between removals.  Development of the Herd Management Area Plans (HMAP) for both HMAs included public involvement.
The BLM will use helicopters to gather the wild horses and will transport the animals by motorized vehicles. The use of helicopters, which is authorized by the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, has proven to be the safest and most practical means for gathering excess wild horses.
The BLM coordinates closely with the Nevada Department of Agriculture’s (NDOA) Brands Division to provide Brand Inspectors during wild horse removal efforts across the State.  NDOA brand inspectors must verify the animals are excess wild horses and burros as defined by the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971.  Once verified, the Brand Inspector will provide the BLM a certificate to transport the animals. Without this cooperation and coordination, the BLM would not be able to remove the excess wild horses and burros which, if not removed in a timely manner, would result in degradation of our native rangelands.  The NDOA also may take jurisdiction of any estray, branded or abandoned domestic
horse(s) under the State of Nevada estray laws.

Wild horses removed from the range will be offered for adoption to qualified individuals through the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Program.  Un-adopted horses will be placed in long-term pastures where they will be humanely cared for and will retain their “wild” status and protection under the 1971 law.  The BLM does not sell or send any horses to slaughter.
The gather and impacts are described and analyzed in the Pine Nut, Pilot Mountain & Clan Alpine HMA Gather Plan Final EA. The EA, separate Decision Records for each specific gather, associated documents, maps and other information about the Pine Nut and Pilot Mountain HMAs are posted on the
BLM Carson City website at http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/carson_city_field.html.  A Decision Record
has not yet been signed for the Clan Alpine HMA gather that is tentatively scheduled for February 2011.
The BLM also will provide updates and information at the same web address on a regular basis throughout the course of each gather.
For more information, please call (775) 885-6000, for Coreen Francis, Supervisory Natural Resource Specialist for the Stillwater Field Office (Pilot Mountain HMA gather), or Alan Bittner, Supervisory  Natural Resource Specialist for the Sierra Front Field Office (Pine Nut HMA gather).
-BLM-

Return To Freedom Rescue Update: Calico Stallion “Bucky” and His Friend Back Home in Nevada

http://www.wildhorsepreservation.org/news/?p=2405

It’s a Solid No for Shooting Burros in the Big Bend

http://horsebackmagazine.com/hb/archives/4186

BLM Reschedules Advisory Council Meeting
Reno, Nev. — The Bureau of Land Management has rescheduled the Resource Advisory Council originally scheduled to be held in Reno on November 4-5, 2010, until early 2011.  Once finalized, the new meeting date will be published in the Federal Register and posted on BLM Nevada web site at http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en.html.
-BLM-

http://ppjg.wordpress.com/2010/10/18/the-blm%E2%80%99s-multiple-ruse-mandate/

Aerial Survey Verifies Wild/Feral Horse Populations
Based upon data from an aerial population survey conducted in June 2010, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) have determined approximately 3,057 wild horses remain on the BLM-managed public lands in northwest Nevada, northeast California and south central Oregon and approximately 1,258 feral horses and burros remain on FWS-managed lands within the Sheldon-Hart Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex.
The population survey methodology was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) with the assistance of BLM wild horse specialists. The methodology incorporates peer-reviewed techniques that have been used for decades to estimate wildlife populations around the world.
The final report, which contains specific population counts for each surveyed area, is available on the web at: http://www.blm.gov/nv/.  Associated news releases and documents available also include the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the BLM and FWS, which will further improve management of wild horses and burros on BLM and FWS-managed lands within this region.
 In early September, the BLM and FWS signed an agreement designed to better coordinate the management of wild horses in a region covering northwest Nevada, northeast California and south-central Oregon.   The agreement calls for BLM offices in the three states and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to improve how they count the animals and to share the information.  However, the recent feral horse gather on the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge was conducted exclusively by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
-BLM-

Good News for MoundHouse Horses!

>> As of today the large, flashing electrical warnings signs for wild horses

>> are back up in the  Mound House - Centenial Park area!  Good job

>> everyone! Dorothy 

> AS OF TODAY, THE LARGE, FLASHING ELECTRICAL WARNING SIGNS FOR WILD HORSES

> ARE BACK UP IN THE MOUND HOUSE - CENTENNIAL PARK AREA.  GOOD JOB EVERYONE,

> ESPECIALLY FOR ALL THE PHONE CALLS AND EMAILS YOU SENT TO GOV AND NDOT!!!!

Distemper outbreak kills wild horses at Herriman center

Federal wild-horse managers are suspending adoptions from their Herriman center and placing a quarantine on about 500 horses because of an equine-distemper outbreak.

Eleven horses have died — some on their own and some from euthanasia after being badly stricken — and two or three dozen more show signs of the upper-respiratory infection, said Gus Warr, head of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Utah wild-horse and burro program.

Read more here: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50502825-76/horses-wild-outbreak-blm.html.csp

Comment at the link.

http://www.thedesertinde.com/Articles%202010/BLM-Declares-Their-Land--1015.html

BLM Declares Their Land “Non-Public Forums”

An Editorial by the Publisher

--

By ROBERT WINKLER
The Desert Independent

October 15, 2010

In a response filed in a Nevada court on October 14th the Bureau Of Land Management (BLM) revealed that “herd management areas” and perhaps other areas of public lands at their unilateral choosing can, be considered by the government “non-public forums.”

This is interesting news to the rest of us who have considered these lands public, open and freely accessible. It would seem, according to Ken Salazar, Bob Abbey and those they lead at the Department of Interior and BLM, the we, the press, and by extension, you the public have no have no right to know how the government manages your public resources.

The government is controlling the content of the information that reaches you, the public, by prohibiting journalists who may portray them in an unflattering light.

Our interest at this moment is wild horses on public lands. Next year it might be gas pipelines, uranium mining, or nuclear waste storage. The public has a right to know. The government behaves when citizens are watching.

They know that. They know that. They know that.

That is why Ken Salazar and Bob Abbey are fighting in court to prevent public access.

Shame on Ken Salazar.

Shame on Bob Abbey.

Shame on the agencies doing their dirty work hidden from the light of the public eye.

You cannot tear down such a national monument and not be remembered Ken and Bob. We shall not forget you; and, history shall not forget both of your hideous rolls in this.

In the Spotlite:

Take action for VA Range Horses!!!   :

The Northern Nevada Allies are scheduling a demonstration on Wednesday, October 20 in Carson City.  We are also asking supporters of the Virginia Range horses to once again make some phone calls and send emails.  We are asking selected leaders to get this information out to your respective circles of "advocate readers."

I've posted a "template" of this request on the AOWHA web site.  Feel free to copy and paste the information and personalize it as you wish.  It can be viewed and copied here:

http://aowha.org/notices/carson_protest_101020.html

I have also uploaded an  image of what is happening to these horses formatted for use in an email bulletin (compressed to make the message file size reasonable.)  That image is attached to this message.

We realize this is short notice however we would greatly appreciate your independent distribution of our call ASAP in hopes that we can get ahead of the issues illustrated in the request itself.

Thanks!

Willis (for the N. Nevada Allies)

For any of you wishing to use the "template" to send out notices about the upcoming Carson City protest, but prefer to link across to the AOWHA page instead of to your own (at the part that says "(web address)") the AOWHA on-line bulletin is located at – 

http://www.aowha.org/notices/cc_ag_101020_01.html 

Thanks!

Honey Bandit Updates:

Here is my letter to Bob Abbey and the rest of the BLM gang.  I got a very nice and very positive thank you from Bob.  Made me feel very hopeful. 

Hugs

P

p.s. 

Let me know what you think about the letter to BLM.  Bet I will get a lot of flack from them.

--

FYI  this is an open letter to BLM.    Apparently from what I understand they are not going to post it.  However, if any of you feel like posting it please feel free.  The top BLM official, Mr. Robert Abbey, wrote back to me and is definitely showing a willingness to try and work together.   I only received one other response and it was pretty generic and he told me that BLM does not publish letters.  My whole goal out of all this is to have the truth out there and be able to save the orphan foals as opposed to having them thrown away due to egos.

--

Dear Mr. Pogacnik:

I am writing this letter in clarification of  recent and ongoing publicity regarding Honey Bandit, the foal that I picked up at the BLM facility in Litchfield.  I am hoping that BLM prints this letter in it's entirety on it's website, as I would like to make clear to America the reason for this story being so public.

- - -

An "Open Letter" to BLM

My name is Lauri "Palomino" Armstrong.  I am the person who, with the support of other advocates,  took in the special needs BLM foal known as "Honey Bandit." Honey Bandit was noticed by advocates at BLM's Litchfield Corrals and appeared to be in poor condition.  There have been both facts and speculation surrounding this "rescue," and while not everything went smoothly, there was certainly cooperation by  BLM and other advocates in support of the care and recovery of this foal.

This letter clarifies my personal feelings and some things that I want known.  I want anyone who follows Honey bandit's story to clearly understand that the journals describing Honey Bandit's issues and care were not intended to be used as a tool to get people mad at BLM.  This story is about people getting off their duffs to get involved in helping horses and the broader message is for concerned citizens to motivate Congress to change some outdated legislation.

I have never “bashed” BLM.  I definitely do not agree with the roundups, especially how some are carried out and the way the horses are transported.  But I also realize that the people working at BLM's holding facilities are not the people who make national policies.

The reason we are keeping Honey Bandit's story in the public and taking him to Washington DC next spring is not to promote bad feelings toward the BLM,  but rather to get concerned Americans to contact their elected lawmakers in Congress to get laws passed that better protect our nation's wild horses and burros.   The only way things are going to change is if WE, THE PEOPLE, insist on change, using sensible and factual arguments.  I joined the call for a moratorium on the roundups because I believe that a moratorium is appropriate until the laws can be changed to better protect our horses and burros.  I believe that we need to change the way horses and burros are rounded up, as present strategies produce far too many injuries and deaths.  In reality, current laws prohibit a moratorium on roundups.  However, our call for a moratorium, and BLM's response that it couldn't if it wanted to, clearly illustrates our point with respect to the outdated nature of America's wild horse and burro laws.

Equally important is that advocacy is about all the horses and burros, not just the ones out on the range.  Therefore there are many areas where we have to work with the people at  BLM so that a safety net is in place for at risk horses, before a problem is discovered.  The next time a foal like Honey Bandit comes in, a process must be in place where BLM can call us or another qualified caregiver and we could pick up the foal immediately.

Honey Bandit somehow did "slip through the cracks."  One reason for this was BLM not being aware of the help that was available to deal with these situations.  Sometimes advocates have to stand up and say, "We're here to help and here is how we can help."  Helping horses doesn't mean we agree with all the national wild horse policies.  It means we're interested in helping horses.

To be fair to BLM, they did not hide Honey Bandit, or let him die. They turned him over to our rescue which specializes in orphan/critical care foals.  Once BLM was made fully aware of the situation, the people at Litchfield took appropriate action and our "combined" decisions and actions saved the foal's life.

The fact that Honey Bandit's condition got overlooked in a facility that was experiencing an influx of about 900 horses is not OK, but what happened  him afterwards is okay.  By working together we were able to get him to a place where he could have the 24/7 care that a foal in his condition required.  There will never be enough staff  to provide that kind of care at any of the BLM facilities, so their "standard of care" must include assistance by qualified advocates.

Honestly, I have to say that there were situations and conversations I had with BlM that I found to be very frustrating, but what matters is that we resolved those situations so that everyone could work together in the future.  Honey Bandit is alive and he will continue to get the message out that we, as the American people, need to make sure that the laws are changed.

The real issue here is not that the personnel at Litchfield don't care about the horses.  They clearly do.  What Honey Bandit's situation illustrated is BLM is stretched pretty thin in order to carry out its present "mandate." We are not likely to actually see a moratorium. Congress may change some laws but it will be a slow process. Meanwhile, horses coming off the range need homes, and in some instances special care, right now.  We need to agree to disagree about range policies but work together wherever possible for the horses.

Also, we advocates need to recognize that BLM can and will correct problems, particularly when advocates step up in cooperative ways.  At Litchfield, intervention in the case of at-risk foals will likely be much improved, mainly because the staff now knows that they have a place to send such foals.  In Nevada, and with the cooperation of local horse groups, BLM will not be removing horses from the Pine Nut Range but trap-treat-release bands where found using time release fertility control.  The local horse groups have agreed in principle to monitor the success of this "maintenance" approach to managing the herd.  This evolution in herd management should be better for the horses.

There appear to be other "improvements" being considered.

If we as advocates can remember that this whole advocacy is about horses and burros, and our complaints about problems can't go so far as to undermine opportunities to achieve improvements for the horses, then we really are helping the horses.  But then we have to be willing to step up when situations present themselves where we can help and make a difference.

That is Honey Bandit's real story.

Sincerely,

Palomino Armstrong

530 474 5197

Here's a Virginia Range update for Friday, October 15th.  Feel free to cross post.

Yesterday another horse was hit on US-50 near to Centennial Drive while crossing the highway to Hettrick's field.  The recent rains caused a large puddle to cover a portion of the "painted" cattle guard and the horses learned to ignore it.  There was also a horse hit in the Damonte Ranch subdivision in Reno.  In both situations the Nevada Department of Agriculture prevented local citizens and groups from diverting the horses back into the hills.

In contrast, in Dayton horses have also entered a subdivision adjacent to US-50 when some fences were taken down to accommodate recreational improvements at the Santa Maria River Park.  However in this instance the County and the adjacent developer took the lead and met with local citizens and horse groups - and they kept the State out of the issue. New fencing will be constructed that will not only enhance safety at the park, but will discourage horses from entering developed areas while still allowing access to the river for recreational users and rafting enthusiasts.

Such are the approaches that communities have historically used to mitigate "horse problems."

* * *

NDoA Director Tony Lesperance was quoted as saying that the department no longer manages the Virginia Range herd.  My question is that if NDoA is out of the horse management business, why is the department preventing the local communities from doing so?  Kind of doesn't make sense.

* * *

Also I nailed NDoA for illegally selling horses.  There are five Virginia Range horses presently at the Fallon Livestock Exchange.  The Department planned to sell them starting this coming week.  Yesterday I hand delivered three weeks' worth of newspapers from Storey County to the AG's office showing that the legally required estray "pick up" notices and the required sale notices were never published in that county. TWO separate notices are required, the second being placed no sooner than the 6th "working day" following the first.

(Even though the horses are technically "feral" an estray notice is required when they are picked up just in case someone's escaped private livestock were among the animals captured.)

"A notice of the estray, with a full description, giving brands, marks and colors thereon, must be published in a newspaper published at the county seat of the county in which the estray was taken up."  NRS 569.070(2)

"before the Department may sell feral livestock, the Department must publish notice of the sale of the feral livestock in a newspaper published at the county seat of the county in which the gathering of the feral livestock occurred."  NRS 569.075(2)

The legally recognized newspaper for Storey County is the Comstock Chronicle.

NDoA finally admitted that they didn't place proper legal notices.  (They were placed in the Fernley Leader in Lyon County.)  After an argument in which she insisted that there weren't any newspapers in Storey County, JoAnn Mothershead then tried to blame Daryl Peterson.  That came after I pointed out that an editor from one of the papers in Storey County sent me three weeks' worth of the Comstock Chronicle that had all the legal notices for the county except NDoA, and I also mentioned that I had forwarded those papers to the Attorney General's office.

Ms. Mothershead at NDoA said that the notices would be republished in the correct papers.

Also the horses sent to the Fallon Livestock Exchange were apparently neither branded or microchipped, another issue that needs to be resolved.

"Estrays and feral livestock must be marked, branded or identified with an individual animal identification before sale or placement."  NRS 569.080(4)

Ms. Mothershead complained about having to deal with the Virginia Range horses.  I pointed out that except for having to publish an estray notice when horses are picked up, the Department could simply drop the horses off at one of the cooperating horse groups. On the 6th day following the publication of the estray notice the horses could be "legally" turned over to the group.  For that matter the cooperative agreement could make the group responsible for microchipping the horses before taking legal possession, as well as require reimbursement to the Department for the costs of the legal notices.  Slam dunk.  Less hassle and no expense for the state.  No Virginia Range horses going to the kill buyers.

The problem appears to be that Tony Lesperance doesn't want any of the responsibility but wants all of the control.  Ergo the horses and public continue to suffer.

Contacts:

NDoA, JoAnn Mothershead  775-738-8076

Attorney General's Ofc., Edie Cartwright, PAO 775-684-1189

Fallon Livestock Exchange:  Monte Bruck  775-426-8279

":O) Willis

Parks officials shoot aoudad, burros to make way for bighorn

http://www.bigbendsentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4715&Itemid=1

Interior Department Continues War On Wild Horses

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has announced plans to round up – via a helicopter stampede in the middle of winter – and eliminate 80 percent of the wild horses in Nevada’s Antelope Complex. Claiming that only 427 to 788 horses can be supported by more than 1.3 million acres of public land, the BLM proposes to remove 1,659 horses (plus 50 found outside the boundaries), bringing this herd down to only 427 horses. The BLM allows 18 times more farmed animals than wild horses to graze on this same land, while blaming the horses for any damage done to the range. The BLM can even increase the land allocated to privately-held animals to 27 times the proposed wild horse herd size merely by releasing some grazing rights that have been temporarily suspended.

Red Alert!!!!:

PLEASE CROSS POST WHERE APPROPRIATE.

Some bad news re. the Virginia Range horses.

Another Mound House horse was hit on US-50 last night, just west of Centennial Drive in Carson City.

The state is still REFUSING to authorize diversion feeding that the local communities would pay for and who would perform the necessary labor to keep horses off the highway.  In fact the officials have said they would go after anyone who does that.  This "position" affects all the diversion feed programs on the range, including keeping horses out of Reno and Virginia City.

In the meanwhile the Department of Agriculture is picking up horses and hauling them to the Fallon Livestock Exchange.  It appears that the Department is doing this in secret, not publishing various legal notices as required by law and not freezebranding the horses for identification, also required by law.

I'll be taking a complaint to the Attorney General this morning along with copies of the legal sections from the newspaper showing that the required notices were not published.  Meanwhile I urge everyone with an interest in these horses to call the Governor's Office and Mr. Hettrick's Office and demand an explanation as to why the state is preventing the traditional control of these horses through feed diversion, why the horses that were picked up haven't been turned over to cooperators, and why horses are showing up in Fallon without the legally required public notices and brands.

There are Virginia Range horses presently standing at the Fallon Livestock Exchange and more are likely to show up.

Here are some phone numbers and email addresses you may wish to use

Governor Gibbons' Office:
775-694-5670
For email pleas use the web form: http://gov.state.nv.us/Contact_Us_NORTHX.htm
Deputy Chief of Staff Lynn Hettrick
lchettrick@gov.nv.gov
775-684-5670

Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto
775-684-1100
Edie Cartwright, Public Affairs
ecartwright@ag.nv.gov

Beware of the BS responses.

1.  Feed diversions don't work.  (They have been successful for years.)

2.  Cooperators won't take the horses.  (Of course they will, they always have.)

3.  The state is broke.  (Then stop preventing the citizens from addressing the problem.)

4.  The state can sell the horses.  (Only after the public notice and branding requirements are met.)

5.  Notices were published.  (Advocates have copies of the specific newspapers that the law says the notices have to appear in and there are no notices.)

It is my opinion that in order to fix this situation we can't let the state think we are simply going to let the issue die down.  They felt the pressure back when the "Hettrick's Irrigation" incident started, but all indications are that they think we're losing interest and things are returning to "business as usual."

The local citizens and horse groups could have solved this problem but were prevented by the state.

":O) Willis

Here's Craig's report on the population estimate at Twin Peaks after the round-up.

http://equinewelfarealliance.org/uploads/09.24.10_twin_peaks_post_round-up_population_est.pdf

The southern California advocates are gearing up. Thanks for sharing the
following info concerning the 3rd Los Angeles WH&B rally:
When: Saturday, Oct. 23 from 12:00-2:00
Where: In front of the CNN Los Angeles Hdqtrs.
6430 W. Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028
Please bring your posters and banners.
For more information, contact:

BLM Resource Advisory Councils Meeting
Reno, Nev.--The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Nevada Resource Advisory Councils (RACs) will hold their annual joint meeting at John Ascuaga’s Nugget Hotel Casino in Sparks, Nev., on November 4-5, 2010.  The meeting begins at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 4.  The public is invited to attend.
BLM Nevada has three regional RACs: the Northeastern Great Basin RAC, the Sierra Front/Northwestern Great Basin RAC, and Mojave/Southern Great Basin RAC.  The RACs provide counsel and advice to the Secretary of the Interior, through the BLM on issues involving management of the public lands.
Members represent commercial and non-commercial uses and local governments.
“The members of Nevada’s councils are people who are interested in the use and the protection of public lands,” said Nevada State Director Ron Wenker. “This annual meeting gives all members an excellent opportunity to visit with their counterparts among the RACs, to discuss issues with the BLM, and to get an overview of the BLM’s priorities and challenges for the upcoming year.”
A public comment period will be held early in the afternoon on Thursday, Nov. 4.  The actual time will be posted on the website. The meeting agenda will be available two weeks prior to the meeting at www.blm.gov/nv.  This forum provides an opportunity for people to ask questions of the citizen-based advisory council and to make comments that may provide RAC members a better understanding of their needs and concerns.
The three RACs will meet separately on Friday, Nov. 5 at 7:30 a.m. to elect a chair and vice-chair and select meeting dates and agenda topics for the coming year.

- BLM-

Tragedy at Silver King: Braveheart’s Last Stand

Read more here:  http://www.wildhorsepreservation.org/news/?p=2264

BLM Nevada News
WINNEMUCCA DISTRICT OFFICE NO. 2011-01
FOR RELEASE:  October 7, 2010
CONTACT:  Lisa Ross at (775) 623-1541, lisa_ross@blm.gov
BLM Seeks Public Input on Proposed Wild Horse Gather in Augusta Mountains Area
Winnemucca, Nev. – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Winnemucca District, Humboldt River Field Office has prepared a preliminary environmental assessment (EA) proposing to gather about 344 wild horses from in and around the Augusta Mountains Herd Management Area (HMA). The BLM plans to gather and remove about 50 excess wild horses that have established home ranges well outside the HMA in the adjoining Fish Creek Mountains. All horses gathered within the HMA will be returned back to the HMA. The BLM would appreciate receiving substantive comments on the preliminary EA by November 5, 2010.
The established appropriate management level (AML) for wild horse population within the Augusta Mountains HMA is 185 to 308.  The BLM estimates there are currently 294 wild horses in the HMA.  The BLM proposes to gather the wild horses in the HMA and vaccinate all of the mares with the PZP-22 (Porcine Zona Pellucida) fertility control drug. The goal is to slow population growth and maintain population size within the AML, and extend the time before a gather to remove excess wild horses would be needed.  
“Keeping the herd population in balance with the available forage and water helps keep these wild horses healthy,” said Mike Truden, Humboldt River Field Office manager.  “It is the BLM’s responsibility to prevent deterioration of the rangelands, achieve and maintain a thriving natural ecological balance, and achieve and maintain healthy, viable wild horse populations.”  
The Augusta Mountains HMA is located in Churchill, Lander and Pershing counties, about 75 miles southeast of Winnemucca, Nevada.  The proposed gather is tentatively scheduled to begin in January 2011.
The document may be reviewed online at http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/wfo/blm_information/nepa0.html.  Printed copies are available upon request from the BLM Winnemucca District Office.  Questions and written comments should be directed to: Mike Truden, Field Manager, Humboldt River Field Office, BLM Winnemucca District, 5100 E. Winnemucca Blvd., Winnemucca, NV 89445-2921.  Comments may also be submitted by email to AugustaMts_HMA_PrelimEA@blm.gov.  Email messages should include “Augusta Mountains Gather Plan (Fox)” in the subject line.  Public comments submitted for this project, including names and addresses of commentors will be available for public review at the WDO during regular business hours 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except federal holidays.

WildHorse News:

For the most part we are are looking at a catch/treat/release on this one.  50 horses on HA will be removed.  ALL mares are to be birth controlled.  Does this mean no births for 2 years?    The EA can be found at the link below
 http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/nv/field_offices/winnemucca_field_office/nepa/wild_horse_and_burros/augusta.Par.37982.File.dat/AugustaMt_Prelim%20EA__100610.pdf

WildHorse News:

WH Protests Planned to Date:

BOSTON Freedom Friday Protest

WHERE: Massachusetts State House, behind the Boston Common in front of the State House

WHEN:  Friday, October 8, 2010 at 10:00am-2pm.

Come for an hour or spend the afternoon….bring a sign!

Contact: Carol Poole at mustangalley@hotmail.com for more info.

CONNECTICUT Protest:

WHERE: Downtown Stamford CT, on the Ferguson Library steps

WHEN: Saturday, October 9, 2010 at 2:00pm

Contact: Isabella Houghton: saverhorses@gmail.com

LAS VEGAS Rally:

Plus free concert: Grey Beard Bandit (Wild Horses Need our Voices)

Real (gentled) wild mustangs and guest speakers

WHERE:Horseman’s Park, 5800 E Flamingo Rd Las Vegas, NV 89122

WHEN: Monday, October 11 · 3:00pm – 6:00pm

Contacts:Shelly Smith shelly5711@yahoo.com or Katie Ellen Barron lotrfla300@yahoo.com

ARIZONA Protest:

WHEN: Helldorado Weekend, Oct.16 & 17th.  10:00am

WHERE: Downtown Tombstone, Arizona

CONTACT: Deb Catlett deborahcatlett@aol.com for more info

UTAH Protest:

WHEN: Saturday, October 16, 2010 at 11:00am

WHERE: County Bldgs (the old courthouse). 179 N. Main St., Logan, Utah

Contact: Kristy Amado kfamado@msn.com

COLORADO Protest:

WHEN: Saturday, October 16, 2010,11:00am- 2:00pm

WHERE: Southwest corner of Canyon & Broadway

Contacts: Linda Hanick vlhanick@gmail.com or Cathy Bryarly robcathyderek@peoplepc.com or 303-746-4729

SACRAMENTO Protest

WHEN: October 23, 10am-2pm
WHERE: at the West Steps of Capitol Bldg (10th and Capitol Mall) Contact: Janet Schultz: 1fastback@att.netAdditional protests are being planned for: Iowa, Georgia, Maryland, Virginia, New Hampshire, Maine, South Carolina, Wyoming, Colorado, Texas, Florida and Vermont.

Today’s Death of Silver King, NV Wild Stallion Embodies Inhumanity of Interior Dept. Wild Horse Program

http://www.crwenews.com/?p=58862

http://www.friendsofanimals.org/actionline/autumn-2010/PZP.php  

Dear Friends,
We wanted to give you an update on the Pony Express Delivery. Since the beginning of August when we started the campaign, we have received 71,568 letters and emails! We are so elated that so many people have come through on this…and are STILL coming through on this; we’re still getting letters!!
We've received so much positive feedback for the Pony Express from all over the world. So many schools and organizations begged us to let their kids’ letters be included. So, how could we say no to that?!
So, we appreciate your patience in this very important issue of stopping the wild horse government roundups. We have extended the deadline, so please keep sending your letters in if you haven’t already. This is an issue that is at the top of everyone’s list and I will deliver on my promise. Literally.
Additionally, we are currently working with the BLM on ways to halt the gathers and a cooperative way to reach our goal. It’s an important issue to all of us and we want to make sure it gets done properly.
Thank you for understanding and for your dedication to this project. Most importantly, THANK YOU for supporting this cause and writing a letter for this effort. Without you, this would not have been so successful.
Also, our highly anticipated Kids’ Corner page is up! Please take a look on the homepage of www.savingamericasmustangs.org. Involve your children by encouraging them to educate themselves through our site. They can download the coloring page, send us photos and letters, and will eventually have fact sheets to explain to their friends what is happening to their horses.
Very Sincerely,
Madeleine Pickens + all the wild mustangs

Please Click the button below to Get on Board the Pony Express!!!
Follow Madeleine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mpickens
Become Madeleine Pickens’ Friend on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/madeleine.pickens
Visit her website for up to the minute information: www.savingamericasmustangs.org
Saving America’s Mustangs’ Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Madeleine-Pickens-Wild-Horse-Sanctuary/163062350007?ref=sgm
*My personal facebook page has reached its limit of 5,000 friends. I apologize for the inconvenience. Please add our fan page to get up the minute alerts* 

Help needed for NV Horses: 

I just now (4:30 pm - Friday) received a call from someone telling me the horses are AGAIN on Highway 50 East, trying to cross back to water after 'feeding on Lynn Hettrick's Smorgasboard!'  So, here's what I'm asking ALL OF YOU to do for the wild ones - even you who do not live in our area, nor our state, but are trying to save these wild horses:

Please, make the following calls/emails immediately.  It doesn't matter if the office is closed for the weekend.  What does matter is if enough people placed these calls and emails, we can LITERALLY CRASH THEIR SYSTEM!!!   A portable, self-standing fence was seen surrounding the acreage late last Saturday.  On Tuesday, there were no fences surrounding the 'field.'  WHY?????  Emergency flashing signs were placed last Thursday on Highway 50 East warning drivers this location is where horses are crossing, but the signs were removed on Tuesday.  WHY?????  (When Nevada Department of Transportation was called on this one, Scott McGruder - head of the department - wasn't even aware the signs had been taken down.  WHY???)

EMAILS:  "It is your responsibility, as a public servant, , to protect the citizens of Nevada as well as the animals of Nevada.  It is not the fault of the wild horses.  It is the fault of Lynn Hettrick who selfishly refuses to stop watering his so-called 'pasture.' "

Send this email to:

Governor Jim Gibbons

775-694-5670

jgibbons@gov.nv.gov

'cc' the above email to:

Lt. Governor Brian Krolicki

775-684-7111

ltgov@ltgov.nv.gov

'cc' the above email to:

Lynn Hettrick

lchettrick@gov.nv.gov

775-684-5670

Then, in making your phone calls, you can say just the same thing above, but can use your own words if you prefer.

PLEASE, PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO DO THIS.  OTHERWISE - SURE AS ANYTHING - THESE WILD HORSES, THROUGH NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN, WILL BE ROUNDED UP AND VERY POSSIBLY BE SOLD AT THE MEAT-BUYERS' MARKETS.........!

Thank you one and all, Bonnie

A Similar Vaccine  

Recently, I have seen some interesting new trends developing in BLM wild horse & burro proposals.

http://americanherds.blogspot.com/2010/10/similar-vaccine.html

19th Calico Stallion Rescued; Captured Mustangs Begin New Life Thanks To Return to Freedom

 http://www.wildhorsepreservation.org/news/?p=1530

Environmental Group Joins Growing National Opposition to Massive Wyoming Mustang Roundup

http://www.wildhorsepreservation.org/news/?p=2216

Interior Department's BLM Continues Assault On Wild Horses

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) wants to remove wild horses in Nevada’s Callaghan Complex to bring the number of horses below the already artificially low number the BLM established for this area. Despite stating that only 894 to 1,161 horses are allowed to live on this 1,000-square-mile area of public land, the BLM now proposes to remove 221 horses, bringing this herd down to just 862 horses. As usual, the BLM allows more farmed animals to graze on this same land – and, as expected, the BLM blames horses for the damage.

Please submit comments opposing this latest effort to unnecessarily and inhumanely remove wild horses from land specifically designated for them. Congress and the President need to stop turning a blind eye to this broken program. Click here to submit your comments by October 10

https://secure2.convio.net/ida/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=1653&autologin=true&AddInterest=1022&JServSessionIdr004=zu9vywadl2.app246b

Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2010 2:27 PM
To: Wild Horse Mentors' List
Subject: USF&WS Sheldon Roundup Statistics
Please cross post where appropriate.
With the roundup completed, USF&WS Sheldon has released some statistics and other related information in a press release.  Since there has been some general concern about what was happening in Sheldon, Tracie-Lynn Thompson was able to obtain a copy that I converted to a PDF file and uploaded on the AOWHA site.  The document, among other things, describes Sheldon's management practices, how to see Sheldon's Environmental Assessment, how many horses have been removed, how many horses will be returned to the range, Sheldon's mortality report and related information.
Here is the link to the Sheldon document.
http://www.aowha.org/documents/sheldon_100929_completed.pdf
Since the hyperlinks don't work on the PDF file, here are clickable links to the EAs referenced in this document.
Horse gathers and other horse and burro management activities (such as contraception, monitoring, research, and fencing) are described in the 2008 Horse and Burro Management Plan and environmental Assessment:
http://www.fws.gov/sheldonhartmtn/Sheldon/horseburro.html
Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (CCP/EIS). (That members of the public can learn about and sign up to make comments:
http://www.fws.gov/pacific/planning/main/docs/NV/docssheldon.htm
The document also has contact information for anyone having questions about this past gather or Sheldon's future intentions.
":O) Willis

Join Ginger and James in Chicago!

28 September 2010

Click Here to Download PDF Flier

Join Colorado Filmmakers and Advocates Ginger Kathrens and James Kleinert for a series of screenings, presentations and discussions in the Chicago area on the current state of our wild herds and what can be done to save them. Featured will be clips from both of their latest productions: of Ginger’s “Cloud: Challenge of the Stallions” and James’ “Diappointment Valley: A Modern Day Western”

Ginger Kathrens is an Emmy-Award Winning Filmmaker known for her 15-year documentation of Cloud, a pale wild stallion.

James Kleinert’s films are meant to educate views about the disturbing, massive removal of our horses and to inspire changes for the future of these precious animals.

Wild Horses and Burros of the Western U.S. and Cloud’s Herd in Montana – History, Update, Film Clips and Q&A.

A great event for children and adults to learn more about our Mustangs and meet Ginger and James.  Free autographed Cloud Poster to the first 25 kids under 16.  Adult admission $10, kids free. *Sat.  October 9 – Hilton Lisle – 3003 Corporate West Drive • 3-4:30 p.m.

Disappointment Valley – A Modern Day Western Wild Horse Documentary and Expose by James Kleinert, featuring Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson, Viggo Mortensen, Daryl Hannah and many others.  The screening includes discussion and Q&A with James and Ginger.  www.theamericanwildhorse.com

*Saturday October 9 – Hilton Lisle, 3003 Corporate W. Drive 5:30-7:30 pm Admission $20 – includes reception.

*Monday October 11 – Wilmette Theater – 1122 Central Ave. 6:30-8:30 p.m. $10 admission.  Food and drinks will be available at concessions.

Danada Festival – October 10 – Wheaton, IL  www.danada.info

The Cloud Foundation & Ginger as well as the Spirit Riders Foundation & James will be at the Festival discussing America’s Wild Horses and Burros.

For more information contact: mustangsrunfree@gmail.com

Silver King wild horse roundup claims its first victims

Maureen Harmonay

Here we go again.  It's only three days into the controversial Silver King roundup, south of Ely, Nevada, and the BLM has already killed four perfectly healthy wild horses out of the 177 they've taken into custody.

Why were these horses "euthanized" (i.e., "shot")?  According to the BLM's report from the roundup:  "Three of the horses were blind in one eye from previous injuries.  The fourth horse suffered with a severe sway back." 

This is getting to be too much to bear.  One-eyed horses can function perfectly well under a variety of conditions, as can sway-backed horses, and it's difficult to imagine how these killings can possibly be justified, unless, of course, the eye injuries actually occurred during the entrapment process, and were not "pre-existing."

Observers in the field have noted that a magnificent white stallion is among those whom the BLM's contractor, Cattoor, has trapped since Saturday

Eighty-four of the captured wild horses have already been shipped to the BLM holding facility at Indian Lakes Road in Fallon, Nevada, which is currently closed to outside observers.

The BLM intends to remove a total of 546 wild horses from the 606,000-acre Silver King Herd Management Area, allowing only a handful to remain.  If they succeed, it will be only a matter of time before wild horses will roam this vast Great Basin no more.

For the Wild Ones:

This is both video and song for the wild ones but each time it is watched on youtube it gets counted!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIM5x8JI1i4

Horse Haven Would Be Exclusive Club

By Thomas J. Cole
Journal Staff Writer
The wild horse sanctuary planned by Gov. Bill Richardson would have a maximum carrying capacity of about 25 to 30 of the iconic animals, according to an estimate by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
That means the sanctuary could serve as home for just a tiny fraction of the 33,000 or so wild horses now roaming free on public lands in the West.
Richardson recently announced a plan to spend $2.9 million in federal stimulus money to buy the 12,000-acre Ortiz Mountain Ranch in Santa Fe County for the sanctuary.
The administration hasn't released estimates on how much more money it would take to get the sanctuary established and how much the annual operating costs would be. It says the sanctuary's operation will involve private and nonprofit organizations and one or more federal agencies.
Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, the Democratic nominee to succeed Richardson, and Senate Finance Committee Chairman John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, oppose using stimulus money to buy the ranch, saying the funds could be put to better use, given state government budget troubles. Denish's opponent, Republican Susana Martinez, also opposes it.
Wild horses are descendants of domestic horses, some of which were brought to this country by European explorers in the 16th century. "Feral" is actually a more accurate adjective.
According to the BLM, which runs the nation's Wild Horse and Burro Program, there were 33,102 wild horses in 10 Western states as of February 2009. New Mexico, with 114 wild horses, has the fewest. Most of the horses are in Nevada.
New Mexico has two horse herds recognized as wild by the Bureau of Land Management. One is the herd in the Bordo Atravesado area east of Socorro; the other is in the Carracas Mesa area in north-central New Mexico near the Colorado border.
As of February 2009, the Bordo Atravesado area had an estimated 102 wild horses, well above the maximum carrying capacity of 60 for the herd management area of 19,600 acres, according to the BLM.
The Carracas Mesa area had an estimated 12 horses, well below the maximum carrying capacity of 23 for the herd management area of 9,000 acres.
Horses in a free-roaming herd in the Placitas area just north of Albuquerque aren't recognized by the BLM as wild. The animals are considered escapees from their owners on the San Felipe Pueblo.
Richardson said at a White House conference on the outdoors last spring that he wanted to establish a sanctuary for wild horses.
"We need the BLM to better understand state needs to preserve these icons that are so much a part of America," the governor said.
The BLM says that before it will allow wild horses to be moved onto a state-run sanctuary, the agency will need to conduct environmental studies, including an analysis of how many horses the sanctuary could sustain.
"We just can't throw horses out there," said Bill Merhege, the BLM's deputy state director for resources.
Administration and BLM representatives have met in recent months about the possibility of the sanctuary, and Merhege said he and a BLM range conservationist visited the ranch.
Merhege said he estimated a maximum carrying capacity of 20 to 30 horses. "It could be less; it could be more. That's why we need to do the range studies," he said.
The administration says the sanctuary could sustain 25-50 horses on the ranch land west of N.M. 14 and additional horses on the eastside of the highway where the main visitor center would be located.
It says the ranch was chosen for the sanctuary became of its relative low price, readily available water sources and hiking trails and because the main ranch house could become a visitor center.
Under Richardson's plan, the ranch would become part of Cerrillos Hills State Park. The ranch is about 10 miles south of the park, which now consists of just 1,100 acres and has two employees.
The state's acquisition of the ranch is subject to approval by the state Board of Finance, which Denish sits on. Richardson is president of the board and postponed action on the ranch acquisition because he couldn't attend a meeting of the board this week.
A final note: Wild horse advocate Madeleine Pickens was quoted as saying in a story published Wednesday that the United States had 2 million wild mustangs a century ago. The BLM says the figure has never been substantiated.
UpFront is a daily front-page news and opinion column. Thom Cole can be reached in Santa Fe at (505) 992-6280 or at tcole@abqjournal.com.

Read more: ABQJOURNAL UPFRONT: Horse Haven Would Be Exclusive Club http://www.abqjournal.com/upfront/250930upfront09-25-10.htm#ixzz110HsWDVG
Subscribe Now Albuquerque Journal

Sheldon Herd Removals:

 Here are the plans for zeroing out the Sheldon Herd.  Advocates need to start writing their disapproval.  

This EIS has 6 different proposed actions - two of which are a 5 and 15 year plan that both call for total removal of horses and burros.  Click on link below:

Sheldon EIS

(http://www.fws.gov/pacific/planning/main/docs/NV/Sheldon/Sheldon%20PU%203%20-%20crop%20_whole.pdf)

BLM Nevada News
ELY DISTRICT OFFICE NO. 2010-60
FOR RELEASE:  Friday, Sept. 24, 2010
CONTACT:  Chris Hanefeld, (775) 289-1842; chris_hanefeld@nv.blm.gov
BLM Offers to Lead Public to Silver King Gather Observation Areas
Ely, Nev. – Due to the large area encompassed by the Silver King Herd Management Area (HMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is offering to lead and direct interested members of the public and media to designated viewing areas on non-scheduled observation days.  Members of the public may
either travel on their own, or may go to the rendezvous location and follow a BLM employee to that day’s gather site.
For more information or to sign up, call Chelsey Falge, BLM Ely District administrative clerk, at (775) 289-1800.  The BLM will identify the daily rendezvous time and place to meet and visitors safely follow the BLM to the observation area. The BLM also will regularly post gather information on its Website at: www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/ely_field_office.html.
The Silver King Wild Horse Gather is scheduled to start Saturday, September 25, 2010.  About 546 excess wild horses will  be gathered and removed from in and around the Silver King HMA in Lincoln County, about 90 miles south of Ely, Nev.  There will be no closure of the public lands and therefore, the public lands within the Silver King HMA will be open to the public during the gather operations, subject to necessary safety restrictions.
The BLM has established protocols for non-scheduled and scheduled public observation days, which are available at http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/ely_field_office/blm_programs/wild_horses_and_burros/silver_king_herd_management.html .
Non-Scheduled Observation Days
Individuals will be directed to the designated observation area by BLM personnel and informed of behavioral rules (such as remaining quiet and still to ensure a safe and effective gather operation).  Individuals attempting to move outside a designated observation area will be requested to move back to the designated area, or, in the event that individuals fail to comply with the necessary safety precautions, they will be required to leave the site.
A failure to comply with the safety rules and precautions put in place during the gather may result in citation or arrest as the failure to remain within the designated observation areas poses a threat to the safety of BLM
personnel and contractors, members of the public and to the wild horses.
If there are changes in circumstances that may pose additional risks to health, public safety or the safety of wild horses (such as weather, lightening, wildfire, etc.), BLM will provide further safety instructions
at the gather and/or holding sites.
Scheduled Public Observation Days
The BLM has tentatively scheduled observation days on Tuesday, Sept. 28 and Tuesday, Oct. 5, to provide the media and public opportunities to view gather activities.  The dates are subject to change depending upon weather and gather operations.  Scheduled days provide visitors more opportunity to interact with BLM staff and will include escorted opportunities to observe the animals at the gather and holding corrals.  For more information or to sign up, call Chelsey Falge, BLM Ely District administrative clerk, at (775) 289-1800.  The BLM will also regularly post gather information on its Website at: www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/ely_field_office.html.
The gathered animals will be transported to the Gunnison Prison Wild Horse Facility at Gunnison Utah and the Indian Lakes Facility near Fallon, Nevada, where they will be prepared and offered for adoption to qualified individuals through the BLM Adopt-A-Horse or Burro Program.  Wild horses for which there is no adoption demand will be placed in long-term pastures where they will be humanely cared for and retain their “wild” status and protection under the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act.  The BLM does not sell or send any horses to slaughter.
For more information, contact Chris Hanefeld, BLM Ely District public affairs specialist, at (775) 289-1842 or chris_hanefeld@blm.gov.

Australia:

http://www.animalsaustralia.org/features/kimberleys-wild-horses-saved.php

Here's today's story in the Nevada Appeal about the Moundhouse horses and the infamous Drako Rd. "alfalfa patch."

http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20100922/NEWS/100929979/1070&ParentProfile=1058

This incident not only illustrates Nevada horse issues but also the games that get played regarding Nevada water rights.  The "alfalfa patch" is located within the Carson City city limits.  Carson City has watering restrictions in effect for the city, as described in this Nevada Appeal story.

http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20100530/NEWS/100529460

So while the residents of Carson City are on water restrictions, the Governor's Deputy Chief of Staff is watering what could best be described as a glorified weed patch, claiming that he is putting the water to "beneficial use" in order to retain some water rights that he owns.

If this was a legitimate commercial farming operation it would be one thing.  But irrigating a rocky, unimproved, weed and brush infested commercially nonviable piece of ground to retain water rights while the rest of the city is going thirsty seems over the top.

WHAT YOU CAN DO.

Leave your personal comments, regardless as to how you feel about the situation, on the comment blog that accompanies the horse story.  The papers use comments to gauge public interest in the various topics they cover.  Horses need to remain a hot topic.

Contact the Division of Water Resources and ask how someone can irrigate a weed patch inside the Carson City city limits and claim it as beneficial use while the rest of the city is on water restrictions, and ask that the matter be fully investigated.  The property is on Drako Rd.

and is owned by Lynn Hettrick.  775-684-2800

Continued attention to this issue will help prevent others from scapegoating our horses, creating a public safety hazard, (and in this instance wasting our water) for their own personal benefit.

Thanks!

Help the Moundhouse WH’s in Nevada!!!  :

Hi Folks, I just walked in the door and had a message that apparently there are plans to pickup our Moundhouse Herd in the next two days as early as September 22nd. Although this is a local issue, I decided to send this information to the entire list. We have a few folks that use to live here that will probably be interested and I don't believe it hurts to let others see what we are fighting in Nevada in our quest to protect the horses that do not fall under the BLM's jurisdiction.  

My information at this time is that Lynn Hettrick, Governor Gibbons' Deputy Chief of Staff for Agriculture, State of Nevada is raising a small field (approx. 2 acres) of alfalfa and what sounds like volunteer grasses. This land is located in the Computer Corp area and just behind the Oliver's Machine Shop. It sounds like this is a very small amount of land is being watered and has been planted, has no barriers and NO FENCE. It is unclear why this land has been planted as it seems NOT to be a workable field for harvesting or bailing hay. One wonders just exactly what the reasons for planting such a grazing animal "calling card" in that particular area was done for. It very obviously will be a definite draw for these horses and there are also cattle that are occasionally grazed in the hills not far away that may be lured down and quite possibly get out to the highway also. Carson City Code Enforcement has indicated that Carson City still falls under the state fencing laws.  

IF WE DON'T GET CALLS INTO the GOVERNOR'S OFFICE AND NDA IMMEDIATELY, THESE HORSES WILL MOST PROBABLY GO TO SALE AT FALLON. The situation here is that the people that own the land and are doing the planting do not have a fence around the property. SINCE THIS IS A FENCE OUT STATE, IT IS THEIR RESPONSIBILITY but the "powers that be" have apparently decided that our horses will be the ones paying the price with their lives for other people's negligence. These horses almost never wandered across the road to this location until just recently with the grasses and hay coming up on this private property. While the fence would be the legal way to become compliant with the law, now that the horses know it's there, it will be a VERY hard situation to control even if they did right and put up a fence at this late date. It seems to me that this land should be turned over and disk up to let it go back to normal seed and not watered. I suspect they only reason it is planted is to preserve water rights for this location for the owner. WE HAVE TO FIND AN ALTERNATIVE TO THIS SITUATION. We have lost far too many already for various and ignorant reasons, whether it be OUR State horses or from OUR Federal Lands.  

WE HAVE TO FLOOD GOVERNMENT OFFICES WITH PHONE CALLS AND EMAILS LETTING THEM KNOW THAT THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY if these horses are taken and sent to the kill buyers. WHAT IS IT ABOUT FENCE OUT THAT THESE PEOPLE IN AUTHORITY ARE NOT GETTING ???? and why are the horses being lured into situations that will ultimately cause their demise in one sense or the other. This is a legal issue and what few horses we have left in this area are in TERRIBLE JEOPARDY.

PLEASE CALL AND/OR FAX ASAP and make your voices heard loud and clear that this is NOT ACCEPTABLE. The PEOPLE that are responsible need to step up to the plate and do what's RIGHT in this situation and stop "scapegoating" OUR HORSES.

Govenor's Office  775-684-5670

Fax Line  775-684-5683

Nevada Department of Agriculture   775-688-1182

Fax Line 775-688-1178   or  775-353-3600      Fax Line  775-353-3638  

http://gov.state.nv.us/Contact_Us_NORTHX.htm

BLM Nevada News
BATTLE MOUNTAIN DISTRICT OFFICE, NO. 2010-36
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 21, 2010
CONTACT:  Schirete Zick, 775-635-4000, schirete_zick@blm.gov
BLM Extends Public Comment Period for Callaghan Wild Horse Gather
Battle Mountain, Nev. -- The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Battle Mountain District, Mount Lewis Field Office is extending the public comment period for the Callaghan wild horse gather preliminary Environmental Assessment (EA) to Friday, Oct. 10, 2010.  
The extension provides additional time to comment on the proposed application of fertility control to wild mares and the removal of about 221 excess wild horses from the Callaghan Complex and New Pass/Ravenswood Herd Management Areas (HMA).  The gather would bring the number of wild horses in these HMAs to 862 animals.  The proposed gather area is located 55 miles south of Battle Mountain in Lander County.  
The proposal and associated impacts are described and analyzed in the Callaghan Complex Wild Horse Gather Plan and Preliminary EA.  If approved, the gather would begin in early December. Comments received during the public review period will be analyzed and considered as part of the decision-making process.
The EA can be found on the Battle Mountain website at:
http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/battle_mountain_field.html
Questions and written comments should be mailed to Doug Furtado, Mount Lewis Field Manager, 50 Bastian Road, Battle Mountain, NV 89820.  Comments may also be provided through e-mail to:
callaghan_newpass_gather@blm.gov
When submitting comments, be aware that your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, may be made public.
The gather is needed to slow population growth to maintain population size within the appropriate management level (AML), and to remove wild horses from outside the HMA boundaries in order to protect rangeland resources from deterioration associated with an overpopulation of wild horses.  The BLM conducts wild horse gathers to maintain a thriving natural ecological balance and multiple use relationship on the public lands consistent with the provisions of Section 3(b) (2) of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971.
The proposal is to gather approximately 80 percent of the existing populations and treat all mares to be released back to the HMAs with the fertility control vaccine PZP-22. Approximately 866 of an estimated 1,083 horses would be gathered, but only 221 horses would be removed.
This gather is the start of a new strategy to use fertility control over a period of several years to reduce the number of horses gathered and removed from these HMAs, and ultimately reduce the number of horses in long term holding. The emphasis is to remove weanlings, some yearlings and wild horses captured from outside HMA boundaries.  The post gather goal would be approximately 862 wild horses remaining within these HMAs.  
Animals removed would be transported to a temporary BLM holding facility and be prepared for adoption, long term holding pastures or sale.  It is estimated that most of the wild horses removed would be young and highly adoptable, with few horses needing to be maintained in long term holding pastures.  The BLM will leave 80 percent of the existing population in the HMAs.
-BLM-
Schirete Zick
Public Affairs Officer
BLM Battle Mountain District
775-635-4067
szick@blm.gov

PLEASE CROSS POST.

In a situation bizarre enough only to happen in Nevada, the Governor's Deputy Chief of Staff is apparently engaged in some kind of odd quasi-agricultural scheme that is luring Virginia Range horses across a busy US highway, resulting in some being killed and in plans for all the others to be trapped and hauled off to the Fallon Livestock Exchange.  What appears to be the scam here is Lynn Hettrick's running what looks to be a fake farming operation in order to hold onto water rights assigned to legitimate agricultural uses. This impractical operation taking place on the edge of the wild horse range was never fenced and it has become a daily feeding stop for the horses.

The reader can draw his/her own conclusions from the information posted in this story.

http://www.aowha.org/war/moundhouse1001.html

All appearances are that now someone else on this Governor's staff is putting his personal interests above public safety and the taxpayers' interests.

Please read, and respond and pass along if you see fit.  We have a very short window in which to try to fix this situation.

Thanks.

":O) Willis

This is very sad !WH’s everywhere are being cleared out.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100920/ap_on_bi_ge/us_wild_horses

Here is a link to the Alliance of Wild Horse Advocates story on the "Fallon 101" rescue this past Saturday.

http://www.aowha.org/activities/fallon_101_01.html

The lack of transparency as to where these horses came from raised concerns that many of the horses could have been BLM or Indian Nation horses that had strayed off their ranges and were "claimed" by private landowners.  Nobody was getting a straight answer.

Jill Starr eventually determined that most of the horses were ranch stock or the offspring of ranch stock and the origins of a handful of "mustang like" horses will likely never be identified.  Since Lifesavers and their allied advocates had already "engaged" in this matter, they stayed on this issue and outbid the kill buyers for the horses.

The problem with "transparency" in this instance has nothing to do with BLM, but rather a system that is in place that makes it extremely difficult to track the origins and history of horses that, had the advocates not been present, would have entered the human food supply.

Even BLM had difficulty trying to determine if any of the horses could possibly be theirs.  There is no accounting for what drugs or medications some of these horses may have been given.  With HR.503 possibly being resurrected, the lack of accountability in the chain of transactions involving horses intended for food is the big story here.

It is discussed in greater detail in the AOWHA article.

If we are going to criticize China and other foreign countries for sending contaminated products to our shores, we need to live by the same standards.  Clearly with respect to horses being sold for slaughter, for all practical purposes we have no standards.

BLM to Conduct Silver King Wild Horse Gather
Ely, Nev. – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Ely District, Caliente and
Schell field offices are scheduled to begin the Silver King wild horse gather on or about September 19.  The gather is expected to last approximately two weeks. The BLM will remove about 546 excess wild horses located in and around the Silver King Herd Management Area (HMA) in Lincoln County, about 90 miles south of Ely, Nev.
The BLM estimates there are more than 600 wild horses in the gather area and any horses gathered above targeted removal numbers will be released back to the HMA so that the remaining population is within the appropriate management level (AML) range of 60-128. The mares released back to the range would be vaccinated with PZP-22 (Porcine Zona Pellucida) fertility control vaccine.
The gather, removal and fertility control are intended to slow population growth, maintain population size within the appropriate management levels and extend the time before another gather to remove excess wild horses would be needed.  Additionally, adjustment of sex ratios of the gathered animals to be returned to the HMAs may be made to 60 percent male/40 percent female ratios. The Caliente and Schell field offices issued the Decision Record for the Final Environmental Assessment for the Silver King Herd Management Area Gather Plan on June 30.
The BLM has tentatively scheduled two observation days—Tuesday, Sept. 21 and Tuesday, Sept. 28—to provide the media and public opportunities to view gather activities.  The dates are subject to change depending upon weather and gather operations. These will be the only two observation days offered for this gather based on gather site location accessibility.  For more information or to sign up, call Chelsey Falge, BLM Ely District administrative clerk, at (775) 289-1800.  The BLM will also regularly post gather information on its Website at: www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/ely_field_office.html.
The BLM coordinates closely with the Nevada Department of Agriculture’s (NDOA) Brands Division to provide Brand Inspectors during wild horse removal efforts across the State. NDOA brand inspectors must verify the animals are wild horses and burros as defined by the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971.
Once verified, the Brand Inspector will provide the BLM a certificate to transport the animals. Without this cooperation and coordination, the BLM would not be able to remove the excess wild horses and burros which, if not removed in a timely manner, would result in degradation of our native rangelands.  The NDOA also may take jurisdiction of any estray, branded or abandoned domestic horse(s) under the State of Nevada estray laws.
Gathered horses will be transported to the Palomino Valley Center outside Reno, Nev. and Delta Wild Horse Corrals in Delta, Utah. The public may visit the Palomino Valley Center during its regularly scheduled visiting
hours Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to noon.  The Delta Wild Horse Corrals are open to the public Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The BLM will use helicopters to gather the wild horses and will transport the animals by motorized vehicles. The use of helicopters, which is authorized by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, has
proven to be a safe, effective, and practical means for gathering excess wild horses from the public lands, and large scale geographic areas such as the Silver King gather area.
Horses removed from the range will be offered for adoption to qualified individuals. Unadopted horses will be placed in long-term pastures where they will be humanely cared for and treated, and will retain their “wild”
status and protection under the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. The BLM does not sell or send any horses to slaughter.
The gather and impacts are described and analyzed in the Silver King Herd Management Area Gather Plan Final Environmental Assessment (EA). The EA, a video about the gather and other gather-related information are posted on the BLM website at: www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/ely_field_office.html.
For more information, please call Chris Hanefeld, BLM Ely District public affairs specialist, at 775-289-1842.
--BLM--
Chris Hanefeld, 775-289-1842
Ely District Office public affairs

Investigation sought into allegation BLM sent Nevada wild horses ...
Reno Gazette-Journal
The concern about federal management of wild horses comes in the wake of the BLM's plans to cull about 12000 of 38000 mustangs and burros from Western ...

Read more here: http://www.rgj.com/article/20100911/NEWS/100911022/1321/news/Investigation-sought-into-allegation-BLM-sent-Nevada-wild-horses-to-sale-for-slaughter

The Lyon County Advisory Board to Manage Wildlife has BLM's upcoming wild horse gathers for the Pine Nut and Lahontan HMAs on its agenda for its September 13th meeting in Yerington.  Here is a link to a copy of the agenda.

http://www.aowha.org/documents/lcabmw_agenda_09132010.pdf

Someone from BLM will be present and will answer questions.

The Board may make a recommendation to BLM.

The Board is providing an opportunity for public feedback to the Board and to the BLM representative.  Everyone who has an interest in these gathers is encouraged to attend.  These meetings start at 6:00 PM and BLM is near the top of the agenda so you shouldn't be out very late!  Bonnie Matton indicated that she would assist in matching riders to carpools from the central county. mattonco@prodigy.net

BLM Nevada News
BATTLE MOUNTAIN DISTRICT OFFICE: NO. 2010-36
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  September 9, 2010
CONTACT:  Schirete Zick (775) 482-7800; schirete_zick@blm.gov
BLM Initiates Montezuma Peak and Paymaster Wild Horse Gathers
Tonopah, Nev. – On September 13 the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Battle Mountain District, Tonopah Field Office will begin gathering approximately 182 excess wild horses and burros within and outside the Montezuma Peak and Paymaster Herd Management Areas (HMAs).
The gathers are needed to achieve the appropriate management level (AML) within the HMAs to achieve a thriving natural ecological balance for the remaining wild horse and burro population, wildlife, livestock and
vegetation.  Located at the northern edge of the Mojave Desert, the HMAs are very arid do not provide suitable habitat for large numbers of wild horses and burros.
Approximately 45 excess wild horses will be gathered and removed from outside of the Paymaster HMA and inside if needed to reach an AML of 23 wild horses.  Approximately 61 wild burros and 78 wild horses would be gathered and removed from within and outside of the Montezuma Peak HMA to achieve an AML of three wild horses and 10 wild burros.  The BLM issued Final Multiple Use Decisions between 2001 and 2007 that established the AMLs for the HMAs.
The gather will be conducted in close coordination with the Nevada Department of Agriculture’s (NDOA) Brands Division to provide brand inspectors during wild horse removal efforts across the State.  NDOA brand inspectors must verify the animals are wild horses and burros as defined by the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971.
Once verified, the brand inspector will provide the BLM a certificate to transport the animals. Without this cooperation and coordination, the BLM would not be able to remove the excess wild horses and burros which, if not removed in a timely manner, would result in degradation of our native rangelands.  The NDOA also may take jurisdiction of any estray, branded or abandoned domestic horse(s) under the State of Nevada estray laws.
The excess horses and burros will be transported to the BLM short-term holding facility near Ridgecrest, Calif., where they will be monitored closely, provided good feed, water and veterinarian care as needed.  They will be dewormed, vaccinated, and freeze marked, and all 12 month and older studs will be gelded.
Once the animals have fully recovered they will be made available for adoption to qualified applicants through the BLM’s Adopt-A-Wild Horse or Burro Program.  The public may visit the BLM’s website at www.blm.gov for more information about adopting a wild horse or burro.
Public Observation Day
A public observation day has tentatively been scheduled for September 14 or 15, to provide the media and public an opportunity to view ongoing gather activities.  The date is subject to change depending upon weather and gather operations.
“There will be only one observation day due to the short timeframe of the gather,” said Tom Seley, Tonopah Field Manager.  “It also provides the public an opportunity to see the care the BLM and the gather contractor
uses to gather and handle the animals.”
BLM representatives will rendezvous with interested members of the public at the Tonopah Field Office, 1553 S. Main St., Tonopah, Nev., at 6:30 a.m., and caravan to the gather site, which will be about a half hour drive from Tonopah.  Four-wheel drive or high-clearance vehicles are recommended.  The
observation day will last approximately four to five hours, with an approximate departure time from the gather site between noon and 1 p.m.
In an effort to provide a safe environment for the animals, BLM staff, contractors and members of the public and media, requests will be accepted on a first come, first served basis and be limited to 10 people.  Space
should be reserved ahead of time by calling Karen Goldsmith at (775) 482-7836.  Daily gather operations could be suspended if bad weather conditions create unsafe flying conditions.
 -BLM-

BLM Foal rescued(had 97 bite marks ):

Palomino Armstrong watches over Honey Bandit, a 2-month-old foal, as the horse is treated Tuesday at Crossroads Veterinary Clinic in Anderson. Armstrong got the horse from the Bureau of Land Management on Thursday.
The foal was covered with bites and malnourished.

To follow Honey Bandit's progress:

http://terrifarley.blogspot.com/

A couple more videos of Honey Bandit:

http://www.redding.com/videos/detail/honey-bandit/

http://www.redding.com/videos/detail/honey-bandit-weighed/

The continuing saga of “Honey Bandit”:  

http://terrifarley.blogspot.com/

Updates:

WildHorse News:

Honey Bandit Update:

http://www.redding.com/news/2010/sep/09/emaciated-foal-kicks-up-support/

THIS JUST IN THIS MORNING! A NEW UPDATE AND WISHLIST FROM LAURIE Armstrong For HONEY BANDIT:

1.  Prayers
2. Horse Blanket
3. Electric blankets (for sleeping – we need several as he still has “accidents”
4. Orchard or soft grass hay
5. FOAL LAC POWDER
6. FOAL LAC PELLETS
7. NEEDLES for his meds “20 x 1A” is the size or larger
8. Syringes, small and the ex large 20cc or larger for his feedings
9 Vet wrap
10. FURALL
11. SCARLEX SPRAY
12 WONDER DUST

Hi,  just wondered if you could post this.  It is a wish list for HoneyBandit if people would rather get him ‘stuff’ as opposed to sending money if they want to help.

Yesterday was quite the day.  We moved the “hospital” inside our carport/garage.  It poured rain and was nasty cold.  It is actually a pretty good setup.  We also installed a sling so HoneyBandit could spend more time “upright” as opposed to laying down all the time and getting pneumonia.  He really cannot handle anything else happening to him at this point.  It doesn’t hold him up, just gives him a little support so he doesn’t get so tired.  He looks very cute in it.

I am sending pix of him standing  by the trailer eating.  He is actually looking much better than he did when he got here.  We changed one of his meds yesterday and I think that was huge.  He still can’t stand up by himself, but when we do stand him up, he stands much stronger.  He is also walking much better.  Matt was hanging out in the chair while I took one of those ladies room breaks, and he said that HB walked up to him and he was petting him and that he went to take a big bite out of his leg.  His ears weren’t pinned or anything, but  he is starting to have more normal impulses.  He actually walked over to a t v tray we are using for supplies and “chewed” on it like a normal baby.  These are tiny, yet huge.  He is munching away as we speak.   We have to take him back to the vet in a couple hours for more blood work and I am hoping that we get a little better news.

Our vet is working very hard to help him, but is shocked that he lived this long and has doubts about whether he will survive, but I think (hopefully and God willing) that she will find out that MUSTANG HEART kicks butt and they can beat the odds.  She said that she had never ever seen a foal with this much damage

YOU CAN EMAIL LAURIE AT:  1palomino@frontiernet.net (1palomino @ frontiernet.net)

Editor’s note: as horrible as this tragedy w/ Honey Bandit is-if Laurie is able to  establish & maintain some type of “working relationship” w/BLM(which  she is concerned won’t happen if a “backlash goes at them on this”)-A LOT OF FOALS WILL BE ABLE TO BE SAVED IN THE FUTURE.Yes,we all hate theBLM-but we MUST PUT THE LIVES  OF THESE BABIES AS TOP PRIORITY!The info that I am getting behind the scenes on this tragedy is that some of the  workers are  already being  severely reprimanded.( I sure hope they fire them!)There is NO EXCUSE FOR THIS!  

BLM planning meetings in Wyoming remain closed to public

http://billingsgazette.com/mobile/article_b21db78a-b895-11df-bc97-001cc4c03286.html

Pony Express Letters:

We are still getting so many emails and letters from you now that the Pony Express deadline has been extended until September 10^th! Keep them coming, we are so appreciative of all your effort! We have surpassed our goal so much and are just over the moon!

Current Pony Express Count: 30,521

We are in the process of finalizing our float design for the Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year’s Day. Thank you all for sending in all your float suggestions to us. We have incorporated bits and pieces of a lot of them. We cannot wait to present our mustangs to 53 million viewers and thousands of spectators! 

We have started a SAM Cam. I will give periodic video updates on important things going on with the SAM team. Our first one can be viewed here  or on the facebook pages.
Also, be sure to visit the News and Events section on www.savingamericasmustangs.org for updates on the roundups currently happening and more information on the wild horse issue. It's very important to educate yourself, so you can educate others.
If you haven't done so yet, it takes less than a minute to click the Pony Express button and send your letter to us. Please do this for our wild mustangs and for future generations so that they can see these majestic creatures thriving in their natural environment.

We have had a couple of people from outside the US that wanted to write, but cannot do it from the Pony Express button, because it asks for a US zip code. Or if the link isn't working for you, please email directly to madeleinesponyexpress@gmail.com.
 Mailed letters can be sent to:
Saving America's Mustangs 
2683 Via De La Valle, G 313
Del Mar, CA 92014
I am so pleased that so many new people have subscribed to our list and joined our team! I sincerely thank you for taking the time to educate your contacts about not only the Pony Express, but about our mustangs belonging to the American people.
I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Labor Day!
Respectfully,
Madeleine Pickens & the Wild Mustangs 

LAS VEGAS — Government contractors have fired up their helicopters for yet another roundup of Nevada wild horses. The latest gather targets a remote area north of Ely, Nevada.

Four more roundup operations are on the schedule in our state this year. They will not only thin the herds, but wipe them out altogether.

2010 already ranks as one of the most aggressive in the history of Bureau of Land Management horse roundups, with a lot more to come. Operations which proved deadly for the herds have already scooped up thousands of mustangs from public ranges, but with no commensurate reduction in the number of private cattle allowed to stay.

The next round seems are designed to wipe out the horses altogether.

The Moriah Herd area near Ely will result in the removal of every one of the 72 horses living on thousands of acres. Two other Nevada herd management areas will be completely zeroed out of horses, and two others will see more than 90-percent of the mustangs taken away, even though federal law set aside those ranges as places where horses could roam forever.

Critics of the program say it looks as if BLM is in a race to grab every horse it can get before the program gets shut down, which is exactly what is needed according to a letter sent to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and signed by 54 members of Congress, including Nevadans Shelley Berkley and Dina Titus.

The letter harshly criticizes the roundups, calls for an immediate moratorium, and seeks an outside study of the science behind the gathers, or lack thereof, by the National Academy of Sciences.

BLM says it will cooperate with such a study, but Director Bob Abbey told Congress he has no intention of stopping the roundups.

“We signed the letter because we need to stop the roundups and the slaughter so we can study the policy. It hasn’t worked and they know it, we know it, the horses know it. We asked that they allow for a study but they won’t stop and I worry because these studies can take years,” said Rep. Titus.

Titus worries that by the time the study is complete, more herd areas could be wiped out by BLM. The roundups themselves can be deadly to horses.

“You see these pictures of them running to death and the colts and it breaks your heart,” she said.

A separate review of the horse program is already underway. The inspector general of the Interior Department is actively soliciting information from the public, including horse advocates, about all that’s wrong with its implementation — a review that can’t be seen as good news within BLM.

On another front, philanthropist Madeleine Pickens is hoping to move forward with her plans to build a sprawling horse sanctuary in northern Nevada. Pickens has already put millions of her own money into buying a large ranch near Elko and now has an agreement to buy a second property as well.

She will need the cooperation of BLM if she wants to put captured mustangs on the land so she can open an eco-tourism attraction, although BLM has said in the past it does not wants the horses to remain in Nevada, even in a sanctuary.

Director Abbey has agreed to meet with Pickens this month to talk about her plan but has made no promises.

Titus says she has already introduced legislation to force BLM to use options other than roundups, such as more adoptions, birth control, and a program to encourage ranchers to allow horses to graze on private range. But BLM continues to use roundups as the primary focus of the program.

Here’s a list of recent gathers:

Herd Area:      # of Horses in Area:        # of Horses Removed

Moriah:                     72                                  72

Montezuma:             139                               139

Paymaster:               45                                 45

Reveille:                   250                              198

Silver King:              600                               545

WildHorse News:

GLENNS FERRY, Idaho -- The fast moving Long Butte fire near Hagerman is now 100 percent contained and fire fighting operations are scaling down. But the trouble isn’t over for close to 200 wild horses.

The Bureau of Land Management did an emergency horse round up Tuesday.

http://www.ktvb.com/news/Wild-horses-rounded-up-after-devastating-wildfire-101932418.html

Hello,

This letter  will add momentum to the mission to stop the BLM, Bureau of Livestock and Mining, from their cruel horse culling and hopefully end the violation of our trust and the betrayal to the American Wild Horses.

In a few words, express your thoughts and ask them to stop the cruel round ups now and put an immediate moratorium in place.

To see just why this is urgent and very critical, see the link to the story of the 2week old foal that was mercilessly roped and shot by our government sponsored cruelty, paid by our tax dollars.

BLM must be stopped now. Join in the momentum to do so, as we owe the wild horses a great debt and gratitude, not the stinking propaganda of a rogue BLM out to deceive the nation and extinct the mustangs in our life time. BLM has failed and not performed in the service of the mustangs, nor the public. Do your part so our grandkids can still see a wild horse some day.

THANK YOU.

Monika Courtney

Madeleine Pickens is doing a Pony Express by delivering letters to Washington. She will personally hand them. She is extending her deadline and hopes to get kids to write on behalf of the mustangs.

In case you would help, here is the info:

http://www.capwiz.com/madeleinepickens/issues/alert/?alertid=15433501&type=ML

Madeleine Pickens Our mailbox was overflowing! I'm touched by all of you! I got lovely pckgs from so many of you &the most touching letters from children on behalf of our horses! Young voices will really make the govt take a step back & notice what needs to be done &ASAP! For the children starting school, we are extending the Pony Express deadline to let more letters be accepted. We had an outstanding response &want them included!

.Madeleine Pickens address: 2883 Via De La Valle, G 313
Del Mar, CA 92014

She hopes to get more letters and anyone can send one. All they have to say is for the government to stop rounding up the mustangs/burros and protect them in designated wild horse areas, as mandated by law ! We try to demonstrate that the American public cares and stories as the one here (link below) should make everyone aware that the BLM is out of control.

I hope you participate.

Thanks again.

Monika

http://www.madeleinepickens.com/news/two-week-old-wild-horse-shot-and-killed-before-california-roundup/

Dear Friends,

Please take some time to read up on this disturbing story of a two-week old foal being brutally shot to death near where the latest gather, Twin Peaks (California), by the Bureau of Land Management is taking place. Please note the photos below are actual photos and are very alarming.

Sincerely,

Madeleine Pickens

From Madelaine Pickens:

Here's an update on the Pony Express Campaign:
We have been sent 17,351 letters!!! You all have been fabulous in sending the letters and promoting the campaign!!! Keep them coming. We’re in the home stretch now. We need 20,000 by September 1^st. It takes less than a minute to click the Pony Express button and send your letter to us. Please do this for our wild mustangs and for future generations so that they can see these majestic creatures thriving in their natural environment.
A Huge thanks to all the organizations that have added the Pony Express to your websites, blogs, and E-blasts, we truly appreciate every single one of our supporters!! 

Madelaine’s Pony Express

Hand Delivery to Washington, D.C.

You write and she will deliver

http://www.capwiz.com/madeleinepickens/issues/alert/?alertid=15433501&type=ML

I will also be a guest on Mr. Wayne’s Radio Show on Restless Republic Radio at 11:15am PST on Thursday, August 26^th . He is the Host for The Green Revolution Show. 
Please listen live to this broadcast at the links below:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mr-wayne
http://www.thegreenrevolutionshow.com/
The following Thursday, I'll be on Rick Crandall’s Radio show, The Breakfast Club, on Thursday, September 2^ndat 8am PST.
http://www.kezw.com/
Listen live   
These are both very popular radio shows and I’m very lucky to have been invited to speak about the deadly mustang roundups and my eco-sanctuary plan!
Thank you all for your continued support!! I am very blessed to be united together for this cause.
Very Sincerely,
Madeleine Pickens
Follow Madeleine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mpickens
Become Madeleine Pickens' Friend on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/madeleine.pickens
Visit her website for up to the minute information: www.savingamericasmustangs.org

Obama Administration Accelerates Assault on Wild Horses
Three Actions You Can Take To Help!

Largest Roundup Of Wild Horses In California’s History Underway
Act Today To Oppose Other Planned Roundups

On August 11, 2010 the Interior Department began the largest roundup of wild horses in California’s history. Nearly half of the 4,000 wild horses left in the state will be removed from their homes and families in the next few weeks. This devastating and unnecessary roundup began despite a lawsuit filed by In Defense of Animals (IDA) and others. We have a representative on the ground at the roundup and will provide an update on the IDA blog later this week.

Today we are asking you to take three actions to help wild horses. Congress and the Interior Department must continue to hear from you! Together we can change this broken system if we continue to fight the deeply-entrenched special interests which control the Interior Department’s management of our public lands and the wild horses who live there. 

1. Speak Out Against The Zeroing Out Of All Wild Horses From The Winter Ridge Herd Area in Utah

Take action to oppose the removal of all horses at the Winter Ridge Herd Area in Utah. This is just the latest effort of the Interior Department to remove all wild horses from lands specifically designated for their usage – while allowing livestock grazing to continue on the same lands. Click here to submit comments.

2. Oppose Removal Of 321 Wild Horses From Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Area In Colorado

Oppose the Interior Department’s plan to remove the majority of wild horses in Colorado’s Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Area. The agency will only leave 135 horses on this 190,000-acre public land area, while allowing hundreds more livestock to graze the same public land! Click here to submit comments.

3. Summer Recess – Perfect Opportunity To Visit Your Senators And Representatives At Home Through September 12.

One of the best actions you can take to help wild horses and burros is to meet in-person with your Senators and Representative. Ask your members of Congress to stop the mismanagement of America’s wild horses and burros. Despite public opposition, the Interior Department continues the unsustainable practice of rounding up, removing and stockpiling wild horses in government holding facilities – this ill-conceived and unnecessary practice is bankrupting the American tax payer wasting tens of millions of tax dollars annually.

In the next eight weeks, the Interior Department plans to remove four-thousand wild horses, using helicopters to stampede them and removing them from their families and homes on public lands only to be stockpiled in government-holding facilities. Congress must step in to stop this.

Members of Congress are currently in their home districts on recess until September 12. This is a great opportunity to let your Senators and Representative know that you, their constituent, want them to take action to help America’s wild horses and to end horse slaughter.

Here's what to do:

Call the district offices of your U.S. Representative and both U.S. Senators and:

1.    Request a face-to-face meeting with both Senators and your Representative to discuss these issues (you may need to meet with one of their aides – try to meet with their chief of staff or lead aide on this issue);

2.    Ask for specific dates of town hall meetings or open events that constituents can attend.

Find contact information for your elected officials click here. You'll need to enter your zip code on that page to get your officials' local contact info.

Learn more about the issues by reviewing briefing documents here.

Below are talking points for specifics on what to say to schedule your in-person meeting.

TALKING POINTS FOR MEETING WITH YOUR FEDERAL REPRESENTATIVES

1. Call the local offices to schedule a meeting.

Here’s a suggestion for what to say:

“Hello, I am a constituent of ____ and I would like to set up a meeting with him/her while he/she is home in our district to talk about wild horse protection issues. I’m also wondering if he/she has any town hall meetings coming up that I can let others know about.” 

2. For your meeting, dress professionally, be friendly and polite. Here are some suggestions of what you can say to begin the meeting:

“Thank you for meeting with me. I am very concerned about our federal wild horse management program. Public opposition to the Interior Department’s massive wild horse roundups is growing. The roundups are unnecessary, inhumane and wasting tens of millions of tax dollars.

For the first time, we now warehouse more wild horses in government holding facilities (38,000+) than are left free on the range (less than 33,000). This stockpiling of horses costs taxpayers tens of millions of dollars annually. Even Interior Secretary Salazar acknowledges the program is unsustainable, yet BLM roundups continue with over 12,000 to be removed from the range this year alone. They have no solution to stop this broken cycle.

The problem is not overpopulation. Fewer than 33,000 horses live on 26 million acres of BLM-managed public land. The problem is inequitable distribution of resources within the small percentage of BLM lands that are designated as wild horse and burro areas. The majority of resources are allocated to privately-held livestock, not federally-protected wild horses.

The BLM has demonstrated repeatedly that it is not capable of reforming itself. It’s up to Congress to reform this broken federal program.”

3. Ask your Senators and Congresspersons to take the following actions:

1) Join the 56 House members who have called for a halt to roundups by sending a sign-on letter to Secretary Salazar.

2) Ensure Fiscal Year 2011 Appropriations language that: 

Suspends wild horse and burro roundups in all but verifiable emergency situations;

Prohibits the use of any funds to euthanize healthy horses or sell horses directly or indirectly for slaughter;

Authorizes a National Academy of Sciences reevaluation of Appropriate Management Levels including analysis of resource allocation for livestock and other commercial uses;

Phases out long-term holding and shifts BLM resources toward managing horses on the range in a humane and minimally intrusive manner as Congress intended;

Rejects request for $42.5 million government “preserve;”

Funds public/private partnership solutions.

3) Co-sponsor the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act (H.R. 503/S. 727) to ban horse slaughter.

BLM conducting a bloody 2000+ mustang and burro roundup
California doesn't have many wild horses and very few wild burros left but that, along with a public outcry, has not stopped the Bureau of Land Management from rounding up thousands more of California's wild equids. The BLM, responsible for managing most of the remaining wild horses and burros in ten Western States, are now running horses ten miles or more over rough volcanic terrain with helicopters. Horses bleeding from their noses in the thick dust, very young foals separated from their mothers, a mare with a broken leg and a colicking mare have been observed by a dedicated team of advocates observing the Twin Peaks roundup.

California has lost 16 of the original 38 wild horse herds designated for protection in 1971 and over 2/3 of the public land tagged for wild horses and burros has been taken away from these celebrated icons of the West. Now BLM is working fast to remove 1855 mustangs and 210 wild burros from the Twin Peaks area, just north of Susanville, California. The roundup is scheduled to last 45-60 days and BLM aims to leave only 450 mustangs and 72 burros on this 1250-square mile range, larger than the state of Rhode Island.  Almost all the mares returned would be given infertility drugs and a mere 72 burros is not a genetically viable population in this beautiful area designated principally for their use .  Over 32,000 privately-owned cattle and sheep are permitted to graze annually on the Twin Peaks area. Revenues generated yearly from livestock grazing fees are estimated at $120,000 while the cost of rounding up/processing of 1,980 wild horses and burros would be 35 times the annual grazing revenues -over $4 million. Over 38,000 wild horses are in government holding while less than half that remain on the range and BLM plans to complete the removal of 12,000 wild horses and burros this fiscal year alone.
California's Wild Herds Need You- What You Can Do

1.    Call and email and meet with staff of U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (ph. 916.448.2787) and Dianne Feinstein (ph. 415.393.0707), Governor Schwarzenegger (ph. 916-445-2841) , and your Congressperson & state legislators too! Message: High cost to the taxpayers; loss of our last big California wild horse herd; loss of potential for eco-tourism in area; loss of freedom and family for the wild horses; likely death toll at least 99 animals (.05% average deaths according to BLM)

2.    Write letters to the editor of your local paper.

3.    Tell your friends about Twin Peaks & roundups planned across the West; visit your CA herds in the wild and work to protect them for future generations to come. Observation of the Twin Peaks roundup is being allowed 7 days per week- please come and bring a reporter with you. 

Learn more at www.thecloudfoundation.org

U2 Band Promoter Peter Rowan on concern for WildHorses:

http://www.examiner.com/u2-in-national/u2-boy-peter-rowen-expresses-concern-for-america-s-wild-horses

For Immediate Release: 

Two-Week-Old Wild Horse Shot and Killed Before California Roundup

Advocates ask for investigation

Sacramento, CA (August 13, 2010)—The body of a wild horse foal was found near the site of the Twin Peaks roundup Wednesday by Craig Downer, wildlife ecologist and Cloud Foundation Board member, and Chrystie Davis, wild horse advocate. Davis, an experienced horsewoman, examined the foal for any broken bones. What she found was an apparent rope burn on a rear leg as well as a gunshot wound.

 “It seems as though the foal was shot in the gut,” Davis states. “It looked as though the foal was abused, lassoed around the hind legs and dragged.” 

The foal, approximately 2 weeks old, was killed prior to the start of the controversial Twin Peaks Herd Management Area roundup in Northern California. When Davis told BLM officials about finding the gunshot foal, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) employee, Carman Prisco, told Davis she must be confused and the dead animal was an antelope. Photos taken by Downer confirmed that this is indeed a wild horse foal.

Photographs taken at the capture site, set on sharp lava rock, reveal blood stains within the trap.

Mustang advocates ask BLM law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation into the abuse and death of the federally protected wild horse—killed before independent contractor, Cattoor Livestock, began rounding up wild horses with helicopters.

Field reports from those on the ground noted a severely injured white stallion that suffered head trauma supposedly from fighting with other stallions in tightly packed transport vehicles. Even though the injury was serious, the BLM contractor was quoted as saying a vet “might need” to be called. The whereabouts of that stallion are currently unknown. Another stallion was off loaded into a pen with eight mules that attacked him, causing traumatic injuries. This incident was also brought to the attention of the BLM by public observers.

Advocates were told yesterday that there were no injuries, yet when they went to look at the horses in holding, the area was blocked off. They were told that they could not access the area because the “injured horses” needed to rest.

Injuries are not uncommon in roundups and underscore the need for public access, says Ginger Kathrens, Director of the Cloud Foundation and EMMY Award-winning producer.

“Access is absolutely essential and is granted by the Constitution,”  says  Kathrens. “The ‘acceptable’ suffering of these horses is simply not acceptable to the caring public.”

Laura Leigh, Cloud Foundation Herd Watch coordinator, agrees.

“If this is what we see when the BLM actually allows us in, what happens when they black out their actions to the press and public?” asks Leigh,  plaintiff for the Tuscarora round-up that ended July 20 in Nevada, “The time for real Congressional intervention is long overdue.”

The recent round-up in Tuscarora, Nevada—also run by Cattoor Livestock—resulted in the deaths of thirty-six wild horses. 

Simone Netherlands: Leslie was allowed brief access to the Litchfield corrals and documented 26 babies including very small ones in a pen with only 4 mares. They were screaming for their mothers who were all scattered in different corrals calling back out to them. Also one lactating mare down with a broken leg and another colicking severely in a different pen. It is 90 degrees and we have 26 babies starving and dehydrating.

Just in from Garnet. This is yesterday's NPR broadcast with Tom Gorey, George Knapp and Madeleine Pickens. It's about 50 minutes long but well worth the listen. Gorey is still using the over population...20% per year increase, etc. Madeleine and George are great - locked, loaded and dead on target!

http://www.knpr.org/audio2010/SON-mp3/100811_wild-horses.mp3

received last week from Michael Golembeski (michael@wind-dancer.org) of the Wind Dancer Foundation in Colorado.

He wanted this message to get passed on to as many people as possible...

I just talked with a legislative aide from Senator's Landrieu's office today. I asked if they had e-mails of support would they use them. Due to our being out of her state, the office can't respond but would take 
the e-mails of support for the wild horse program. Yet, yourself, Cloud Foundation, Return to Freedom and other reputable blogs need to post this message.

Today in an article (Horseback magazine) entitled, "Plenty of Water at the Nevada roundup - and dead horses too!! Senator Landrieu made the following comment; A firestorm of outrage has swept across the desert sands of Nevada and the nation at what many believe is a government agency that has turned rogue. U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, (D) La has proposed that her colleagues consider removing the Wild Horse and Burro Program from federal Bureau of Land Management control.
And fifty-four members of Congress have petitioned Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to end the capture of wild horses on land controlled by the BLM. They have asked the National Academy of Science to investigate the agency’s Wild Horse and Burro Program.
The message;
So, please take the time tonight to write an e-mail to Senator Landrieu and support that notion...... to remove the Wild Horse & Burro program from the BLM.
Senator Mary Landrieu (D- LA) 202-224-5824, fax 202-224-9735http://landrieu.senate.gov/about/contact.cfm
michael golembeski

August 9, 2010

DO SOMETHING WILD THIS SUMMER—SAVE THE WILD HORSES!!

Dear Humanitarian:

One of the most successful components of any grassroots campaign is the involvement of our youth and that couldn’t be truer than with our current efforts to protect America’s wild horses.  Kids, with their passion and honesty, are welcome and critical additions to spreading the word.  Anyone working on this issue has probably heard how massive letter writing campaigns by children all over the U.S. helped Wild Horse Annie get Congress to pass the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act in 1971.  Many adults fighting for wild horses today got their start at that time.  We need to reignite that passion because if we don’t act soon, the children of today might not be able to enjoy wild horses for much longer.

To help get more young people involved, AWI has turned its recent “Home on the Range?” ad into a coloring page for kids.  Our goal is to get this to as many children as possible so they can color it in and mail it to the Senators and Representative of the Congressional district where they live and to President Obama.  If kids are particularly enthusiastic they can also send copies to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and to us at the Animal Welfare Institute.

Please share this eAlert with everyone you know, even if they don’t have children (they probably know some!).  We hope to get an overwhelming number of these drawings colored and sent to as many public officials as possible.  If you are a teacher or work with children, this would be a great class activity.  Feel free to print out as many as you need. 

To download a PDF of the drawing, click here www.awionline.org/homeontherange.  For more information about the issue and how you can help, please visit www.awionline.org/wildhorses.  

Thanks for everything you do to help!

Sincerely,

Chris Heyde

Deputy Director

Government and Legal Affairs

--

CHRIS HEYDE

Deputy Director

Government and Legal Affairs

ANIMAL WELFARE INSTITUTE

900 Pennsylvania Ave., SE

Washington, DC 20003

www.awionline.org ~ www.compassionindex.org

The Animal Welfare Institute has been working to alleviate the suffering inflicted on animals by humans since 1951.

Please join us in our work to protect animals – visit our website to find out more and to sign up for AWI eAlerts: www.awionline.org.

Please consider the animals and their habitat before printing.

Release Date: 08/06/10

Contacts:  Gus Warr: 801-539-4057, Lisa Reid: 435-743-3128

BLM Issues Decision for Conger Complex Wild Horse Gather

Fillmore, Utah—The Bureau of Land Management’s Fillmore Field Office today issued a decision to remove excess wild horses from the Conger Complex Herd Management Area (HMA) near Garrison, Utah, to protect range conditions and wild horses.  The Conger Complex HMA consists of the Conger and Confusion Mountain HMAs.

“The current population of wild horses in the Conger Complex is far above the number the range can handle,” said Field Office Manager Mike Gates. “Our horses are healthy and we want them to remain healthy. We must manage the population at appropriate levels to maintain an ecological balance on the range.”

Beginning in Sept. 2010, the BLM plans to gather and remove an estimated 480 wild horses for placement in the adoption program or long-term pastures.  An estimated 50 studs of the captured wild horses from the Confusion Mountain HMA will be returned to the range to adjust the sex ratio and slow population growth.  Up to 30 of the Conger Mountain HMA wild horses will be released (about 20 studs of the captured wild horses will be returned to the range to adjust the sex ratio and slow population growth and about 10 mares will be treated with fertility control and returned to the range).  This will bring the population of horses to appropriate management levels established through the Warm Springs and House Range Resource Management Plans.
The Confusion Mountain HMA is located in Juab and Millard Counties 30 miles north of Garrison, Utah, and encompasses approximately 293,000 acres, with a current population estimated at 368 wild horses (based on a Feb. 2010 population inventory).  The Appropriate Management Level (AML) for the Confusion Mountain HMA has been established at 70-115 wild horses.  This means that 250 horses will need to be removed during the gather to achieve AML. 

 The Conger HMA is located in Millard County 20 miles northeast of Garrison, Utah, and encompasses approximately 170,000 acres, with a current population estimated at 291 wild horses (based on a Feb. 2010 population inventory).  The AML for the Conger HMA has been established at 40-80 wild horses.  This means that 230 horses will need to be removed during the gather to achieve AML. 

AML is determined through land-use planning efforts that involve public participation, vegetation inventories and allocation of forage in terms of animal unit months; the BLM determines the appropriate number of wild horses and burros that each Herd Management Area can support in balance with other uses of and resources on public land.  Planning efforts include an inventory and the monitoring of all uses of the public rangelands.

“Animals removed from the HMA will be available for adoption through the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Program,” Gates said.
Those that are not adopted will be cared for in long-term pastures, where they retain their “wild” status and protection under the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. The BLM does not send any horses to slaughter.

More details on the gather and opportunities for public visitation will be available soon from the BLM.  The gather and impacts are described and analyzed in the Conger Mountain Complex Wild Horse Gather Plan Final Environmental Assessment (EA). The EA and the Decision Record are posted on the BLM website at www.blm.gov/ut. The BLM also will provide updates and information at the same web address on a regular basis throughout the course of the gather.

To learn more about the program or to obtain an adoption application, visit the BLM National Wild Horse and Burro website atwww.wildhorseandburro.blm.gov. 

Horses and burros removed from the NWR would be put up for adoption or be sold at auction.

Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge Reviewing Plans to Remove All ...
By themustangproject
The Sheldon NWR has revised their management plans to include alternatives that would remove all wild horses and burros from within its boundaries. Sheldon has a wild horse management program currently in place at the refuge, ... “Based on current population and recruitment estimates, the annual removal would roughly equal 140 to 180 horses and 15 to 20 burros.” “After nearly two years of planning and public comment we believe this revised management plan will: prevent an ...
The ~Texas~ Mustang Project's Blog - http://themustangproject.wordpress.com/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Congress Must Act Now to Prevent Reckless Government Agency

from Imperiling Survival of America's Wild Horses and Burros

Washington, D.C. (August 2, 2010) - The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), along with leading Members of Congress, numerous  wild horse advocacy organizations and the majority of Americans, is exceedingly frustrated with the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) gross mismanagement of America’s wild horses and burros.  In a recent ad in the Washington, DC, newspaper, The Hill, AWI called on Congress to take swift and decisive action to prevent the BLM from “managing” our nation’s wild horses into extinction.

“AWI has long been critical of the BLM’s inability to responsibly manage wild horses on the range, and the agency’s recent actions have amplified concern for the future of America’s wild horses,” said Chris Heyde, deputy director of government and legal affairs for AWI.  “BLM’s more aggressive campaign of rounding up and warehousing wild horses began under the Obama administration and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.  Recent reports of horses dying during roundups due to broken necks and legs, sloughed hooves, and most recently water intoxication (allowing the horses to drink a toxic amount of water following a strenuous run), are unconscionable.”

Thankfully, several members of Congress are stepping up to defend these national treasures.  House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall (D-WV) and Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Chairman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) have led the way in holding the BLM accountable for  its actions.  They sponsored the Restore our American Mustangs Act (ROAM Act), which passed the House of Representatives by an overwhelming margin last year and have just sent a bipartisan letter signed by 52 of their colleagues to Secretary Salazar.  The letter raises serious questions about the recent tragic deaths of several wild horses and addresses the dire need for an independent analysis of the wild horse and burro program by the National Academy of Sciences.  As stated in the bipartisan letter, "We are concerned by the inability of your agency to acknowledge these disturbing outcomes, change what seems to be deeply flawed policy, and better manage the gathers so as to prevent the unnecessary suffering and death of these federally protected animals."  AWI shares these concerns.

Yet despite all of this public and Congressional attention, the BLM continues to recklessly round up and remove thousands of wild horses from their legally mandated rangeland. In fact, Secretary Salazar has proposed spending millions of taxpayer dollars to build additional long term holding facilities in the Midwest and East to facilitate even more wild horse removals, which will add to the staggering 38,000 animals already in confinement.

Ever defiant, just last week, BLM Director Bob Abby sent a letter to all Members of Congress decrying increased public scrutiny of the wild horse and burro program.  In this letter Director Abby wrote, “Some wild horse activists are waging a campaign in the court of public opinion, aimed at stopping the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from gathering wild horses and burros from overpopulated herds on Western public rangelands.”

“The Obama administration came into office promising greater transparency and accountability, which is entirely contrary to the BLM’s preference to keep its abuse of wild horses and burros behind closed doors,” contends D.J. Schubert, AWI’s wildlife biologist.  “If the BLM is convinced that its wild horse management program is essential for the good of the horses and the land, it should provide the public with reasonable opportunities to observe its roundups – the good, bad, and ugly – instead of complaining when advocates expose the program’s inherent cruelties and deficiencies,” adds Schubert.

AWI asserts that, like its sister Department of Interior agency, the former Minerals Management Service (MMS), the integrity of the BLM’s wild horse and burro program has been compromised by its relationships with special interests that occupy or use wild horse and burro range.  A few thousand wild horses are being blamed for every natural and unnatural problem facing the Western ranges, while ranchers, oil and gas companies, and other commercial entities abuse the public’s lands with inadequate oversight.  The BLM’s obvious favoritism toward these more politically connected and financially lucrative industries continues to jeopardize the survival of America’s last wild horses and burros.

“Based upon its record, it is no wonder the BLM balks whenever the demand for genuine accountability is discussed,” states Heyde.  “While the BLM has repeatedly ignored the public’s demands, we hope that the requests of members of Congress will not be so easily dismissed.”

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For More Information:

Chris Heyde, Animal Welfare Institute, (202) 337-2332

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CHRIS HEYDE

Deputy Director

Government and Legal Affairs

ANIMAL WELFARE INSTITUTE

900 Pennsylvania Ave., SE

Washington, DC 20003

www.awionline.org ~ www.compassionindex.org

The Animal Welfare Institute has been working to alleviate the suffering inflicted on animals by humans since 1951.

Please join us in our work to protect animals – visit our website to find out more and to sign up for AWI eAlerts: www.awionline.org.

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