Wild Horse Conservation

Wild Horse Lawsuit to Go Forward!!!

2011-04-28T14:34:00.001-07:00

A federal judge sided with wild horse advocates April 19 when he declined to dismiss their lawsuit claiming that a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) round up of approximately 2,000 animals from the Twin Peaks Herd Management Area near Susanville, Calif., was unlawful.

On July 15, 2010, attorneys Joseph Cotchette, Stuart Gross, William Spriggs, and Rachel Fazio filed the complaint in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California on behalf of ecologist Chad Hanson; Barbara Clark, founder of the DreamCatcher Wild horse and Burro Sanctuary; Linda Hay; and the animal advocacy group In Defense of Animals. The complaint alleges that the gather violates the Wild and Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 because it endangers horses. The Act protects mustangs and burros from harassment, capture or death, and places the animals' management under BLM jurisdiction.

The complaint also alleges that BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act. That Act requires federal agencies to consider environmental impacts of their proposed actions and offer to reasonable alternatives to those actions. The complaint alleges that the BLM failed to prepare an environmental impact study demonstrating that animals residing in the Twin Peaks management area exceed levels appropriate to maintain that range's ecological balance, and that the agency failed to offer alternatives to the gather for maintaining such an appropriate ecological balance.

The BLM sought the suit's dismissal on grounds that the case was moot because the gathers had already taken place.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Morrison C. England Jr. declined to dismiss the case, said a spokesperson for the court's clerk.

The Horse

CNN to run Mustang Series

2011-01-03T10:26:00.000-08:00

CNN - Wild horse roundup triggers controversy
"Happy New Year to all you mustang supporters.

CNN is running this series so hope you can catch it. One of the key issues is management of the wild horse. BLM says there are too many herd area and not enough employees to manage the herds. However what they don't say is that they refuse to allow dedicated groups of horsemen with the knowledge and a lifetime of expertise to volunteer their help in a management program. By culling the herds down to a few horse, genetic viability is compromised and the older horses so necessary to teaching the younger horses survival are removed. The wild horses that have run free for so many decades will become extinct. All that will be left are the ones in private sanctuaries unless those of us who are fighting the war to save them turn around government policy within the BLM.

And, to bring you up to date, our group of rescued Colonial Spanish Mustangs continues to thrive. The babies that were born here in Borrego are as big as their mothers and all are healthy and beautiful. We continue to search for land for a sanctuary where they will be protected and managed with programs set up so that the public can enjoy and view these living examples of history running free.

Blessing to you all

Kay"

CNN - Wild horse roundup triggers controversy

Supposed to be continued tomorrow as another segment.

Let's Work Together

2010-05-27T10:13:00.000-07:00

Original Message -----
From: Valerie James-Patton
ToSent: Tuesday, August 08, 2006 7:35 PM
Subject: A National Moratorium to Stop DOI Wild Horse Round-ups
A National Moratorium to Stop DOI Wild Horse Round-ups

Hi Everyone,
I'd like to present something to everyone that I believe just might be the solution that we need to help save what's left of our wild horses and burros. I'm starting to think it may be the only solution. It's not my idea, it's Deanne Stillman's idea. And I believe it's a great one. I certainly have not seen any better suggestions. I sent this idea to some of you a few weeks ago, and because I've added many more names here, I'm sending it again to share thoughts and ideas between everyone here.
Deanne mentioned it in her recent article, "Let's Mend the Broken Trail," but until she sent me the Department of the Interior's Code of Conduct, I didn't realize the possibility of what she has in mind. Given the dwindling number of wild horses on the range, she is urging that wild horse groups set aside any differences, work together, and ask for an immediate moratorium on all wild horse round-ups carried out by any agencies within the Department of the Interior, until the Department proves itself to be in compliance with the code.
I'm pasting the Code of Conduct here, and I hope you all see what I do. For instance, note that the code prohibits the fabrication and falsification of studies. Yet last year, two Interior Dept. scientists, Brooks and Campbell, came forward and accused the Bush administration of falsifying the latest grazing studies. There are many other aspects of this code that apply to current policy towards wild horses and burros. I think Deanne might have found us all a solution. I did tell her I'd try to help push it, and just sending her idea out to all of you is the only way I can think of to do it. If any of you see the possibility as well, please forward the idea to anyone you feel might be interested.
Thank you,
Valerie

For Immediate Release Hugh Vickery May 30, 2003 202-501-4633

(WASHINGTON) -- Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton today announced the
development of a for the Interior Department
- independently reviewed and approved by a panel of leading scientists
and ethicists - to help ensure the integrity of all scientific work
done by its employees and contractors.
"The scientific code of conduct will help ensure the American people
that the research and analysis we use has been conducted according to
the highest standards of the scientific community," Norton said.
The department developed the code in accordance with a new federal
policy on conduct of science published on December 6, 2000, by the White
House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
In addition, the Interior Department's Office of Inspector General
recommended the department develop a scientific code of conduct in its
report on its investigation of the submission of unauthorized samples to
a laboratory during population surveys for the Canada lynx in 1999 and
2000.
The code is being developed through a unique process involving both
peer review by an independent panel and employee involvement. The code
will be a new addition to the Department Manual, and this will be the
first time employees have had a chance to comment on a change to the
manual.
"We want the new code of conduct to be fully embraced by Interior
scientists as an accurate statement of their ideals," Norton said. "We
will fully involve employees in active discussion to ensure this reflects
their professional standards."
In addition to the employee comment process, there will also be an
opportunity for public comment on a similar code being prepared for
consultants and contractors to the department. Their code will go through the
ordinary administrative rulemaking process. Dates for public comment
will be announced later.
The code is similar to the codes of conduct of many scientific
organizations, including the Wildlife Society, American Fisheries Society,
and Ecological Society of America, to which many department scientists
belong. All of the scientific activities conducted or funded by the
Department are covered by this definition. These involve inventory,
monitoring, study, research, adaptive management or assessments that are
conducted in a manner specified by standard protocols and procedures.
"It is vitally important that any organization that does as much
scientific research and analysis as the Interior Department have a
well-founded code of scientific conduct that governs the full range of scientific
activities," said Dr. Deborah Brosnan, president of the nonprofit
Sustainable Ecosystems Institute and head of the independent review panel.
"Our panel felt that this was a strong code that meets three key goals
of building trust between science and the public, giving guidance, and
providing support for scientists."
The panel also included: Ann Bartuska, executive director of The
Nature Conservancy's Invasive Species Initiative and current president of
the Ecological Society of America; Baird Callicott, professor of
environmental ethics at the University of North Texas; Barry D. Gold, program
officer for the David and Lucile Packard Foundation; Carol Boggs,
director of the Center for Conservation Biology; and Jim Reichman, director
of the National Center For Ecological Analysis and Synthesis.
Under the new federal policy, scientific misconduct includes both
professional misconduct and research misconduct. Research misconduct is
defined as fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing,
performing, or reviewing research, or in reporting research results.
Fabrication is making up data or results and recording or reporting
them.
Falsification is manipulating research materials, equipment, or
processes, or changing or omitting data or results such that the research is
not accurately represented in the research record.
Plagiarism is the appropriation of another person's ideas, processes,
results, or words without giving appropriate credit.
Research misconduct does not include honest error or differences of
opinion.

Any allegations brought under the code will be handled in accordance
with departmental personnel policies and with the department's Handbook
on Charges and Penalty Selection for Disciplinary and Adverse Actions as
a guide. The new federal policy includes safeguards for subjects of
allegations, including timeliness, objectivity and confidentiality.
The Interior Department has established a website
(http://www.doi.gov/ethics) that contains the existing agency directives
pertaining to policies and conduct.
The U.S. Office of Government Ethics also has a website
(http://www.access.gpo.gov) where it has published the Standards for
Ethical Conduct of Employees of the Executive Branch.
Here is the proposed code:

THE CODE OF SCIENTIFIC CONDUCT
To the best of my ability:
I will act in the interest of the advancement of science and
contribute the best, highest quality scientific information for the Department
of the Interior.
I will conduct, manage, judge, report, and communicate scientific
activities and information honestly, thoroughly and without conflict of
interest.
I will be responsible for the resources entrusted to me, including
equipment, employees' time, and funds. I will be accountable for the
prompt and accurate collection, use, and reporting of all financial
resources and transactions under my control.
I will disclose the research methods to the local communities, Indian
tribes, and other individuals whose interest and resource uses are
studied; and respect the confidential and proprietary information provided
by those individuals to the fullest extent permitted by law.
I will neither hinder the scientific and information gathering
activities of others nor engage in dishonesty, fraud, deceit,
misrepresentation, or other scientific, research or professional misconduct.
I will welcome constructive criticism of my scientific activities and
information, participate in appropriate peer reviews, and critique
others' work in a respectful manner amid objective scientific review.
I will be diligent in the creation, use, preservation, and
maintenance of collections and data records; adhere to established quality
assurance and quality control programs; follow the records retention policies
of the Department; and comply with Federal law and established
agreements related to the use, security, and release of confidential and
proprietary data.
I will know, understand and adhere to standards of public information
dissemination and the formal publication of scientific information and
respect the intellectual property rights of others.
I will be responsible in all scientific activities for both the
collection and interpretation of data I collect and the integrity of
conclusions I present.
I will place quality and objectivity of scientific activities and
information ahead of personal gain or allegiance to individuals or
organizations.

Orphan Foal Rescue

2010-05-03T09:43:00.000-07:00

From: willis@kbrhorse.net
To: LRTCwildhorsementors@yahoogroups.com
Sent: 5/2/2010 6:24:11 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time
Subj: Sunday's Orphan Foal Rescue

Feel free to cross post.
On Saturday afternoon a call was received about a dead mare with a foal near Cooney Spring behind Iron Mountain (northwest of Stagecoach.) The circumstances of the mare suggested that she might have been shot and some target shooters were heard in the area that afternoon. Michael Hettrick was on the scene and Mike Holmes and Daryl Peterson responded and determined that based on the way the horse had fallen that this relatively young mare had apparently died suddenly but there were no signs whatsoever that she had been shot. Nonetheless there was a young foal approximately three weeks old by her side. A stallion was protecting the foal so a decision was made to wait and retrieve the foal at first light on the following morning.
Michael and Mike located the foal the next morning, still being actively protected by the stallion. Volunteers responded to the incident location. Shirley Allen brought the LRTC trailer and I brought Corey, a BLM mustang that we use for range work. The idea was for the walking volunteers to quietly encircle the foal and stallion from a distance to separate them from the greater herd of horses. With this done I would distract the stallion with Corey while the volunteers secured the foal. In reality the stallion was having nothing to do with this plan and he would circle around the approaching humans and attempt to get back over to the larger body of horses.
The rescuers' strategy shifted at that point to one where the walkers would stay put and I would trail the foal and stallion on horseback until the foal got tired and fell back. This strategy worked as pretty soon the pace dropped from a trot to a walk, then the foal was content to walk alongside Corey. I was able to quietly drop a loop over the foal and we rested until the walkers caught up.
The volunteers then walked the foal back to the trailer, giving him time to rest periodically. With Corey close by the foal stayed pretty calm. He was loaded in the trailer with Shirley riding with him, and is presently recovering well at the Lucky Horse Corrals. In fact little "Iron Man," as he is presently called, has pretty much made himself at home at Shirley's, even coming into the house (into the orphan room) to wake Shirley up when he wants another bucket of mare's milk replacement. Needless to say he's now wearing one of Shirley's famous foal diapers.
Daryl will be out Monday to do estray paperwork on the foal. When the "Iron Man" is determined to be sufficiently grown and healthy, he will be available for adoption.
Here are some photos Sharon was able to take during the rescue. (Slide show presentation above!)This foal has distinctive markings. It would be helpful if any of you who have photographed the Iron Mountain horses in the past two weeks or so could see if you have a photo of this foal. He would most likely be part of a small band with just a mare and stallion. Earlier photos with known dates as to when they were taken will help us accurately age this foal.
Thanks!
":O) Willis

Sulphur Springs Band on the Range

2010-04-23T20:13:00.000-07:00

Sulphur Springs Band on the Range
Photos by Robert Hayden taken this month near the Utah/Nevada border about 100 miles west of Cedar City Utah. There are an estimated 200 left after 325 were removed last November 2009!!

Las Vegas Rally for Wild Horse Preservation April 25

2010-04-23T19:43:00.000-07:00

From: artistfromafrica@hotmail.com
To: dgrizzle@pdglv.com
Sent: 4/23/2010 11:42:38 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time
Subj: come to wild horse rally Sunday called DON'T TAKE MY BALLS

PLEASE COME OUT NOON SUNDAY TO RALLY FOR THE CALICO STALLIONS - MEET AT THE RED ROCK SCENIC OVERLOOK. We are spray painting tennis balls red and suspending them from lariats - and signs will be provided for you. If we have enough people, we'll put a second group in front to the RED ROCK entrance so do come out.

If you cannot come, please put the information below on your facebook and twitter pages. The achey, shakey geldings at the Fallon holding pens thank you!

DON'T TAKE MY BALLS!
Las Vegans will rally in sympathy with the young stallions under 4 years of age that were painfully castrated last week by the BLM at the Fallon Nevada holding pens. If the BLM wins the federal lawsuit by In Defense of Animals, they will castrate all the remaining mature stallions from the Calico roundup. The BLM has severely limited public access to the captive Calico horses despite public demands for transparency.
We will hang blood-red balls from lariats and circulate petitions asking President Obama to rein in the BLM, an outdated agency and friend of welfare cows. Below see poster by Melissa Ohlsson.

WHERE? RED ROCK CANYON SCENIC OVERLOOK ON HIGHWAY 159, from Las Vegas Strip, go west on Charleston, past the 215 Beltway and Red Rock Canyon entrance gates

WHEN? SUNDAY APRIL25, 2010 from NOON to 2pm

WHY? Castration is a way of wiping out the gene pool of the mustangs that have unique bloodlines adapted to their specific area. Pictures of the castrated horses taken by Craig C. Downer appear below.

BACKGROUND? In January 2010, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) conducted a deadly roundup of 1922 wild horses from the CALICO MOUNTAINS COMPLEX in northwestern Nevada, despite a federal lawsuit underway to stop the roundups and the recommendation of the federal judge that BLM should NOT conduct a roundup in the dead of winter. The Calico horses were not starving and had not damaged the public range, meanwhile the BLM sharply increased the number of private cattle allowed to graze at subsidized cost on the horses' range. Stress and trauma lie behind the majority of the 86 wild horse deaths (to date) and 40 spontaneous abortions, a report issued today by the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign (AWHPC) concludes. AWHPC notes the expense of the Calico roundup which will cost taxpayers at least $1.3 million through April, and $1 million a year to warehouse the non-adoptable horses over their 20+ year lifespans. This costly policy, which relies on expensive roundups every four years, is pursued while cost-effective, on-the-range management strategies are ignored.

CONTACT PERSON? ARLENE GAWNE (702) 277-1313 artistfromafrica@hotmail.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION, see:
American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign
The Cloud Foundation press releases
News Story on Calico, rising death toll & skewed numbers from George Knapp (KLAS- Las Vegas)
BLM Daily Reports from Calico Roundup/Fallon Holding
American Herds
Mestengo. Mustang. Misfit. America’s Disappearing Wild Horses - A History

Roundup Schedule- updated February 2010

Don't Care About Wild Horses?...Maybe You Care About Your Pocketbook??

2010-04-21T20:05:00.001-07:00

Grass Roots Horse.com
thecloudfoundation | April 19, 2010 at 7:45 pm | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/pDfE4-Ho

A great new site to foster grassroots activism to protect and preserve our wild horses and burros in the wild--- online here

From the site: "We are individuals who care about the issues and want to join together to take concrete, measureable steps to make a difference. Grassroots activism is a time honored tradition that has stood the test of time. Let’s put it to work for our Horses. Join with us. E-mail us at volunteer@grassrootshorse.com"

Malibu Screening of "Disappointment Valley"

2010-04-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends, this is a must attend event and opportunity to help the mustangs, meet new people, make new friends...in a beautiful Malibu estate home...rsvp necessary, space is limted, details below...see you there...Vivo Los Mustangs!
besos
Calamity

MALIBU SCREENING:
Sunday, April 25, 730P--Screening of Disappointment Valley. . . A Modern Day Western AT Olandar, home of Carla and Leigh McCloskey, 6032 Philip Avenue, Malibu, Ca 90265 $15.00

New guests may come at 7P to see Leigh's wonder study, the Hieroglyph of the Human Soul See images of the Hieroglyph and Leigh's other work on his web site:

RSVP for screening needed as space is limited: 310-457-5398 or email carlamccloskey@aol.com.

This film examines the plight of America's wild horses and the rapidly deteriorating condition of our wild and beautiful public lands in the majestic, haunting American west. The film is impressionable, haunting and will inspire people to take action towards positive change. The film presents solutions for America’s wild horses and burros and the preservation of our public lands.

We are honored to have James Anaquad Kleinert--Director/Cinematographer available for

Q & A after the screening.

________________________

ABOUT THE FILM: "Disappointment Valley. . . A Modern Day Western"

In his international award-winning documentary film Spirit Riders,director James Kleinert followed an American Indian peace movement begun by the Lakota Nation as they made their historical horse-back ride to Wounded Knee in South Dakota. Spirit Riders shows how American Indians have reclaimed their sacred way of life through re-connecting with the horse. (www.spiritridersmovie.com)

Kleinert continues his work in a feature-length documentary film, titled Disappointment Valley. . . A Modern Day Western. The filmmaker examines the politics behind the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) controversial policies on public lands and questions the fate of America's wild horses and burros, whose very existence is in jeopardy.

Through interviews with scientific experts, ranchers, historians, wild horse owners, animal rights activists, environmentalists, movie stars, uranium prospectors and many other colorful characters, the filmmaker examines the origins and effects of the recent "Burns Bill," which gutted the Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act of 1971 and cleared the way for the slaughter and removal of wild horses in America. Greed and corruption take center stage, exposing corruption within the Department Of The Interior. The film also explores the current impacts on western public lands by oil, gas, mining and corporate cattle grazing.

The film interviews such experts as, Jim Baca, former Director of the Bureau of Land Management under the Clinton Administration, Congressmen Raul M. Grijalva (Chairman on the National Parks, Forests and Public Lands),Randy Udall, energy consultant, Michael Blake, (Writer of Dances With Wolves and Wild Horse Advocate), the Deputy Director of the Bureau of Land Management, environmental attorneys, Sheryl Crow, Viggo Mortensen, Daryl Hannah and more.

The filmdocuments the struggle of an animal that has long symbolized freedom, individualism and unbridled passion in America. Documenting wild horses in their authentic, beautiful pure essence (filmed in HD), Disappointment Valley, is a profound film that will awaken and touch all who view it.

The majestic band stallion known as Traveler, named after Robert E. Lee’s Stallion, and his family are, located in beautiful Disappointment Valley, Colorado. Traveler and his snow-white mare known as Alfa, live and thrive with their family until the Bureau of Land Management conducts a massive wild horse round up, taking two thirds of the wild horse herd away, destroying the wild band’s family dynamic and genetic viability in this brutal round up and removal. Traveler is sent to wild horse prison, a short-term holding facility, as is most of his family. Follow wild horse advocates as they work to get Traveler returned to his homeland, the threat of being shipped to BLM long term holding facilities is high. He may face euthanasia, or worse, being shipped to Mexico for brutal slaughter.

The untamed natural beauty of the last few remaining wild horses is a strong sign of hope for many people. Real-life heroes take peaceful action to save this noble symbol of American freedom and raw beauty. The wild horses’ plight is our own!

Disappointment Valley. . . A Modern Day Western, is a film that is impressionable, haunting and will inspire people to take action towards positive change. The film presents solutions for America’s wild horses and burros and the preservation of our public lands.

Copyright 2009 Spirit Riders Foundation Inc All Rights Reserved.

Extreme Graphic - Slaughter House - Please Help Put an End to This Horrific Crime

2010-04-07T20:08:00.000-07:00

Caution: Extremely Graphic

CHCD has released footage of the Richelieu and Bouvry Slaughter houses and kill pens. There are about 7 videos and be warned, they are horrific. CHDC had notified us last week and warned us but I didn’t expect this. If you ever need motivation to keep fighting to end slaughter, this will do it. You will note the green USDA stickers so many of these are our horses – minis, ponies…. Some of the horses were loaded two in the kill box forcing one horse to watch as the other was killed, others are left suffering while hanging as several attempts are made to kill them and others were shot several times including both eyes. It is an outrage and beyond cruel.

CHDC will be issuing a press release tomorrow and John & I will most likely be doing a follow-up release. They will also be posting a footage index on their site.

You can view the investigations on the CHDC site http://www.defendhorsescanada.org/ or on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/TwylaFrancois.

A huge thank you to Shelley, Twyla and Sinikka for exposing this cruelty.

Call your legislators and the president. This must end.

v

Vicki | A Voice for Our Horses

An Editorial - Simple as That.......

2010-04-07T14:59:00.000-07:00

________________________________

The BLM, Ken Salazar & Wild Horses

An Editorial

________________________________

By Robert A. WINKLER
The Desert Independent

April 6, 2010

We have taken an interest in the Wild Horse issue. This symbol of the west where we live, work, raise our children and sometimes try to remember a time when fences, freeways and politics didn't rule the land.

Unfortunately money has always spoken louder than good sense. Some would say good horse sense. And in this case it is the horses who have been knocked senseless by Department of Interior head, Ken Salazar and his Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

If you have been reading our articles (See the accompanying article and check out our Archives.), you know the detail of the horrors the BLM has inflicted on this noble animal. You also know that this has been done at great expense to the American taxpayer. Why? Follow the money as they say. There is only so much land. The horses are competing with moneyed cattle ranchers. It doesn't take a degree from an Ivy League University to figure out who is going to win out on that range.

Oh yes, the BLM has come up with lots of reason the horses have to go. They all dry up in the desert wind, like made up stories by a child trying to get out of doing something wrong.

Simple as that.

Simple as that.

We at The Desert Independent therefore say to the BLM, shame on you.

You have not discharged your duty to your country.

You have not discharged your duty to its citizens.

You have not discharged your duty most importantly to the now helpless horses in your charge.

Ken Salazar, you and the BLM have hidden yourselves away from the light of the public eye. And, apparently for good reason. What you have done and not done. What you are doing would never withstand public scrutiny.

You must ask yourselves, who works in the dark?

The answer is clear.

To Friends of the Wild Horses and Burros - Pray!!

2010-04-01T22:10:00.000-07:00

To Friends Of The Wild Horses And Burros:

Please join a national prayer network to save the last of America’s wild horses and burros. There are only a few left, and there is no indication that other efforts to save them will be fast enough.

To join others in a national prayer network, make a commitment to the horses and burros to pray for them every day for two weeks. Pray from the heart and with your deepest love. Then ask from 2 to 6 friends who want to help to do the same. This should create a large network.

This has no formal organization, no leaders, and costs nothing. Please help, they need us desperately.

Mary Anne Fleetwood
maryannefleetwood@access4less.net

"Nobody's Horses" are EVERYBODY'S HORSES!

2010-03-30T21:58:00.001-07:00

author of Nobody's Horses
----- Original Message -----
From: Don Hoglund MS, DVM
To: Kats@hughes.net
Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 3:45 AM
Subject: Attached - "Say Something" Management of the free

Attached PDF for publication on your Web Site. Permission granted to
reproduce the attached article "Management of the Free."

Best,

Don
MANAGEMENT OF THE FREE-ROAMING HORSE

Capture Stress Affects the Free-Roaming Horse:

It was reported on February 4th, 2010 that approximately twenty-five formerly free-
roaming horses had abortions in the hours and days after strenuous captures in the Calico
Complex Mountain Range of Nevada. Bloggers blogged, journalists scribbled, and wild
horse advocates blamed the abortions and other horse deaths on a devious Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) staff beholden to the cattle and energy lobbies. The advocates
often cite the tortures found in the feature film, The Misfits, and quote Thelma Johnson
while public observers recited their pledge to restore the protections of the now-
weakened Wild Free-roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971.

Nonetheless, some physical, chemical, or mechanical processes caused more than twenty-
four equine abortions in the hours and days just after capture at the Calico Complex. Did
these processes contribute to what we veterinarians call an apparent “abortion storm?”

In 2001, Holcomb and Ashley, at the University of Nevada-Reno, reported that
“successful management of many species often relies on actions that involve intensive
handling of individuals. Knowledge of how such handling may affect reproduction of a
particular species is important and may be applicable to managing other species.” They
used pregnancy testing, field observation, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) records,
and adopter surveys to determine effects of stress induced by gather and removal
management practices on the reproductive success of feral horses in the Garfield Flat
(GF) Herd Management Area (HMA) in Nevada. They analyzed pre-release confinement
effect data from gathers conducted in August 1993 and January 1997 and data on the
additional effect of removal in 1997. The data for an un-gathered population in the
Granite Range (GR) HMA in Nevada were used as controls for both years. Data from ungathered
GR horses also were used as controls for habitat effects on reproduction.
“Granite Range and un-gathered GF mares in 1997 had similar reproductive success
rates. Pregnant removed mares in 1997 had less reproductive success than un-gathered

Don Höglund MS, DVM Nobody’s Horses

mares at GR (P=0.003) and GF (P=0.005). Gathered and released GF mares had less
reproductive success than un-gathered GF mares (P=0.05). The results suggest that
minimizing time that mares are held prior to release will reduce fetal loss.”

During the fast and furious hours of any stimulating aerial herding the equine body goes
through a series of stress induced biochemical, physiological, neurological, and
mechanical effects. The heart and lungs accelerate, normal gut movement slows leading
to increased gas production, blood vessels constrict in many parts of the body and dilate
in the muscles, salivation increases, the colon evacuates, hearing is diminished, tunnel
vision results in loss of peripheral vision, instantaneous reflexes accelerate, sweating
begins, muscles fatigue, shaking results, and in the mare – occasionally abortion storms
appear. All of these conditions could be considered signs of stress, but did the stress of
the actual chase cause the abortions in an animal that evolved able to run while pregnant?
Or was it some other capture related phenomenon?

“Abortion in horses may result from a variety of causes. Infectious agents, such as
bacteria, viruses or fungi, may attack the fetus or its membranes, resulting in fetal death
and expulsion. Other factors attributable to the mare, fetus or external forces may also
cause loss of the embryo or fetus. These factors include twinning, hormonal deficiencies,
congenital anomalies, ergot alkaloid toxicity, and ingestion of tent caterpillar setae.1”
According to some experts, nutritional deficiencies have not been associated with
abortion in mares and in spite of common beliefs, experimental rough manual
manipulation of the pregnant uterus has not caused abortion or embryonic death2.

I think we can all agree that major equine physiological occurrences result during the
acute stress response of being chased by aircraft, land vehicles, and humans on foot.
Those powerful effects are often mediated by way of chemical and electrical signals
originating in the brain and affecting the adrenal gland and numerous other fear
responsive organs. As a result, during the chase and for hours after, high-levels of many

1Dr. Dan Kenney, Diplomate in the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine at the University of Guelph,
OMAFRA fact sheet, 89-169.

2 Dr. Dan Kenney, Ibid.

Don Höglund MS, DVM Nobody’s Horses

stress related hormones are produced or released by the adrenal glands, including
adrenaline and cortisone. Though not definitively proven, increased cortisone levels have
been implicated in contributing to abortion in horses. Some reports indicate that abortion
in mares [occurring within hours to days of capture] is most likely caused by an increase
in cortisone levels that initiate the parturition cascade in the mare.3 In one study, mares
experiencing artificially induced colic who subsequently aborted had higher cortisone
levels than untreated mares carrying to full term.4

If 50 horses perished as a result of gathering and handling 2,500 horses, the capture
fatality rate is about two-percent. Though no deaths or some fatality rate lower than two-
percent is preferred, two-percent is not ridiculously high for the capture and disposition
of 2,500 formerly free-roaming horses. The exception that I know of for lower abortion
and other fatality rates during capture and removal of more than 1,800 free-roaming
horses was at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) in 1995. After slow, multiple
helicopter captures of 10 to 27 miles duration I observed 1 death due to capture
technique, less than 10 deaths due to the combined veterinary processes, freeze-branding,
other handling, and transporting to holding facilities, and I attended 2 abortions on
WSMR. Neither of the abortions appeared related to the capture process. Of the 1,800
plus horses of all ages removed from WSMR during the birthing months of January to
August, the adoption herds produced more than 300, 1995 foals. What might have caused
the abortion storm at Calico?

In my experience, and not judging a capture that I neither attended nor participated in, I
make the following generalizations. The abortions at Calico were not likely the result of
some faulty technical strategy during the actual aerial herding. Helicopter facilitated
captures are the safest, least stressful, current strategy for capturing free-roaming horses
on vast tracts of land. I doubt that the abortions can be attributed directly to the weather,
the time of year, or the length of incarceration. Assuming water was available on the

3 Dr. Anne Schramme, clinical assistant professor of Theriogenology at the veterinary teaching hospital at North
Carolina State University, personal communication.

4 Santschi, E. M., M. M. LeBlanc, and P. G. Weston. 1991a. Progestagen, oestrone sulphate and cortisol
concentrations in pregnant mares during medical and surgical disease. J Reprod Fertil Suppl. 44:627-634.

Don Höglund MS, DVM Nobody’s Horses

Calico Complex, poor range conditions did not cause the abortions unless poisonous
plants were recently consumed in pathological quantities. If the horses had consumed
adequate plant toxins they would likely have aborted in the harsh winter months prior to
capture and did not have adequate photoperiod for recycling and breeding by early
January 2010. Diagnostic testing and the age of each fetus at the time of abortion might
help answer the toxin or infectious disease questions. Increased cortisone levels from
acute stress during and just after capture may well have induced potential for the
seemingly large numbers of abortions. So what really caused the pathological levels of
stress at Calico?

In my assessment, the most stress a free-roaming horse undergoes results from the close
proximity of human handlers in the hours and days just after capture. Any presence of
movement by a human on foot causes stress to the free-roaming horse. As a result, at
WSMR, the technical specifications for capture demanded that the freshly captured horse
be left alone with abundant average quality forage and free-choice clean water for not
less than three contiguous days. I propose that the near presence of humans on foot and
human related processing of freshly captured horses immediately after the Calico
captures and not the actual aerial pursuit by itself was probably the causative-agent for
untenable stress resulting in higher than normal cortisone levels in the mares. It is
possible that the combined stress conditions led to an acute parturition cascade resulting
in abortion in some mares at the Calico capture facility. However, technical capture
strategy changes limiting humans on foot in or around the BLM corrals for three-days
post-capture might reduce such abortion tragedies in future captures. That strategy is not
without logistics, time, and cost considerations.

Few of the claims of BLM mismanagement or advocacy legal maneuvers have slowed
the western states’ public horse captures or resolved the free-roaming horse breeding-
herd dilemmas we face. On the other hand, I have searched the various arguments about
mismanaged public horse policy for fair-minded references to the good federal, state, and
private free-roaming horse management found at the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang
Center near Lovell, Wyoming and along the coasts of Virginia and the Carolinas. Those

Don Höglund MS, DVM Nobody’s Horses

programs have produced effective public policy and precedent setting management of
free-roaming horses. Perhaps we should study the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center
policies and the Outer Banks horse management solutions and determine if those
principles and practices apply to the management of public horses in the ten western
states. Nevertheless, in order to understand the federal free-roaming horse policy and to
offer palatable solutions for management of the western states’ free-roaming horses, we
might remind ourselves of how America got to this crossroads in the mustangs’ long road
to freedom5. After all, when we capture a free-roaming horse, we destroy an aspect of the
very freedom we treasure as Americans.

Historical Perspectives on the Free-roaming Horse:

At the beginning of the nineteenth century nearly two million wild horses, or mustangs,
graced the western ranges, the rearing stallions – tails and manes flying – were almost
mythical symbols of freedom, independence, and endurance. By 1970 free-roaming horse
numbers on western states’ public lands were pared down to nearly 20,000 animals. The
Wild Free-roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 (Public Law 92-195) was enacted to
protect the remaining wild horses where then found on forty-seven million acres which
became divided into three-hundred and three herd management areas.

Sadly, within the last thirty years, some members of congress have worked tirelessly to
zero-out over a quarter of the originally preserved acreage and have eliminated one
hundred and eleven of the wild horse herd areas. The traumatic capture and adoption of
free-roaming horses have been so successful, that six of the original sixteen western
states that were home to wild horses in 1971 no longer have herds. Due to recent federal
legislation by politicians beholden to private enterprises, free-roaming horses could
vanish from the American west. What will the future hold for these noble creatures who
are direct descendants of horses that once hauled us across the frontiers of America and
helped us build a nation?

5 Heacock and Valdez, The Spanish Mustang and the Long Way Home, University of Houston Center for Public
History, vol. 7, Number 1, Fall 2009, houstonhistory@uh.edu.

Don Höglund MS, DVM Nobody’s Horses

Today, the attitude of “Live and let live,” when applied to the environment, just doesn’t
work. Human population growth, urban sprawl, and natural resource development have
made it necessary to manage everything – even wild things. So, to preserve the wildness
and the world we love, we must intervene to save these free-roaming horses. The first
intervention might be to detoxify the vocabulary.

If you ask anyone vaguely familiar with horses about free-roaming American equine
issues, be prepared to spend considerable time in debate. There are plenty of valid
viewpoints, several of which are quite emotional. The multitude of positions has created a
deafening whirl in the halls of Congress as well as out on the western rangelands.
Concerns for and about wild horses pit urbanites against ranchers, public servants, and
horsemen. For instance, just referring to free-roaming horses as wildlife is a great way to
get bogged down in arguments, even law suits, about definitions. What distinguishes wild
from exotic, mustang, feral (ranch horses gone loose), or indigenous? The truth is that,
when cornered, free-roaming horses have plenty of equine wildness in their behavior, and
it is that very wildness that captures the human imagination. Calling them ‘free-roaming’,
as found in federal language, allows the discussion to concentrate on the horses
themselves as a unique environmental and national treasure. The key is to find palatable,
long-term solutions to preserve them, while at the same time protecting the environment
and the interests of private citizens.

As an equine veterinarian and professional horse welfare advocate with 25 years
experience in dealing with and training thousands of un-gentled horses captured in
western and eastern states, I completed seven annual contracts as the attending
veterinarian with the Bureau of Land Management and New Mexico prison inmate horse
training programs. I also provided the onsite technical support, veterinary care, and
adoptions program for the rescue of the White Sands Missile Range horses from which
Nobody’s Horses arose.

From my perspective, in order to comprehend this often emotional debate, we must
understand that there are two major horse populations in the United States; the domestic,
private property horses and the publicly-owned, free-roaming horses found in the wild in

Don Höglund MS, DVM Nobody’s Horses

many states or held in federal captivity awaiting fate. Only some of the free-roaming
horses in the western states fall under the federal protections of ‘wild’ horse law. The
other free-roaming horses, east or west of the Mississippi River, are on sovereign lands,
military reservations, park service lands, federal lands not covered by ‘wild’ horse law, or
on private property. In these various places the horses are either not protected by any law,
as in the feral designation, or they are only protected by state and/or local laws. I consider
only the federally protected, free-roaming horses in this discussion.

At first glance and because Nobody’s Horses is a book about free-roaming horse rescue,
the domestic group of equine might easily lope out of this discussion because they fall
under the purview of domestic property law. Not so fast. Though the domestic population
of 9 million horses is privately owned, current congressional potential for prohibiting
horse slaughter for human consumption is locked between forces supporting and
opposing such federal legislation. Because debate revolves around the acceptability of the
slaughter of any horses, the fate of free-roaming horses enters the fracas. The publicly
owned, free-roaming horse populations – hoofing out a living mostly on public lands –
counts at about 64,000 head total. About one-half of these highly regarded horses – in
effect, John Q public horses and taxpayer assets – range freely in ten western states. The
discussion will return to their destiny later. The other 34,000 head, to the disquiet of some
vocal sympathizers, are imprisoned in protected holdings called sanctuaries or in federal
stockyards awaiting adoption to loving homes or death by law.

As of this publication and regardless of logical or emotional perspective, three statements
can be made. Free-roaming horses are still being captured even though more than 34,000
are already detained and munching out a life in taxpayer funded holding areas. Some
captured, free-roaming horses are not federally protected from commercial processing.
Domestic horses including some of the refuges from the wild life are not protected from
human consumption. How did this trifurcation and resultant anxiety come about, this
time? I say Senator Burns and his colleagues in Congress forgot about the determination
of wild horse advocates. Or did they?

Don Höglund MS, DVM Nobody’s Horses

In 2004, due to the Burns Amendment change in wild horse law, 8,000 of the imprisoned
equine captives that are deemed not-adoptable are likely headed for a cold meat-hook. As
the Burns Amendment would have it, regulatory protections for wild horses managed by
the staff at the Bureau of Land Management and its counterpart in the Department of
Agriculture were changed. Senators had written into the 3,300-page federal budget a
mandate that the BLM sell to the highest bidder wild horses deemed not-adoptable. In
April of 2007 the House of Representatives passed H.R. 249 which would have restored
the prohibition of the commercial sale and processing of captured, free-roaming horses
and burros. That bill would have overturned the Burns Amendment. However, sessions
of Congress last two years and at the end of each session all proposed bills and
resolutions that haven't passed both houses of congress are cleared from the books.

H.R. 249 later evolved into H.R. 1018 that passed the House in July, 2009 and
hibernates peacefully in the Senate – Committee on Energy and Natural Resources –
as S.R. 1579, a companion bill to the House version. Like it or not, as of February,
2010, the fate of the free-roaming horse is regulated under the protections of legislation
formed and passed on or before fiscal year 2005.
My current concern is for the destiny of the few remaining free-roaming horses that fall
under the often amended and notably weakened protections of the Wild free-roaming
Horses and Burros Act of 1971. The land management policies that apply to public
horses seem to revolve around the concepts of health of the public lands, capture for
adoption, maintenance in sanctuaries or holding facilities, or in-the-wild management.

Dr. Kathleen Fagerstone of the USDA Wildlife Services tells us that “for most of the last
century, federal and state wildlife conservation agencies in the United States have
focused on conserving or increasing populations of many species of wildlife. The
changing cultural values and increasing urbanization of the United States are curtailing
traditional wildlife management tools used to effectively manage conflicts between
human and wildlife populations. A growing interest in non-lethal methods for [animal]
population control [in-the-wild] of nuisance or damaging wildlife species has fostered
research in wildlife contraception.” Due to the fact that contraception for wild or other

Don Höglund MS, DVM Nobody’s Horses

free-roaming animals is now possible, thanks to advances in scientific research, this
method of population control is gaining favor in the hearts and minds of horse advocates
and wild horse critics alike.

Dr. Gary Killian, a distinguished professor and fertility control expert, notes, “There are
lots of factors that need to be considered, not to mention the fact that mares that are
contracepted tend to live longer. Decreasing the death rate will add to the total
population. I guess if fertility control of free-roaming horses were easy, it would have
been done already. At least we have some tools now like immunocontraceptives that have
potential to be useful if we could overcome the politics and figure out how best to apply
them.”

So what are equine immunocontraceptives6? How do they act to reduce birth rates? Who
is against their use, and why?

USDA Wildlife Services at the National Wildlife Research Center in Fort Collins,
Colorado began developing wildlife contraceptives in 1991. Scientists both here at
affiliated universities and private companies have steadily worked toward developing and
registering contraceptive products that are practical and safe for animals and humans. In
2005, the regulatory authority for wildlife contraceptives was changed from the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Currently, two immmunocontraceptive vaccines, the Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone
(GnRH) and the Porcine Zona Pellucida (PZP) vaccines have been tested to prevent
pregnancy in free-roaming horses. Both come in a liquid form for injection by needle or
bio-bullet. (Inter-uterine devices (IUDs) have also been tested, but with only limited
success.) These two vaccines use the animal’s immune system to produce antibodies
against reproductive hormones, gamete (egg) proteins, and other proteins essential for
successful reproduction. In other words, the antibodies interfere with the natural activity

6 This author does not consider hormone injections a viable option for contraception in Free-roaming horses. Oral
vaccines for fertility control in horses are not yet available.

Don Höglund MS, DVM Nobody’s Horses

of the reproductive agents. The vaccines can now be made so as to be effective
contraceptives from 1 to 4 years or longer. Neither is a hormone, nor do they have
hormone-like activity.

GnRH Vaccines are not Hormone Injections:

The GnRH vaccine creates antibodies that interfere with the reproductive hormone in
both sexes by causing blocking of biologically active GnRH. The result causes a
reduction in the release of other reproductive hormones and silencing the activity of the
gonads.

Fagerstone et al report that blockade of mammal GnRH is effective in reducing fertility in
most mammals, including rodents. The contraceptive effects of a single-shot GnRH
vaccine lasts for at least four years. As of October, 2006 in the fourth year of Dr.
Killian’s well-refined study of the GnRH vaccine GonaCon ™ 7, half of the mares are
still open (not pregnant). In preliminary studies with white-tailed deer using a modified
GnRH vaccine, GonaCon-Blue™, 80% of the females are infertile four years following a
single vaccination.

A recent USDA “Target Safety Study” completed for the FDA8 in collaboration with Dr.
Killian’s group at Penn State University, “did not find any contraindications associated
with GonCon use.” GnRH vaccines can cause sterilization, but only if administered
repeatedly. Hence, GnRH vaccines need to be used judiciously by knowledgeable,
experienced handlers. The GnRH vaccine has been submitted to the EPA for registration.

PZP Vaccines:

7 ™ -National Wildlife Research Center, 4101 LaPorte Avenue, USDA, Animal Plant Health Service, Fort
Collins, Colorado.

8 Safety and Toxicity Evaluation of GonaConTM Immunocontraceptive Contraceptive Vaccine in White-
tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

Don Höglund MS, DVM Nobody’s Horses

The Zona Pellucida (ZP) is a naturally produced glycoprotein layer located on the outer
surface of the egg which is produced in the ovary of the mare. Use of the PZP vaccine
results in infertility either by blocking sperm from penetrating the zona pellucida layer or
by interfering with egg maturation. According to Fagerstone, “The advantages of PZP are
that, because PZP is a protein broken down in the gastrointestinal tract when consumed, it
does not enter the food chain [if a vaccinated horse were eaten]. Also, its effects are
normally reversible. It is not species specific and is effective in reducing fertility in most
mammals tested. The disadvantages are that PZP vaccines must be applied by injection.”
Other significant disadvantages with PZP vaccines exist. The vaccinated mare continues
cycling and thus remains a target for stallions, where as pregnancy would limit that
harassment. Also, it is unknown if ovary destruction occurs as a result of the antibodies.
In some instances, when the antibodies level drops below critical thresholds (as the
vaccine effects wear off), late-term pregnancies may occur complicating the winter life of
the mare and the new born foal.

Long-term studies involving GnRH and PZP vaccines on white-tailed deer (Miller et al.
1999 and 2000) showed no adverse effects on the animal’s health. For the GnRH vaccine,
altered heat-cycles in the deer were seen and expected. The same can be anticipated for
horses.

There are of course concerns that must be addressed when using contraceptives to control
overpopulation in free-roaming horses. Any program will need to be funded, easy to
administer, cost-effective, effective for multiple years, and have few or no known
contraindications (adverse effects). Currently, since the vaccines are injectable, horses
must be captured and processed or shot from a remote location with a dart or bio-bullet.
Even though capture for processing is traumatic and inherently violent, study of vaccine
efficacy and horse health necessitates a close relationship to the target animal. Aerial
facilitated darting or use of bio-bullets can be inefficient, and these types of vaccination
methods make research study of the health and biomedical effects of the contraceptive
difficult. The darting process has the potential to leave a mechanical dart in the
environment. Further, annual capture of free-roaming horses for booster vaccination

Don Höglund MS, DVM Nobody’s Horses

usually becomes more difficult with each subsequent attempt. This is not economical and
from a behavioral perspective it is not logical. A vaccine that is effective for multiple
years is better and less costly than a one -or two-year vaccination.

There are other considerations to take into account when attempting to control herd size.
Is the population “open” or “closed” to migration from other herds? What are the sex
ratios, age structure, and the natural estimated increase or mortality of the targeted herd?
Researchers have produced various models, some of which suggest that animals which
give birth at 3 years of age, as horses generally do, will need more interventions than
simply contraception in order to maintain a herd at a desired population. These additional
interventions include capture and removal, redistribution of family groups to lands
allotted for herd management, or in the case of game or nuisance wildlife, lethal control.
Of course, lethal control was not an option for free-roaming horses, until recent
legislation.

Contraceptive treatment to manage free-roaming horse populations in the wild must take
into consideration the average age of the animals involved. Dr. Killian astutely observes
that ‘if younger mares have had one or two foals, they have contributed to the gene pool,
and additional foals with their genes are not needed” to keep the genetic pool intact. In
addition, due to the difficulties of gathering an entire free-roaming herd for vaccination,
there will always be a number of untreated mares in any given population.

Bottom Line:

I agree with Dr. Killian’s suggestion that “The bottom line is there are some reasonable
one-treatment options that will be available for contraception of mustangs in the near
future. These far surpass anything currently being used for mustang contraception. What
has to happen is that the public needs to drive the course of action. In my experience, the
people with the dollars and currently in charge of dealing with the [horse] problem are set
in their ways and have different ideas about how to proceed.” Given the normal
mortality, sex-ratios, and reproductive rates of free-roaming horses in a herd of one

Don Höglund MS, DVM Nobody’s Horses

hundred and twenty horses, contraception in one mare for one year who would have
otherwise foaled a reproductively viable female offspring will – on average –
eliminate eight to twelve horses from the population over the next fourteen years.9

However, the author recommends contraception in mares ten years and older so that the
genetic contribution of each mare in the herd remains intact. In this manner, one ten-year
old mare blocked from contributing one viable female offspring might remove eight
animals over the next fourteen years.

The wild horses of the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center and the Outer Banks of
North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland have set the precedent for true art in the fertility
management and adoption of free-roaming horses. Thousand Welcomes Farm in Chapel
Hill, North Carolina, the Foundation for the Shackleford Horse in Beaufort, North
Carolina, the National Parks Service at Assateague Island National Seashore Trust in
Maryland, and the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia are notable
examples of farms and organizations who have proven their love and respect for
historical America and free-roaming horses.

I don’t know if all sides of the free-roaming horse debate can be placated, but I do agree
with groups who say that ecotourism should also be given a chance to play a role in herd
preservation. “Horse lovers, wildlife enthusiasts, as well as those with an interest in the
history of the Old West, should be given the opportunity to enjoy wild horse excursions
year-round. In addition to non-intrusive observation of wild horse behavior and herd
dynamics, in-the-wild management itself could become part of a unique experience for
visitors to herd management areas.”

As an equine veterinarian who has spent his professional life protecting the publicly
owned free-roaming horse, I understand the legitimate concerns of all interested parties,
cattlemen included. However, I feel that we need to protect our public property first,
while we weigh the proper stewardship, transport, and disposition of this revered part of

9 D. L Höglund, mathematical calculation, 50% chance of female offspring; ten foals over twelve years @
50% male; 20% mortality; reproduction until age eighteen.

Don Höglund MS, DVM Nobody’s Horses

our American spirit. I am not accusing our Interior Department and USDA land managers
of mismanagement. My experience with the staff in these entities has been trusted and
respectful. Most public servants and land managers tell me that they want to manage the
free-roaming horse in the wild. They need the proper laws, proper policy, dedicated staff,
time, and mandated funding to do it right and to study the effects of the management.

The agriculture and veterinary medical colleges in states with free-roaming horse
populations are a great mechanism of public oversight and could be recruited to assist
these agencies and keep academic research and influence involved. After all, we trust the
schools to teach and lead our young people, and since we already employ the staff and
faculty, why not trust them to care for our free-roaming horses, too? It would be a perfect
outdoor laboratory and a good use of public funds.

Judiciously applied fertility control contraception will go a long way in maintaining horse
populations at desired levels. However, when environmental study indicates that any
given population of free-roaming horses needs to be artificially lowered by capture, I
suggest the captives be remanded to the good and effective wild horse transition
programs such as the prison inmate training programs and the New Mexico Mustang and
Burro Association transition program. In this manner, free-roaming horses are gentled
under a humane and controlled system before they are released into a domestic equine
life.

Many cattle growers would applaud effective free-roaming horse population control.
Animal advocates should be pleased with preservation and limited captures. Wildlife
managers would welcome the funding needed to appropriately manage all of our
important wild species. Slaughter of free-roaming horses would not be necessary because
the horses would either be returned to freedom after being examined and vaccinated, or
gentled in a prison training program and sold to responsible owners. One in ten thousand
horses is truly not amenable to gentling. Those few might be neutered and returned to
their original herds. We can’t manage one million free-roaming horses, but we can
manage enough to be meaningful. Should we tolerate the possibility of zero free-roaming

Don Höglund MS, DVM Nobody’s Horses

horses?

Even though emotion about the issue of free-roaming horse survival often takes us to
places we do not want to go, we should allow reasoned passion from the heart to direct
our efforts. We should protect all of our animal species from birth to death with
intervention only when necessary and always as humanely as possible. If we choose to
terminate animal life, we should do so humanely.

It is time for solutions: not finger-pointing; not just words. It is time for action. Captures
resulting in unreasonable numbers of abortions and death should stop until these
problems are resolved. In the mean-time, funding for long-term study of all of our natural
resources through the State University should be required. In this manner we can trust the
university system in the ten states where free-roaming horses reside to report back to the
taxpayer on best-solutions for management of all of our natural resources – including the
free-roaming horse. Help save the free-roaming horse from destruction by contacting
your elected representative and respectfully ask them to get involved in the management
of free-roaming horses in-the-wild. After all, the horses belong to all of us, the land
belongs to all of us, and the elected representatives who control our money work for all
of us. These nobody’s horses are everybody’s horses.

About the author: Dr. Don Höglund is an equine veterinarian and author of NOBODY’S HORSES: The
Dramatic Rescue of the Wild Herd of White Sands. He has spent 25 years working with wild horses
rounded-up in the western and eastern states. He served seven annual contracts with the BLM as a private
contract veterinarian in the successful New Mexico prison inmate wild horse training programs organized
by the then Congressman and current New Mexican Governor, Bill Richardson. www.nobodyshorses.com.

American Herds Alert - US Forest Service

2010-03-19T18:28:00.000-07:00

----- Original Message -----
From: Vicki Tobin
To: Vicki Tobin
Sent: Friday, March 19, 2010 8:33 AM
Subject: American Herds Alert-US Forest Service

Hi! I spoke to Cindy last night and she is trying to work on an article but asked me to pass along some preliminary info. I was furiously taking notes and hope I got everything….

The US Forest Service is going to be issuing an EA and EIS for 11 territories. The announcement was made on February 24 but they are not allowing the 30 day comment period contrary to federal register protocol. Her understanding is they are going to issue their decision WITH the EA. Not only that but they are doing the EA before they complete the EIS for livestock grazing. Comments on the EIS are due by March 22.

In addition, their AMLs must be in line with BLM AMLs. Apparently, the BLM has issues because the horses are intermingled and because in the winter, the wild horses are on Forest Service land in the mountains and then come down to BLM land in the summer. They don’t want the AMLs set for only the mountain areas because they’ll ruin the ranges – same ol’, same ol’.

She also mentioned that they are using old maps. Really old maps. Several of the herd areas no longer exist or have been renamed so you know the numbers are going to be inflated.

Of most concern is that the management plan will remove public access during round-ups.

Here’s a link with some information on the EIS

Stay tuned for more info from Cindy. If anyone has additional info I can pass along, send it my way.

Thanks.

v

The Old Mare Has Died

2010-03-17T08:08:00.000-07:00

What follows is a beautiful tribute to one of the original Sulphur Springs Mares by their caretaker and photographer, Key Levie:

"The Old Mare Has Died

March 14 & 15, 2010

She was the only mare not in foal when the mustangs arrived a little over a year ago. You could tell she was very old so I gave her the name La Vieja, The Old One.
Her days were spent somewhat solitarily, not making friends or taking an interest in the new foals arriving almost on a weekly basis. And yet, she had a dignity about her, but also a sadness. Perhaps she knew her days were short or her spirit had been damaged from the trauma of the round up and the loss of the only home she had ever known, the hills, canyons and sage covered mesas of western Utah. While the other mares with their new babies adjusted to life in their temporary desert sanctuary, the old one seemed to decline into a depression that drained her life away and she wandered off to die alone yesterday.
The days leading up to her death evidenced her decline and I knew yesterday that the end was near. And the babies sensed it too, a new experience encompassing the ebb and flow of life. I watched as Uno, the oldest of the foal crop, approached the mare who was standing dejectedly with ears drooping. The old mare had never let the foals touch her or acknowledged them other than to chase them away from her food with ears pinned and teeth snapping. But this day, Uno was ignored as she tried to make the mare move. Then, giving up on that effort, nibbled on her gently and lovingly. Soon she was joined by Dos, the black colt with the strong Barb characteristics. Working together, they encouraged the mare to move into the shade of the trees by the water trough. The two youngsters then scampered off to find other adventures and the old mare spent the better part of the day standing in the shade.
As I went about my chores, I glanced at the mare now and then. Later in the afternoon, I saw that she was no longer under the trees. Looking around, I finally saw her several hundred feet out in the five acre paddock. She was down and not moving. With foreboding, I made my way over to her followed by all nine babies. As we approached, the mare raised her head and I back off, not wanting to frighten this still wild horse. But the babies stayed there, gently nudging her or just watching. Soon they were joined by some of the other mares and all stood around her quietly. After about an hour I saw the old mare go into her death throes, frightening the babies but they didn’t run away. I know animal lovers are often criticized for attributing anthropomorphic qualities to animals. But what I witnessed was as touching and poignant as any family group around the deathbed of a much loved member of the family.
Today, the guy with the backhoe came and buried the old mare where she lay. They said the babies kept coming over to watch and this evening I see them out there looking at the ground under which she lies and they are more subdued than is usual. There is a quietness over the whole herd, a palpable somberness. I can’t help but feel that we as humans greatly underestimate the depth at which animals feel. There is much we can learn from them if we can just take the time to stand back and observe. I grieve for the old mare but am grateful that her last days were spent in comfortable, beautiful surroundings rather than in a filthy desolate holding pen where no one cared.
Kay Levie"

Help Keep California Horses From Going to Slaughter

2010-03-09T21:12:00.000-08:00

• Group: Equus
• Subject: Announcement from Equus
HSUS has asked me to send this message on their behalf. Please note that this message deals with legislation regarding the transportation of horses for slaughter outside the United States.

If you support this bill, please re-post this message.

Thank you so much for your efforts to end horse slaughter!

Best,
Jill Fraser

Help keep California’s horses from going to slaughter!

As you many know, congressional leaders Rep John Conyers (D-MI), Dan Burton (R-IN), Sen Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Sen John Ensign (R-NV) have introduced House Bill 503/Senate Bill 727 (The Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act of 2009) to ban the slaughter and export of horses for slaughter for human consumption.

In 1998, California voters overwhelmingly approved a ban on the slaughter of California horses for human consumption but because transport across state and international lines remains legal, California horses continue to be transported and sold out of state so we cannot assure protection of our horses and are dependent on the passage of a federal ban to stop this cruelty.

State Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez has recently introduced Senate Joint Resolution 22 that would declare formally the desire of the California Legislature to see Congress enact these two important bills.

Letters of support from individuals and organizations (must be on your letterhead) are needed. Senator Florez needs to hear from Californians that support his resolution and want to see California’s horses protected from the cruelty of long-haul transport across the border to a gruesome death.

Submit your letters or emails to:

Senator Dean Florez

State Capitol

Sacramento, CA 95814
Fax: (916) 327-5989

Please also spread the word (yes, please forward this alert to all your friends!) and make plans to attend the first hearing of this resolution:

Tuesday, March 16

Senate Food & Agriculture Committee
9:30 am

State Capitol, Room 113

Sacramento, Calif.

Even though this is only a resolution, we expect opposition and need a good showing of California horse lovers throughout this process.

THANK YOU!
Posted By Jill Fraser

Vote NOW to Stop BLM Round-ups of Wild Horses

2010-03-04T18:25:00.000-08:00

go to webpage for easy vote

433 Votes
Vote Now!
STOP cruel BLM round ups of WILD HORSES

The BLM is managing wild horses and burros to extinction. They were designated as part of our American Heritage in the 1971 Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act . In front of our nation's capital are statues commemorating their role in building our nation.The BLM/DOI is wasting millions of taxpayers' dollars on programs that have clearly failed. They have denied the American people the transparentcy in the round ups that was promised. The BLM is CURRENTLY conducting cruel and inhumane winter round ups. Last week the helicopters chased a colt over volcanic areas, wearing his feet down to nothing. Then transported it for 4 hrs. until they put him out of his misery. It has become the BLM's 'dirty secret'. THE BLM NEEDS A CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATION. THE ROUND UPS NEED TO STOP IMMEDIATELY. Thank you for all that have taken a moment to vote, PLEASE pass this along to all advocates...this is a voice for those who are counting on us.

Get on a California Email List to Save Mustangs

2010-03-04T17:27:00.000-08:00

If you reside in California, would you reply to this as I am making a separate California email list. I apologize if you have already seen this post. Please vote and help this issue get on the radar screen.

Let me know if you do not want the email notices. Thank you.
Jyoti
Please respond to Jyoti at the above link to be included in a California mailing list.

From: singingrider@gmail.com
To: Janetlocke@comcast.net
Sent: 3/4/2010 1:54:52 A.M. Pacific Standard Time
Subj: Help me Change America

I wanted to see if I could get your quick help. Change.org recently launched the 2010 Ideas for Change in America competition.

One idea is titled: STOP cruel BLM round ups of WILD HORSES. WE ONLY NEED 357 MORE VOTES TO MAKE THE TOP 10, WHICH WILL BE PITCHED TO PRESIDENT OBAMA TOP AIDES. (" The top 10 rated ideas will be presented to relevant members of the Obama Administration and serve as the basis for national grassroots campaigns following the competition.")

(Well, "top aides" isn't exactly the President, but it's better than a kick in the shins and only takes a minute to "click" and vote.)

I thought you might be interested in getting involved and recommend you check it out. You can read more and vote for the idea by clicking the following link Change.org

The top 10 voted ideas will be presented at an event in Washington, DC to relevant members of the Obama Administration, and then promoted to Change.org's full community of more than 1 million people. So we could have a real impact.

Thanks for the help!

Elyse
=

Share a Ride from CO to D.C. for the Wild Horse Protest

2010-03-04T11:03:00.000-08:00

----- Original Message -----
From: Carla Bowers
To: Anni Williams ; Kathleen Hayden ; Katia Louise ; Linda Lee ; Morgan Griffith ; Virginie Parant ; Jill Starr ; Neda DeMayo ; Arlene Gawne ; Cindy MacDonald ; Carrol Abel ; Garnet Pasquale
Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2010 9:18 PM
Subject: Marilyn Wargo needs 3 riders to share driving to March forMustangs in DC

Hi, LA & Vegas advocates – I wanted to send you Mar’s contact info in the hopes that some of you may be interested in driving out to meet her in Pagosa Springs, CO, & then drive together to DC. That’s a haul, for sure! Or, if you know of other advocates who want to go but can’t spring for the flight, could you please forward this email to them. We need hundreds of folks to show up at this event to show Congress, et al, that we mean business on behalf of our wild herds. Below is a note from Mar with a few more details:

“I am willing to drive but I have no money. I have places to stay over in the Midwest and in the DC area which would save money. I have posted at Cloud Blog and the Ride Share site... there are only two of us from opposite sides of the country so far. I can seat 3, in xtra cab of pickup with bed in camper for resting driver.”

Please be in touch with Mar as soon as possible if this is an option. Here is her contact info:

Marilyn Wargo
449 Echo Crk Dr
Pagosa Sprgs CO 81147
Email: lightprint1949@earthlink.net
Phone: (970) 418-1110

For the wild ones, Carla B

P.S. If you know others in Colorado who might want to go with Mar, please connect them together. Thx.

Say No to Federal Fundinf for Wild Horse Salazoos!

2010-03-02T21:12:00.000-08:00

Below is a press release just issued. Here is a link to the release -

February 28, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:

Laura Allen

Animal Law Coalition and Equine Welfare Alliance, general counsel

607.220.8938

Vicki Tobin

630.961.9292

vicki@equinewelfarealliance.org

Say No to Federal Funding for Wild Horse Salazoos!

CHICAGO, (EWA) - The funding testimony for the planned sanctuaries dubbed by wild horse supporters as "Salazoos" outlined last October by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, will be heard by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Energy and Natural resources on March 3, at 10am.

The outcome of the testimony will decide if our wild horses belong on their western public lands or in "zoos" in the East and Midwest and whether the BLM will commit millions upon millions of future dollars to warehouse wild horses and burros that would otherwise live without cost to the taxpayers in their natural habitat where they have lived for centuries.

The requested funding would increase the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) budget by $42M to purchase one of the seven planned "Salazoos." The Equine Welfare Alliance (EWA) and its over 100 member organizations, Animal Law Coalition, The Cloud Foundation and numerous Mustang advocate and welfare organizations are vehemently opposed to increased funding for the BLM for this incredible financial sinkhole.

America already has a management program in place for our wild equines. It's called the 1971 Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act. It was inspired by a heroic Nevada woman, Velma Johnston, who as "Wild Horse Annie" gave these horses a sanctuary BLM has been trying to destroy ever since it was passed.

A management program for wild horses and burros on public land has yet to be proposed by the BLM or DOI that is compatible with current law. Their answer is to remove wild horses from the land, permit grazing by millions of cattle at below market rates and move our horses to a zoo like setting far from their home. In fact, the BLM was given appropriations to care for the wild horses in holding pens but has appeared to use the funding to round-up more horses. When citizens complained, they were denied access as armed guards prevented them from even viewing horses in captivity.

With no viable management plan in place, it is a disgrace and waste of critical tax payer dollars to increase funding to yet another mismanaged program. The 1971 law calls for wild horses and burros to be managed on their (OUR) public lands - not in holding pens and not in zoos.

The BLM spent approximately $2M gathering a mere 2,000 animals at its Calico wildlife management area, a cost of $1,000 per horse. Once in holding, the animals will each cost the government approximately $500 per year to warehouse. Worse, the government charges ranchers only about 20 cents of every dollar that program costs taxpayers. "The Salazoo plan is yet another raid on the public funds by special interests", says EWA's John Holland.

BLM has spent more than $2 million in 2009 on a firm that stampedes wild horses with a roaring helicopter. At the Calico Nevada round-up, more than 98 have died as a result, including unborn foals and two babies who lost their hooves after a multi-mile run of terror.

The wild horses and burros represent a mere .05% of animals grazing on public lands. When the 1971 law was passed, wild horses were present on 54 million acres. Since then, over 200,000 horses have been removed along with 22 million acres of public land. Many herds have been zeroed out leaving public land available to return wild horses to their land. Congress should replace the lost acres with good grazing land for the animals BLM wants to place in its Salazoos.

The livestock grazing on public lands alone outnumber the wild horses and burros by over 200 to 1 and are subsidized by taxpayers to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Neither the BLM nor DOI has yet to explain how millions of privately owned livestock are sustainable or how neither agency can find room on the 262 million acres of public land it manages for less than 50,000 wild horses and burros. Neither has explained why the wild horses and burros are being blamed and removed for range degradation when the government GAO studies reflect the livestock are ruining the ranges.

The EWA and ALC call on Congress to deny additional funding and specifically defund wild horse and burro round-ups until the DOI and BLM can provide independent current range population counts, current range assessments and a viable management plan that upholds the 1971 law.

Both Sen. Mary Landrieu and Sen. Barbara Boxer have posed serious questions to the BLM on its management practices. Those questions should be answered immediately with facts, not spin.

Additional details on defunding the BLM for "Salazoos" can be found at Animal Law Coalition , article number 1188 .

The Equine Welfare Alliance is a dues free, umbrella organization with over 100 member organizations. The organization focuses its efforts on the welfare of all equines and the preservation of wild equids.

www.equinewelfarealliance.org

www.animallawcoalition.com

Vicki | A Voice for Our Horses

Equine Welfare Alliance

Protest Over Calico Mustang Roundups and Denial of Public Access to OUR Horses

2010-02-19T18:05:00.000-08:00

Free the Calico Mustangs
We call on you to call on behalf of the Calico Mustangs. Your calls, letters, email and faxes are working! Please keep it up.
Public Viewing of Incarcerated Mustangs Denied
Despite the enormous cost to the American taxpayers and the controversial nature of the roundup, the BLM and the Department of Interior (DOI) are denying requests for independent humane observers during the processing of nearly 1900 mustangs over the next few months in preparation for their long term holding or adoption. During this dangerous time for the mustangs, the public are being denied an opportunity to view BLM running the animals through alleyways and into chutes where they will be freeze-branded, inoculated and neck-tagged.

49 horses have died as the result of the roundup. This does not include the 30 plus mares who have aborted their late-term foals in the feedlot style corrals in Fallon, Nevada. The 4% death rate is over eight times the BLM expected level for a helicopter roundup. Foals are now being born in the pens and the public is not permitted to confirm young, sick and old animals are being humanely treated in a timely fashion.
Mustang Outrage Protest

President Obama is expected to arrive in Las Vegas, Nevada, just when Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is asking Congress for over $60 million dollars mostly for more roundups and over $40 million to buy farms in the East to warehouse the wild horses the BLM has condemned to captivity.

In memory of Freedom, the Calico mustang who leapt a high pen wall and burst through barbed wire to freedom, a Mustang Outrage protest is being held today in Las Vegas starting at 1:30 pm in front of the offices of Senators Ensign and Reid, on the steps of the Lloyd D. George Federal Courthouse, 333 S. Las Vegas Building, Las Vegas NV. Banners will then be carried to over 40 locations across the entire city of Las Vegas so the public can see our Mustang Outrage!

Take Action

Support the Mustang Outrage Protest happening today in Las Vegas.

Please call the White House Comment Line: 202 456 1111 right now.

Ask OBAMA for a Presidential Pardon for the Calico Mustangs.
Set them FREE!!

Return the CALICO MUSTANGS
to their ANCESTRAL RANGE NOW!

You may also ask the President to 1. call an immediate halt to all wild horse and burro roundups and 2. call for a Congressional investigation into BLM practices in connection with its management of the Wild Horse & Burro Program.

If you cannot telephone, please email the President. Fax the President at 202-456-2461.

For more information, please see Tuesday's Horse.

Thank you everyone.
Carol Poole
Wild Horse & Burro Advocacy Team

View this Message on the Web

About Us | Make a Donation | Follow Us on Twitter | Friend Us on Facebook

BLM Responds to Critics of Wild Horse Roundups with a Shroud of Secrecy

2010-02-18T17:06:00.000-08:00

BLM responds to critics of wild horse roundups with a shroud of secrecy

Obviously stung by vocal public criticism of its cavalier treatment of the wild horses it captured from Nevada's Calico Mountain Complex, the BLM is literally circling the wagons in a desperate effort to prevent news of how the horses are faring from leaking out.

The last straw seems to have been the I-Team investigative journalist George Knapp's critical report of the Calico gather and its aftermath:

"A massive roundup of wild horses in northern Nevada turned out to be one of the deadliest in the history of the wild horse program.

Contrary to assurances from the Bureau of Land Management, dozens of horses were killed during the Calico roundup. What's more, the horses are still dying inside government corrals because of injuries suffered during their frightening run across tough terrain.

If a private citizen were to kill dizens of wild horses, that person would go to prison. Yet the government has been killing mustangs for years, with the promise that it's all for the horses' own good."

The best available information indicates that at least 49 Calico horses have perished since the end of December, and another 30+ in-utero foals have been lost--a shocking 4% mortality rate among the 1900 or more horses who were captured from their native ranges.

In just the last few days, the BLM announced it would severely curtail visitors to the Indian Lakes Road short-term holding facility near Fallon Nevada, where the mustangs are being corralled; only 10 observers will be permitted to see the horses on chapteroned "guided tours" during a two-hour period on Sundays, when the actual "processing" (branding, gelding, vaccinations) will be temporarily suspended.

And on Wednesday, February 17th, the BLM quietly took its "Calico Gather Daily Updates" offline. There have been no official reports of fatalities, miscarriages, injuries, or births since Thursday, February 11th, but you can bet that many have occurred. We do know that another stallion was euthanized on Monday, February 15th, but we don't know why. The BLM apparently thinks that the furor over the fallen horses and foals will quiet if it sequesters them behind closed doors, but if anything, the agency's stonewalling is having quite the opposite effect.

Craig Downer, a wildlife ecologist and longtime wild horse advocate, agrees:

"Processing our wild horses in secret does nothing but promote suspicion on the part of the public, who simply request to have independent representatives present to verify that our horses are being treated humanely. Denying American citizens the right to watch over their horses is a very disturbing trend, and simply throws fuel on a spreading fire."

Indeed, recent visitors to the Fallon holding pens have painted a disturbing picture of what's happening there. Terri Farley, the noted author of the Phantom Stallion series of children's books, was one of the last private observers allowed into the site, on Thursday, February 11th. "I've seen the conditions these horses are exposed to--no cover, no windbreaks, except for some of the 'hospital pens,'" she said.

*******************************************************************************************************************

You can "talk back" to the BLM by using its comment form to ask questions, or make complaints or comments.

Vicki | A Voice for Our Horses

If Citizens Ran the Feet Off Wild Horses..........

2010-02-10T08:25:00.000-08:00

if citizens ran the feet off of wild horses they would rot in jail.

http://www.barndoorstudio.com/id25.html

Hope Springs Eternal (A Eulogy) By Laura Leigh
written 2/1/2010
HOUSTON, (Horseback) – On January 22, 2010 I was given a tour of the Fallon holding facility after my observation days (Calico gather) had been cancelled by weather twice.
I had witnessed the gather on January 16, and met Gene Seidlitz (Winnemucca district manager) and Heather Emmons, both of the Bureau of Land Management. Both appeared to be very willing to accommodate and provide access in as transparent a manner as possible Gene spoke to me many times about the concept of finding areas for dialogue and co-operation. I had hoped to write an article based on that concept.
On January 22, Seidlitz and Lisa Ross, BLM public relations coordinator for Calico gather met me at the agency’s Fallon facility. John Neill is acting BLM manager at Fallon. I was given free access to photograph and ask questions. I was also allowed to videotape the “hospital” facility at Fallon. I soon saw a row of small pens near the entrance to the facility next to the area being built to process horses. The plywood for windbreaks was stacked but not installed.
The pens held mostly foals and a few mares. Each horse I saw demonstrated some form of lameness. Many had bandages on their legs. Of particular concern was a foal that would not rise when approached.. His eyes were glassy.
Over the next few days I made several attempts to gain information about that foal. I sent e-mails to Gene, Lisa, and John. I was told the foal was up the very next day and doing well. Information I found hard to believe because I did not think he would even make it through the night. I requested a vet report and was told I would have it as soon as one was available. I requested that the foal be released to me and I would facilitate his placement into a facility that could properly care for him. The request was denied, the BLM saying it was not needed.
I named him “Hope Springs Eternal.” I began to make inquiries to find a facility to bring him to. He would have a home.
Several more conversations with John Neill continued to assure me the foal was fine. John said he was busy and if I did not get the vet report to please call him again.
I called today. I was told the vet report is online. It’s not. He was euthanized Saturday because his hooves had begun to slough.
My emotions are many:
So much for a timely exchange of information. So much for the concept that the “guys on the ground” are any different than the guys in DC, something they want you to believe. So much for the idea that co-operation toward problem solving with the best interests of the horses at its heart will ever be a reality. So much for “ Hope Springs Eternal.”
The baby I saw on January 22 was in incredible pain to the point that, as a wild animal, he could hardly lift his head as a strange human, a potential predator, approached. All the others rose and limped away. This baby languished in that facility with no windbreak in agony. A baby that had a chance if the humans involved could have attempted to create an opportunity to work together. Releasing that foal would have cost the BLM nothing… and maybe created the sensation that somewhere in this madness a spirit of humanity could overcome this battle of obstinate adherence to outdated bureaucratic protocol. I had “Hope.”
Little spirit you are now free of this administration’s unwillingness to recognize your worth. “Hope Springs Eternal,” rest in peace. You are loved.

Letter from Senator Barbara Box RE: Wild Horses

2010-01-20T17:45:00.000-08:00

Dear Ms. Lawrence:
Thank you for writing to me regarding the management of the wild horse population on our public lands. I appreciate hearing from you and share your concerns.
As a long-time supporter of wildlife conservation, I am strongly opposed to any proposals that would destroy or harm our wild horses and burros.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has considered various controversial options in its effort to control the increasing numbers of wild horses and burros. Among these options are the use of euthanasia on healthy animals and the unconditional sale of older horses that have been unsuccessfully offered for adoption. Destroying these magnificent animals is never a viable management option, and the sale of horses without limitations could lead to horse slaughter, which is also unacceptable.
The BLM should more seriously consider more humane solutions such as improving the adoption program, exploring the use of contraceptives or sterilization to reduce herd sizes, or securing additional funds for an appropriate management program that would ensure proper care for these animals.
I also support legislation to expand the range where wild horses could roam freely, enhance the adoption program, encourage the use of non-lethal methods to reduce herd size, reduce the time a horse spends in a holding pen, and prohibit the euthanization or sale for slaughter of wild horses. On July 17, 2009, the House passed the Restore Our Wild Mustangs (ROAM) Act (H.R.1018), which seeks to accomplish all of these objectives. This bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

In addition, I believe strongly in a permanent ban on horse slaughter. That is why I am proud to be an original co-sponsor of the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act (S.727) to prohibit the transport, export, or sale of any horse to be slaughtered for human consumption. I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act.
Thank you again for contacting me about this important issue. Rest assured that I will continue to support efforts to maintain the integrity of wild horse and burro populations on our public lands.

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator

Please do not respond to this message. If you would like to comment on legislation, please visit my website and use the correspondence form

262 Million Acres and Salazar (BLM) Can't Find A Place for Wild Horses?!?!?

2010-01-14T21:07:00.000-08:00

262 Million Acres and Salazar Can’t find a Place for Wild Horses?
CHICAGO, (EWA) – The Los Angeles Times printed a guest column today by Department of Interior (DOI) chief and former rancher, Ken Salazar, aimed at rationalizing the unnecessary removal of America’s wild mustangs and burros from their vast ranges.

Equine Welfare Alliance’s (EWA) John Holland commented, “The opinion piece is an attempt to spin the growing outrage and coast to coast demonstrations which have taken place over the past few weeks.”

An EWA announced protest will take place on January 17 in New York City from 1pm-3pm at Columbus Circle (59th St at Central Park S-corrected address). Two other protests are planned for January 18 in Reno from noon-3pm at South Virginia Street and South McCarran Boulevard and January 21 from 11am-1pm at the California State Capitol building.

Salazar falsely states that in the 1960s, the wild herds of the American west were on the verge of extinction, prompting Congress to pass the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. In fact, much like today, legislators in Washington tardily passed the law after the heroic work of a Nevada woman named Velma Johnson and hundreds of thousands of protesters applied enough pressure to get the Congress’ attention.

Today, it is the DOI on Salazar’s watch that is entrusted to protect the wild herds but instead, is now the driving force managing the wild herds to the verge of extinction. Why? Because Salazar’s rancher friends need more land to graze their 7.5 million cattle which now have to compete with only 30,000 wild horses.

Many herds have been zeroed out, rounded up and are now held captive in pens on private land that the American public, who pays for their upkeep, are not allowed to view.

The small numbers of horses that have been returned to their lands after round-ups have received birth control and with such small numbers are destined for extinction. There are currently more wild horses being held captive than remain free-roaming with those remaining in the wild rapidly becoming genetically bankrupt and unable to create future generations.

Salazar states, “Without natural predators, wild horse populations have grown beyond the carrying capacity of the sensitive and sparse lands on which they live, causing damage to ecosystems and putting them at risk of starvation.” Pictures and video footage from the gathers tell a different story. Unfortunately, the primary predator is Ken Salazar and his pals at the cattlemen’s associations, meat producers, and the America Farm Bureau. Also not mentioned, is how those sensitive and sparse lands can sustain millions of privately owned livestock? Wild horse advocates have likened America’s public lands to that of a giant private feedlot for ranchers.

Salazar’s plan to move wild non-reproducing herds to seven new preserves in the East and Midwest will ensure their extinction. Even he is at least honest enough to call them tourist attractions. Climate, habitat and range changes coupled with birth control and separating sexes is the beginning of the end as they disappear in zoo like settings. The estimated initial cost for these preserves is $96 million which doesn't include the cost of gathering or transporting the horses. The cost for the gather underway at the Calico complex in Nevada alone will run taxpayers over $1.9M.

Glaringly missing from Salazar’s editorial is the Ruby Pipeline and the California Heliostat project that will rip through the wild horse ranges.

Mr. Salazar has asked for ideas from the public. EWA will be issuing a position paper on wild horse and burro management within the next few days and full proposal within the next few weeks.

Salazar’s invitation for public comment rings hollow when every time the public attempts to speak to the BLM wild horse board they are cut off and not heard. Moreover, the agency’s director, Bob Abbey, has repeatedly dodged interviews with respected journalists about the wild horse issue.

“The future of our wild herds is dependent on working together,” commented EWA’s Vicki Tobin. “Future generations should be able to enjoy wild herds in their natural habitat, not read about them in history books.”

The Equine Welfare Alliance is a dues free, umbrella organization with over 90 member organizations. The organization focuses its efforts on the welfare of all equines and the preservation of wild equids.

Sacramento Peaceful Protest on Behalf of Our Wild Horses & Burros 1/21/10

2010-01-14T20:56:00.000-08:00

, Wild Horse & Burro Advocates -

Please put Thurs, 1/21, on your calendars per the attached notice & bring
your friends, family & whoever you can get ahold of if you can make it out.

Also, please forward this notice to everyone you know in the Sacramento
area, Rancho Cordova, Folsom, El Dorado Hills, Roseville, Elk Grove,
Placerville, Auburn, etc. If you have a website to post this notice, that
would be great. We want to have an incredible turnout. We expect good press
coverage & want them to know there's plenty of us standing up for America's
wild horses and burros.

There have been & continue to be protests across the country & even
internationally. We must get the American public educated that our wild
horses & burros are being managed to extinction by the BLM & to take action.
If we don't do this now, it will be too late.

Many thanks for your support of our wild herds.

For the wild ones, Carla B ;--}

Sacramento Protest Against Wild Horse & Burro Roundups
Join us to stand up for America’s disappearing wild herds

Date: Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010 Rain or Shine
Time: 11 AM – 1 PM, Press Conference at Noon
Place: State Capitol, 10th Street between L and N

This peaceful protest on behalf of America’s wild horses and burros is part of a grassroots nationwide campaign that includes The Cloud Foundation and In Defense Of Animals who are sponsoring this event. It is one of several protests that are taking place across the country and internationally to protest the U.S. government’s destructive wild horse and burro policy.

This is an urgent call to President Obama, Dept. of Int. (DOI) Sec. Salazar & Congress to order the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to stop the inhumane & treacherous winter roundup of over 2,500 wild horses in the Calico Mtn. Complex in NW Nevada. Also, this is a call to stop all additional roundups planned by the BLM in FY2010 until a sustainable in-the-wild & fiscally responsible management plan is put in place to re-protect our magnificent wild herds on their native Western public lands. We want accountability and transparency from our government and the BLM, the agency that is supposed to be protecting our legendary herds, but instead is using millions of taxpayer dollars in their ongoing mismanagement and elimination of our herds.

The Mission of this protest and beyond is:

• To educate the press & the American public that our wild herds are being managed to
extinction by the DOI/BLM, mainly because of fast-tracked, carte blanche energy
development on our public lands and the cattle and big game industries.
• To call for an immediate moratorium on all roundups.
• To call for a Congressional investigation into the Wild Horse & Burro Program under the
direction of the BLM.
• To call for an independent census of the numbers & health of all herds still wild in the West &
in all short & long-term holding facilities.
• To call on the Congress to reject the Salazar Plan to relocate the majority of our wild herds to
zoo-like preserves in the Midwest and East, non-wild, non-free, and non-reproducing at
millions of dollars of taxpayer expense.
• To call on the Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources to bring the ROAM (Restore
Our American Mustangs) Act to the table, to work with the American public on improvements
and pass The Act as soon as possible to re-protect our wild horses & burros on their legal
Western lands.
• To call on Senator Boxer for her support on the above issues.

Despite repeated outcries from humanitarian groups, wild horse advocate organizations,
celebrities such as Sheryl Crow, Viggo Mortensen, and Michael Blake, and experts on wildlife and range management, the BLM has pressed forward with its brutal and inhumane round up of one of the last large mustang herds on the Nevada range. BLM started the Calico Roundup on 12/28/09 even though U.S. District Court Judge Friedman recommended they hold off pending further findings & decisions in the Calico Lawsuit regarding the legality of housing our herds in short and long-term facilities off of their legal Western public lands.

The roundups inhumanely stampede the frightened wild horses by low-flying helicopters across rocky and steep terrain for several miles to a temporary trap site, including pregnant mares and foals that struggle to keep up & sometimes die en route or are brutally trampled in the temporary corrals by the other terrorized horses. Often, roundups are done in severe cold (as is presently the case with the Calico roundup) or hot conditions (as in the Pryor’s roundup) adding undue stress to the animals where needless injuries occur. The worst injury of all is that our wild herds are no longer wild and free roaming on their legal Western lands. Eventually, a lucky few will be adopted out, most will go to long-term holding at huge taxpayer expense and some will go to auction and could end up with the worst fate of all, cruel and inhumane slaughter in Mexico or Canada for human consumption abroad. Is this what the American people want for our living legends of the American West?

Under orders from the DOI, the BLM plans to gather another 12K wild horses and burros in FY2010 to add to the already 33K in short and long-term holding facilities for over $50M/year of taxpayer expense. BLM states 30-36K remain in the wild currently. Independent sources say only 15-18K remain. BLM has already zeroed out over 100 herds and the vast majority of the remaining herds are left with genetically nonviable numbers that threaten their long-term survival.

When will the BLM stop? What is fueling this relentless effort to remove 80-90% of the Calico Complex herd? Is it the proposed, fast-tracked Ruby Pipeline Project? Are all the wild herds going to be zeroed out with BLM’s false excuses that the herds are overpopulated, or destroying our rangelands or are starving to death just to fast track massive energy development on our public lands with taxpayer-funded stimulus monies? Even though we need energy independence & job creation, is everything of value going to be destroyed to achieve those ends?

We, the American people, cannot let this happen. We must stand up and fight for what we know is right and save our wild horses and burros before it’s too late. They are the living legends of the West--symbols of freedom, family, independence, strength, spirit and our Western heritage. If we lose them, we lose part of ourselves.

Get educated. Get active. Save our iconic wild horses and burros.

Call Pres. Obama to issue a moratorium on all roundups at 202-456-1111, Fax 202-456-2461
Call/fax your Senators to improve and pass the ROAM Act now

For further information and for sign ideas/slogans, please see:
http://www.thecloudfoundation.org, http://www.thecloudfoundation.wordpress.com,
http://idausa.org

Local Contacts:
Carla Bowers, Wild Horse Advocate and The Cloud Foundation volunteer, carla84bowers@yahoo.com
Cathy Adams, Wild Horse Advocate, crowbot32@yahoo.com

Media Contacts:
The Cloud Foundation: Makendra Silverman, 719-351-8187, makendra@thecloudfoundation.org

In Defense of Animals: Elliot M. Katz, DVM, 415-448-0048 x225, emk@idausa.org
Hope Bohanec, 707-540-1760, hope@idausa.org

Cattle Graze While Wild Horses Are Rounded-Up

2010-01-08T14:12:00.001-08:00

Cattle are grazing under oil derricks, carribou around the Alaskan pipeline, freeways built across the Western Unitized States. Why should wild horses be displaced for this pipeline???

Activists Ask Senator Udall to Investigate BLM’s Removal of Wild Horses in Ruby Pipeline Zone
Denver protesters request an immediate moratorium on roundups
Denver, CO (January 7, 2010) —Chants of “Wild ‘N Free—Let ‘Em Be” echoed through Downtown Denver today as close to 50 members of the wild horse loving public protested outside Senator Mark Udall’s Office to stop the roundups. Despite single-digit temperatures, protesters came from as far as three hours away. Mustang advocates met with the Senator’s staff following the protest to discuss the wild horse crisis as well as what may be the smoking gun behind these roundups—a massive natural gas pipeline from Wyoming, through Nevada to southern Oregon.

“We are asking Senator Udall and his colleagues to investigate the BLM’s dealings with the Ruby pipeline with an eye on the wild horse crisis,” said Ginger Kathrens, Volunteer Executive Director, The Cloud Foundation and Emmy-Award winning filmmaker.

Protests also took place today in Albany. NY and Las Vegas. An all-day Boston protest at the Massachusetts Sate House is scheduled for January 8 and another Las Vegas protest on Sunday. A large protest is planned for New York City on January 17th.

“Protesters are calling for a moratorium on all roundups until a truly sustainable plan is in place—one that protects our legendary wild herds in the West,” explained Makendra Silverman, Associate Director, The Cloud Foundation,

###

Links of interest:
Ruby Pipeline Information

News Reports

News Reports

Pipeline Map:

Western Watersheds Project

American Herds

Freedom’s Escape & Roundup Report:

Video Overview of Calico horses and current roundup
Youtube
More YouTube

12.28.09 USA Today: “Activists Decry Wild-Horse Roundups”

Mestengo. Mustang. Misfit.
America’s Disappearing Wild Horses

Frequently Asked Questions on Wild Horses

Stampede to Oblivion: An Investigate Report from Las Vegas Now
Updated 2009-2010 Roundup Schedule

Unified Moratorium letter and signatories

Photos, video and interviews available from:
The Cloud Foundation
news@thecloudfoundation.org

Calico, Nevada-Where Wild Horses Roam

2010-01-06T20:28:00.001-08:00

Time to Hold Obama Accountable...Wild Horse Roundups Unjustifiable

2009-12-28T23:15:00.000-08:00

(the following is from In Defense of Animals)

This is insane... one massive unnecessary and unjustified roundup...
Please do this now, thanks!

Time To Hold President Obama Accountable:
Demand Halt to BLM Calico Wild Horse Roundup
BLM to Begin Secret Calico Roundup on Private Land - No Public Observers Allowed
Please join IDA and Sheryl Crow in calling on President Obama to halt the Christmas-week roundup of thousands of Nevada horses.
IDA continues to work diligently to stop the pending Bureau of Land Management (BLM) roundup of 2,700 horses in the Calico Mountain Complex in northwestern Nevada. Despite our efforts, the roundup is set to start today, but there is still time to save most of the horses! We won’t stop fighting – but we need your help to stop this massive assault on America’s wild horses.

Please take these THREE essential steps today! Only a huge public outcry will save these horses from the trauma of being stampeded with helicopters over treacherous winter terrain into capture pens, where they will be torn from their family members before being loaded onto trucks destined for possibly illegal BLM wild horse warehouses in the Midwest.

1. Paste the letter below (please feel free to personalize) to President Obama in the web form

2. Follow your email with a phone call to the White House (both numbers) to appeal to the President to halt the BLM’s cruel Calico wild horse roundup. See letter below for details on what we are asking of the President.
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414

3. Forward this message to five friends and family and ask that they take a couple of minutes to help the horses – every public comment and phone call counts. You can help us increase the number of active wild horse advocates.
For more information, see the most recent Associated Press story and IDA’s statement on the recent federal court ruling in our lawsuit to stop the Calico roundup.
LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA (Paste the letter below (please feel free to personalize) to President Obama in the web form

December 28, 2009
Dear President Obama,
I urge you to stop the largest scheduled roundup of wild horses in years – those living in the Calico Mountains in Nevada. Please halt the Interior Department - Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) pending cruel round up of over 2,500 horses who are living peacefully in more than 500,000 acre public land complex.
Last week, a federal court judge ruled that the BLM’s stockpiling of western wild horses in mid-western holding facilities may be illegal and consequently suggested that BLM postpone the Calico roundup. In addition, several appeals are pending with the Interior Board of Land Appeals – including a formal Motion to Stay (stop) the roundup – and your White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) charging that the BLM has flagrantly violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in its failure to assess the impacts of its massive capture and removal plan.
Over the weekend, the BLM made public its plan to begin the roundup in secret on private land from which the public will be barred, thus violating a BLM pledge made just three weeks ago at a packed public meeting in Reno to conduct these roundups with full public transparency.
Wild horse society is complex and consists of tightly knit family bands. President Obama, as you enjoy the holidays with your lovely family, I urge you to take a moment to remember the wild horse families in Nevada’s Calico Mountains that are about to be shattered forever by the BLM's cruel round up plans.
With a simple phone call, you Mr. President can stop the terror that is about to befall the majestic wild horses of northwest Nevada. Please act today.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,

In Defense of Animals, located in San Rafael, Calif., is an international animal protection organization with more than 85,000 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.

In Defense of Animals
3010 Kerner, San Rafael, CA 94901
Tel. (415) 448-0048 Fax (415) 454-1031
idainfo@idausa.org

BLM in violation of Legal Responsibilities: Mustangs vs Ranchers

2009-12-28T12:09:00.000-08:00

Ranching is the history of western settlement, as well as wild horses. Both have rights based on property law i.e. herd areas and allotment improvements) as well as historic cultural landscape preservation. BLM has violated their fiduciary duty us to manage our heritage (inheritance) of wild horses according to the law. They have violated their duty to manage healthy ranges that are overgrazed by livestock. They have violated their duty to manage for ecological diversity by removing the very equid wild life that contribute to healthy diversity.
DOI and Congress are catering to the global special interest agenda for energy development and while embezzling our heritage estate in the process.
Boycotting beef and aiming poison arrows at ranchers will not gain ground for wild equids. BLM is the responsible agency and Congress is responsible for BLM. Every BLM manager that authorizes a gather should be personally sued for removing excess horses, transporting them from their native ranges to long term holding and sale (adoption)
kat
----- Original Message -----
From: Nylene Puha
To: Sent: Tuesday, December 22, 2009 12:24 PM
Subject: RE: All evidence points to N. American Native Status of the wild ones...Re: "horses under-counted more likely" Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter

Conversation with a local ranchers relative yesterday-she stated that her Uncle should not have to change his way of life-(cattle rancher)-for wild horses. EVEN IF beef IS unhealthy for the land and even if his own health is affected-he should not have to make any concessions to his family's traditional lifestyle.
My question -Does he hate wild horses? Answer-Well, he is a RANCHER.
Those of you who don't live here-this is the culture we face.

This is war. And the ranchers are winning. The best thing I can suggest at this point is to Boycott Beef. If we can get all the REAL environmental groups to join in and organize -which there is talk of...this could have some true clout. Even those who don't intend to stop eating beef-could make the THREAT...."I am a lifelong beef eater but due to the wild horse situation..."...and so on. We must hurt the rancher/beef industry where they care-their pocketbooks. Another issue-wolves, coyotes, cougars-the wild horses natural predators here-are being wiped out by the BLM as well. Wild horse herds cannot survive as wild horses without them.

Nylene

PS-I think the hay thrown in Moundhouse that caused the accident that killed the wild horse last week- was by a rancher. I was told it was a guy who threw a bale of hay from the back of his pickup-right on the edge of the busy highway. I can't imagine a wild horse person doing such a thing. I think it was to cause talk of the 'problems' wild horses cause. Ranchers don't want winter feeding of wild horses because they will also eat the hay the ranchers throw to their cows in winter. They don't want the predators as they will also eat their cows.

Near Las Vegas? Get Involved! Protest Plan for Today!

2009-12-27T06:35:00.000-08:00

PROTEST THE INHUMANE WINTER ROUNDUP OF NEVADA’S WILD HORSES

WHERE: THE ENTRANCE TO RED ROCK CANYON, LAS VEGAS NEVADA, WHEN: 1PM, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27. 2009, CONTACT PERSON: ARLENE GAWNE, 702-277-1313 artistfromafrica@hotmail.com

On Monday, Dec. 28, 2009, the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) intends to roundup approximately 2,400- 2,700 of the estimated 3,000 wild horses in the Calico Mountain wild horse complex of Northern Nevada. They will be driven by helicopters in icy winter conditions, over rocky ground, for long distances. Some horses will be injured or die just as they have in recent BLM helicopter roundups.... (Press Release continued here)

Two More Wild Horse Foals Killed in BLM Roundup

2009-12-27T06:24:00.000-08:00

From The Cloud Foundation

Sheryl Crow and Thousands of Advocates Call on President Obama and Senator Reid to Grant America’s Mustangs a Christmas Reprieve

Two More Wild Horse Foals are Killed in Most Recent BLM Roundup

Colorado Springs, CO (December 24, 2009)—Sheryl Crow asks Senator Reid and President Obama to grant a Christmas reprieve until the American people and Congress can find a better way to manage our living legends of the West. Now they are being managed into extinction. The Cloud Foundation also reports two more wild horse deaths, during the recent Paisley Wild Horse roundup in southern Oregon (December 16-18).

"I'm asking President Obama and Senator Reid to stop the Calico roundup of the American wild mustangs in Nevada NOW until Congress decides how to manage our living legends of the West." – Sheryl Crow

Two wild horses foals died, one that broke its leg during the helicopter roundup and another that was found dead in the temporary corrals where the horses had been held overnight. The Wild Horse and Burro specialist at the BLM Lakeview field office reported that the second foal was found dead in the foal pen the morning following his capture. The foals had been traumatized and separated from their mothers directly following entry into the trap.
275 horses in all were captured, 23 were allowed back out on the range, 15 mares and 8 stallions. All mares released were given infertility drugs. According to the Paisley Wild Horse and Burro Specialist, the estimated number of horses remaining in the immense herd area of nearly 300,000 is 102 animals. This number is below minimum standards to ensure their long term survival.

Many are demanding that the numbers of wild horses allowed on their home ranges be increased to guarantee they can survive into the future. At the December 7^th National BLM Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Meeting in Reno, Don Glenn, Chief of the Wild Horse and Burro Program, stated that 150 acres is necessary to maintain one wild horse on dry western areas. Yet, in the Paisley area, which is legally designated for wild horses, the BLM has left one horse for every 3,000 acres. As in most wild horse herd areas, BLM allows for cattle grazing and regularly cites the lack of forage in their decisions to remove wild horses.

The focus is now turning on the Administration in an effort to save the last stronghold of wild horses. Three days after Christmas BLM plans to wipe out 80-90 percent of the estimated 3,000 horses living in the Calico Mountain wild horse complex. The horses will be driven by a low-flying helicopter over dangerous terrain in winter conditions to traps and temporary corrals. Respiratory illnesses, permanent injury and death are expected should this winter roundup take place.

“Two foals and a mare have already been killed in the first two winter roundups and these deaths were in roundups 1/10^th the size of Calico. I’m asking the public to join me in calling on our President to stop the Calico roundup now. No horse owner in their right mind would run their own horses in the winter the way the BLM does our wild horses. This is nothing short of government-sponsored cruelty.” – Ginger Kathrens, Naturalist and Emmy-award winning filmmaker- creator of the popular PBS Cloud Wild Horse Documentaries

In Defense of Animals (IDA) has filed complaints with the Department of Interior and White House Office of Environmental Quality (CEQ) alleging multiple violations of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
“The President should order a halt to this roundup until the legality of the long-term holding facilities is determined. The BLM itself says this (Calico) is not an emergency roundup, so there would be no harm in waiting for adjudication of this enormously important issue,”said William J. Spriggs, of Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney, which filed the case on behalf of IDA, Downer and Farley.

IDA charges that BLM violated NEPA by failing to adequately assess the environmental impacts of its massive wild horse capture plan. Over 10,000 public comments were submitted to the BLM in opposition to the Calico roundup, which the BLM has stated will cost taxpayers $1.9 million for the roundup contractor and BLM personal alone. Additional costs for branding, sorting, processing and transporting horses are expected to add at least another million.

“The thing these horses have to fear most is the very federal agency that is supposed to protect them.” —Howard Boggess, Crow Indian Elder and Historian
It would appear that there is a continuation of the Bush era policy of removing tens of thousands of wild horses from their rightful Western publicly-owned rangelands, often to make room for increased grazing of privately-owned livestock as well as for oil, gas and mineral deals. Judge Friedman questioned the legality of BLM’s warehousing of over 34,000 wild horses in government holding facilities. 9,000 more are expected to be added this year and in 2011 and in 2012 as BLM continues its unwarranted massive removals. Independent analysis¹ of BLM’s own population estimates shows a dramatic decline in populations since 2000 and leaves in question how many wild horses and burros are even left on public lands. According to BLM the number of wild horses in government holding facilities will exceed those left on public lands around the time the government agency completes its desruction of the Calico horses.

“BLM only looks at removing or contracepting wild horses to manage what they claim to be exploding populations. BLM fails to look into restoring even a portion of their legally designated 24+ million acres that have been taken away from the wild horses and burros in the past 40 years.” —Craig Downer, wildlife ecologist.

“This is not only a humane issue, this is an issue about preserving a legacy that we have in the west.” —Congressman Raul Grijalva, in an address to wild horse advocates in Washington DC on September 29^th, 2009.

Backyard Horse and Rider: Bring on the Rain!!! (...or "Look What I Got Today!")

2009-12-24T19:04:00.000-08:00

Backyard Horse and Rider: Bring on the Rain!!! (...or "Look What I Got Today!")

How the Grinch (BLM's Ken Salazar) Stole Our Mustangs

2009-12-24T17:29:00.000-08:00

In case you missed this when it made the rounds....

It's really too good (and informative) to miss!

Judge Denies Preliminary Injunction But Questions BLM Policies

2009-12-24T17:17:00.000-08:00

Judge Friedman Denies Preliminary Injunction But Questions BLM Policies
Posted Dec 21, 2009 by laura allen, Animal Law Coalition

Update Dec. 23, 2009: Judge Paul L. Friedman has denied the motion by plaintiffs In Defense of Animals, Craig Downer and Terri Farley, for a preliminary injunction to stop the roundup of up to 2,736 wild horses from the Calico Mountain Complex herd management areas in Nevada.

But the judge has also rejected that BLM can continue to keep unadopted wild horses and burros in long term facilities. The judge agreed with the plaintiff that BLM has no authority to transport healthy unadoptable horses and hold them in long term holding facilities especially in places where they were not located previously, Oklahoma, Kansas or South Dakota.

The judge, however, found the plaintiffs did not raise this argument until their reply brief and it could not be the basis for a preliminary injunction. The judge said the defendants had not had time to brief the issue fully. The judge did reject the BLM's contention that Congress had ratified its policies of putting unadopted wild horses and burros into long term holding facilities by approving appropriations bills.

The judge suggested the agency postpone the roundup scheduled for December 28 but declined to issue an injunction at this time. The judge reasoned that if the BLM proceeds with the gather, knowing that long term holding may not be an option and with no funds under the Appropriations Act, FY 2010, for euthanization or sale for slaughter, the agency must come up with another solution for the horses it will have removed from the wild. The judge said that once removed as excess, the horses could not at that point simply be returned to the herd areas.

The judge found "untenable" the plaintiffs' other contention that BLM cannot round up and remove horses en masse. The court rejected the plaintiffs' interpretation of the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act, 16 U.S.C. Sec. 1331 et seq, (WFRHBA) that BLM must determine on a case by case basis those horses deemed "excess" or causing an overpopulation, and then remove them under a tiered approach with the old, sick and lame taken first and then the healthy adoptable horses. The judge said such a process would put the BLM in "an impossible Catch-22" because the agency could not really evaluate the health or age of horses without capturing them first. The judge found the WFRHBA did not prohibit the BLM's current method of rounding up horses, separating them, sterlizing and returning some and placing others in short term holding facilities for adoption or sale.

Judge Friedman did also say the public and BLM's interest in controlling the overpopulation of wild horses could be negatively impacted by a delay. He said "issuance of an injunction at this stage might lead to substantial growth in already overpopulated herds" in the Calico Complex. The judge said that, according to BLM, a spring roundup could result in more injuries for the wild horses.

This ruling does not end the case. With this ruling, judge rejected the motion for a preliminary injunction to keep the status quo pending a final decision. It is a serious warning to BLM that the judge does not think its policy of keeping wild horses in long term holding facilities, is legal. But, unfortunately, unless BLM takes the judge's advice, the Calico roundup will proceed on Dec. 28.

At this point, the best course of action is to call on President Barack Obama and BLM to stop the roundups. Urge Congress to take action, too, and demand a stop to these roundups! Go here to find out how you can join the call for a moratorium on BLM roundups of wild horses and burros.

Calico Round-up not Stopped by Lawsuit

2009-12-24T17:12:00.000-08:00

Associated Press article:

IDA press release from Makendra:

In Defense of Animals, 3010 Kerner Blvd., San Rafael, CAFor Immediate
ReleaseContacts: William J. Spriggs, Esq., 202 452 6051; Suzanne Roy,
919-697-9389Lawsuit to Protect Wild Horses Continues Despite Denial of
Injunction Against Massive Roundup Advocates Call on President Obama to Give
America¹s Wild Horses a Christmas Reprieve Washington, DC (December 23,
2009). . . . Wild horse advocates today celebrated a partial victory as U.S.
District Court Judge Paul L. Friedman ordered a lawsuit challenging a Bureau
of Land Management roundup of thousands of wild horses in Nevada forward,
but denied a preliminary injunction to stop the removal of horses, which is
scheduled to begin December 28. Judge Friedman¹s 25-page decision indicates
that he found merit in IDA¹s argument that the BLM¹s practice of stockpiling
tens of thousands of horses in long-term holding facilities in the Midwest
is not authorized by law, and invited both parties to expedite briefing on
that issue. Advocates are now calling on President Obama to give the horses
a holiday reprieve after filing complaints with the Department of Interior
and White House Office of Environmental Quality (CEQ) alleging multiple
violations of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). ³The President
should order a halt to this roundup until the legality of the long-term
holding facilities is determined. The BLM itself says this is not an
emergency roundup, so there would be no harm in waiting for adjudication of
this enormously important issue,² said William J. Spriggs, of Buchanan,
Ingersoll & Rooney, which filed the case on behalf of IDA, ecologist Craig
Downer and noted children's author Terri Farley. ³We are on strong ground in
charging that the BLM's policy of stockpiling tens of thousands of horses in
the Midwest, off their rightful Western ranges, is contrary to law, the
intent of Congress and the will of the American people,² Mr. Spriggs
concluded. Meanwhile, IDA is turning to the Administration in an effort to
save the wild horses living in the Calico Mountains Complex which is
comprised of more than 500 million acres in northwestern Nevada. Beginning
December 28, the BLM intends to wipe out 80-90 percent of the estimated
3,000 horses there by stampeding them with helicopters over dangerous winter
terrain into capture pens, then loading them on to trucks bound for
government holding facilities in Kansas, Oklahoma and South Dakota. Just
four years ago, the BLM rounded up more than two thousand wild horses in
Calico in the winter of 2004-2005 and shipped 1,623 horses to short- and
long-term holding. ³This is a Christmastime appeal to President Obama on
behalf of America's wild horses,² said Elliot M. Katz, DVM, IDA President.
³While the President is enjoying the holidays with his lovely family, In
Defense of Animals asks him to think of the horse families who are about to
be torn apart forever in the BLM roundup. With the stroke of a pen, he can
stop the terror that is about to befall the majestic wild horses of the
Calico Mountains in Nevada.² IDA is asking the Administration to halt the
roundup, charging that the BLM violated NEPA by failing to adequately assess
the environmental impacts of its massive wild horse capture plan. Over
10,000 public comments were submitted in opposition to the Calico roundup,
which the BLM has stated will cost taxpayers $1.7 million. Despite promising
to deliver change, the Obama Administration has continued the Bush
Administration's policy of removing tens of thousands of wild horses from
their rightful Western ranges, often to make room for increased grazing of
privately-owned livestock on public lands. The BLM currently warehouses
33,000 wild horses in government holding facilities the legality of which
Judge Friedman has just questioned yet intends to round up and remove
12,000 more horses a year from the West for the next three years. After that
time, the number of wild horses held captive in zoo-like conditions will far
exceed those left in the wild. # # #In Defense of Animals is an
international animal protection organization located in San Rafael, Calif.
dedicated to protecting animals' rights, welfare, and habitat through
education, outreach, and our hands-on rescue facilities in Mumbai, India,
Cameroon, Africa, and rural Mississippi

Mustangs and Trail Riding....Good Combination

2009-12-15T18:25:00.000-08:00

Mustang Heritage Foundation and the American Competitive Trail Horse Association create mutual support and sponsorship…

“That’s about the only way I can describe what we’ve done” states Tom Scrima of ACTHA. “The Mustang Heritage Foundation and ACTHA have created a relationship that promotes both organizations while increasing Competitive Trail Ride Challenges (CTC’s) and fundraising opportunities for Mustang trainers.

“The mission of the Mustang Heritage Foundation is to increase adoption of wild horses” states Patti Colbert, Executive director of the MHF. “ACTHA is focused on providing support for the abandoned and unwanted horses. With the Foundation and ACTHA working together, we can positively impact the lives of horses in so many ways.”

Together the way it works is MHF has hundreds of their trainers all across the USA. MHF will give them the opportunity to become ACTHA ride hosts, or as ACTHA calls their local ride managers AFFILIATES. An affiliate holds ACTHA’s Competitive Trail Challenges, CTC’s©, all over the nation. Hundreds of rides happen every year from coast to coast giving wonderful prizes and recognition to the riders on America’s great unsung hero’s…The Great American Trail Horse. Riders can ride unique trails for pleasure or to be judged on various natural skill challenges along the way. Affiliates earn money at each of these local events, sometimes as much as $4,000. But there’s a lot of work and expertise that goes into the effort!

The rides are a one day affair and allow participants to ride locally and often on private lands not normally accessible to them. Sponsors lavish prizes and awards to these representatives of the largest sector of the horse industry….the trail rider!

“ACTHA donates up to 50% of its proceeds to horse charities…what better charity than the MHF!?” states Karen VanGetson, co-founder of ACTHA. The MHF is one of our favorite charities and we want to do more for them. Getting their trainers involved is a natural for us. To begin with we’re dealing with accomplished horse trainers who have knowledge of what it’s all about. These are dedicated professionals, many working a day job to support their passion, horses! What a great way for them to earn extra money while training that next winner of a MUSTANG MAKEOVER! They can use the money for their training expenses or for any cause they wish.”

ACTHA takes the modest fees they charge to bring the whole thing together and donates like mad to charities and non-profits. “Indeed in our first year of going national we and our wonderful affiliates raised over $100,000 for worthwhile rescues and non-profits!” states Carrie Scrima ACTHA’s other co-founder. “We plan to ear mark a substantial percentage of the funds received from the MHF trainer’s rides and give it to the MHF to carry on their wonderful work”.

“Not JUST a trail horse anymore!” is ACTHA’s motto…who ever thought this unsung hero would be raising big bucks for their less fortunate brothers and sisters who find themselves in a really bad situation?

“ Between the MHF and ACTHA we are fighting horse hunger and neglect one horse at a time and we won’t stop until every horse makes its way through this world humanely…PERIOD” states Patti Colbert and Tom Scrima… “Our work has just begun but we are confident it’s the beginning of the end of suffering for all unwanted horses. Millions of dollars as well as assistance to the major organizations trying to lobby and help those brave souls taking in horses for rehabiliatation will be donated by our two organizations, of that we are very confident.”

For more information on The Mustang Heritage Foundation go to;

http://mustangheritagefoundation.org/

For more information on ACTHA go to; http://actha.us/

Tom Scrima

830-693-2065

Wild Horses & Burros Available for Adoption in Winchester, CA

2009-11-27T15:41:00.000-08:00

U.S. Department of the Interior
Bureau of Land Management
News Release

For Immediate Release: Nov. 24, 2009 CA-CDD-10-18
Contact: David Briery, (951) 697-5220 or Steve Razo, (951) 697-5217

Wild Horses and Burros Available for Adoption in Winchester
Strength, endurance, and spirit are qualities embodied in wild horses and burros that roam America’s rangelands. These living legends are available for adoption at Winchester Wild West Arena in Winchester, Calif. on Dec. 5, 2009, through the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Adopt-A-Horse or Burro Program. The mustangs and burros were gathered from public lands in California and Nevada, have been wormed and vaccinated, and are in excellent health. Spectators are welcome.
Animals arrive at noon on Friday December 4, and potential adopters may view the mustangs and burros from 1 to 5 p.m. An excellent media opportunity exists at noon when the animals arrive and unload. Approved adopters will receive a lottery number, which is required to participate in the lottery adoption Saturday morning starting at 9 a.m. The lottery adoption provides all adopters an equal opportunity to adopt the animal of their choice. BLM staff will approve adoption applications from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday.
The adoption fee is $125.00 per animal. Animals not selected during the lottery adoption will be available for adoption on a first come, first served basis for the remainder of Saturday. Adoption fees may be paid by cash, check, or credit card.
Qualified adopters must be 18 years old, have adequate facilities, the financial means to care for the animal(s), and would have some experience training or raising a horse or burro. Adopters also must be a resident of the United States and have no convictions for inhumane treatment of animals. Qualified individuals with the proper facilities may adopt up to four animals.
The process is called an “adoption” because BLM retains title to the animal for one year after the adoption. During the year, a BLM compliance officer or designated representative will visit each adopter to ensure the animal is being cared for and has a good home. During this time adopters cannot sell their adopted animal. Adopters must notify BLM if the animal is moved.
After the first year, adopters may apply for title. BLM will pass title of the animal if all the stipulations of the adoption agreement have been met. The animal becomes the private property of the adopter only after BLM transfers title, which completes the adoption process.
Directions to Winchester Arena: from Interstate 215 exit S.H. 74 East; turn south on S.H. 79 S./ Winchester Road; turn west on 9th Street to 32150 S. Grand Ave. For more information about the Winchester adoption or the Bureau's Adopt-A-Horse or Burro Program, contact BLM toll free at 866-4MUSTANGS or visit www.wildhorseandburro.blm.gov.

-BLM-
visit our website
California Desert District Office – 22835 Calle San Juan de Los Lagos, Moreno Valley, CA 92553

Lawsuit Filed Giving Mustangs 28-day Reprieve

2009-11-25T17:37:00.000-08:00

Nevada Mustangs Given 28-Day Reprieve

IDA Lawsuit Postpones Huge Wild Horse Roundup

Washington, DC (November 24, 2009) - The U.S. Department of Justice announced tonight that the massive roundup and removal of thousands of horses from public land in northwestern Nevada will be delayed until December 28 as a direct result of the filing of a lawsuit by In Defense of Animals and renowned ecologist Craig Downer on November 23.

Tomorrow, IDA and Mr. Downer plan to file a motion for a permanent injunction, with supporting affidavits from horse experts and eyewitnesses to Bureau of Land Management (BLM) roundups. The motion will ask Judge Paul L. Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to stop the roundup altogether.

The roundup and removal of 80-90 percent of the estimated 3,055 wild horses living in the BLM's Calico Mountain Complex was originally scheduled to begin December 1. The BLM has received over 10,000 public comments in opposition to the roundup.

"We welcome this moratorium on the capture and inhumane treatment of the Calico horses," said William Spriggs, Esq. of Buchanan, Ingersoll and Rooney, pro bono attorney for IDA and Mr. Downer. "The BLM plan for a massive helicopter roundup of these horses is entirely illegal."

"We are confident that the court will agree that America's wild horses are protected by law from BLM’s plan to indiscriminately chase and stampede them into corrals for indeterminate warehousing away from their established habitat," he said. "The magnificent wild horses and burros of the American West are an important part of our national heritage and must be preserved."

The Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act, passed unanimously by Congress in 1971, designated America's wild horses and burros as "living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West," specifying they "shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death … [and that] to accomplish this they are to be considered in the area where presently found, as an integral part of the natural system of public lands.”

Since 1971, the BLM has removed over 270,000 horses from their Western home ranges and taken away nearly 20 million acres of wild horse habitat. Only 37,000 wild horses and burros remain on public lands in the West. By contrast, millions of cattle graze our public lands. Thirty-two thousand wild horses who have been removed from the range are already held in government holding facilities, and the BLM intends to round up 12,000 more horses in FY 2010.

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In Defense of Animals is an international animal protection organization located in San Rafael, Calif. dedicated to protecting animals’ rights, welfare, and habitat through education, outreach, and our hands-on rescue facilities in Mumbai, India, Cameroon, Africa, and rural Mississippi.

Vicki | A Voice for Our Horses

Call for Moratorium on Wild Horse & Burro Round-ups Heats Up

2009-11-24T14:58:00.000-08:00

Mariana Tosca, Viggo Mortensen and Kevin Nealon join the unified call for an immediate moratorium on wild horse and burro round-ups.
“Without a single dissenting vote, the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act was passed by Congress guaranteeing these animals protection from “capture, branding, harassment and death.” – Mariana Tosca
CHICAGO, (EWA) – Acclaimed Actors Mariana Tosca, Christmas in the Clouds, Viggo Mortensen, Lord of the Rings, Appaloosa and Hidalgo and Kevin Nealon, Weeds have added their voice to a growing 150 organizations and dignitaries from America, Canada, the United Kingdom and South Africa asking President Obama and Secretary Salazar to halt the round-ups of America’s wild horses and burros.

The assault on America’s wild horses and burros must be halted until range studies can be performed and a solid plan is established for the management of these magnificent animals that represent our American heritage.

Actor and Social Activist, Mariana Tosca, joined the unified call with the following statement issued to John Holland, President of the Equine Welfare Alliance.

“With virtually no oversight, the BLM’s maneuvers are methodically cleansing the land of these animals who have become an inconvenience and impediment to the goals of the ranching, gas and oil industries.

It is the action of arrogance and the lowest instincts of man to place greed above the rights of others and to shape policy to fit private agendas. Millions of head of cattle are grazing on public ranges - public ranges that were designated for these wild horses and burros on land that belongs to American taxpayers, not to private entities.

These horses are connected to this land; their ancestors roamed unfettered on it over a million years ago. They represent the basic principal that our nation was founded on: FREEDOM. These animals are the physical embodiment of all that we as people and as a nation aspire to… liberty and self-determination. And at some level that resonates with each and every one of us. With every BLM round up that is allowed to happen, our heritage is under siege.”

Viggo Mortensen adds, “Thanks to all who have contacted their government representatives on behalf of mustangs, those unique animals that are living symbols of the nation's heritage and character. Your efforts have paid off, prompting Congress to strengthen the protections afforded to wild horses and burros in the United States of America [with the passage of HR 1018].

Mariana Tosca continues, “We have to stop eroding the law that ensures their protection, simply to cater to and placate private entities. America faces a very real risk that the wild horse will go the way of the buffalo, wiped out by a zealous hunt to make room for commercial interests.

Since the BLM is a government agency, with perceived mismanagement and conflict of interest issues, the public has a right to call for an independent audit of the horses in BLM managed short and long term holding facilities, as well as an independent count of the horses remaining on the ranges. The management of our remaining wild horses should be moved to another agency.”

A lawsuit was filed by IDA (In Defense of Animals) on November 23 aimed at halting the removal of over 2,700 horses in the Nevada Calico Complex which is scheduled to start on December 1.

Additional information on the unified call for a moratorium is available on the Equine Welfare Alliance and The Cloud Foundation websites.

Equine Welfare Alliance

Vicki | A Voice for Our Horses

Calling All Horse Welfare Groups!

2009-11-15T12:36:00.001-08:00

Hi, all. Could you also pass this on to any organizations that may be interested? I can’t locate the list I had from a few months ago when we were working on the Sheldon suit and many of them aren’t in my disty list. I sent to quite a few yesterday but don’t want to miss anyone. We want to list as many supporters as possible.

The Cloud Foundation is sending a letter to Congress and a few others government departments calling for an immediate moratorium. Included with the letter will be a list of organizations that are in support of an immediate moratorium. If you would like to be included in the organization list, please let me know ASAP.

Please provide the organization name, one name for the organization (optional), link or linked logo (please also include link in case the link doesn’t come through).

We are planning on finalizing the list by early evening tomorrow (Sunday).

Thanks so much.

v

Vicki | A Voice for Our Horses

BLM Always follows the Money - to Hell with the Horses!

2009-11-08T13:44:00.000-08:00

In an " emergency" gather 325 horses were removed and four semi loads of sheep were unloaded on the Sulpher Range last Nov.. The allotments are not separated by fencing. BLM say they are finally down to AML with less than 200 horses remaining on 225,000 wild horse herd area. Last we heard, the water was still turned off at the solar panels. Somewhere in my cybespace are the pics I took.
kat

----- Original Message -----
From: TerryW
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;
Sent: Saturday, November 07, 2009 11:08 PM
Subject: From a couple years ago......

Hundreds of sheep brought in after wild horses removed: a supporter contacted us to report that, after 200 horses were removed in December from the Dry Lake Complex in Nevada, he was shocked to see about 1,000 sheep trucked in to that very area, less than two weeks after the round-up. Questioned on the issue, BLM confirmed that the area includes a grazing allotment for 2,200 private sheep, whereas for horses the “appropriate management level” is set at only 128 head, or one horse per 5,500 acres! What BLM failed to address is why substantially more forage is consistently allocated to private livestock on the very areas that should be “devoted principally” to wild horses under the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act.

The Science Behind Wild Horse Roundups
2007, KTVN
Rounding up wild horses carries inherent risks for the animals, so presumably, there should be a good reason for capturing them. In early September, a BLM roundup captured 900 horses in Nevada's Jackson Mountain Wilderness Area, supposedly because there wasn't enough forage to support them. When the horses got to the Palomino Valley holding facility, they started dying because of the feed they received. What bothers wild horse advocates the most is that while the BLM felt there was only room for 200 or fewer horses in the 280,000 acre Jackson Range, they said it was still okay to have 8,000 cattle and sheep grazing in the same area.

Congressional Committee Will Call for Moratorium on Wild Horse Gathers!

2009-11-03T08:47:00.000-08:00

Congressional Committee Will Call for Moratorium on Gathers
Posted Oct 28, 2009 by lauraallen
o Horse Slaughter
© by Laura Allen, Executive Director, Animal Law Coalition
Update Nov. 2, 2009: A Congressional staff member has confirmed to Animal Law Coalition that the House Natural Resources Committee is calling on BLM to stop all gathers or removals of wild horses and burros until Congress takes action on the controversial issues surrounding the wild horses and burros.
A Congressional staff member told Animal Law Coalition, "It is my understanding that BLM has 11 more roundups planned for 2009 and is expecting to remove more than 6,000 horses. This is unacceptable especially in light of the fact that these roundups are not based on science."
Support the House Natural Resources Committee's call for a moratorium! Write or call your U.S. representative and senators and urge them to support a moratorium pending decisions by Congress on the role of the BLM and the course of the wild horses and burros program. Copy the Committee on any fax or letter to your representative and senators so they can see your support for a moratorium!
For more information, read Animal Law Coalition's call for a Congressional investigation and moratorium on gathers!
Original report: It's time for a public Congressional hearing and investigation of BLM's management of America's wild horses and burros including the new plan recently announced by DOI and BLM.
In the meantime and pending decisions about the course of the wild horse and burro program, there should be a moratorium on gathers.
On October 7, 2009 Dept. of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Bureau of Land Management Director Bob Abbey announced a new 3 part plan for managing America's wild horses and burros in the future. But, other than a press release and a letter to Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), the specifics of the plan have not been made public. As Mr. Abbey said in the press conference held on Oct. 7, 2009, there are "thousands" of wild horse and burro enthusiasts who care about the fate of these animals. There are also innumerable experts and citizens concerned about BLM's management of these American icons.
There should be a public hearing and investigation held by Congress regarding BLM's management of America's wild horses and burros particularly before yet another plan essentially approved only by BLM and DOI is put in place. There should be a moratorium on all gathers until Congress has completed public hearings and an investigation and reached a decision about the appropriate management of these animals consistent with the laws that protect them. These are after all America's wild horses and burros.
The Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act (WFRHBA) directs BLM to manage America's wild horses and burros to "maintain free roaming behavior". All management activities by law are to be at the "minimal feasible level". Under WFRHBA America's wild horses and burros are entitled to humane treatment and to remain free from "capture, ...harassment, or death".
But, instead, the BLM largely manages these animals by running them down with helicopters and gathering or removing them from public lands to holding facilities, separating families, injuring and even killing horses in the process. A terrifying ordeal that leaves wild horses and burros in holding pens where few are adopted, many are sold for slaughter and still more languish, their spirits and bodies broken. The operation of holding facilities will consume about 70% of the total 2009 budget for these animals.
Surely, that is contrary, to say the least, to the directive of the WFRHBA. Indeed, U.S. District Court Judge Rosemary Collyer found in her August 5, 2009 opinion: "It would be anomalous to infer that by authorizing the custodian of the wild-free roaming horses and burros to manage them, Congress intended to permit the animals' custodian to subvert the primary policy of the statute by capturing and removing from the wild the very animals that congress sought to protect from being removed from the wild." Colorado Wild Horse and Burro Coalition, Inc. v. Salazar, No. 06-1609 (D.D.C 2009)
Mr. Salazar insists that "arid western lands and watersheds" can't support the few wild horses that remain "without significant damage to the environment" and "degrading public lands". These are reasons typically stated by BLM in its environmental assessments and environmental impact statements to support removals of wild horses and burros from herd areas. And, just as typically, there are no specifics to support these claims. For more examples....
Indeed, Mr. Salazar and BLM do not mention the thousands of cattle grazing and drinking and fouling water on these lands, BLM's land sales, development, increasing recreational use, and mining as well diversion of water from herd areas. Wildlife ecologists say if public lands are "degraded", something that is disputed, these factors are far more to blame. In fact, citizens living in the areas where there are wild horses and burros, including small ranchers, contradict BLM's assessments the range is "degraded" or lacks sufficient water for these few remaining animals.
Note that in 1990 BLM claimed the range was the best it had been in the last century. Yet, since then, there has been an increase in the numbers of wild horses and burros removed from the range. There is also no question BLM has routinely renewed grazing permits, finding the range satisfactory for grazing cattle and at the same time, issue environmental assessments that claim the very same range cannot support the few wild horses and burros that remain. BLM has also relied on outdated or what can only be called completely false assessments in its apparent zeal to justify removal of wild horses and burros.
Shouldn't Congress at least have a hearing or investigate whether BLM's claims are true? Shouldn't Congress consider whether BLM should even continue as the manager of the wild horses and burros program? An agency that has turned the WFRHBA on its head and instead of managing to maintain free roaming behavior, does so by removing and penning wild horses and burros.
It is also questionable whether BLM really has the authority, as it claims, to manage America's wild horses and burros in all respects pursuant to a multiple use concept. Though WFRHBA mentions "multiple-use relationship" in connection with specified ranges, it is very clear that the directive is to manage these animals otherwise only to "maintain a thriving natural ecological balance on the public lands" and "protect the natural ecological balance of all wildlife species which inhabit such lands, particularly endangered wildlife species".
In effect, WFRHBA authorizes only limited interference with wild horses and burros in herd areas where they were living in 1971. Nothing about removing wild horses and burros from herd areas where they lived in 1971 to allow multiple use such as cattle grazing, recreation for off road vehicles, mining or development. Also, protecting the ecological balance of all wildlife has never meant rounding up and removing whole species. Especially when there is a law that explicitly protects their right to exist in historic herd areas.
Even designated ranges managed under a multiple use concept are to be "devoted principally" to wild horses and burros. The wild horses and burros on these lands are not to be eliminated for cattle or mining or recreation or even secondary to these other uses.
Despite the limited authority to interfere with wild horses and burros under WFRHBA, the BLM has decided, however, the multiple public use concept applies to all herd areas as well as ranges. BLM even issued a regulation that effectively rewrites WFRHBA to say the "objectives of these regulations are management of wild horses and burros as an integral part of the natural system of the public lands under the principle of multiple use". 43 CFR § 4700.0-2 Yet, the WFRHBA says only that wild horses and burros "are to be considered in the area where presently found, as an integral part of the natural system of the public lands". 16 U.S.C. §1331.
The BLM has also authorized itself to divide herd areas into "herd management areas", something not authorized by WFRHBA. 43 CFR 4710.3-1. In this way, with no statutory authority at all, BLM has limited wild horses and burros' access to thousands of acres that were historically their herd areas. This is done without thought about the horses' seasonal migration patterns or available resources. The BLM then removes wild horses and burros from the artificially created "herd management areas" on the basis there is insufficient forage, water or habitat! BLM also targets them for removal if they cross the artificial boundaries into their original herd areas.
While BLM has authorized itself to create divide herd areas into Herd Management Areas, its own regulations provide that "management of wild horses and burros shall be undertaken with the objective of limiting the animals' distribution to herd areas, 43 C.F.R. § 4710.4."Herd area" is defined by regulation as "the geographic area identified as having been used by a herd as its habitat in 1971," 43 C.F.R. §4710.4.
Another example of BLM's erosion of the WFRHBA protections is the rewording of the WFRHBA mandate "[a]ll management activities shall be at the minimal feasible level". BLM's regulation says "[m]anagement shall be at the minimum level necessary to attain the objectives identified in approved land use plans and herd management area plans." 43 CFR 4710.4, 16 U.S.C. §1333. Two very different laws. So if a land use plan authorizes a land giveaway or increased recreation or mining, "management...at a minimum level" can mean round up and removal, according to the BLM.
The Federal Land Policy Management Act requires management of public lands under concepts of multiple use and sustained yield. 43 U.S.C. §§ 1701, et seq. But the multiple use concept does not trump the WFRHBA protections for wild horses. In fact, the statute makes clear that the protections under WFRHBA take precedence. FLPMA, 43 U.S.C. § 1732 (a) Yet, despite this, BLM has issued a regulation that provides "[w]ild horses and burros shall be considered comparably with other resource values in the formulation of land use plans." 43 C.F.R. §4700.0-6(b).
The BLM's land use plans make clear that contrary to WFRHBA, it does not decide to remove wild horses and burros only to maintain a "thriving natural ecological balance to the range, and protect the range from the deterioration associated with overpopulation". Nor are the protected wild horse ranges "devoted principally" to the use of wild horses and burros. Instead, the BLM clearly embraces the multiple use concept for all lands designated for wild horses and burros. Indeed, the plan seems to be to eliminate or zero out the wild horses and burros in favor of increased development and recreational use, mining, and cattle.
Surely, BLM's fast and loose interpretation of the WFRHBA is more than sufficient for Congress to take a look, hold a public hearing and investigate before America's icon is lost forever.
It should be noted that BLM has also virtually ignored the directive in the WFRHBA to "maintain a current inventory of wild free-roaming horses and burros on given areas of the public lands". 16 U.S.C. §1333(b). According to WFRHBA, the inventory is critical in determining appropriate management levels or AML and whether there is indeed an overpopulation or excess horses and burros. Yet, BLM has gathered and removed thousands of horses without the important information necessary to determine if the removal is legal. It's time to take a look, an independent census and standardize AML determinations.
It is important for Congress to open up for public review the work of an agency that has operated largely in secret, offering the public generally pre-determined courses of action, making a joke out of the public comment process. It is also time BLM or whatever agency that is put in charge of the wild horses and burros took seriously the WFRHBA mandate requiring consultation not with special interests but also a range of independent experts recommended by the National Academy of Sciences, the states and those with "scientific expertise and special knowledge of wild horse and burro protection...[and] wildlife management". 16 U.S.C. §1333(b).
Congress should hold public hearings and investigate Secretary Salazar's plan in particular. There are innumerable experts outside of the BLM who should have an opportunity to weigh in on how BLM continues to manage America's wild horses and burros.
Secretary Salazar delivered the following 3 part proposal to Sen. Reid: 1. BLM will work with non-profits and the "thousands" of wild horse enthusiasts to create sanctuaries and preserves in the Midwest or east. In fact, BLM appears to have already decided on sever preserves. It is not known who is involved in these transactions or how BLM decided on these preserves. Surely, the public is entitled to know how this happened. Mr. Salazar says tourism would be encouraged and could provide a source of revenue. But the mandate of the WFRHBA is to avoid such zoo-like settings for these American icons. The idea, the law, in fact, is that these animals are to remain free to roam on the public lands where they were living in 1971 when the Act went into effect.
2. Mr. Salazar will designate more ranges for wild horses. He cited the Pryor Mountain herd, recently rounded up and decimated, as an example of a range under BLM protection.
3. This is one of the most troubling aspects of Mr. Salazar and Mr. Abbey's plan. They say BLM will work to restore the "sustainability" of herds and public lands. BLM will continue to round up and remove horses but step up "fertility control", monitor sex ratios, and introduce non-reproducing herds. More like BLM will work toward the extinction of herds. The obvious concern is how a herd that is non-reproducing or sterilized can remain self-sustaining, genetically viable, as mandated by law. There are serious questions here about BLM's determination of sex ratios. These proposals will have a very negative effect on herds and herd behavior. This plan euphemistically referred to as "restoring sustainability" during the press conference, is, in fact, the opposite, a plan to exterminate the wild horses and burros and in doing so, create great chaos and suffering in the herds. In effect, this plan raises real concerns about compliance with WFRHBA's mandate that BLM should manage these animals to maintain "free-roaming behavior" and a "thriving natural ecological balance" in herd areas.
There are also growing concerns about the effectiveness and use of the contraceptive, PZP, particularly in view of its effect on herd behavior and dangerous side effects such as out of season foals.
These plans likely stem from BLM's secret discussions that began in July, 2008 about ways to eliminate wild horses through unlimited slaughter, killing, manipulation of sex ratios, sterilization of mares, creation of gelding herds and the like. It is telling that here there is no promise in this plan to stop the slaughter of these wild animals or killing of healthy animals. There is no promise to stop the round ups, the decimation of herds, the brutal treatment of America's wild horses and burros in holding facilities.
During its discussions in the past year BLM considered ways to keep the public away from round ups and the killing of healthy horses and burros and planned to brand protests as "eco-terrorism". This was all to be done in secret. If Congress does not hold a hearing, investigate this plan and this agency, BLM will have succeeded.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
The wild horses and burros can be saved. There has to be a better way to manage these animals other than by hiring criminals to run them down with helicopters and penning some for life and sending others to slaughter. The WFRHBA requires them to be protected in their herd areas where they were living in 1971. And that is what the BLM should do.
Find and contact your U.S. senators here and urge them to hold a hearing or investigate BLM's management of America's wild horses and burros and tell the BLM to stop rounding up and killing or removing our wild horses and burros or selling them for slaughter and return them to the lands where they were living in 1971.
Go here to write your U.S. representative and urge him or her to do the same!

Vicki | A Voice for Our Horses

2009-11-01T11:02:00.001-08:00

Scroll below the following response for press release

All agencies have failed and refused to answer the simple question....what is the cost of managing genetically viable herds on their native ranges vs the cost of removal, holding, and adoption???

Where is the legal authority to transport non excess wild horses and burros across state lines for sale and adoption, or in holding facilities?

Restoring the millions of acres of Congressionally designated (vacant)herd areas may be a huge savings to our Herds and the taxpayers. Its OUR Heritage...ya know...like the loss of our inheritance without the benefit of probate.

The land management plans that vacated these herd areas are legally defective/ technically flawed, and politically motivated. They can be corrected/remedied as BLM Tom Pogacnik stated. But BLM won't do it until Congress tells them. BLM Don Glenn suggested we sue. Since when it is OUR DUTY to sue the Guvmint to make them do their fiduciary duty?
kat

Alliance calls for suspension of wild horse musters
October 31, 2009

Wild stallion Cloud, whose herd was recently mustered.
An alliance of more than 60 organisations has called for a suspension of all wild-horse musters in the United States, saying roundups have intensified and some herds have been removed entirely.

The group also voiced its concern for the ongoing genetic viability of some herds reduced in Bureau of Land Management musters.

The Equine Welfare Alliance said it wanted an immediate moratorium on the gathering of wild horses and burros by all government agencies.

Its call follows similar demands by The Cloud Foundation, The Animal Law Coalition, wildlife ecologist Craig Downer and Mustang author Deanne Stillman.

The moratorium call comes just three weeks after Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced a raft of proposals for future wild-herd management, including up to seven new herd areas further east and more aggressive use of long-term contraception.

Salazar admitted "The current path of the wild horse and burro programme is not sustainable for the animals, the environment, or the taxpayer."
More than 30,000 wild horses are held in captivity, only a few thousand fewer than still inhabit the western rangelands.

However, the alliance, an umbrella group comprising more than 60 member organisations, voiced its disapproval of Salazar's proposals.
"The Salazar plan would simply throw the herds off of their historical Western lands set aside for them in the 1971 Wild Horse and Burro Act and put them into long-term holding facilities which it renames 'refuges'," spokeswoman Vicki Tobin said.

The alliance said deficiencies in the current herd management programme had been pointed out to Bureau of Land Management boss Bob Abbey in an August letter from Congressmen Raul Grijalva.

"To date, none of the deficiencies have been corrected and until range studies can be completed, there is no scientific evidence justifying the removal of wild horses and burros from the land," alliance representatives John Holland and Shelley Sawhook said.

Following an independent report in 2008 that found the bureau did not have funding to support the estimated 37,000 horses held in captivity, Congress increased their budget.

"Instead of using the funding for its intended purpose, the bureau has intensified round-ups and has zeroed out many herds while leaving the remaining herds genetically unviable as a result of reduced numbers and mares that were given birth control," Holland and Sawhook said.
"The increased round-ups are coming at time when there are more wild horses in holding pens than on the open range at a cost of millions of dollars to tax payers."

Holland continued: "The huge number of horses being gathered is effectively guaranteeing a new and worse budget crisis in the immediate future."
The alliance said many wild horse advocates suspected the Department of Interior and bureau were on a course to exterminate America's wild horses and burros.

It cited a bureau ecologist, saying: "Wild horses do not belong in western ecosystems," and that "The 1971 Horse and Burro Act was based on emotions, not science".

"In a comparative analysis of free-roaming wild horses and burros in relation to habitat, wildlife and livestock populations, wild horses and burros populations pale in comparison," Holland and Sawhook said.

"In most cases, the wild horses and burros are being removed in record numbers with no scientific evidence justifying the need for these removals.
"According to the BLM schedule, another 12,000 wild horses and burros are targeted for removal in 2010."

The group argued that removing horses without scientific justification is in violation of the 1971 Wild Horse and Burro Act.

"The 1971 Wild Horse and Burro Act is a law and Americans are demanding that instead of ignoring the law, the bureau enforce it. An immediate moratorium on round-ups must be issued until the range studies are completed and the discrepancies are resolved."

Vicki | A Voice for Our Horses

We Can All Kiss our Asses Good-bye!

2009-10-23T22:01:00.000-07:00

This is so sad......

"Dear Supervisor Mitzenfelt

You may remember me from the small group that brought the RS 2477 resolution before Supervisor Postmas when you were on his staff and my subsequent testimony before the US House Resources committee.

Please read the plea below and this suggestion to declare San Bernardino's Heritage Herd of wild burros that date back to mining by the Spanish before statehood.

San Bernardino County could declare the Mojave Burros a local and National Heritage Herd and set aside their herd areas as Heritage Herd Areas for their maintenance. This is consistent with existing law. The skewed management plans resulting from The Desert Protection Act and management agreements between the Desert Managers Group are responsible for the destruction of our National Heritage.

Thank you for your consideration.

Kathleen Hayden

Coyote Canyon Caballos d' Anza Inc.

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: end of the California wild burros
From: "Chrys Anderson" <chrysteen@tds.net>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chrys is an officer in the California Donkey and Mule Association.

I have been making calls to the BLM and literally sat and cried this
afternoon. There is no plan to save any of the California desert herds of
donkeys. Between the BLM, National Park Service, California Desert
Protection Act, etc., business lobbyists got everything they wanted. The
last 40 burros at Clark Mountain will be removed to make way for a solar
farm. The National Park Service is adamant that all burros will be
removed or shot. The BLM doesn't control enough desert land in California
to save a burro gene pool even if they wanted to, which they don't.

They will leave 108 burros on the Chemehuevi Indian Reservation and 121
burros at the Chocolate Mule Mountains near the Colorado River. They will
leave some burros at Big Bear, but that is not a desert environment. The
unique genetic qualities that were the result of natural selection will be
gone forever. They say elections matter, and I believe eliminating burros
on public land was a Republican agenda. I don't know if it is possible to
force the NPS or BLM to set aside an area to preserve a least one group of
California desert donkeys, but it is worth a try. I have been writing
letters on behalf of the wild burros for years and have always been
disappointed. My only other possible suggestion is for CADMAN to form a
registry for California Wild Burros. Rescue groups don't breed and 350
Mojave burros will soon be shipped back east to genetic oblivion. Four
hundred Death Valley burros were shot and most of the rest were removed
and dispersed 10 years ago. If the unique qualities of the desert donkeys
are going to be preserved for future generations of donkey people,
something will have to be done soon. It is unfortunate that people who
care about burros tend not to be wealthy or politically savy. Wild horses
have more fans and get more publicity and even they are headed for genetic
extinction on public lands.

I don't have a clue what we can do.
Chrys "

Any fans of the wild burros out there?!?!? Time to make your voices heard!!

BLM and National Cattlemen's Beef Association Partner to dispose of Wild Horses!!!

2009-10-17T20:02:00.001-07:00

"In what could be its most absurd and cynical move yet, the Bureau of Land
Management is partnering with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association,
the American Sheep Industry and the Association of National Grasslands
(represented by the Public Lands Council), in a campaign that promotes the
purchase of wild horses and burros by public lands ranchers. View their
joint press release at Beef USA

The very people who lobby tirelessly to remove wild horses from our public
lands at taxpayers’ expense are now urged to purchase these same horses at
bargain basement prices. Ranchers did not want to share their public land
allotments with these horses in the first place; do we really think they
are now going to let them graze these same allotments out of the goodness
of their hearts? Who better than the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
to funnel wild horses to slaughter? In fact, it is disturbing that this
announcement should come on the heels of the USDA's decision to allow horse
slaughter to continue despite Congress overwhelmingly passing an amendment
banning such practice for one fiscal year; the horse slaughter ban was
vehemently opposed by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

Without independent oversight and incentives to ensure the ranchers will
provide long-term care for these horses, we can’t help but see something
sinister at play and need your help to fight another attempt by the BLM to
dispose of our wild horses by any means available. PLEASE TAKE ACTION NOW
to protest this latest maneuver by the BLM and the cattle lobby: voice your
concern and outrage to Gale Norton, Secretary of the Interior, Department
of the Interior,1849 C Street, N.W., Washington DC 20240 - fax:
202.208.5048.

We are in the process of investigating all the implications of BLM’s new
campaign. Be sure to check the News Briefs section of the AWHPC site for
further information as we uncover it.

On behalf of the horses, thank you for your support.

The AWHPC Team.
American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign "

All I can say is....WTH?!?!

Investigative Report - "Stampede To Oblivion"

2009-10-12T10:19:00.000-07:00

The Las Vegas I-Team and veteran reporter George Knapp's Special Investigative Report, "Stampede To Oblivion", is now available on line with a link to the show in its entirety.

http://www.americanherds.blogspot.com/

PLEASE URGE EVERYONE YOU KNOW TO WATCH THIS TIMELY AND IN DEPTH REPORT ON THE CURRENT STATE OF THE WILD HORSE & BURRO PROGRAM!

ALSO

*BLM's Sally Spencer responds to questions about National Wild Horse Adoption Day.

Her response, as well as an Anonymous Rebuttal, has been posted at the bottom of the 10/03/09 post, "National Wild Horse Adoption Day".

Take the Survey - How Best to Help Our Wild Horses

2009-09-20T03:05:00.000-07:00

Recently ran into the following survey at the Save Our Wild Horses website and thought it was a good idea. Maybe you may want to stop by too and give them your thoughts on how to best help our wild ones or just pass it along! This is the header on the survey....
"With the much publicized Pryor Mountain herd roundup in the news it becomes even more important for advocates to band together to get the word out to the public about the issues relating to our wild horses and burros. With the planned removals of wild horses and burros being stepped up we are attempting to learn how we can be more effective. Please take a moment to fill in the survey in the link below so we can better understand how to relate wild horse and burro news."
Save Our Wild Horses Survey

Hey!! I got a Letter from Senator Boxer!!

2009-09-18T21:56:00.000-07:00

Dear Ms. Lawrence:

Thank you for writing to me regarding the management of the wild horse population on our public lands. I appreciate hearing from you and share your concerns.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), there are more than 36,000 wild horses and burros on the range and more than 31,000 in holding facilities, where many are offered for adoption. Citing increasing costs and low adoption rates, BLM officials say that budgetary constraints make it difficult to properly care for horses in excess of its target "appropriate management level" of 26,600.

The BLM has considered various options in its effort to minimize costs and control the increasing wild horse and burro population. Among these controversial options are the use of euthanasia on healthy animals and the unconditional sale of older horses that have been unsuccessfully offered for adoption. Unfortunately, the sale of horses without limitations could lead to horse slaughter.

As a long-time supporter of wildlife conservation, I believe that destroying these magnificent animals is never a viable management option. The BLM should more seriously consider alternative, more humane solutions such as improving the adoption program, exploring the use of contraceptives or sterilization to reduce herd sizes, or securing additional funds for a more effective program.

I am pleased to report that the Senate Interior Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2010 would provide $67.5 million for the Wild Horse and Burro Management Program, a $26.9 million increase from FY2009. I strongly support providing this funding for the program to ensure the proper care of these animals.

I also support legislation to expand the range where wild horses could roam freely, enhance the adoption program, encourage the use of non-lethal methods to reduce herd size, reduce the time a horse spends in a holding pen, and prohibit the euthanization or sale for slaughter of wild horses. On July 17, 2009, the House passed the Restore Our Wild Mustangs (ROAM) Act (H.R.1018), which would accomplish all of these goals. This bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

In addition, I believe strongly in a permanent ban on horse slaughter. That is why I am proud to be an original co-sponsor of the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act (S.727) to prohibit the transport, export, or sale of any horse to be slaughtered for human consumption.

I have consistently supported legislation to protect horses, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the ROAM Act and the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act and to see both of these important bills signed into law.

Thank you again for contacting me about this important issue. Rest assured that I will continue to support efforts to maintain the integrity of wild horse and burro populations on our public lands.

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator

Please do not respond to this message. If you would like to comment on legislation, please visit my website and use the correspondence form at https://boxer.senate.gov/contact/email/policy.cfm

I'm sure five million trillion other people got the same letter, but hey, it's good to know where she stands on these issues!