Horse News

Wild Horse and Burro Bait-Trapping: Going … Going … Gone

By Grandma Gregg as posted on the PPJ Gazette

“The MAXIMUM number of wild horses and burros that may be gathered is actually higher than the number that exists…”

A MINIMUM of 8,900 Wild Horses and Burros will be bait-trapped on our public land this year. And this is in addition to the thousands that will be rounded up by helicopter….

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has divided the western states into six zones and private contractors bid on and received a contract for one or more zones. Each contractor is required by their agreement to capture a minimum amount of wild horses and/or burros in the zone. The MAXIMUM number of wild horses and burros that may be gathered is actually higher than the number that exists on their federally protected Herd Management Areas. The BLM reported that in the 2012 fiscal year there were only 37,294 wild horses and burros remaining on the range, but they have contracted to remove up to 44,000 from bait-trapping alone. So while the BLM feigns interest in humane care and concern for out Wild Horses and Burros, these BLM contracts continue on their fast-moving “managing for extinction”.

Link to BLM population estimate:

Here are the July 2012 through June 2013 bait-trapping contractor awards per the federal business opportunity webpage:

Company Zone Minimum Maximum Horse Trappers Zone 14002,000

Desert Hill Construction Zone 35002,000

Mt. Taylor Zones 3 and 68004,000

Warner (worked for Cattoor) Zones 1-62,40012,000

Sampson (worked for Cattoor) Zones 1-62,40012,000

Cattoor*Zones 1-62,40012,000 Totals 8,90044,000

Cattoor – no zone(s) indicated so assume all 6 zones thus minimum per contract would demand 2,400 and maximum would be 12,000. (see links for details)

Link to the map of proposed bait-trap zones

Using the above trapping contractor awards which have a minimum and maximum number per yearly contract the number of Wild Horses and Burros that will be trapped over this next year is at MINIMUM 8,900 and a shocking maximum of 44,000 which is of serious concern since most informed people outside of the BLM believe there are only about 20,000 Wild Horses and Burros that remain on our public lands today.

The fact is that the United States Forest Service and BLM have already been bait-trapping and can apparently do it without a new NEPA process if the previous Environmental Assessment is still in good standing or the Range Management Plan states the designated Appropriate Management Level for a herd’s population.  This already happened last winter at the Harney Oregon BLM office when they explained that the bait-trapping they were doing was a part of a clean up procedure after a helicopter roundup – and without any new public notice.

Knowing that the contractors have a free ticket and get paid by the “head” the number of Wild Horse and Burros that will be captured between now and next June will likely go far beyond the minimum 8,900. Future populations will suffer as if it isn’t already bad enough. It’s all about the money for these contractors – nothing else. The BLM has now given the authority to private contractors to capture and remove thousands of Wild Horses and Burros, without the public even knowing exactly how many, where and when they will be doing it. Scary thought.

Now let’s think about the foals – there will no longer be a moratorium for capture during the high foaling season. And what about the old ones who know nothing about being domesticated and everything about being wild? How the young and old will suffer is beyond comprehension and hidden from the public eye.

Now let’s think about accountability and transparency. It has long been highly suspected and documented that many Wild Horses and Burros end up going to slaughter as they disappear into the BLM pipeline of no accountability.

Will they count them at the trap site or are they counted when delivered to holding facility? BLM already sells hundreds and hundreds of our Wild Horses and Burros to questionable persons; how will we know where they go after the trap site…who is to say that some won’t be delivered to “buyers” before they are even in the hands of the BLM?

No plan for public observers has been mentioned for most trapping and BLM has even stated in the trapping contract that there will be no public allowed. In summary it states, “due to this type of operation spectators and viewers will be prohibited …”

How will you and I know how the animals are treated? We have all seen the documented proof of animal abuse at the hands of roundup contractors … and that was WITH public observers, so what can we expect without observers? The contract even states that the contractor can use electric prod hot shots and heaven only knows what other abuse these animals will be dealt behind our backs.

Mark my words…bait-trapping will capture what the helicopter roundups miss and will eventually be the end of our Wild Horses and Burros in the wild. Lets face it… bait- trapping is NOT the BLM being nice to the Wild Horses and Burros, but it is the most recent scheme designed to zero them out.

Greed from the livestock, oil and gas, and mining interests are destroying our public lands and its wildlife, water, and of course our nations Wild Horses and Burros.

Bait-trapping could be the end of our wild horses and burros if we fail to stand up and pay attention to the big picture. Once our Wild Horses and Burros are taken off our public lands…they will be gone forever.

__________________________________________________________________

Much more information:
https://rtfitchauthor.com/2012/03/29/blm-seeks-bids-for-new-type-of-contracts-to-remove-protected-wild-horses-for-replacement-with-private-cattle-on-pubic-lands/
Contractor Award:
https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&tab=core&id=a28636927a552b993e4e8fcefb51b210&_cview=0
Contractor Award:
https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=ce262d931c4384f5cab27c32de54a347&tab=core&_cview=0
Gather Schedule 2012:
http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/whbprogram/herd_management/tentative_gather_schedule.html

http://on.doi.gov/GYyFqZ

http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/wo/Planning_and_Renewable_Resources/wild_horses_and_burros/statistics_and_maps.Par.13260.File.dat/HAHMAstats2012Final.pdf

Click (HERE) to visit the PPJ Gazette and to Comment

 

42 replies »

  1. COLD, CRUEL: that is our Government!!!! There is no compassion for our Horses: Wild or domesticated.. same for the burrows. The Administration of Obama, is destroying our country…PERIOD!!! Must continue the fight!!

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  2. The news from the BLM, always corrupt , and filled with deception, and always laced with cruelties for the Wild Mustangs and we have to take it …and worse yet so do the Mustangs………………. Isnt their one real Hero in Government to save the Wild Mustangs????? The Mustangs in the Wild are happy and healthy why cant the BLM just plain ole leave them alone???????

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  3. Another link to the wild horse population using BLM’s data : http://tinyurl.com/4evvefn
    The bait-trapping will be a mop up of what the helicopter roundups don’t get. It means all wild horses on public lands will be removed . Also the so called eco-sancturies won’t last long since those horses won’t be allowed to breed. The gene pool is already very low and many stallions are being gelded. Extinction is next and soon–just what Salazar wants.

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    • Dear Barbara, OMG you are right , I know Madeliene Pickens had to sign a agreement with the BLM , that the stallions she would put on her range would all have to be castrated, if that is the case . what good to the gene pool would she provide?????? Our Mustangs are being eradicated ,in every area, this is the American Tragedy, Ken Salazar wants them gone , and he is succeeding in his Plan…………………….We had better figure out a Hail Mary and do it now !!!!!!!

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      • Let’s write a new petition for overhaul (END) of the BLM and a new structure for the protection of public lands and wildlife (horses & burros). Just so gov’t is clear 80% of the people are strong, we need a new name. Public Lands Protection Mgmt Agency, (PPMA)? Scientists and well-known advocates must be part of the agency & advisory board. There’s no reason wildones can’t co-exist with ranching, drilling, oil giants, etc…. And, once again let’s demand the firing of Salazar!

        Let’s aim for 100k signatures?

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      • Dear Pam, been saying that for a long time, we have here the Best , most informed people to restructure ever, Im all for taking these other Monsters and putting them where they belong , a long prison term for their Crimes against the Wild Mustangs, !!!!!

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  4. HB, PA has just been redistricted and Pat Meehan is now my rep, yeah! Especially since I knew him when he was a DA for 20 yrs before running for Congress. I’m sending this article to him and my senators. There’s so much corruption in my own backyard and down the road in New Holland it’s clear new laws need to be written at the auction level. But, back to the corruption of the BLM, the most corrupt gov’t agency in operation …. there’s no need for bait-trapping, or roundups of any kind as we know the numbers provided are inflated. Let’s keep flooding the phone, fax, & emails! Write articles to your local papers, call talk radio stations, and demand the BLM be dismantled and a new group of equal parties be established, nothing less regardless of what the rich lobbyists and 1% want!

    We are the 80%

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  5. The BLM has thought of a way to have no public observation and to have NO transparency or real accountability. Thanks for the great article Grandma Gregg!

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  6. The Democratic Convention is going to be held in Charlotte in September. Legal, non-violent protesters are already expected. Since these wild horses and burros are being removed illegally by the democratic administration this might be a place to draw media attention to this issue. Harry Reid has come out swinging at Mitt Romney, and you know he may appear to be fighting for the President, but the NCA and PLC pull his strings.

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  7. so there is no oversight at all. What stops these contractors from turning in their own ‘over stock’ of horses and collecting 1,500.00 per horse taxpayer money?

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  8. Take a look at the contract stipulations. Here’s one fine gem:

    NO Public Disclosure
    The Contractor agrees that there shall be no release of information to the news media regarding the removal or remedial activities conducted under this contract.

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  9. And here’s another….thought we already had this discussion. There must be a failure to communicate:
    x. A hot shot should be used to shock an animal not more than 3 times on any single occasion

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  10. And here’s the clincher:

    Due to heightened public interest in wild horse and burro gathers, the BLM/Contractor may expect an increasing number of requests from the public and media to view the operation.

    a. Due to this type of operation (luring wild horses and burros to bait) spectators and viewers will be prohibited as it will have impacts on the ability to capture wild horses and burros. Only essential personnel (COR/PI, veterinarian, contractor, contractor employees, etc.) will be allowed at the trap site during operations.

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    • Yeah and here we thought if there weren’t going to be any helicopters it would be good for the horses. The BLM knew they had us and they know we are powerless to stop them. I can see them right now laughing at us. I thought that Picken’s was going to be the saving grace too but she hasn’t done anything to help either. Is there not one hero in this country that can help save America’s Icon of the Free Spirit? I thought not. Sad, I’ve never seen a wild horse in the wild and now its too late.

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      • Dear Lynnette , I have not seen them in the Wild either, but I have seen the Mustang on the Nevada Desert, Completely Spectacular, captured and forever embedded in my Mind as the most beautiful scene i have ever seen !!!!!! and heard ……………….. The Mustangs are pure poetry in motion…………….. My soul is forever thankful for this…………………………

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  11. SO, payment is made whether the Wild Horses are captured DEAD OR ALIVE?

    H.2 BASIS FOR PAYMENT
    b. Killed or destroyed (at the direction of the COR and/or veterinarian) without any fault or negligence on the part of the Contractor or its employees, or;

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  12. BLM is a rogue agency being directed by wild horse and burro haters, that is haters of their freedom and natural way of life. They plot and connive to ever do the wild horses and burros in meaning displace them from their rightful lands designated by law. I too think these bait trappings are another ploy to even more thoroughly eliminate them, i.e. displace them from the public lands. I also suspect that pinyon and juniper elimination programs are designed to take away the natural cover of these animals, that permits some small percentage of horses and burros to escape the helicopter roundups. Now with bait trapping even these who formerly escaped will be rounded up. It is all so defiant and wrong! A real abominaton! And so illegal!

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    • I call this method the cleaning up of the rest of the Wild Mustangs, completed eradication of Americas Icon, and only living legends , shame on me, for not doing something, that would have stopped Salazar and the BLM………………… !!!!!!!!!!!!! This is a outrage ….I am ashamed of My Country !!!!!!! for this action !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  13. FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF BOSTON:

    d. The Contractor must use the IPP website to register, access and use IPP for submitting requests for payment. The Contractor Government Business Point of Contact (as listed in CCR) will receive enrollment instructions via email from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (FRBB) within 3 – 5 business days of the contract award date.

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  14. “Manage to extinction” will be the by-line of Salazar when all is said and done….it is truly a sad day to think that our magnificent mustangs will be gone from our ranges and plains because of greed and political back scratching….what goes around comes around but not soon enough….

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  15. Seems like the same old pattern….eradicate the Indigenous people, then the wild horses and burro’s and the cattle men and oil men can have a free for all. Sad, sorry state of affairs. Sure I trust the government….ask any Indian!

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  16. Whoa folks, you all were the ones screaming for no helicopters and using bait traps. Did you really think that it would work with 30 people standing around and making noise and moving? A bait trap by it’s very nature is a one or two person job after the basic setup. You cannot have people around and make it work. Sorry for your disappointment but it is the only way that it works. You also get a limited number gathered at each trap and then have to move it to a new spot. The problem is that any horse that approaches and does not get caught will not be able to be trapped there again. So think this through carefully, you may be uncomfortable with the helicopters and the bait trap sounds like a great solution but remember that solution will also have it’s own group of problems and you have just run into one of them.

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    • Sandee, I don’t recall anyone “screaming” for bait trapping using a 10 year blank check to gather horses with no accountability or observation by the public. I think many people are aware that the BLM is perpetrating fraud against the American public by claiming to maintain a “thriving ecological balance” while selling out much, if not all, of the acreage in wild horse HMAs, for example, to oil and gas sale leases or extractive industries for as little as $10 an acre. The BLM is mismanaging our public lands, as well as the wild horses.

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      • onephoenix , you are right about our public lands and no one “screaming ” for this atrocity.
        Some were in favor of bait-trapping INSTEAD of helicopter roundups but both will be used on most HMA’s, and helicopters are chasing wild horses back onto HMA’s to be captured. It all boils down to “managing for extinction” anyway possible–SpayVac use , gelding stallions, sending them to slaughter –anything their evil minds can think of and they can get by with. Where is Congress as the WFRH&BA is being broken every way possible?

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  17. H.12 CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION
    a. To the extent that the work under this contract requires that the Contractor be given access to confidential or proprietary business, technical, or financial information belonging to the Government or other companies, the Contractor shall after receipt thereof, treat such information as confidential and agrees not to appropriate such information to its own use or to disclose such information to third parties unless specifically authorized by the Contracting Officer in writing.

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  18. Arlene: Yes, I live in Perrysburg, Ohio.. would be willing to share my e-mail address. Yesterday evening, I forwarded this link, along with the Cloud Foundation’s site; plus Madelene Pickens’ site to one of our TV Stations.

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    • AWESOME Jane !!!!!!!! Cant wait to talk with you about i am talking and I have met with John Barnes Jr, about Banning Horse Slaughter in Ohio.. I met with him last week for a Meeting he is very interested in doing this!!!!!! Ill explain all when we talk !!!!!! Ohhh I live in Bedford, Ohio……Would Like to give you my Phone Number !!!!!!!

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  19. Excerpts from an excellent article by Debbie Coffey. We should all be demanding proof for ANY need for roundups or removals OR anti-fertility treatments …of any kind:

    http://ppjg.me/2012/05/20/wild-mares-giving-birth-to-littersaccording-to-blm-population-estimates-they-do/
    Wild Mares Giving Birth to Litters?(according to BLM population estimates, they do)
    Debbie Coffey May 20, 2012
    The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) continues at a breakneck pace to leave non-viable herds of wild horses on public lands and while it also considers cutting back on livestock grazing (watch out for drought management plans in your area).
    Meanwhile, over and over again, extractive industries and new energy projects seem to go almost unchecked for use of massive amounts of water that adversely impact public lands and risk contamination of aquifers.
    24 years and no EIS? It sure seems that “uses” of public lands that make more money get Findings of No Significant Impact (FONSI), which is in violation of FLPMA (Federal Land Policy and Management Act).

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  20. The chart in the article did not show up -here is the info:
    Capture Company Name -Zone – Minimum – Maximum (July 2012-June 2013)

    Horse Trappers
    Zone 1
    400 Min.
    2,000 Max.

    Desert Hill Const.
    Zone 3
    500 Min.
    2,000 Max.

    Mt. Taylor
    Zones 3 and 6
    800 Min.
    4,000 Max.

    Warner (worked for Cattoor)
    Zones 1-6
    2,400 Min.
    12,000 Max.

    Sampson (worked for Cattoor)
    Zones 1-6
    2,400 Min.
    12,000 Max.

    Cattoor*
    Zones 1-6
    2,400 Min.
    12,000 Max.

    Totals 8,900 Minimum 44,000 Maximum

    Cattoor – no zone(s) indicated so assume all 6 zones thus minimum per contract would demand 2,400 and maximum would be 12,000. (see links for details)

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  21. Jerri Tillet was on blog talk radio and said the removals from the Pryor Mt. herd is illegal.
    Almost daily there is a notice of another roundup and removal. How is BLM getting by with all of these atrocities ?!! Is it corruption of the highest lawmakers of our country? It looks like it IMO.

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  22. This plan by the BLM buddies is absolutely despicable!!!! It must be stopped. It is a devilish plan to destroy what remains of the beautiful returned native ecological restorers and healers known as wild horses and burros! If every there was such a thing this is truly the work of the devil!!!!

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  23. Grandma Gregg, your research, documentation, and presentation are all very impressive! It’s only information like this that will help us win this war bloodied with an egregiously high number of casualties. Thank you so much for all the work!

    Like

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