from the pages of the Mohave Daily News
War on Wild Equines Proclaimed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Future for the horses and burros of Sheldon (Antelope Stampede of 2011)~ photo by Terry Fitch of Wild Horse Freedom Federation
RENO, Nev. (AP) — Federal officials have approved a final management plan for the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge in northwestern Nevada that calls for the removal of all wild horses and burros from it within five years.
The move is being made because the refuge was created for pronghorn antelope and other native wildlife, and horses and burros have a negative effect on habitat, said Joan Jewett, spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Portland, Ore.
“They trample the habitat and overgraze and disturb the water sources,” she told The Associated Press. “We’re required by law to manage our refuges in accordance with the purposes for which they were established, and Sheldon was primarily for pronghorn antelope.”
Horse advocacy groups sharply criticized the refuge’s comprehensive conservation plan, which will guide its management over the next 15 years. It was publicly released late last month.
They say horses and burros lived in the area long before the refuge was created in 1931, and the animals actually heal the land and help prevent wildfires through grazing.
“We are extremely disappointed that the federal government has chosen to eradicate wild horses and burros from the lands where their ancestors have lived for more than a century and a half,” Suzanne Roy, director of the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, said in a statement.
An aerial survey in July showed the 575,000-acre refuge along the Oregon border is home to at least 2,508 antelope, 973 mustangs and 182 wild burros, said Aaron Collins, a park ranger at Sheldon.
“We’re recording the highest numbers of pronghorn antelope since we began counting them in 1950,” he said.
Federal officials began the planning process on the refuge’s management plan in 2008, and received several thousand comments from individuals, organizations and government agencies during it, Collins said.
The final plan will be signed sometime after Sept. 24 by the regional director of the Fish and Wildlife Agency, he added.
Under federal law, only horses and burros removed from lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service are protected from slaughterhouses if they can’t be adopted.
“Rounding up indigenous wild horses is wrong — especially when they can be sold to the meat buyers at auctions,” said Anne Novak of California-based Protect Mustangs. “These horses are vulnerable to ending up going to slaughter … The Sheldon plan to wipe out wild horses is nuts and goes against the public’s wishes.”
Activists said the final management plan rejected a more humane alternative to phase out horses and burros over 15 years using fertility control, an option that would have allowed unadoptable animals to live out their lives at the refuge.
Click (HERE) to visit the MDN and to Comment
Related articles
- Wild Horse and Burro Bait-Trapping: Going … Going … Gone (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Did Fencing in Wild Horse Herd Area Spell Death for Mustangs during Twin Peaks Wildfire? (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Wild Horse Advocates Level Another Legal Blow Against BLM’s Bogus Emergency Gather (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Mother Nature Gives West Douglas Herd a 30 Day Reprieve (rtfitchauthor.com)
Categories: Horse News, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
1. So when does the human shield campaign start?
2. Is it time to advance a new management alternative: Do a species inventory for range forage and predators in zeroed out BLM HMAs, which total 19 MILLION ACRES, at least 5 MILLION ACRES of which is already on-the-record to be suitable for horses and burros by Don Glenn, retired BLM leadership. Find one that can take these horses. And then transfer them. Just like that.
Anyone that throws up their hands with wide eyes and says “oh no, we can’t do that,” I say WTH? You would put these horses through the h-ll of catch and chemical birth control, but you wouldn’t help them simply migrate to new, suitable range, where their population can be controlled naturally, in a way that they understand far better? And maybe grow the cougar population too?
This is easy, smart stuff folks, morally, economically, and ecologically. No wonder it is so hard for some humans to do it. Is up to the rest of us to help them see the light?
LikeLike
Rob Pliskin, I think either the human shield or demonstrations should have started long ago. The BLM is laughing their asses off at all the “polite” wild horse advocates. No offense to those that have been working for years, but it’s not working and we need another plan. It’s time to put the Obama administration in their place (yes, he supposedly works for us), get rid of the BLM and Salazar whatever we have to do. Please, RT, you have national coverage with your blog, isn’t there someone nationally who can rally everyone with national demonstrations or the human shield idea at the roundups? Every day we let this go, Obama & Salazar are killing our wild horses.
LikeLike
Actually, the Department of Interior which includes the Department of wildlife, Department of Fish and Game AND the BLM all conspire to rid the landscae of the wild horses.
LikeLike
Having been up to near this area (High Black Rock) last year to photograph I can tell you the area is hardly run over with wild horses and burro’s. It is literally out in the middle of nowhere. From this post it sounds like Salazar,a rancher, is teaming up with environmentalists who want to eradicate wild horses and burro’s on the premise they are not native. I put a saying on a t shirt I made that fits this situation perfectly (by a liberal author….) The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them but to be indifferent to them. That is the essence of inhumanity……George Bernard Shaw
As far as blaming republicans, this is a nonpartisan issue. Blame goes to whoever has permitted these practices through out the years and Obama is no different. I hardly doubt he even cares what is happening to the horses at this point in time.
LikeLike
BLM is nothing more than the handmaiden for the Dept. of Interior, Dept. of Fish and Game, Dept. of Wildlife.
LikeLike
So sad what we do and don’t do to God’s creatures. We call ourselves a ‘nation under God’, but our actions speak volumes against that.
LikeLike
Science is something we need to concentrate on and it will speak loudly for them and garner more people and pressure for preserving wild ones.
LikeLike
Science is under attack in our country right now. Many in Congress don’t believe in climate change, evolution or that a woman can get pregnant if raped. I don’t believe science will get the American people passionate about this issue. It was children writing letters that turned the tide in favor on saving them in the 70s.
LikeLike
You can’t blame this on the president! If there is no support in Congress, the president’s hands are tied. It’s big money and the ranchers who want this and the Republican party is backing them and the Republican party controls both houses!
LikeLike
Suzanne Dunham, Yes, this can be blamed on Obama….it’s his appointee, Salazar, who has been given free rein to destroy everything we as Americans hold dear. This is on the prez, not congress, who by the way is democratic majority in the senate. Salazar is Obama’s appointee, and Obama has the power to get rid of him.
LikeLike
Actually, when was the last time the citizens of the US that care about our environment have actually had a President and administration that truly protected the wild equines, or other so called “nuisance” species (wolves, buffalo/bison, etc) by the resource sucking trolls.
The 1971 Act was a sham from the start…they (RST-resource sucking trolls) had no intention of protecting wild equines. It was all done to fool the people and shut up the likes of Wild Horse Annie.
LikeLike
Barbara, I totally agree with you. During this administration horses have been persecuted,
driven to their deaths by helicopters to remove them from the land Congress gave them, and
Salazar has supported this atrocity and has also supported and pushed the slaughter of wolves. Salazar is a rancher. Salazar has supported slaughter of wolves and the destruction of our horses. BLM and the Secretary of the Interior pander to ranchers.
It appears to me that the major problems in this country directly relate to our GOVERNMENT. As taxpayers, we pay the salaries of the very people who kill our wildlife, run our horses and tiny foals to death, and then starve and abuse them in small pens. Also, the BLM is much to be condemned for selling remaining horses to irresponsible and brutal buyers where they auctioned the horses off indiscriminately after removing them from the land where they have always lived.
I find that despicable and unforgivable.
I think the uncivilized and barbaric treatment of our horses continues because the citizens of this country for the most part are unaware of the unconscionable treatment of the horses who are our heritage. Our government leaders have become despicable, and are NOT concerned about the wishes of the citizens of this country who do not want American horses destroyed or sent to slaughter.
LikeLike
T. Boyd, right now I’m mainly concerned with the wild horses, but big corporations, banks, oil companies, cattlemens assoc have been running our country for years and this is something the taxpayers REALLY need to rise up against. No doubt in my mind, just like all the other politicians, the cattlemen’s assoc & Farm Bureau are in Obama’s pockets. Their money tells Obama what to do. It won’t be any different with Romney if he wins. We’ve lost control of our own country. And I’m willing to be arrested for this cause also. Taxpayers must get together and stop the way this country is going.
LikeLike
We are not endorsing any candidate but if ever there was a time to get the attention of an incumbent President it is tying his name to his administration’s screw-ups just prior to an election where every vote counts.
LikeLike
What happened to that petition? Has it been received and what reaction did it get?
LikeLike
RT, you are right but what will it take to get Obama’s attention? So far, nothing has worked. I still think te bad press of demonstrations against his admin. & Salazar may be extreme but I’ll bet he pays attention then, course he has to get out of the pockets of Cattlemen’s Assoc. & Farm Bureau. Consumers can do a lot tohelp that….I no longer have any Farm Bureau insurance policies, I no longer buy beef. If more consumers did the same thing, neither association can survive without money from consumers.
LikeLike
I don’t know where you’ve been Suzanne, but the Republicans do not control both houses. The Democrats had full control the first two years of Obama’s term. Read the other comments. Salazar is appointed by Obama. I shudder to think we have so many misinformed people in this country. Salazar is not on the side of wild horses and burros, He is a cattleman. Always has been and I imagine always will be and Obama has evidently given him free reign to do whatever he pleases. I do hope you will get informed if you are voting in November.
LikeLike
The POTUS is at the helm of Corporate America. No matter who is in charge the US is run by the banks, big oil, cattlemen interests and others with their own interests. Congress runs under the power of huge contributions which means they do the BIDDING of the power brokers. Salazar was installed due to his affiliation with the land, cattle and oil/gas interests which are close to his black heart. Your vote hardly matters.
LikeLike
Yvon, that’s probably pretty close tothe truth…..our vote doesn’t matter anymore. If the vote is an “ego”thing for the candidates, w can burst Obama’s ego bubble. That’s what I was tryin to say before……Obama or Romney…..both BAD. Just furthers what I keep sayin…..we need totake our country back, bethat demonstrations or throwing ’em all out & starting all over. I’m for both of those.
LikeLike
It’s about the $$$$ — economic value — not any political party. It was Richard Nixon who signed the act into aw in 1971. Most likely with a little nudging from his wife Pat Nixon who was from Nevada.
LikeLike
Republicans do not control the Senate. And nothing has come out of the Senate for a long time, bipartisan or not. Congressman Walz (D-MN), does not favor protecting the horses as I have written and written . He says the horse slaughter business is necessary. For old, ill, and unwanted horses. How can we get him out of office?
LikeLike
The Federal “plan” for wild horses reminds me of a huge rolling boulder, once it starts in motion, its impossible to stop.
LikeLike
I am just devastated by this move. I hope that the federal government will regret their actions one day. If you ask me, over 2,000 antelope will do more damage then a couple hundred wild horses and burros.
LikeLike
If there was any doubt that corporations, special interests and energy companies control our government, I believe the entire situation with the Mustangs shows that their wishes rule the day. As citizens, we are almost powerless because our representatives all have ties to these companies and interests with the intent on re-election, not necessarily the wishes of those they represent.
LikeLike
I have been under the impression that the horses, burros, pronghorns & other wildlife have co-existed for hundreds of years TOGETHER – isnt it strange that now that the horses are being “managed” they are the entire cause of any problems?
Rob’s solution sure does sound good – but unfortunately, common sense doesnt seem to exist in any of agencies or departments in control. Besides, in the forest service or blm’s minds, cant have a healthy population of cougars – they would also eat pronghorns & other GAME animals. Cant have that!
LikeLike
They have record counts of pronghorn and they did not have a fire when not far from them HMAs have been burning… grazers help keep down the incidence of fires.
It seems to me everything is working there as it should with all the wildlife. Why mess with a good thing?
This is like Calico, 2009; BLM, under oath had said that the range was in perfect condition and BLM had been totally surprised to discover as many horses as there were!
All you have to do is look at what happens when everything is going really well; this should have been studied… but instead it set them off. THE NUMBERS!!! There CAN”T be that many horses there and have no damage!!! Get those horses out of there!!
So, I would have to say, with record numbers of Pronghorn, Sheldon’s rep is talking out of both sides of her mouth.
LikeLike
I agree, being nice has only gotten these horses killed! We need to do something else! We need to get the attentions of people who can help! We are out of time! Any suggestions? Anybody?!
LikeLike
Rob, I agree with you 100 % .
As for wild horses overgrazing and distrubing water sources that is not true as we all know. That is another lie to use as an excuse to remove them, Wild horses are symbiotic to the ecosystem and improve habitat. No wonder there are so many pronghorns now.
LikeLike
Many thanks to all the information you posted below, Louie. A cat stepped on the keyboard so this got ahead of your posts someway.
LikeLike
Ruby Pipeline/Sheldon Wildlife Refuge
Why not name it the “Ruby Wildlife Refuge”?
http://www.fws.gov/sheldonhartmtn/sheldon/ruby_pipeline.html
Ruby Pipeline Supplemental Information and Comments
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), as the Federal land managing agency for the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge (Sheldon Refuge), is issuing supplemental information in response to a request from Ruby Pipeline, LLC (Ruby) to use certain roads located within Sheldon Refuge. If the Service agrees to allow Ruby to use Sheldon Refuge roads, the Service would do so by means of issuing a Special Use Permit (SUP) to Ruby.
This supplemental information pertains to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process conducted for the Ruby Pipeline Project (Project). The Ruby Pipeline Project Final Environmental Impact Statement (Project FEIS) was released to the public in January 2010. On April 5, 2010, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) released its finding and ordered the issuance of a certificate for the proposed pipeline route. The Project FEIS included an assessment of impacts related to access roads to/from the proposed pipeline route. Some of those access roads are located on the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge (Sheldon Refuge). The project proponent, Ruby Pipeline, LLC has worked closely with Sheldon Refuge to develop a transportation plan in requesting the use of certain roads within the Sheldon Refuge.
A preliminary version of Ruby’s Draft Transportation Plan for Use of Access Roads within Sheldon NWR (Sheldon Transportation Plan) was provided in Appendix X (Transportation Plans) of the Project FEIS. Since release of the Project FEIS, Ruby and Sheldon Refuge have continued to refine the Sheldon Transportation Plan.
One component of the plan includes a proposed land exchange between Ruby and Service and is considered a connected action to the Sheldon Transportation Plan and Ruby Pipeline Project. A separate document, Ruby Pipeline Project Land Exchange on Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge (Land Exchange) includes a description of the lands being considered for exchange and an analysis of the impacts associated with the proposed exchange. Much of the information in the Land Exchange document refers to analyses that have been refined in the Sheldon Transportation Plan.
In addition to analyzing potential impacts associated with the Sheldon Transportation Plan and proposed Land Exchange, Federal statute (16 U.S.C. 668dd-668ee) requires the Service to review a proposed use within a National Wildlife Refuge (like pipeline access roads) and determine that it is compatible with the purposes for which the refuge was established prior to being allowed on a refuge. A Compatibility Determination has been prepared as part of the process for determining whether Ruby’s proposed use of refuge roads is compatible.
The Service is making the Sheldon Transportation Plan, the Land Exchange, and Compatibility Determination available for review and comment for a 15-day period consistent with Service NEPA and National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act requirements. Following the comment period and after reviewing any comments received, the Service will announce its permit decision in a Record of Decision. Information about how to submit comments regarding the supplemental information can be found below.
Ruby Pipeline Environmental Compliance Statement Ammendment
USFWS will receive comments regarding the Ruby Pipeline Project Supplemental NEPA Information and the Compatibility Determination through July 1, 2010. Comments may be submitted in writing to:
John Kasbohm, Project Leader
Sheldon-Hart Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex
P.O. Box 111
Lakeview, OR 97630
LikeLike
For those who didn’t get to see this:
George Knapp interview
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/mustangconspiracy/
Part 1 in HD: The government conspiracy to eliminatge wild mustangs. | Part 1: In Low-Def
What, you may ask, could “Sex, Drugs, Mustangs, Corruption and BP” have in common? That’s not only a fair question, it has an astounding and disgusting answer that exposes one of the most bizarre, unethical, horridly sad and disturbing conspiracies we’ve come across yet (and that’s saying something after 13 years!).
Please note, we said Conspiracy, not Conspiracy Theory. That’s very important.
LikeLike
Part ll
George Knapp:
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/mustangconspiracy/part2-low.html
The Mustang Conspiracy: British Petroleum and The Ruby Pipeline
Part 1 in HD: The government conspiracy to eliminatge wild mustangs. | Part 1: In Low-Def
Part 2 in HD: Smoking gun evidence involves British Petroleum (BP) | Part 2: In Low-Def
Read The Discussion | AboveTopSecret.com Home
In Part two of our hard hitting ATSNews Special Report: “SEX, DRUGS, MUSTANGS, CORRUPTION and BP TOO”, ATSnews’ Mark Allin (AKA: Springer) and 17 time Emmy Award Winner, KLAS 8 News Now (Las Vegas, NV) Investigative Reporter, George Knapp discuss the unbelievable corruption, sex and drug parties and payola schemes that transpired between the MMS and several Big Oil Companies. The Inspector General of the U.S. investigated the “Culture of Substance Abuse and Corruption” that ran rampant through the Denver Office of the MMS and several big oil companies from 2002 through 2006. The U.S. Taxpayer was bilked out of hundreds of millions of dollars, the environment was utterly neglected, the affected areas populations were at great risk (and still are), all for the betterment of a handful of Big Oil Companies’ bottom lines.
You may be surprised to learn that revenues generated by Royalties paid to the U.S. Government, in return for exploiting the oil reserves under public lands, is the second only to TAXES in total gross income for the U.S. Government. That’s a double edged statement. On the one hand, it becomes obvious why government is so happy to allow things like “self regulation” to companies like BP, in spite of their abysmal record. On the other hand, it begs the questions “Why do these appointed (NOT elected) officials sell these royalties for only pennies on the dollar compared to their fair market value? Why do they totally disregard the laws of the land and allow these companies to do whatever they want to increase profits and control costs by avoiding, or totally ignoring, health, environment and safety regulations?”
Why?
Because our public servants are, literally, IN BED with these companies.
LikeLike
Thank you Louis for those links. I did go and listen and it was as i suspected with more info than i knew.
LikeLike
Savewildhorses, you think Romney would be worse? He’d be no better, that’s correct. But what do we have now? Obama & Salazar in bed with everybody except the taxpayers who voted for him to protect our interests. I know the days of a politician doing what’s in the interest of voters is long gone. Salazar has been the WORST thing for wild horses since I can’t remember when. And remember who appointed him, Obama the chief liar & hypocrite: liar, in his campaign he said he would protect the horses when in reality Salazar has signed their death sentence. Hypocrite, when he was a senator, he supported Horse Slaughter Prevention Act. Do you see him supporting it now? RT is correct, no better time than now to tie Obama to all this, let’s see hoe the ass hole likes that kind of press. If we stay away from the polls, he surely willnot be reelected. So,maybe we do have SOME power over him. I won’t vote at all for president. I do have democratics that are anti-slaughter that I’ll vote for, but not Obama. I teuly think the only way to get his attention is huge demonstrations before the election. He won’tlike that kind of press at all.
LikeLike
YES!!!! A thousand times YES! He is pro corporate pillaging and anti-regulation.
LikeLike
Perhaps you don’t recall Bush’s Sec of Interior Gale Norton–“Months after she resigned her cabinet post as President Bush’s Interior Secretary—and then seemed to disappear from public view—the Coloradan apparently has accepted an offer to serve as counsel for Royal Dutch Shell PLC.”
Wild horses have been under attack under just about every single administration. You have to wonder why CONGRESS never reins them in. Why indeed.
LikeLike
Savewildhorses, Yes, wild horses have been attacked under every administration, but none so bad as the Obama administration, it’s like they’ve stepped it up cause no one’s telling them they can’t.
LikeLike
ITH RT, THIS IS NOT ABOUT AN ELECTION, REPUBLICANS, DEMOCRATS, OBAMA, ROMNEY. WILD HORSES HAVE BEEN IN JEOPARDY THROUGHOUT SO MANY PRESIDENCIES. THIS IS ABOUT HISTORY, POWER, AND THE STATUS QUO — AND WHO’S GOT IT, LIKE SOME OF US HAVE MENTIONED, AND WHO WANTS TO HANG ON TO IT AT ALL COSTS. IT IS A CYNICAL, SELFISH POINT OF VIEW. IT WON’T CHANGE BY ITSELF FOR THAT REASON. IT IS ABOUT SOMEONE ELSE CHANGING IT. IN THIS WAY, IT IS ABOUT THE CIVIL RIGHTS OF AMERICAN CITIZENS FROM ANY PARTY, AND HOW THEY WORK TO PUT THEM BACK, AND THE FREEDOMS THESE CIVIL RIGHTS PROTECT UNDER ANY PRESIDENT.
CIVIL RIGHTS FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS AND OTHER MINORITIES WAS AN ISSUE UNDER MANY U.S. PRESIDENTS, NOT JUST ONE OR TWO. THEY DID NOT CHANGE, EVEN WITH LEGISLATION, UNTIL ENOUGH DEDICATED PEOPLE GAVE THEIR TIME, AND SO MUCH ELSE, REAL SACRIFICE, TO BRING ABOUT CHANGE THEMSELVES. I AM TALKING ABOUT THE DIRECT ACTION OF PEOPLE LIKE THE REV. MARTIN LUTHER KING. DIRECT ACTION IN COLLABORATION WITH ADVOCACY IN THE HALLS OF CONGRESS AND AT THE WHITE HOUSE CAN HELP MAKE CHANGE. THAT WAS THE STRATEGY AND SACRIFICE THAT WAS UNDERTAKEN IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT FROM THE 1950’s ON. IT OPENED AMERICAN’S EYES, AND MOST AMERICANS DIDN’T LIKE WHAT THEY SAW. SO CONGRESS AND THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH WOKE UP AND LISTENED TO THEM.
DESPITE ALL WE DO FOR HORSES AND BURROS, IN WASHINGTON AND EACH OF OUR STATES, AMERICAN’S EYES ARE NOT ON THE WILD HORSE AND BURROS AND THEIR PLIGHT ENOUGH TO CREATE CHANGE. IT’S MY BELIEF THAT UNTIL THEY ARE, IN A BIG WAY, WE WON’T GET CHANGE. WHAT IS GOING ON ACROSS THE WESTERN RANGE AND THE EQUINE CONCENTRATION CAMPS OF THE MIDWEST AT THE HANDS OF THOSE WHO DO IT WILL NOT STAND THE LIGHT OF DAY WHEN IT IS EXPOSED. AND IT IS THAT EXPOSURE WHICH WILL CREATE THE IMPETUS TO CHANGE INSIDE THE BELTWAY. THERE IS A BIG PUBLIC OUT THERE THAT DOESN’T KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING, AND THE LENGTHS THE DEPT. OF INTERIOR AND THE DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE GO TO KEEP THEM FROM KNOWING.
HORSES ARE DOING WHAT THEY ALWAYS HAVE DONE — GETTING TO THE EDGE, AND WITHOUT A BETTER DEAL, TRUSTING US. WE HAVE TO GET THEM A BETTER DEAL. IT’S THAT SIMPLE FOLKS. IT IS MY VIEW THAT UNTIL WE EXPOSE WHAT IS HAPPENING BY GETTING OUT THERE WITH THEM, IN LEGAL DIRECT ACTION, NO ONE IN WASHINGTON WILL HELP GIVE THEM A BETTER ALTERNATIVE, BECAUSE IT IS NOT IN THEIR BEST INTERESTS. SOME MAY WANT TO, BUT SADLY, THAT IS CIVIL RIGHTS. IT’S HOW IT WAS IN THE 1950S, AND IT’S’ HOW IT IS NOW. MAKE IT IN WASHINGTON’S BEST INTEREST, BECAUSE WASHINGTON LOOKS BAD, AND IT WILL CHANGE. BUT IT NEEDS TO BE IN FRONT OF THE EYES OF THE NATION.
aND GUESS WHAT. SPEAKING OF THE 1950’S AND 60’S, THAT IS WHEN VELMA JOHNSON DID HER WORK. IT HASN’T BEEN LIKE THAT SINCE. VELMA JOHNSON WAS AN ACTIVIST IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS ERA. SHE IS OUR HERO FROM THAT ERA. DO YOU GET THAT? SO WHO IS READY TO STAND UP WITH THE HORSES, AND STAND WITH VELMA? YOU NEED SOMEONE OUT IN FRONT OF YOU TO LEAD? FOLLOW HER!
LikeLike
Thank you RT and everyone. Please comment on the Protect Mustangs Facebook page also so the politicians know what you think. We are going into several meetings this fall and need your opinions here: http://www.facebook.com/ProtectMustangs
LikeLike
I’m also devastated that O is letting this happen but agree that Romney would be worse than Obama. We have to get Obama’s attention. I’ve written him every time and called the WH. Perhaps RT will take all our letters to Washington DC with Congressman Moran.
LikeLike
Romney’s platform is to open our public lands to new business, he’s made that perfectly clear which could only spell disaster and an excellaration to extinction of our wild horses and burtos. Obama’s record is not much better however, we have a tiny window to keep our voicess loud & unified. State control might be the answer to ending the roundups and stopping govt mgmt to extinction. States control would have to go thru the political process of those we elect on closer to home basis rather than DC where the lobbyists have so much control. Local sheriffs would be involved and state rep’s instead of the blm … just sayin’
LikeLike
Allowing states to control the lives of our horses? I don’t think so. They’d be gone from Nevada, Wyoming, Oregon and perhaps Montana in a flash. At least Obama was questioned about horse slaughter when he campaigned in 2008, but I haven’t heard anyone as him this term. Other wildlife isn’t getting a better shake in the Western states either. The wolves will be all but gone.
LikeLike
Would love to print out this discussion and send it to our broadcast houses. I honestly don’t think anyone would sit through the 46 minutes of discussion, but some smart assistants can browse through the paper work to get attention. I have a miniscule connection with Charlie Rose & Jeff Glor, at CBS, but haven’t figured out how to find this in print version.
Ideas?
LikeLike
Crystal, I’d love to see this discussion when I watch Charlie Rose on CBS This Morning…..I can’t help with ideas cause computers not my strong point.
LikeLike
Crystal, simply highlight all of the text in the above column, right click for copy, then paste into a word processing document or email; easy peasy, they’re so sleazy.
LikeLike
It sounds like the horses,burros and pronghorns co exist but of course Obama wants to mess it up! He is listening to other people when he should be looking into this situation himself! He is setting a great example for the his daughters!!!!!!!! Not!!!
LikeLike
This decision is so perverse. I remember when the Sheldon NWR officials promised Wild Horse Annie and her organization that the wild horses would have a place in perpetuity in the Sheldon. Their justification for elimination the horses there is a bogus one, since scientific studies prove that the horses and the pronghorn complement each other, they coexist compatibly. This is so wrong. I suspect that big game hunter interests are behind this! Under Section 6 of the WFHBA there should be established a “cooperative agreement” between USFWS and BLM so that one continuous population of wild horses occupies this area. This is so utterly wrong! It is another example of a mean spirit and perverse conspiracy against these noble animals. This nefarious conspiracy must be fully exposed and the situation changed. I do so in my book The Wild Horse Conspiracy from many angles. It is available on amazon.com.
LikeLike
I was at the roundup last fall (2011) up near Gerlach NV. The BLM’s hired hands were gloating about ‘eradicating the invasive species’ pointing to a map that on the wall at Bruno’s Diner. The continued to get sauced, loud and obnoxious.
LikeLike
This is an election year, so why can’t we, the American people, stand together as one mighty force, & THREATEN “them”, by causing large demonstrations & protests, & telling “them” straight up, we will only vote for one who will PROMISE to stop this insanity against wildlife, period, that includes America’s wild horses & burros! What “they” do against & to our American wildlife, IS, most certainly what they will do to us, eventually, one way or another. The time for just words is over, it’s high time for some serious action, get the government scared, the whole dang lot of them! The US Fish & Wildlife Service is just as low-life & bad as the BLM, the entire Dept. of the Interior. I personally think they’re all “in on it”, you know, since anything goes for wild horses & burros not rounded up by the “right authories”, as in the BLM, or whoever. They’re probably paying the US Fish & Wildlife Service to do their dirty work for them. What we do to our animals, we do to ourselves. Soon, & very soon, America will only be a shell of what she used to be, the government is slowly taking everything we love, need & depend on, away from us. Look around.
LikeLike
RUBY PIPELINE/SHELDON REFUGE:
http://www.fws.gov/sheldonhartmtn/sheldon/ruby_pipeline.html
Ruby Pipeline Supplemental Information and Comments
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), as the Federal land managing agency for the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge (Sheldon Refuge), is issuing supplemental information in response to a request from Ruby Pipeline, LLC (Ruby) to use certain roads located within Sheldon Refuge. If the Service agrees to allow Ruby to use Sheldon Refuge roads, the Service would do so by means of issuing a Special Use Permit (SUP) to Ruby.
This supplemental information pertains to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process conducted for the Ruby Pipeline Project (Project). The Ruby Pipeline Project Final Environmental Impact Statement (Project FEIS) was released to the public in January 2010. On April 5, 2010, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) released its finding and ordered the issuance of a certificate for the proposed pipeline route. The Project FEIS included an assessment of impacts related to access roads to/from the proposed pipeline route. Some of those access roads are located on the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge (Sheldon Refuge). The project proponent, Ruby Pipeline, LLC has worked closely with Sheldon Refuge to develop a transportation plan in requesting the use of certain roads within the Sheldon Refuge.
A preliminary version of Ruby’s Draft Transportation Plan for Use of Access Roads within Sheldon NWR (Sheldon Transportation Plan) was provided in Appendix X (Transportation Plans) of the Project FEIS. Since release of the Project FEIS, Ruby and Sheldon Refuge have continued to refine the Sheldon Transportation Plan.
One component of the plan includes a proposed land exchange between Ruby and Service and is considered a connected action to the Sheldon Transportation Plan and Ruby Pipeline Project. A separate document, Ruby Pipeline Project Land Exchange on Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge (Land Exchange) includes a description of the lands being considered for exchange and an analysis of the impacts associated with the proposed exchange. Much of the information in the Land Exchange document refers to analyses that have been refined in the Sheldon Transportation Plan.
In addition to analyzing potential impacts associated with the Sheldon Transportation Plan and proposed Land Exchange, Federal statute (16 U.S.C. 668dd-668ee) requires the Service to review a proposed use within a National Wildlife Refuge (like pipeline access roads) and determine that it is compatible with the purposes for which the refuge was established prior to being allowed on a refuge. A Compatibility Determination has been prepared as part of the process for determining whether Ruby’s proposed use of refuge roads is compatible.
The Service is making the Sheldon Transportation Plan, the Land Exchange, and Compatibility Determination available for review and comment for a 15-day period consistent with Service NEPA and National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act requirements. Following the comment period and after reviewing any comments received, the Service will announce its permit decision in a Record of Decision. Information about how to submit comments regarding the supplemental information can be found below.
Ruby Pipeline Environmental Compliance Statement Ammendment
USFWS will receive comments regarding the Ruby Pipeline Project Supplemental NEPA Information and the Compatibility Determination through July 1, 2010. Comments may be submitted in writing to:
John Kasbohm, Project Leader
Sheldon-Hart Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex
P.O. Box 111
Lakeview, OR 97630
LikeLike
RUBY PIPELINE/SHELDON REFUGE
!.1 Page 23…can’t be copied for some reason…read the part about the “feral” Horses and Burros being kept in check:
A separate document, Ruby Pipeline Project Land Exchange on Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge (Land Exchange) includes a description of the LANDS BEING CONSIDERED FOR EXCHANGE and an analysis of the impacts associated with the proposed exchange.
LikeLike
Rob Pliskin is correct: I don’t know where the rest of you have been since 2008, and even several years before, but there have been serious problems with humans in our country since then. Those of you who pretend that the American people are going to rise up en masse to speak for Wild Horses and Burros are living on a parallel universe. If these people have time from trying to feed their families, or find a job, they may have a cause that they care about as much as we care about the horses. President Obama doesn’t sit around thinking how can I destroy the Mustangs. It is so egotistical of us to believe that. He has monster problems. And I resent everyone saying this is the Presidents fault… Are we going to say it is Romney’s fault when all Federal Protection is gone and the entire areas are opened for energy production… Nope don’t think so.. He made a “joke” at the convention that said he was not worried about the rising of the oceans or the pollution in the air.. He was concerned about jobs and money for American families. Corporations get their way. What are you thinking? Nothing is going to stand in the way of energy production and jobs until this economy is better for humans… It is just a matter of “is it a combination of green and carbon or just carbon?”. I think that our only hope is to move the horses to an area where there are no efforts for energy production or to make certain that there is a way for them to co-exist with wind turbines and gas wells. It is not impossible. I grew up in East Texas where Oil Wells pumped in church yards… Not so pretty, but it did not kill the dogs or horses in the area.
LikeLike
I agree – Obama does not sit around thinking of ways to eliminate wild horses, but the people he hired are yielding to ranchers, energy companies and mining to facilitate crazed wildcatting. But horses as well as other wildlife have co-existed with human activities before – they simply move if allowed to do so. Romney said he doesn’t care about the EPA and they’re regulations regarding clean water/air. Therefore, the assumption that he wouldn’t care a fig about wildlife is accurate. It’s a long shot to think the plight of wild horses would change because his wife owns a few horses one of which made it to the Olympics. It’s a matter of money at the top end not love. BTW, my friends had to sell their house near Dallas because of all the earthquakes this summer most likely due to all the fracking in the area.
LikeLike
The fact that Romney would abolish the EPA and open our public lands to business such as oil & gas companies is frightening to me Over the years the endangered species the EPA has saved is significant and we can’t allow a return to frivolous, lack of compassion for wildlife and or our public lands. His phony demeanor and party manipulation sickens me In PA you have to have a photo id to vote in Nov which basically eliminates 200,000+ Pennsylvanians from voting. Annoying to say the least!
LikeLike
Having to show an ID with the appropriate expiration date may leave out 700,000 eligible voters in PA. This may turn the election to Romney which is what the legislators wanted when writing this bill. There is evidence for it.
LikeLike
http://www.liberatedhorsemanship.com/Bruces_Books_files/Wild%20Horse%20Stress.pdf Valuable info on stress to wild horses when rounded up.
LikeLike