OpEd by R.T. Fitch ~ volunteer president/co-founder of Wild Horse Freedom Federation
Pickens + BLM = Mustang Tombstone
Doomed Antelope HMA Stallion, potential victim of Pickens Mustang Tombstone~ photo by Terry Fitch of Wild Horse Freedom Federation
It’s an easy mix; take one part Billionairess, add an equal part of BLM and a dash of collusion then mix it all up vigorously, for years, and what do you end up with…Horse Poop.
How could something that started out with such good intentions turn into a plan to wipe out three HMAs and all the wild horses therein and forever destroy the native equine’s freedom while placing them at risk of going to slaughter, how could that happen? Easy, deal with the BLM!
Anything that is touched by this insidious federal agency comes back smelling like rotting meat. With their bought and paid for management being nothing more than puppets for grazing and hunting interests the BLM has been on a witch hunt to rid our western public lands from the wild horses and burros that they are tasked to protect. Now they have the help of a Texas oilman’s wife to hasten the eradication and make it all look “peachy keen” in the meantime.
I have kept silent on this issue for long enough and would like to make it perfectly clear that we are not “outing” Mrs. Pickens who has done a lot of good for animals in the past but this plan, call it the BLM plan, Pickens plan, whatever, well it just plain…er, ahh, hmm SUCKS.
If you have not had the chance to read detailed studies of this plan from hell where Mrs. Pickens and the BLM plan to build the Mustang “Tombstone” please read:
New Pickens for T.Boone Pickens?
…and read them quick as comments for the Mustang Tombstone project need to be in by tomorrow the 19th…
Bureau of Land Management
Elko District
Attn: Eco Sanctuary Comments
3900 E Idaho Street
Elko, Nevada 89801
E-mail: EcoSanctuaryComments@BLM.gov or FAX: 775-753-0385
In a nutshell, the BLM is planning to come in and zero out all the wild horses and remove, forever, three HMAs that surround the Pickens resort so that Mrs. Pickens can have an unnatural herd of 500 testicle free geldings prancing around in a petting zoo. This death herd will be her focus for teaching America what wild horses are all about as you spend money going on hay rides and hanging around her resort while never learning a blinking thing about the family and life of freedom that wild equines once possessed on the very same land. The only good, here, is that the sexually altered stallions will be free of the threat of slaughter while the plan puts that many, and more, former wild horses at risk of being shipped off to slaughter. Personally, I don’t get it.
If Madeleine Pickens wants to do something to help the wild horses and burros she should be pulling the plug on this Tombstone project instead of instigating it. Perhaps she feels that she is in too deep. Perhaps she feels that the advocacy is on her side as she has given a few handouts to those who were unscrupulous enough to accept. Perhaps she lives in a sheltered world where she is always right and everyone else is wrong. Perhaps she feels that money can buy anything or anyone. Who knows? But one thing that we do know is that this plan is bad for the horses, it’s bad for the range and it is bad for the future of the United States of America and we only have a few hours left to comment.
Fax and write as this blog post is going straight to the Elko District office; the Mustang Tombstone Eco-Resort is a no go in the eyes of the American public and we citizens respectfully ask Mrs. Pickens to go back to the drawing board and come up with a plan that STOPS the BLM from unnecessarily removing wild horses from their rightful land versus warehousing the victims of the atrocities and enabling the BLM to continue their destruction of our national icons, the wild horses and burros of the west.
Say NO to the Mustang Tombstone:
Bureau of Land Management
Elko District
Attn: Eco Sanctuary Comments
3900 E Idaho Street
Elko, Nevada 89801
E-mail: EcoSanctuaryComments@BLM.gov or FAX: 775-753-0385
PS: Mrs. Pickens, I have the plan to put a stop to it all and I don’t want your money as I have a job, thank you very much. But if you would listen for a few moments I will share with you a means to put this all to an end. Yes, it takes funds, but not to or through me and I know the price as I have already made the down payment. You are dealing with the backside of the horse while it is the front end of the horse where we reside and to what we are speaking. Give me a call if you dare, you have the number. I will be respectfully waiting.
Related articles
- Pickens Wild Horse Plan: Betrayed? (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Madeleine Pickens’ Eco-RESORT? (ppjg.me)
- Please Get Your Comments In On Proposed EcoSanctuary in NE Nevada by American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign (socialactions.net)
- BLM sets hearings in Wells, Reno, Elko on mustangs (star-telegram.com)
- BLM sets hearings in Wells, Reno, Elko on mustangs (mysanantonio.com)
- Wild Horse Letters to the President Swell in Support (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Wild Horse and Burro Bait-Trapping: Going … Going … Gone (rtfitchauthor.com)
Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
R.T., again I commend you on having the courage to expose this joke!
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Let us know when you get a call from Madeleine, R.T. Surekly she must see the flaws in this plan.
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Why would someone who proposes saving wild horses, decide to help their demise. I am very disappointed with this turn of purpose. Return to Freedom has the right idea. With help they would by land for wild horses to live the way they were meant too. I hope this plan fails….and the original plan prevails. Mrs Pickens. Please call RT. To do what you originally intended. These horses are counting on you doing the right thing.
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the wild horses and their land MUST be preserved!!! this proposed ‘project’ would strip these wild horses of their land and their lives. a vast majority of the american people are FOR preserving wild horses AND their land. the vast majority of americans are AGAINST horse slaughter. wild horses are a national treasure. they embody the very freedom our entire country was built upon. they must be preserved.
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Thank you for educating the public on this matter. It is the end of our Wild Mustangs and our ability to see them as they should be. Sterilized to never pass on their genes. There is a plan by our government to systematically wipe them out, only education and a public uproar will save them. As always R.T. a wonderful job done of getting the truths out there!
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I was going to try and send a comment but got so confused. I don’t know if Pickens plan is any good either. I don’t like the idea of all stallions be gelded. What is the point of saving them if they are only going to die in these holding HMA’s. Isn’t the BLM suppose to protect them? Gelding them all and holding them until all mustangs die off isn’t protecting them in my book. I don’t understand how they are going to gather them all and then put them all in just one area with a BIG fence to keep them in. I find this whole thing overwhelming and sad. I am outraged at the BLM and how arrogant they are about their plan to kill off our American wild horses and burros. This is just wrong.
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The Spruce Pequop Management area, should remain: Forget the non-reproducing herds. Allow these Wild Mustangs to be just that..with the ability to reproduce. To continue the blood lines. Fencing off a 500,000 acre Allotment, is not acceptable! The elimination of any free roaming Wild Mustang herds, in order to facilitate Mrs. Pickens’ Wild Mustang Monument, is self-defeating.!!
The foals, who were forcibly taken from the Antelope Complex.. return them to their families…. TheBLM has caused more than enough damage to our Wild Mustangs.Burrows!!
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In my opinion, making this deal with BLM and using our Wild Horses and Burros as hostages is the same as making a deal with the devil … the deal might sound pretty to start with but below the surface it is dark and stank and very very hot.
Another way of putting it is something a friend of mine used to say and which fits BLM so perfectly, “If his lips are moving … he is lying”.
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I don’t understand how Ms Pickens’ plan, that I always thought was about rehoming previously maimed and removed wild equines now requires the removal and sterilization of currently free roaming wild equines for the former to exist. It makes no sense.
It just doesn’t make sense. It is akin to saying, by the killers no less….”for every sterilized horse I give you, ON YOUR LAND with their accompanying leases…I will remove 1-3 wild, free roaming wild equines. You want your space? I (DOI?USDA) must butcher more free roaming wild equines to balance the “situation”.”
Insane…just insane.
One cannot swap maimed and prison camp wild equines for free roaming, intact wild equines and their family bands.
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p.s. Ms Pickens? I appreciate your work with TBs, but when Criminal Type expired in Japan, you should have had him cremated and buried at Old Friends….you made a promise.
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Denise, please elaborate, thanks.
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The comment letter I sent to BLM
BLM Elko District Office
Wells Field Office
3900 E. Idaho Street
Elko, NV. 89801
Attn: Wild Horse Eco-sanctuary
Fax: 775-753-0385
Dear Sir,
I have, as a biologist, spent a considerable amount of time in many of the HMAs of Nevada, documenting the range conditions, as well as the wild horses and burros. I have found it has been the continual assertion by the Bureau of Land Management that it is striving to maintain a thriving natural ecological balance in reference to the wild horse and burros and that this is its constant goal in managing them. The BLM maintain that the ranges can only support what it calls an appropriate management level of wild horses in reference to the herd management areas as a whole, and based upon this number, has justified its aggressive roundups to take in what it calls excess wild horses and burros, due to what it terms, overpopulation. The BLM’s alternative to the roundups, in this particular area, is an eco-sanctuary made up of a non producing number of wild horses, restricted within a fenced area, and zeroing out the those areas of the HMAs, not contained within these boundaries. I would like to address this alternative point by point, purely from a scientific standpoint.
(1) The concept of a thriving natural ecological balance, within any ecosystem, and implied in the very term, “eco-sanctuary” relates to the fact that the system is self sustaining. This means it has the ability to freely reproduce, with no restrictions, other than those instituted by nature itself. Density dependent and inhibition come into play here as other species of animals interact with the wild horses and burros, along with predators and environmental conditions to maintain the appropriate levels of each individual species of animal with in that system.
(2) This also implies the free movement of all species in and out of an area. With respect to the wild horses and burros, this means that their migratory routes from winter and summer areas, along with historic water sources are accessible, unrestricted by fencing. To continue, it also implies that the natural predators of the wild horses and burros are not fenced out, as with any eco-sanctuary, or ecosystem, these predators are also an intrinsic aspect of a, “ thriving natural ecological balance”.
(3) This implies also that other species of grazers have free movement in and out of the area, unrestricted by fencing, as these also play a key part in what has been described above as, density dependant inhibition. What this means is that the numbers, or density, of another species of grazer helps to regulate the numbers of wild horses and burros, and vice versa, again helping to determine, without human intervention, the appropriate number of individual species of grazers within the area. This is exactly what occurs in the individual HMAs, or what should be allowed to occur in the individual HMAs, without human intervention.
(4) This brings a 4th aspect of this concept of an eco-sanctuary to our attention. As a thriving natural ecological balance is absolutely necessary to any ecosystem, including an eco-sanctuary, it is by necessity that a hands-off approach is required. The moment there is any attempt to alter an ecosystem in an artificial manner, assumes that this dynamic personality operating within an ecosystem or eco-sanctuary is going to behave as we determine it should. In essence, from that point on, it ceases to be natural and thriving, because those vital components, contained in the system, whether microbial, or otherwise are being altered, and the system begins to break down. This hands-off approach implies no manmade restrictions on the area, including fencing and any determent to the ability of the wild horse and burros to reproduce as nature would have it.
In conclusion, it is clear, based upon the proposals of the BLM for this eco-sanctuary, that it is an excuse to be able to zero out more of the legally designated areas, given to the wild horses and burros, as the principal species within those areas, by the Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act. It is also clear that the conditions of the eco-sanctuary, established by the BLM, are set up such that the wild horse and burros would not be self sustaining and able to reproduce and would quickly die off. In addition they wouldn’t be given the opportunity to interact with other species of animals, something required for any, “thriving natural ecological balance”, to maintain the appropriate numbers of individual species within those areas, including those of the wild horses and burros, something restricted by fencing. Also, by virtue of the fencing, historical water sites and migratory routes, from summer and winter grazing areas, are cut off, further inhibiting the very concept of a, “thriving natural ecological balance”.
The wild horses and burros, as the legal tenants of the herd management areas, by necessity need to be left in the areas where the Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act has established them as the principal species. By necessity they need to be left untouched and unaltered by mankind’s intervention, left to nature’s capable hands, and not regulated by the BLM’s concept termed, “the appropriate management level”. Nature knows very well how to establish the appropriate numbers of wild horses and burros within an area, as well as all other interactive species of animals, without human intervention. By virtue of these well established scientific principles, there is no need to establish an eco-sanctuary, and no need for any more roundups. In truth, after documenting many of the HMAs where the wild horses and burros used to run freely, before the roundups, these areas could easily could be occupied by all of the roughly 50,000 wild horses and burros in holding facilities, without having a negative impact on the land. Contrary to the belief of the BLM, the wild horses and burros out there, in the numbers that used to be, would help bring balance back to those areas again. It is my heart felt wish that you would seriously weigh out your decision, not just concerning this concept that the BLM has for an eco-sanctuary, but to consider the end of further roundups, and for the possibility of restoring back into the original areas from which they were taken, those wild horses and burros in holding facilities.
Sincerely,
Robert C. Bauer
Bob.Bauer@insightbb.com
502-773-8217
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Well put, Robert, and good to hear from you. It is encouraging to hear how all of you have responded. I sent the above blog with an underlined NO. You all are so much more eloquent than myself.
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Bob:
While I respect what you wrote and believe what you stated, sadly I am sure your letter was put in the dumpster.
I appreciate that it (your opinion) is documented.
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Mr. Bauer- This is one of the best things I have read in a long time. Your mention of fences is particularly important as anyone that has been on HMAs soon realizes the negative impact these fences have on our Wild Horses and Burros and your summary of the BLM’s “MIS-understanding” of a thriving natural ecological balance is perfect. Thank you!
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Very well put and Thank you so much for speaking out for the wild horses God Bless you all…
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This is the wish of many of us, Bob Bauer. Every route we come down involves compromising the wild horses’ ecology; with fences, because they are on a finite designated range and with birth control or removals to replace predation on the herds. We have not got what the wild ones need except when we allow for the predation, as in Pryor, where predators have been the obvious population control in a finite area going back over a hundred years. Not all HMAs have natural boundaries either. And migration routes have been cut off slowly but surely. The lost HMAs are of great interest tho’, and I have held to the thought we could repopulate as opposed to euthanize or sell to slaughter all our fine mares in LTH. Getting the occupied ranges to the ecologically functional stage would be a great challenge for us in the immediate future and would save our wild ones, too. But we are not calling any of the shots and that needs to change. We have got to work on a National .org that will grow and accommodate the needs of the wild ones into the future with our support and independent studies.
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Thank you Bob for explaining the science behind this. I only wish that I had the knowledge to do so as eloquently as you just did.
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Super analysis, Bob! Your heart and your mind are truly with the horses and their rightful freedom, unlike our public officials who are beholden to and placed the big interests into their positions of authority. We need people like you running the show, people who truly care and have a vision of what can happen. Hope more of you can seriously read my book: The Wild Horse Conspiracy. It is now out in a new improved edition, and delves into the vital issues that Bauer has raised here.
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My email address is wrong here. Type. Please correct. It should read ccdowner@aol.com. Way to speak out, RT, along with Bob! I put a professional letter into BLM also trying to steer them straight on this issue. The cancellation of the livestock permits and the conversion to horse was good, but the fencing and the non-reproducing herds and the zeroing out of the 3 affected herds, we all suspect is the rotten bargain these connivers are tying to impose on U.S. and the world is reprehensible (in other words: sucks).
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Yes, leave nature alone.
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Kudo’s to you Robert, for knowing your subject, I pray that, but do not expect, the BLM listens.
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I WHOLEHEARTEDLY AGREE THAT RESTORATION OF ALL ORIGINAL AND NATURAL LANDS BE RETURNED TO OUR NATION’S REFLECTIONS OF TRUE FREEDOM – OUR WILD EQUINES!!
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Sure glad to see that others are seeing the flaws in MP and the SAM plan. This has been a poorly thought out idea from the beginning and seems to provide nothing that improves life for the horses. The only thing that seems to get something from this is SAM and MP, I hope that it can be stopped before it gets through. This is one place that the pro adoption and the pro leave them in the wild group can agree.
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Sandee F. you wanted to sterilize wild horses 30 years ago, believe the blm’s incessant roundups are ok, incarcerating sterilized wild horses is just fine, if everyone adopted one they would be happily domesticated, so why are you opposed to this salazoo in particular? Is it taking money out of your pocket? Just curious.
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Yes LNorman it would be taking money out of my pocket and out of the pocket of every American out there. This is a case of smoke and mirrors and covers up a water and land grab that would affect all of us in a very short time. You need to do some research on the T Boone Pickens empire and learn how he works and what his goals are.
Now as far as my being willing to sterilize horses and see them adopted out, you are darn right I am for that. I think that it is much better than to put them into ranches that will hold them until they die. I know that some of you have issues with the idea of gelding and spaying horses but there has not been a good alternative found for it and even PZP does not solve the 20% growth rate on normal years it has only worked on small herds and the large herds still are growing too fast. ISPMB has thought that they had a handle on the breeding issue but even they see a growth rate and their herds do not hold to static rates. Mother nature is going to have the horses breed and if they breed then they are going to over populate the ranges that they run. When that happens mother nature again steps in and causes mass death by starvation or lack of water. If you have ever dealt with either you would want to see any alternative first. Sorry if you don’t see my way but the truth is that horses do have to be managed or we end up with the same situation that we have with the feral cat population except these animals weigh 1000 lbs and not 10 lbs.
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Sandee, there is NO over-population of wild horses. It’s the MILLIONS of cattle on our public ranges that have caused the damage. Please see the 1990-91 Government Accounting Office study that proved cattle have over-grazed the range and destroyed the riparian areas and that the few thousand wild horses are innocent. Also see the population chart using BLM stats at
http://tinyurl.com/4evvefn There may be only 15,000 wild horses still free on public lands now, and the BLM has been known to even chase the ones on private land and capture them . 20 million acres have even been taken from our wild horses and given over to special interest uses. Few herds are now genetically viable and sustainable also.
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An Act of Congress
“Congress finds and declares that wild free-roaming horses and burros are
Living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West, and
that they contribute to the diversity of life forms withing the
Nation and enrich the lives of the American People.”
Public Law 92-195, December 15, 1971
It is a law!!
I totally support disengaging the BLM and M. Pickens from any involvement with wild horse and burro management. Their behavior has shown they cannot be trusted to act in the best interest of the animals, the predators involved or the ecosystems. It is an organization dedicated to an old boy network of special interests and cronyism. They have no business taking tax payer money and using it in a fraudulent manner.
Marge Mullen
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I totally agree with you.
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Right on, Marge.
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I sent my letter to the BLM. The plan is just another way to get rid of the wild horses in that area–and replace them with a Salazoo–castrated animals pawned off as WILD. When they die off–will BLM ship another batch from holding to MPickens land? It’s another rip off –it’s another BLM lie–it’s another act of deceit upon the American tax payer/tourist.
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Send it to the Prez and your Congressional Reps.
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This is what I was thinking.
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I don’t bet on too many things, but I doubt that you will ever hear from Ms. Pickens. We must all get together as one to rid this country of the evil wild horse/domestic horse haters, who see a money gain with the lives of these beautiful animals. Surely, there is enough lawyers out there that love or own horses that would carry this through the courts to fruition and do it gratis. Come on guys, let’s us give them hell.
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We need legislation, and never doubt that this bottom line law is not the way to go. This means WE have to interact with the politicians WE put in office. Lawsuits are not going to protect the wild ones in the future. We must put together the people with the will and expertise to plan and develop the future. Our wild ones deserve an institution the public can interact with and have a lasting watch upon their ranges.
With nothing in place to catch them when they fall through the BLM/public cracks we are bleeding wild horses into the nation who are showing up in auctions every week. This is reported by those who have taken steps to save those wild ones.
We need working alternatives and a safety net and a big .org where we can vote and develop our skills to fit the needs.
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Just continually losing wild horses to short and long term holding and also to kill buyers and failed adoptions has got to stop. We need to be building bridges that will take us to a workable future and real protection and participation of the public and wild horse professionals that I wish we had now.
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Margo. You covered it beautifully. We, as horse lovers, should empower ourselves with all others that are oblivious to what is happening to our beautiful wild horses and STOP THIS ATROSITY NOW.
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Margo, I’m with you. I would actively work to ensure that a powerful agency, with great human beings who love these animals as our active agency leaders, achieve the long term goal of protecting and insuring that these beautiful animals God has given us will be forever on their home ranges and enjoyed by generations of American citizens to come. In addition, I firmly believe these Wild Horses should be America’s ICONS for all they have given us through all the years of strife and enjoyment, only now with the burros and donkeys, they are being driven to obliven by the corrupt and disheveled agency called the BLM. This agency is running amock and we need to demand that it be cleaned up or we, the voting American public – eighty percent loving the wild ones – will see that they all lose their jobs. It’s about time we take back our ownership of the ranges and our wild horses and oversee who and what is on the ranges and who and what is allowed to do anything on the ranges, be it oil companies or mining interests. We we don’t take action now by joining forces in mass, it may be too late for our beautiful wild horses but the American ranges as well.
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I agree Lynne. It’s time for all Americans to come together to fight this evil that’s harming the future of these beautiful and majestic creatures. Surely there are lawyers who would be willing to represent these magnificent animals ,who want nothing more than to roam free, where they belong. Our wild horses and burros are so very much a part of America and we must continue to do everything we can to preserve their freedom. If not now, when? Time is not on their side!
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Let’s see – she gets free land, she can charge whatever she wants to stay at her “eco-resort” and I have no doubt that the BLM will be paying her $1.30 per head per day to feed the horses. What a sweet deal. I wonder if hubby also gets water rights to the former HMA’s.
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I’m still trying to understand how HMAs can be zeroed out when they have the WHBPA of 1971 that is still in place. Still don’t understand how the Burns Amendment doesn’t essentially and spiritually gut that 1971 Act and the courts just fart along with the murder of these animals.
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I sent an email to the too, but I don’t have much hope that it will help. I’ve sent SO many that didn’t have any impact at all. But, we must TRY.
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I wouldn’t place the entire blame for this mess on BLM. Certainly, as a past member of the Mustang Heritage Foundation, M. Pickens has a bit more pull than innocent bystander. I want to also point out to everyone that there is so much going on right now that the horses involved are just a mere distraction from the ruination of all life about to be perpetrated on that region. If you would check out the Goshute Pipeline which is being engineered to draw down water tables north of the Goshute HMA – and under the Goshute Indian reservation, you will learn that the pipeline will be traveling down the newly upgraded Hwy 95 to Las Vegas. Passing very close or under land that MP will control. Not too much of a strain on teh brain cells to make the connection, since her husband, T.B. Pickens is busy adding to the drawdown on the Ogallalla Acquifer for bottled and piped water to towns in South Texas from acreage he owns resting over America’s largest freshwater supply. On this Nevada land which is soon to become a private resort for the rich and famous, are also located ancient archeological sites, mining locations and sites for mineral and rock hunting. Rare raptor breeding sites and migratory routes are to be found in the allotment. Though public access is said to be preserved – how can that be, if it is to be a eco-sanctuary which I would assume are to be visited by paying participants? MP will not reveal her plan but BLM is telling her that in order to fence her allotment to contain her sanctuaried horses (as every other long term holding contractor is required to do), she will be fencing off horses from their natural movement through the HMAs. Somewhere in there the translation of actually doing something outstanding with your billions hasn’t come through. This problem is not something that just popped off the drawing board. But somehow MP has allowed her problem to become our problem and the problem of the horses. It is not too far fetched to wonder if she did not plan this debacle of outcomes. Perhaps depending on our natural inclination to blame BLM for what she had to have known and her consultants did know would have to happen to the HMAs. I would request that she now request an extension of time for comments and reveal her plan so a real public comment period can transpire.
it is about the horses for you and I – it is about so much more for MP.
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WILD EQUINES DON’T NEED TO BE REMOVED FOR RESOURCE SUCKING TROLLS.
Pipelines and water can be managed sympathetically for all; unless, of course the resource is really polluting the land and water.
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Good points here, Janet. After buying Spruce Ranch I remember her commenting that she hoped her plans would not prevent the wild ones on the adjacent HMAs from staying wild and free roaming. What happened? BLM ‘policy’; that which morphs for their purposes only and not for the wild horses and burros.
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Blm knows all about the ruination, they are partners in crime with all extractionists stealing resources from PUBLIC lands.
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And I’d like to add that HMAs are to be managed by BLM per The Act. No private enterprise is authorized to do so. So are we witnessing a complete flagrant dismissal of the law so MP can have her “sanctuary.” It might be that she will have to purchase land which does not overlay a herd area or herd management area. Saying this though – it is even more obvious to me that the horses are not the issue for her here. Mt. Moly is being prepped as we speak, Ruby Pipeline is building, the Goshute Pipeline is coming up on the horizone, and God knows what else is being dealt that we do not know of yet. She has just complicated a very sensitive program.
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And she has been confusing people with Save America’s Mustangs. We want a future for them not just a horse’s lifetime or a sterile herd.
Madeleine, this is not good for the wild ones and the public who want them free. Long Term Holding horses are subject to sale authority. As Janet asks; will BLM alter policy or law to suit MP? Or has MP come to realize she cannot have it all her way? We do want know. Enough of the secrecy! Tell us the bottom line!!!!
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Boone & Madeleine are in the middle of a divorce, so your ridiculous assertions are just that. Mr. Pickens sold 100% of his water holdings to Amarillo, Texas early this year, further eroding your credibility. You might consider actually reading instead of whatever you’re doing.
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Bradc, how would you know they’re in the middle of a divorce unless you work for/with them? Can’t find it in any sourced news, so this seems like an unsubstantiated rumor unless you can post a source, and T. Boone makes it sound like they’re very married.
Click to access T%20BooneBook.pdf
But again, the eco-resort PLAN sucks.
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Makes my stomch sink. Posted this article on her Saving the Mustangs facebook page, sending the BLM my objection letter and also posted your article and some facts on Jane Velez HLN show since I was so excited to see her talk about “helping the mustangs” a while back..thought she might want to open the topic back up and get some air time talking about this.
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Buzzing wild horses with her helicopter on JVM segment and stating “they are terrified of helicopters” was so brilliant! NOT
When asked on her fb page why she didn’t spend money on “marketing campaign to raise public awareness of their plight”, she or her admin promptly removed the post.
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First it was our Native Americans from whom we robbed lands and a beautiful way of life and now again another despicable, selfish, greed-driven totally abhorrent.act that will destroy these beautiful wild animals absolutely stuns me. May these perpetrators rot in hell….my heart is still crying for the two lovely donkeys who were euthanized on Monday past to display in a museum….may your foundations crack……..
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We are NOT against Madeleine. We are FOR the Wild Horses and Burros.
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Personally I am beyond disappointed. I was REALLY looking forward to staying at the Monument and not giving my money to those in Elko. It would be supporting the horses.
My understanding of Antelope was Madeleine was asking BLM not to round those horses because they could easily be a part of the Monument. We know how that went.
My understanding was no horses would be rounded up just so that others could be set free.
Madeleine’s plan WAS good. Now BLM threw another monkey wrench. They get everyone’s hopes up, tease us, make us impatient to get the Monument up and going. Just when everything is looking good–they throw a monkey wrench.
This is wrong. It’s beyond wrong. Gelding is forever. If they would use PZP on the mares it might stand a chance of being accepted. The mares have been known to pregnant despite PZP.
For me since I have been traveling thru NV for the past some number of years I have decided its time to search another way to WY. Not sure of mileage or gas but I am beyond sick of the war on horses in NV. No one takes responsibility, they brush our complaints and suggestions into the trash can.
I may be only one but after the Conference this weekend I will try not to give my hard earned dollars to NV. Shame on everyone in NV not getting behind this ORIGINAL plan and asking BLM to grow the needed stones to see this plan thru.
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Margaret: MPs plan has always been about sterilizing her herds. Even the one that she started out with years ago with 10,000 horses and it being a standard long term holding but with access included the horses being sterilized. She wanted a bit more per horse and she wanted a guaranteed so many horses for 40 years. that’s a might fine contract if you can get it. I am afraid that alot of people have simply not been completely informed on what was on the table. This is not the entire fault of BLM – we have got to see it for what it is. They have a private citisen who has bought land adjacent to a half million acres, she wants to switch the allotments for cattle over to horses and she wants to fence her allotment. Unfortunately, the allotment just happens to sit on top of three HMAs which will be severely impacted by the fencing and be unlawfully managed by a private enterprise. The Act specifically places BLM in charge of management. MP has herself put the sanctuary in this position.
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MP was going to take horses ALREADY in holding. They have been gelded because BLM is too damn quick with the knife. Gelding the studs that make up Antelope WAS NOT part of the plan.
If you sterilize everything with no regard that is management to extinction. This is something BLM has become very good at. They use to not geld a stud if an approved adopter asked them not to. Of course you had to through the whole adoption process but your horse wasn’t gelded. Now BLM is insisting with no recourse that ALL studs MUST be gelded before adoption.
This is going to backfire on them. And future generation of our kids will be left without even the chance to see wild horses.
Personally I’m am so far beyond being aggravated by the monkey throwing wrenches, the stoopid games BLM plays, the heart tugging emotional toll–
Just get the Monument up and running. Like Ginger’s Freedom Fund horses separate out the youngster’s (not rounded up never to see freedom)at some point. You can use them to revitalize the herds. Surely there is a way to have them in one area of the HMA and the horses elsewhere. Something someone once told me is accurate here. What’s the sense in having a little bit of authority if you can’t throw your weight around?
The new fencing crap that BLM is insisting on is an example of the monkey wrenches. I knew it had to be fenced. But I understood it to be the whole OUTER perimeter of the HMA, not each one, where you not only impact grazing but water.
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This was sent to me and it should be shared. This is a vital issue and the decisions made now will carry over into the future.
First, Do No Harm
A number of years ago an animal sanctuary, in order to raise money for their many residents, held a pig roast. While well intentioned, roasting a pig to benefit needy animals sparked a huge and heated debate amongst the members of a national sanctuary association.
After many months of painful, soul-searching conversations, the association members finally came to a united consensus; Primum non nocere. First, do no harm. The members had agreed that it is not ethical, right, or in the best interests of animals to sacrifice one for the other.
First, do no harm, at its base, is saying that for any problem it may be more important not to do something, or even to do nothing, than to risk causing more harm than good. First, do no harm is a big picture ethical principal.
So it is within this sanctuary code of ethics as well as the Wild and Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971, which is the law of the land, that we must measure the plans recently revealed by the BLM, for the Madeline Pickens Eco-Sanctuary in Nevada.
The eco-sanctuary will be made up of private land (land Pickens owns) with public land (land you and I, the public, own). The public land is approximately 550,000 acres which will be completely fenced. But here is the sticker… it contains part or all of three Wild Horse Herd Management Areas ( HMA’s). HMA’s were assigned by the United States Congress in 1971 as set aside areas for wild horses and burros who already existed there and were to contain family bands which are stallions and their mares and off-spring. In other words, HMA’s are already existing sanctuaries for wild horse and burro reproducing families.
The BLM plan for these already existing sanctuaries is to fence the 550,000 acres, at tax-payer expense, round up all the existing wild horses found there and separate mares from stallions and off-spring. The stallions would then be castrated and allowed to stay on the HMA, the mares and off-spring would be sent to short-term holding. The BLM would then send 500+ geldings from the same short-term holding system, to live in the HMA’s as a non-reproducing herd.
There are some problematic and deadly consequences to these plans:
• As we are all aware by now, roundups can and do kill horses. Stallions die protecting their families and from castration surgery, foals die by being left behind or trampled and mares die from injuries or stress related colic. And in one particularly deadly roundup, horses died from water intoxication after being run in high temperatures and then allowed to drink too much water. So even a third grader can figure out what will happen to some of the horses rounded up for the Eco-Sanctuary plan.
• Based upon even the most cursory examination of the 1971 Act, the plan to remove reproducing families from their existing HMA and replacing them with geldings is not lawful and a complete and utter violation of the letter and the spirit of the Act.
• The public is already paying the government to manage viable and reproducing family bands in HMA sanctuaries. Now we will be asking the public to pay for fencing, a roundup, castration of stallions, more horses in short-term holding and then…so much per head to Pickens to care for the geldings who will now inhabit the HMA’s.
• The fencing proposed will cut off wild horses – who ordinarily migrate across the now unfenced boundary – from water.
• Without migratory routes to water and grazing within the lawful HMA’s, the BLM is proposing the possibility of labeling the remaining wild horses outside the fencing as not viable and rounding them up also. This will put a complete and total end to the existing three HMA’s or public supported sanctuaries. No more wild horses. Just a large group of castrated stallions, unable to reproduce, without off-spring or family bands, just wiling away their days till they die.
• At one of the meetings where the plan was discussed, a BLM employee said it is ok to put just geldings out there because the public will not know the difference. This statement assumes the public is stupid. But even a child knows the difference between a family and a group, be it horses, dogs, cats, birds or humans.
• Unfortunatly, the BLM was quoted as saying Pickens herself agreed to the above plans with all its potential deadly and unlawful consequences. And when questioned, Pickens representative at the meeting said her (meaning Pickens) hands were tied. She has no choice except to accept the removal plan the BLM is forwarding. We hope those quotes are not accurate.
Although we support of the original intent, the Eco-Sanctuary Plan – as forwarded by the BLM – is not now, and can never be acceptable. For in it horses are subject to loss of water, loss of life and reproducing families, loss of habitat and the disappearance of HMA’s which are already existing tax payer supported sanctuaries. This plan would set one of the most disastrous precedents for the future of wild horses since the protective law was put into place in 1971, and is about as far from First, do no harm and the 1971 Wild and Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act as you can get.
Any proposal to remove existing wild horses to make room for already rounded-up geldings on public lands is not only wrong-headed, but unethical, unlawful, not in the best interests of the animals removed, and will be ripe for intense litigation.
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The key: “Any proposal to remove existing wild horses to make room for already rounded-up geldings on public lands is not only wrong-headed, but unethical, unlawful, not in the best interests of the animals removed, and will be ripe for intense litigation.”
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BRAVO RT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I don’t think that most people could disagree with that statement R. T. Fitch no matter whether they back the BLM or against it.
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Louie…BRILLIANT!
Thank you.
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Continued from
FIRST DO NO HARM:
So Now is the time to weigh in to ensure that the BLM does not use the eco-sanctuary as an excuse to zero out more wild free-roaming horse herds!
Comments can also be faxed to (775) 753-038 or emailed to: EcoSanctuaryComments@blm.gov.
The deadline is September 19 but letters send by postal mail must be postmarked by September 15.
To Whom It May Concern,
I support Saving America’s Mustangs’ (SAM’s) goals for the creation of a wild horse “eco-sanctuary” in northeastern Nevada. These goals include: returning horses currently held in BLM short-term holding facilities to a natural habitat environment; utilizing the public lands in the Spruce grazing allotment for the benefit of horses; and creating an eco-sanctuary that highlights the importance of wild horses to American history and culture.
I strongly believe that these goals CAN AND MUST BE accomplished without negatively impacting the wild horse herds living in the three Herd Management Areas (HMAs) that comprise the Antelope Complex and will be affected by the proposal.
Since 1971, wild horses have been zeroed out from 111 herd areas representing over 20 million acres; this represents nearly half of the habitat originally designated for wild horses and burros under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. In 70% of the remaining herd management areas, BLM’s population targets are set at levels that will not ensure genetic viability. Given these numbers, any proposals for ecosanctuaries or holding facilities that result in a net loss to existing populations explicitly undermine the goals of wild horse preservation and the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act.
Therefore, any ecosanctuary proposals must be evaluated according to the following criteria to ensure that they:
• Will not result in a loss of habitat (HMA acreage) for non-captive wild horse or burro populations;
• Will not reduce Appropriate Management Levels (AMLs) for non-captive wild horses and burro populations;
• Will not convert wild free-roaming populations or portions of populations to non-reproducing herds, as this would violate both the BLM’s mandate under the Act and its regulations.
Further, please include a preferred alternative in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that will leave all wild horses in the Antelope Complex intact by not requiring the total fencing off of the Spruce allotment and allowing Saving America’s Mustangs to replace cattle with gelded horses from BLM holding facilities on the public lands portion of the sanctuary.
I support creation of a sanctuary where horses otherwise residing in holding facilities can live and roam. However, I object to any attempt by the BLM to use an “ecosanctuary” as an excuse for reducing the number of wild horses who are protected under federal law and/or the acreage available to them.
Thank you for your consideration.
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Louie:
Thank you and brilliant continued.
Someday, I hope I can meet you in the flesh. You are good human.
Seriously, someday…please.
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I second your wish, Denise…the only problem is that I have too much flesh, but am working on it! B->
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Exactly.. Well said.
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Thank you R.T. for clarification on what this “sanctuary” would really mean for our wild mustangs and burros. So many people, and I was one of them, thought this was a god send when we first heard about Mustang Monument. I was horrified, as were so many others, when the “bachelor pad for equines” was revealed. You are correct, if she truly wants to help horses, as she is constantly claiming, then she will pull the plug on this. I hope she does but I have doubts that she will. Like so many incredibly wealthy people, I do think she thought, and continues to think, that T. Boone’s money can buy anything.
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This has been coming right along folks. When she was back on the verge of buying Winecup-Gampel Ranch it was hopeful…. In my humble opinion she should abandon this mess and get that ranch and throw in with us. The size of that ranch and size of the problems we have with horses coming off the range by the thousands each year and not getting adopted… there is another way, as RT says and it could create an alternative to BLM management and still have wild reproducing mustangs. If she does not buy that ranch and she had her chance I wish we all could because there is a future there for wild ones if worse comes to worse.
We have wanted her support and she gave it at times. Many have given her support. I would love it if she gave her support to the wild ones over all and worked with us to find the best answers to the many problems we face as we stand by mostly watching happen without being able to do something.
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Mar…MP can do both.
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How so? I do not agree with the letter posted because it still allows for the gelding herd to go to MP and to entertain the public with unnatural former representatives of the wild horses. This is a BLM contract and with it comes sale authority and other policies we have yet to stop.
I think without actually campaigning to change MP’s mind she will not have anything to say to us, although I want her to acknowledge, at this point, we have come to a real parting of the ways As Things Stand.
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Denise, that wasn’t my letter..I didn’t write…it was sent to me (and to others) and I just posted it….that’s all I did…SHARED it. I feel that we need every bit of information possible.
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Louie…I said thank you for what you posted.
I did not cite you as author, etc.
Someday, Louie…someday.
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Op-ed and video came from DreamCatcher Wild Horse and Burro Sanctuary
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Bonnie Kohleriter wrote an excellent article that was posted here on Sept. 11th. This last paragraph apparently didn’t get included, except in the comments. Readers might have missed it:
Bonnie Kohleriter
The critical paragraph that was added to page 3 follows:
The Wild Free-roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 (Public Law 92-195) #1334 states “Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a private landowner from maintaining wild free-roaming horses or burros on his private lands, or lands leased from the Government, if he does so in a manner that protects them from harassment, and if the animals were not willfully removed or enticed from the public lands.” It appears by law not only do the wild, free roaming horses have a right to their HMAs but also to Madeleine’s private and allotted lands if she allows them access.
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I believe I have fixed that problem…https://rtfitchauthor.com/2012/09/11/pickens-wild-horse-plan-betrayed/
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Well… it appears we have to send more fund to litigation like WHFF.
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I read this to mean that local landowners who have had horses coming and going upon their lands can continue to allow them to do so… this is very interesting and should be looked at closely for the possible protection this might extend to many wild horses who have been left out of the direct effects of the Act. MP is not making any noises about this helping the horses on the 3 HMAs by her. This clause did not save the Pilot Mountain wild horses from being rounded up as feral when they sought forage on the ranch by their HMA. Instead BLM likely lied and would not extend protection to a herd who had migrated and was in fact made up of BLM wild horses, but for 3 branded horses also caught.
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Louie – that is the law and it is as being managed right now. Most HMAs are located adjoining, in or shared by allotments. HMAs are public land, as are the allotments. This is why we have such a problem with the grazing by cattle or sheep sometimes at the expense of the range, thereby shortening the time between roundups of the wild horses and burros. They are one and the same. MP can allow the horses to remain on her property and I guess do business as she chooses, however, her plan is to CONVERT the cattle allotments to horse allotments and fence the property (at her expense) and then run gelded horses out of long term holding in order to be paid a per horse fee by taxpayer. Back during the Antelope roundup much energy was used trying to get her to ask BLM not to roundup horses n her allotments. I really think the wild horse advocates should cut their losses and get on to opposing this plan and putting together a platform from which future action will be measured.
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As Mar so aptly stated, the possibilities of such a plan, correctly done, could and would be wonderful.
This is where we HAVE TO have input. It would be great to have Madeleine join us.
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Yes, it would. But can she? What her husband represents has much to do with her decisions and her ‘separateness’ from the campaign.
I truely feel we need a Wild Horse (only) Conference for planning and strategy sometime in the next 6 months with committed attendance from as many people as we can get to one place at the same time! Maybe it is time?
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I think so Mar.
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We’re having the Conference this weekend in Las Vegas. I think day 1 is more directed to the wild horses. Hopefully I’ll be able to tape most of it…
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Thank you, Denise. I wanted to be certain that the credit goes to those that did the “heavy lifting”. This kind of stuff is HARD WORK….. mentally and emotionally.
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Roger that…Louie. And thanks to ALL of you for your hard work in standing up for what is right, just and lawful. Makes me proud to be associated with ya’all!!!
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I think the purpose of this round of comments is for our input…what we DO and DO NOT want. It’s a scoping brief. Take a look at the Warm Creek Ranch house on page 2.
Mar, you have always wanted a base camp for those who want to learn more. This would be a teriffic place to help the Public learn. It could be so very educational.
What a GOOD project this COULD become:
Click to access EcoSanctuaryScopingBrief.pdf
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Plan sux. Period. BLM sux. Period. If you deal with them Madeleine; then you suck. Period.
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http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/elko_field_office/blm_information/nepa/nenvwh_ecosanctuary.html
Print Page
Proposed Northeast Nevada Wild Horse Eco-Sanctuary
Public Scoping Brief
Project Area Map
Other project maps:
Wildlife
Seedings, Road and Range Improvements
Current and Proposed Herd Management Areas and Herd Areas
Allotment Overview
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While everyone is distracted by the wild horse issues, T-Boone seems to be pulling off one of the cleverer water grabs in history…
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Well I see this one has brought out all the moles & trolls & wild horse haters commenting; they must hate MP more!
The whole thing is kleptocracy. Blm is violating mandate, breaking laws, gone rogue, committing genocide, theft of property, embezzlement, you name it. They are organized criminal gang. Comments are not going stop them from their criminal activity.
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I have to say that as a wild horse owner and advocate for over 30 years this whole thing makes me mad. T Boone has set up one of the biggest smoke and mirror scams with this that I have seen. The wild horses are the smoke – the BLM is the mirror and it all boils down to him and his companies getting the water and water rights along with the use of the land that these 3 HMAs sit on. You think that it won’t be long if they get this through that he doesn’t also have the mineral rights.
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Call MP out on this in public. Go to her FB page – “like” Saving America’s Mustangs” and post your thoughts. I just did. She owes the public that has been supporting her ( having been one who was duped ) an explanation. People need to know what is going on. She has 26,000 plus fans on that page.
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I wrote my email to the BLM and also went on SAM site & wrote this:
I have to comment on the latest information regarding just how this ecosanctuary is being created.
Has noone actually realized that you are going to be zeroing out THREE HMAs so that you can fence in a herd of geldings???
Not a herd of wild horses, but geldings. I cannot believe the public would be so ignorant of the actual dynamics of a wild herd of horses that they would think this was a good thing. I KNOW the BLM thinks they are that ignorant!! They have said so.
Originally I believed you were really doing wonderful things for the wild horses. But at this point it appears that you will fence in an area = taking much of these HMAs, the BLM will then round up all of these displaced horses & geld the stallions, break up all these families & put THEM into LTH – while you take out a number of geldings from LTH & put them in the sanctuary.
If this werent so serious it would be laughable.
I am so disappointed.
But I’m really more than just disappointed – I want someday to actually SEE up close actual wild horses living in a herd FREE.
We cant let this happen. I’m afraid if it does, there will be no stopping the BLM.
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Actually there is nothing stopping the BLM now. They do just whatever they like at the expense of the American taxpayer and the wild horses. I too do not understand how they are going to pawn off geldings standing in a dirt lot as wild horses. People go out to see wild horses to watch as the stallions herd their mares and keep them from being taken by other stallons and watch how they defend and protect their families. People go to see the babies play with their other herd mates and see how their mom’s watch over them while they gaze. People go out to see the wild horses because they are wild. The Eco sanctuaries are a joke as they are another way for the BLM to kill off the very last of our wild horses. How stupid do they think we are? But they are doing this to aid the big oil and natural gas companies and cattle ranchers. We must stop them and we must get the public to see that the BLM is selling out our natureal resouces. We must make the BLM obey the law and protect the wild horses not kill them off. And someone I was telling this tale to said to me “its sounds just like what they did to the American Indians. They put them in fenced in reservations and then took the land back years later when gold was found.” History repeats itself.
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This of course defeats the entire purpose of the sanctuary. And it’s not just the unethical treatment of the horses that’s infuriating. It’s how they insult our intelligence by thinking we won’t notice!
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I do think it’s about time we all let the BLM and Madeline Pickens know that it’s really not about them any more….that it’s really about the horses and the burros that belong on the land, that have been slowly losing their freedom and their land to both the cattle and mining industry no matter how hard we work to protect them. It doesn’t seem to matter that there is a “Law” protecting them or not, the “special interest” group with the most money is the one who will win this game, period!
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9/14/2012
Terri Dobbs,
Project Manager: Wells Field Office
Bureau of Land Management
3900 East Idaho Street
Elko, NV 89801
EcoSanctuaryComments@blm.gov
Re: Comments on Proposed Northeast Nevada Wild Horse Eco-Sanctuary due 9/19/12
Dear Ms Dobbs and evaluation team:
I am grateful for this opportunity to give input on the Save America’s Mustangs proposed ecosanctuary
that would become established in your area of jurisdiction. I attended the Reno workshop on this and
appreciated being able to discuss the ecosanctuary with some of the officials who would be implementing this.
I have also reviewed the informative document and visited the Goshute, Dolly Varden and Antelope areas recently
viewing some of the wild horses who would be affected and observing their habitat and some of their springs.
This wild horses I saw were vigorous and in good condition, estimated at between 4 and 5 on the Henecke scale.
There were very few of them relative to the vast legal area of their HMAs. I would not consider them at all
overpopulated, but rather quite underpopulated and far from filling their ecological niche here. I am concerned that
the great majority of the forage in the affected HMAs is going to livestock and that this is very much contrary to the
Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 which plainly states that the resources of the herd areas or territories
where they were found in 1971 should be “devoted principally” to the wild horses or burros. This is simply not happening.
Though I like the idea of converting cattle AUMs to horse AUMs, I am adamantly opposed to establishing a non-reproducing
wild horse herd of male geldings (or neutered females) on land that is legally designated for vigorous and reproducing,
truly wild and naturally living horses. This breaks the original intention of the WFHBA and should not be allowed!
If such “ecosanctuaries” of non-reproducing herds are to be established, they should definitely not be on any of the
original legal Herd Areas or subsequently designated Herd Management Areas. Such would only make a mockery of the Act!
Then to promote these areas as having “wild horses” for the public to come and view would be a lie, for these would be horses
who have had their wild vitality and freedom compromised and they would be dead-end, slave populations. Such sanctuaries
should be on private land or if on public land they should not be on the legal areas that were designated for the
wild horses and burros. Such is simply not acceptable and would set a dangerous precedent that could result in many
other of the legal herd areas/herd management areas (BLM) and territories (USFS) being filled with dead-end, devitalized
horses and burros who have lost their natural freedom and are no longer reproducing and adapting in a truly
natural manner to their unique habitats and over the generations. This is entirely contrary to the core intent of the WFHBA!
If this is allowed, I plan to legally protest this.
In reading over the well-written and interesting booklet on the proposed ecosanctuary, I was also very disturbed to
learn of the proposal to erect fences all around the ecosanctuary and to thus condemn 93% of the Spruce/Pequop,
27% of the Goshute, and 14%of the Antelope Valley HMAs to becoming part of the non-reproducing herd of geldings.
These fences would disrupt the natural movement patterns of the wild horses, causing them great stress and
making it very hard for them to thrive, perhaps even survive. Maintaining the “free-roaming” natural life style is central to
fulfilling the WFHBA, and nothing has changed in this regard in subsequent legislation, neither FLPMA nor PRIA.
To displace vital, reproducing herds on their legal areas with sexually neutered, semi-domesticated horses, as
the ecosanctuary proposes, is neither legally dishonest, and it is at odds with the will of the General Public
of the United States of America. It is also in defiance of the horses’ natural place in the West, one that is not
only justified historically, but also and to a much greater degree by the vast evolutionary history of the horse family,
genus and very species — all of whose origins and long standing evolutionary development are in North America.
In closing, I am also taking this opportunity to protest the excessively low and non-viable AMLs that have been
decided for all three of the HMAs affected by the ecosanctuary. These are token numbers and do not accord
with the true and core intent of the WFHBA. Livestock AUMs should be reduced in these areas and the
wild horses given the principal allocation of forage, meaning over 50%. Cooperative agreements should be
established under Section 6 of the Act to assure adequate forage and water, as well as shelter and habitat space for
the establishment of truly long term viable wild horse population(s). I would like to propose that
Madeleine Pickens and the BLM adopt a Reserve Design strategy for both the private and the public
leased lands that would promote naturally self-stabilizing herds that are reproducing. This can be done,
but it would require some sacrifices on the part of us humans and our customary exploitations of the
public lands. But it would sure be worth it to see the wild horses realize their full and fitting place
again in the world. — And this would be a world-wide attraction truly worth celebrating … a true “wild horse
ecosanctuary” deserving of the name!
Sincerely yours,
Craig C. Downer, wildlife ecologist
Author: The Wild Horse Conspiracy (2012)
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Wasn’t the original plan to take horses out of private holding, not to round up more?
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I didn’t care for the original Pickens’ Eco Sanctuary Plan to begin with. It was too Disneyfied.. that is, it sounded too commercial, “Look! It will pay for itself!”. I have been reluctant to say anything from the beginning for fear of being banned from all the wild horse advocate pages. I am glad these issues are coming to light, because the current plans are part of a HUGE problem in the U.S. right now.
The concept of public lands, assets and resources, having to “pay for themselves”, that is, to justify their existence by generating income, is directly opposed to the “common good”, or “the Commons” as some people call it, which is stated in the Constitution. The trend is to privatize everything that is public for profit, even though the public will not profit from it. The public will become disenfranchised of the Commons. This is the result of trying to run the government like a business… can’t be done… they are diametrically opposed.
I can’t think of any issue being a greater symbol of this travesty than that of eliminating the wild horses and burros in order to free up their lawfully designated lands for private gain. Any legal gains made in the pursuit of keeping the horses on their ranges, lawfully, will only help set a precedent for other instances where land is being usurped at this very moment. Land is being seized from Native Reservations and private landowners for economic gain through eminent domain for pipelines, commercial development and drilling.
Work to make your local laws stronger so that there is consensus that the Commons do not have to generate income and that private land and water cannot be seized by robber barons.
If you save the wild horses and burros and their right to roam their ancestral lands, you can save America from being parsed into commercial-industrial zones of devastation.
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I am getting so fed up with this crap! If it is not Mrs Pickens and her plan it is the horse slaughter debate! When the hell is this going to end? It seems to me no matter what we do, nothing gets done or people just keep trying to destroy horses!!!!! The more the story goes on, the more I am sick of being an American!!! I will not be happy until Mrs.Pickens plan is destroyed and there is band of slaughting in the US again,forever!!!!!!! So pissed off right now!
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Dear Betty Hirte, knowing how frustrated we all are with this utter nonsense derived from the Greediest people ever imaginable , whos only desire is eradication of these Beautiful Beings who are the very Soul and heartbeat of America !!!!! Can One even IMAGINE How the Mustangs FEEL????????
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I am just sick of this already, and I’ve only been researching this topic for about an hour. I would like to know, sense its been 2 years, what happened to the horses, and did Mrs. Pickens plan live or fail? God knows that those mustangs deserve the right to live in HMAs, and I dont understand how people in the BLM can sleep at night when they know what they plan to do with those pour wild horses. Mustangs are not petting zoo animals that can simply be gelded, and all the mares put somewhere to die off. If anyone knows what happened, please tell me. They are taking away the Mustangs’ life right here, so I fricken hope the plan failed, and the HMAs kept they way they are, or improved for the wild horses.
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THis stinks. Return to Freedom is correct. Buy land and take the wild horses there to continue their natural life. Has she gone nuts. R.T. Thank you for your bringing this to our attention. Pickens may mean well, but she better talk to you and check this thoroughly. The BLM is a disaster and has never to my knowledge had anything in their intentions but to end the wild horses and give the land to shitty ranchers and take money in their back pockets from the enemies of our beautiful icons, the wild horses, donkeys, and burros. This agency needs to be shut down and a new one of animal lovers created to protect our ranges and our icons. Crooks deserve jail and all having to do with the elimination of our wild horses, etc. deserve to spend the rest of their life behind bars for extreme animal cruelty and death of our icons. No special circumstances to save this horrible individuals. They are the worst. I firmly believe that penalties for animal abuse should be the same as if it had been inflicted on a human being. Karma will get this bad people in the end. These are God’s animals and he will see that their punishment is paid fully for their hurting his beautiful animals that he gave us to admire, love,. and care for. Death Valley, with no food, no water, and no shoes would be a good place to dump them all – right in the middle of Death Valley. They deserve to be dropped there, there’s no excuse for their actions..
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