The BLM Washington office has informed BLM Utah State Director Juan Palma that they don’t want to be an adversary to a bunch of folks in Utah who are planning an illegal roundup of wild horses (Why not? The BLM doesn’t mind being adversarial with wild horse advocates). The BLM is jumping through hoops (and possibly legal loopholes…oh wait, can it be another emergency roundup based on drought to avoid having to prepare an Environmental Assessment?) to” work with” this bunch who are continuing to threaten illegal roundups.
David Miller, the Iron County Commissioner who seems to be at the forefront of inciting this illegal act is quoted as saying “We are pleased with Juan and his leadership. We feel like we are all of the same spirit to do the right thing for everybody, including the horses,” Miller said. “But we aren’t going to wait around.”
(Uh oh. Another publicized threat of illegal activity.)
BLM’s Juan Palma said if a roundup takes place, horses would be held on property volunteered by a rancher, and then adds “We will provide accountability throughout the process with strong oversight and responsibility.”
Really?
Let’s all write to Juan Palma (jpalma@blm.gov) and Joan Guilfoyle, BLM’s Division Chief of the Wild Horse & Burro Program (jguilfoy@blm.gov) to ask if the public will be able to attend the roundups in Iron County, Utah, and if the public will have access to the temporary holding corrals, too, so that we can have oversight and accountability. I’m sure the BLM will fall all over themselves to work with us on this.
Maybe we should also threaten to sue the BLM if they don’t reduce livestock grazing in the area, and threaten to go in and roundup the cattle ourselves (you know, because of the drought), and keep them on private property somewhere, with a promise to the owners that we’ll be nice to the cattle and we’ll provide strong oversight over ourselves. Let’s see if the BLM will work with us. If the BLM doesn’t treat us just like they’re treating these Iron County commissioners, would it be discrimination?
SOURCE: The Salt Lake Tribune
Iron County, BLM working on wild horse deal
Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune Wild horses are rounded up near the Swasey Mountains in Utah on Feb. 14, 2013. Of the 257 horses gathered, nearly 100 — many of them mares treated with a contraceptive — were returned to the range. Others were adopted or held in captivity. The federal Bureau of Land Management is charged with managing the estimated 36,000 wild horses roaming 10 Western states.
Negotiations are on in the brewing battle over wild horses in southwestern Utah, but so is the threat of a drought-inspired emergency roundup.
Iron County leaders reported Friday that the Bureau of Land Management has responded to their ultimatum to reduce the overpopulation of wild horses in the area, but they are still considering corralling the animals themselves.
“The state BLM director said he received communications from the Washington office that, based on the direction Iron County is taking, that rather than be an adversary that they should work with us,” County Commissioner Chairman David Miller said Friday morning. “They are working to get us a formalized statement that will help us get the population to the appropriate levels. But we are not calling off the cavalry. We are still putting together our own plan.”
The commission presented the BLM with a letter earlier this week warning the federal land agency to reduce the number of wild horses on the western edge of the county or it would. The deadline of high noon Friday came and went without any signs of roundups from either the county or the BLM.
County officials complain the horses are wreaking havoc on range shared by native wildlife and cattle on BLM-permitted land. The Utah office of the BLM has estimated 1,200 horses are spread over several management units. The agency’s own plans call for 300.
“In concept, we are all working toward the same goal: a shared responsibility for this wonderful icon of the West,” said Juan Palma, BLM’s Utah director, who mentioned Beaver County officials have also been involved in the discussions. “We have an agreement in concept, but it is not yet completely defined.”
Palma said the BLM has some legal processes to work out. He explained that if a roundup takes place, horses would be held on property volunteered by a rancher, and the federal agency would provide supervision and feed for the animals until they could be adopted or moved to other facilities.
“We can provide our experience of doing roundups for years,” he said. “Our biggest concern with the public aspect of it is the possibility of someone getting hurt. We don’t want that to happen.”
Palma emphasized that the agency has “concerns for the horses as well.”
“We will provide accountability throughout the process with strong oversight and responsibility. We know there are people out there concerned for the wild horses, and we will treat them well.”
He worries, for instance, that the mares are giving birth this time of year, so extra care would need to be taken in any roundup.
Palma plans to send a more formal proposal to Miller and suggests the county provide three people and the BLM three people to attend a meeting early next week to determine the logistics of any roundups.
“We are pleased with Juan and his leadership. We feel like we are all of the same spirit to do the right thing for everybody, including the horses,” Miller said. “But we aren’t going to wait around.”
County commissioners and ranchers are not the only ones concerned about the high numbers of wild horses in the West Desert.
Utah wildlife officials worry about their impact on other species. Wild horses and burros are not recognized as wildlife in Utah because the Wild Horse and Burro Act made them a federally regulated species, said Bill Bates, chief of wildlife for the Division of Wildlife Resources.
Even so, biologists are aware of their presence.
“Anybody in land management recognizes wild horses do have a significant impact in some locations,” Bates said. “In arid areas, where water is limited, they tend to camp out on springs and other sources.”
Wild horses and burros also tend to bully other animals.
“It has been well documented,” Bates said, “that bighorn sheep and other animals are less likely to go into springs or other water sources if there are horses there.”
Bates said Utah biologists consider wild horses and burros when they work on management plans for other species and discuss the animals when they huddle with the feds.
“We are supportive of the BLM,” he said, “but we would really encourage them to follow their management plans.”
It seems the threat by Iron County to do its own roundup and the drought have prompted the BLM to step up their efforts.
Read the rest of the article HERE.
Categories: Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
More of the BLM bull. They’re in cahoots with these ranchers and they ain’t fooling anyone. Round them all up and send en all to hell. Moo easy would I sit back and let the same ranchers hold my horses…the same ones who want top kill them… Wake the hell up people.
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They should keep their Hands off Our Wild Mustangs , damn it !!!!!
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Corruption and more corruption. When is kit ever going to be stopped?
Thanks, Debbie.
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Let’s not forget that this all started because some rancher has refused to pay his grazing rights claiming that since his pappy and his pappy’s pappy ran cattle he assumed natural grazing rights.
So we have a rancher that owes 20 years worth of grazing fees and now these county commissioners are standing with a known law breaker. What about the threats the ranchers are making?
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WOW Margaret, This Fellow needs to pay up and take his cattle and get out… he needs to be arrested !!!!! We pay for All Wild Mustangs they have Carte Blanch on grazing rights and Free Roaming , it is the the Law !!!! Any variation on this is Illegal !!!
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Is there a local environmental group willing to take on both of these parties and put them in their place? There is help out there for our wild one’s, so if you know a group willing to take them on, I suggest contacting these legal activists and ask them to intervene on behalf of the land and the animals.
Mission Statement
“….Earthrise’s work includes submitting comments on proposed actions on public lands and drafting administrative appeals of agency decisions that our clients believe will adversely impact their use of public lands or the resources found there. When necessary, Earthrise also files lawsuits challenging agency decisions that could irreparably harm our public lands and the life that depends on it.”
http://law.lclark.edu/centers/earthrise/our-work/public_lands/
https://www.facebook.com/EarthriseLawCenter
Info on Tom Fleischner
https://www.evergreen.edu/alumni/writersproject/tomfleischner.htm
“For many years I’ve been involved in studying the ecological effects of livestock grazing in western North America. I chaired the committee that wrote a position statement on this topic for the Society for Conservation Biology.”
Click to access SCB%20Position%20Statement%20on%20Grazing.pdf
Someone has to stop this madness. There are absolutely no voices in this pissing contest between these agencies for our horses or burros.
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Reblogged this on Pass the SAFE Act! and commented:
Someone has to stop this madness. There are absolutely no voices in this pissing contest between these agencies for our horses or burros.
Is there a local environmental group willing to take on both of these parties and put them in their place? There is help out there for our wild one’s, so if you know a group willing to take them on, I suggest contacting these legal activists and ask them to intervene on behalf of the land and the animals.
Mission Statement
“….Earthrise’s work includes submitting comments on proposed actions on public lands and drafting administrative appeals of agency decisions that our clients believe will adversely impact their use of public lands or the resources found there. When necessary, Earthrise also files lawsuits challenging agency decisions that could irreparably harm our public lands and the life that depends on it.”
http://law.lclark.edu/centers/earthrise/our-work/public_lands/
https://www.facebook.com/EarthriseLawCenter
Info on Tom Fleischner
https://www.evergreen.edu/alumni/writersproject/tomfleischner.htm
“For many years I’ve been involved in studying the ecological effects of livestock grazing in western North America. I chaired the committee that wrote a position statement on this topic for the Society for Conservation Biology.”
Click to access SCB%20Position%20Statement%20on%20Grazing.pdf
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Is the same Society for Conservation Biology founded by the scientifically credentialed ideologue that dreamed of the mytho of the non-native wild horse and burro and the plan to prevent, control, and eradicate our national icons through two international treaties after efforts to remove them through US law failed?
The Harvard credentialed faux scientists that dreamed up the idea of removing our wild horses from their native homeland on the basis that they were introduced in North America with other livestock such as cattle, sheep, swine, and goats may not be the best source of help.
The science is fraudulent, and that may be enough to request a change in status from the USDA APHIS and the US FWS—of course, both agencies know this, and it is possible that this crisis has come about due to changes that the USDA has made. This may be a reaction to unexpected federal action.
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WOW…. just WOW
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“BULLYING” is a hot topic these days in schools and BLM has been the main bully on the public lands playground for many years and now this Utah vigilante group is bullying the bullies? This could all be funny if it wasn’t for the fact that our wild ones will again be the hearts and souls that suffer.
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Debbie: the time for irony is gone. I seriously consider the discrimination against citizens wanting cattle and sheep off wildlands, ranges, forest land, natural refuge, and public lands (however the piece of dirt is described) is palpable. The wild horses, domestics, ranch, feral, Indian, purple polka dotted are the target. BLM is siding with the industries and those reeiving the producer incentives (which is draining off BILLIONS of aid in agriculture.
We will have to split our attention. One to get the grazing allotments shut down and the cattle and sheep off all “puiblic land” however it is called and the other to protect the horses AGAIN, including the ban on Slaughter.
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So if I read this right, any US citizen who decides to can round up wild animals on the public lands, and put them on private land? They just have to “decide” there are too many and management isn’t doing their jobs? This when a few winters ago I would go to jail for chasing elk off my hay, or for shooting any of the dozens who lay dying in the cattle yard… since the DOW folks wouldn’t come and do it themselves?
A crime is a crime is a crime.
I suspect the push is on now since it’s spring and they want more grass for cows. If they are allowed to take federally protected horses into private holding, all our other wildlife laws are on the table, too. What happens if horses die during the roundup? A felony is a felony is a felony.
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In one of the drafts of the Farm Bill, there was language that suggested that the 7 USC 1511 had been repealed as had the Exotic Species Act 11987 (however, President Clinton’s E.O. 13112 had already repealed this E.O., and President Bush added Homeland Security to E.O. 13112 changing the number)— It is possible that one of a number of scientists working with horse genetics or the genetics of the different plant and animal species that have been at the heart of international studies on extinction theory both including and excluding the North American horse realized how just how impossible it was to attempt to govern every plant and animal species in the world based on information that for most species would be impossible to verify due to the multiple multi-continent migrations of mammals and their transport of plants and insects with them repopulating new transcontinental habitats.
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Iron County, Utah Farm Subsidies 1995-2012 = $11,813,744.00
http://farm.ewg.org/search.php?fips=49021®ionname=IronCounty,Utah
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There you have it. Without the allotment atached to their property, the subsidies dwinddle. If they don’t graze the allotments, they lose them.
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UTAH
http://www.citizensforethics.org/pages/state-ethics-utah
Corruption Rankings
43 Officials convicted in federal corruption cases over the last 10 years
47 Number of guilty officials per capita
14 Corruption as ranked by a survey of state house reporters
The corruption rankings are based on a New York Times report on corruption in state governments.
Ethics Groups
League of Women Voters of Utah
Utah Foundation for Open Government (UFOG)
Examples of Corruption
Sen. Orrin Hatch has come under scrutiny for his ties to the pharmaceutical industry. In 2007, five pharmaceutical companies and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) donated $172,500 to Hatch’s charity, the Utah Families Foundation,2 which had not been properly filing its annual reports with the state of Utah for nearly a decade.3 Hatch’s son Scott is employed by PhRMA as a lobbyist.4
Former Rep. Chris Cannon has been criticized for abusing “his position to benefit his brother, Joseph Cannon, a registered lobbyist.”5 Cannon’s brother lobbied the congressman on behalf of his clients. The congressman intervened “into an Internet contract business dispute on behalf of his brother’s client.”6
State Rep. Mark Walker resigned in July 2008 on the night before the House Ethics Committee was going to open an investigation into whether Walker attempted to bribe his political opponent7 in the race for state treasurer.8
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ANIMALS’ ANGELS
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs161/1101655399670/archive/1114323721413.html
Utah:
Utah BLM also supplied Animals’ Angels with mortality records for the Delta, Gunnison and Salt Lake Facility. According to Juan Palma, State Director of the BLM in Utah, the BLM utilizes five landfills for dead horse disposal: Iron County Landfill, Sevier County Landfill, Millard County Landfill, Sanpete Landfill and Salt Lake Valley Landfill.
Iron County Landfill
Per the BLM, disposal at this landfill was rare. There was no charge for disposal, nor were any records kept by either party. Associated numbers for the word “rare” are left open to interpretation.
Sevier County Landfill
Per the BLM, there was no charge for disposal at this landfill, nor were any records kept. Exact totals were unknown.
Millard County Landfill
Per the Millard Landfill, records were not kept regarding horses/burros disposed of by the BLM. Sheryl Dekker, Office Manager at the landfill, also indicated that they did not invoice for the service and that the landfill does not monitor if & how many animals are delivered to their “flesh pits”.
Sanpete Landfill
According to the BLM, this landfill was utilized quite frequently for dead animal disposal from the Gunnison facility. Per the Sanpete Landfill’s Chairman Scott Bartholomew (who referred us to the UT BLM), records are not kept regarding the BLM’s disposal. However, a portion of Utah BLM’s internal records received with the FOIA included receipts http://www.filefactory.com/file/2em7h15eeoav/n/UT_Gunnison_BLM_records_pdf
for Sanpete. Money was exchanged for the service, but the BLM was again charged for tonnage, not for individual headcount, which makes it difficult to compare these figures with mortality report numbers. Exact totals are unknown. According to the mortality records, 131 horses died at the Gunnison facility in 2011. The Sanpete Landfill invoices indicate disposal of carcasses with a total weight of 56,780lbs.
Salt Lake Valley Landfill
The Salt Lake Valley Landfill provided BLM disposal records to Animals’ Angels. This landfill was paid by the BLM for tonnage. The tonnage records provided by the landfill do not match the number of dead horses listed on the mortality records. For example, according to the mortality records, no horses died at the Salt Lake Facility between April and July of 2010. However, the landfill records show several BLM disposals during that timeframe.
Incongruent record keeping by all entities proves only one thing: there is no way to accurately determine the death rates within Utah BLM, as concrete figures are completely unavailable.
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This information needs to go to Congress. We have a unanimous law by the American public signed in record time by the standing President protecting these horses and burros. BLM is MANDATED to maintaon accurate records for each horse they capture. They are guilty of malfeasance, dereliction of duty and collusion to convert public resources and treasures to private use. Every individual employed should be held accountable, payroll reimbursed. Every vendor contract for tonnage shpould be recalled. These are not feedlots, these are facilities housing protected animals. Everyone livestocker involved needs to be replaced with an intelligent law abiding citizen. I’m not home, but I am pretty sure the statement of the mandate on records is very specific – horse age, color, place of birth, sex, brand number, disposition – adopted, sale authority, died, or sent to long term holding. Records should be so precise that if the horse is returned it will be on the records. It is a requirement for EACH protected animal touched by BLM. I can’t remember if this rule excludes foals under 6 months. And I am sick of records for foals being nondescript (born in facility is offensive). Where was the dam gathered from?
This Utah is the state that Lisa Friday found the horses in mud up to their bellies in holding. And this is the state that Gunniston is where MOST of the intact stallions are sent.
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How the hell can this be legal – to not even keep some inventory of how many horses the BLM dumps in landfills? I can almost understand not keeping good counts of living horses but the dead ones aren’t moving much, and have to be loaded and unloaded.
THESE ARE OUR PAID MANAGERS.
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PPJ GAZETTE
ppjg
http://ppjg.me/
April 7, 2014 @ 1:02 P
this whole thing is an obvious set up. The cattlemen were most likely coached by BLM to write their threatening letter. BLM responds by saying….see! There ARE too many horses! We have to round them up! We only did it because of public demand that we act!
Beef producers are only supplying 4-6% of the beef for the US. There is no reason we should be forced to subsidize them by forfeiting our public lands and assets so they can continue receiving welfare grazing leases. If they want to supply the rest of the world with their beef instead of us……let them go there and do it…wherever that is.
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Exactly Louie, Go to where ever your selling that Beef, our Mustangs need to suffer no more because of you people !!!!
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Is it possible that there are other entities that are pushing to remove the Wild Horses from that area? The fact that they are Federally Protected could be a problem.
UTAH
Environmental Notification Bulletin Board
https://www.blm.gov/ut/enbb/list_project.php?page=1
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Louie, there are so few horses and so little “protection” enforcement I can’t see this as an impediment to any big projects working on public lands. I mean, we have horses shot in Oregon etc. and NOTHING ever happens about it, horses rounded up and SENT TO SLAUGHTER, nothing done about it… we all know the litany. If all the horses were gone from an area it wouldn’t change anything about how these enterprises are operating, in my opinion.
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IcySpots, it could be the fact that Wild Horses and Burros are Federally Protected that are cause for concern by corporations that covet public lands and resources. They can’t just bump a few of them off and get by with it, but they can “persuade” an agency to remove them. We found that out with the Ruby Pipeline and Calico roundup.
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PASS THE SAFE ACT FOR HORSES!!!! Just wanted to say for the last 10 years every letter that leaves my House , every letter that leaves my Store written on the back in blk magic marker large print , save Americas Wild Mustangs !! Small action huge audience !! Every where that letter passes someone reads it…
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this is just so wrong on so many levels and louie i can see that scenario happening why don’t they come out of the closet and annouce that they just don’t want the horses there because they want to screw up the whole enviroment for the rest of us!!! it sure seems like the u.s. and canada want a different view from their buyers over seas, too .fracking and oil exploration is going taint all meat so ranchers beware no one will want your beef!! i really hate all of this . can’t legal action be taken.
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Reblogged this on "OUR WORLD".
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letter sent…
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So….it’s only the taxpayers who must follow the Law?
Bureau of Land Management Ignores the Laws of United States AND Nature
http://ppjg.me/category/government/corruption-government/blm-corruption/page/4/
Guest OpEd by Grandma Gregg
“BLM also considers themselves as being “above” Mother Nature too…”
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) publicly published the statement that they are above the law and the 1971 Congressional Wild Horse and Burro protection LAW DOES NOT PERTAIN TO THEM! BLM stated: “The … [Congressional] Act … is not pertinent to the overall management of the wild horse and burro populations by the BLM and USFS. In general, it protects the wild horses and burros from such actions by the general populous.”
Click to access FinalVersion_EA.pdf
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Who’s next?
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE BLM
http://ppjg.me/2011/05/09/an-open-letter-to-the-blm/
by Debbie Coffey
This is about the wild horse roundups. BUT, ranch owners who own cattle and sheep should pay attention to the following, and wonder what water or land will be left for your livestock grazing in the future.
Why do you think the DOI is removing all of the wild horses off our public lands? For you?
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