Documentary ‘Disappointment Valley’ explores the plight of wild horses
Wild Horse Advocate and Emmy Award winning film maker James Kleinert
The American West’s wild horse saga will not end without a good fight from lovers of the land and the animals.
Emmy Award-winning filmmaker James Kleinert has been documenting the struggle of the wild horse and its disappearance from the West for the last six years. Kleinert has been gathering footage and commentary from wild horse lovers and at roundups.
“The wild horse will be annihilated as an American symbol,” Kleinert said. “The Bureau of Land Management is pitting horse advocates against ranchers, but there is a greater issue.”
The larger issue is the mining of public land, he said.
“In southwest Colorado, uranium mining is on the comeback and nuclear energy is also on the rise, especially in the Four Corners area,” Kleinert said. “We are looking at the end of an era in the American West. Change is coming. Public lands will be shut down and wild horses taken away. We must take a stand and go forward with alternative energy sources.”
Through interviews with scientific experts, ranchers, historians, wild horse owners, animal rights activists, environmentalists, movie stars, uranium prospectors and other colorful characters, Kleinert examines the origins and effects of recent legislation clearing the way for the roundup and auctioning of wild horses in America.
The film interviews Jim Baca, BLM director under the Clinton administration; Rep. Raul M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., and chairman of the National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee; Michael Blake, writer of “Dances With Wolves” and wild horse advocate; Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Sheryl Crow; actor Viggo Mortensen; and actress Daryl Hannah.
Kleinert’s film includes discusses wild horses being removed for oil, gas, mining and corporate cattle grazing. The film also explores the vast exploitation of public lands to meet what is presented as a failed energy policy and offers alternatives.
Kleinert said he does not oppose the management of horses, just the reasoning for and degree to which it is done.
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Categories: Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
The land grab continues and BLM and all the lies and myths just keep on stomping on us. Who is stronger, the American public or BLM? mar
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Light will always drive out darkness.
We will prevail.
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R.T. I hope you are right, but only if somehow we find the light switch!
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We all have the switch, it’s simply a matter of working together to focus the light.
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I call for solar panels on every roof! It should be mandated to the energy providers, paid back out of tax rebates to them and maybe an interim property tax to offset the cost, which would be offset by the energy savings.
Wind – excellent. But a recent report from Japan is that the constant sound from them causes health problems to all living creatures near by, and they are killing the birds. We’ll have to wait and see how this preliiminary report pans out. This makes me concerned about putting them in the ocean and that sound resounding through the ocean. There has already been a link to submarine ping tests to beaching of whales and dolphins.
“WE” have to make a choice – keep our lives going “as is” and give up the horses and the public land, or make REAL hard changes to our energy consumption and other consumptive ways of life!
Yes RT, we have the switch!
I hope for another Emmy for Klienert and for Kathrens’ Challenge of the Stallions! Another Peabody for George Knapp! Have I left out anyone?
Now, lets get a “movie”, an IMAX, showing the beauty of what we are trading off, with big name stars, great writers and producers, a “docudrama” perhaps, with a serious story line, a grammy worthy sound track – and an OSCAR! Part of proceeds to wild horse legal funds. Why not?
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For 40 years I’ve been fighting to find the switch turn it on keep it on , along of with 1000s of others. But I can’t help but mourn all the horses who have died and will be dying in the gathers to come! Somehow there needs to be a huge immediate impact made on the American public of the betrayl by the BLM or there will be no resolution in the near future and no more wild horses!
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Ellieroo, I applaud you! All of you!
Though new to this struggle, I have been involved in others, that seemed impossible. Residential fire sprinklers – that will save millions of human lives, many more millions of horrid injuries, and billions of dollars, while saving billions upon billions of gallons of water, and put people to work, took 25 years – last month passed its last national code cycle (forgive me for putting in something not wild horse – but I am elated!), so no turning back now. This struggle had been compared to the struggle to get sewer systems in towns and cities. Came down to economics though in the end – not the heart, or soul or saving human suffering. Once the fire service gave that up and turned to economics it really started taking off.
This too will have to come down to economics – sad, but true. We must some how find that equation and add it.
I bombarded Michelle Obama after her plea to help the millions of starving Americans during Thanksgiving – “what if we stopped the roundups, returned the captured ones, give back the 20 milliion stolen acres, and returned wolves and mountian lions and diverted the BLM expenditures to REAL good deeds instead of lining the pockets of these profeteers who are commiting tax fraud against the American people” I told her. Felt good to tell her – even if it went into the trash pile.
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Congratulation, Roxy on the sprinklers. It sometimes takes longer than we seem to be able to endure. However we come through this there will be wild horses and burros for us to watch and name and delight in. I hope that Craig and In Defense of Animals will throw everything, plus the kitchen sink for good measure, at BLM. Yo Ho. Mar
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Watched a program on BBC concerning pedigree dogs last nite! Left a very bad taste in my brain. Kinda soured the whole human/ animal interaction for me. The mustang made by Mother Nasture designed to survuve anything but ….. man …… so Roxy yes it has to be man that saves them from himself. I’ve seen the dedicated focus of a small determined group work wonders I just keep seeing that snow covered foal, not much time left!
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Equation/Wild horse and burro freedom = huge cut in BLM spending.
New management for wild horses and burros = huge cut in BLM spending.
Public and pro horse involvement in wild horse and burro management = Huge cut in BLM spending.
Public viewing and involvement in raising awareness = revenue from wild horse and burro program.
We know we can do better.
Return horses and burros to their lands = huge cut in BLM spending.
mar
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Absolutely, ethics for the evil ‘men’ do. Mar
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Unfortunately, I doubt these guys could master the math. The ethics? – never.
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