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From the American Chronicle
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mike Enzi, John Barrasso and Representative Cynthia Lummis, all R-Wyo., are working to allow Wyoming stakeholders more time to give their input on changes to the wild horse program being developed by the Department of the Interior (DOI).
The Wyoming delegation sent a letter on July 22 to DOI Secretary Ken Salazar requesting that the current deadline of Aug. 3, which only allowed 60 days for comment during the state´s busiest time of year, be extended an additional 60 days. This extension would allow Wyoming´s stakeholders more opportunity to comment on the Wild Horse and Burro Strategy Development Document.
“The summer months are some of the busiest for key stakeholders in Wyoming, including those active in ranching, tourism, business, natural resource management and local government. We respectfully request that the Department extend the current 60 day comment period. This will ensure that the Department is able to collect the type of diverse stakeholder comment that is necessary to encourage an open, positive dialogue with the public on this matter,” the delegation wrote.
The delegation also asked that Secretary Salazar host public workshops in rural areas most affected by wild horses, specifically in southwestern Wyoming. This would further help develop the program, which previously offered only one public workshop on the new proposal in Denver on June 14. More workshops would allow those with limited resources and time to travel more opportunity to give input.
In October 2009, Secretary Salazar announced his plans to make improvements to the Wild Horse and Burro Program. A proposal was released in June 2010 which asked that groups have 60 days to give comment on the issue. The Bureau of Land Management estimates that there were more than 5,000 wild horses in Wyoming in 2009.
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Categories: Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
This should be interesting. Anyone think that this request is going to be granted? Are these individuals proslaughter, round them all up? Isn’t this about the so-called “Slaughterczar strategy” and not about the ongoing actual scheduled roundups, aka massacre of our American Icons?
I’m all for more time and meetings, but in the end does the DOI, USDA and state agencies managing our equines really listen?
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this could be either good or bad for the horses, I don’t know how to read this, but, it could be a moot point anyway, because there were many good people with good ideas at the Denver workshop and look what came out of that!
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The way I read this request is that the legislators involved may be unhappy about that specific “big city” turnout in Denverr for that exact reason.
I think they firmly believe that rural Wyoming (aka SS) will support the type of managment “strategy” that results in abusive round ups, holding and high mortality rates….poor babies just didn’t get their fair chance at babble time with all them big city slickers there.
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The title, “Delegation Urges More Time For Input On Wild Horses,” sounds encouraging, but is a disaster in the making for the wild horses.
(See links below…hope they go through.)
Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) is anti-wild horse, pro-horse slaughter. Same with Sen. Enzi (R-WY) & Sen. Barrasso (R-WY). They all wanted horse slaughter in Wyoming, 2009. Are against Salazar’s relocation wild horse “zoo” because it involves high taxpayer money, but mainly because the only solution for wild horses is to reduce the numbers of wild horses.
http://powelltribune.com/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=958&pop=1&page=0&Itemid=2
It appears this is a ploy AGAINST wild horses to gain more time for more volume of Wyoming *ranchers input …and most likely in cahoots with buddy, Rep. Slaughterhouse Sue Wallis (R-WY).
At the last BLM Advisory Board meeting, June 2010, Wallis stood up and told the BLM Board she would help them with horse slaughter. Wallis has been blocked every step of the way in her campaign against wild horses and to kill as many horses as she can. So just maybe, this is her next step with Lummis, Enzi, Barrasso.
Rep. Lummis was also dead set against Rep. Rahall/HR 1018, “Restore Our American Mustangs Act,” in Congress, April 2009.
Here are two humdinger videos of Lummis in Congressional session re this bill:
This one, wild horses are “bullies of the range.”
This one, wild horses are the main cause of ruining range grass…in summer flies on them and they roll on grass and destroy sage grouse habitat…and the way they just pull up the roots (!!)…
BTW, Lummis is a Wyoming rancher and wants more land that the wild horses now have~
& in the same screwball dialogue league with Wallis. Birds of a Feather…
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I think, for the Uninitiated, Ms. Lummis misrepresented the ‘feral horse’ population numbers; in her diatribe, she made it sound (“There are a LOT of Wild Horses in the state of Wyoming…”) like all 37,000 are in her state.
Since when does a rolling Horse constitute an environmental disaster?
As a rancher, her concern for the native grasses and wildlife is touching, but I’m wondering – what do her cattle eat?
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I was thinking the same about the population thing, Lisa. Notice how facts and numbers are conspicuously absent from the request and some of the comments from her posted by Ronnie. The same old whack ’em mentality and prehistoric, unscientific drivel because science is NOT on their side..
Gee…the wild ones are crushing the sage grouse? Fascinating and the report supporting that is where?
I’ll be curious if Slaughterczar grants the extension…he never does for our side of this travesty except when there is a TRO. And even then, he violates those.
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Amen Ronnie! This is nothing but a stall tactic while they regroup. Any “workshops” put on by corporate government agencies are stage shows while they gage how much public resistence they are getting and how much damage it might do to political careers.
All of these requests are nothing but fluff…….They just never anticipated so many would be outraged by all of this. And, the implementatin of all of this duirng the busiest time for “stakeholders” was no accident either.
On that note: Quit allowing the government to refer to us as “stakeholders”. That implies a third person disinterested party with no ownership in what is happening. This word is used to detach you from your personal self, and relegate you to an entity who might have an interest in the subject at handand then again..maybe not.
Marti/PPJ
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What I have not seen, and maybe I have just missed it, is the information that the DOI/BLM public comment tool IS BROKEN!!!!!! I spent 4 hours on July 2, carefully crafting answers to all the BLM ‘coded language’ of how I ‘as a stakeholder’ felt about the Salazar plan. All my data submitted to their “Wizard tool” (ironic name) disappeared and was not retrievable. When I complained to a number of functionaries at BLM, they just made sympathetic noises, insisted BLM has recieved “SOME” comments and told me to FED EX or snail-mail my comments AGAIN. My horse advocates told me many have encountered the same problem. So that is the nature of the BLM’s insistence on their transparency and goal of listening to the citizens— a broken comment tool, and the only official avenue to this renagade government agency.
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Ronnie and Denise, you both hit the nail on the head about my states reps and I am sure what the reasons for the attempt to extend the comment period. I just commented on the other blog entry about the Wyo. Delegation urging an extension, but needed to show my support for what you have said too. I think their request is for the planned roundups in Wyoming this fall and it will give them time to gather up the anti wildhorse people. It is a mixed bag, because we could also get together more comments against them also, but I’m not sure exactly what they are going to do.
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We must keep a very close eye on this – this could be intended for a surge of pro sluaghter, pro BLM and anti wild horse entries into the works.
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Have been reading a lot about the Western Watersheds group, who are very concerned about the damage to species like the sage grouse and native grasses due to CATTLE on public lands, and are working toward THEIR removal. Western Watersheds makes no secret of the fact that the range damage is done by cattle. They recently received a grant of 20 million over the next 10 years from El Paso Corporation due to the Ruby Pipeline coverage on CNN! They will use this money to retire BLM land leases, return the public lands to native species – the sage grouse, bighorns, native grasses, and yes, our American mustangs! Just read a story today on ABR about a survey one of their field staff did of almost the entire “Tuscarora” area – they have the science, literally “walk the walk,” and are aligned with our goals – at least from my perspective. Evidently, all of that fencing creates problems for other species getting water also (ahem). The Western folks wrote Obama about his request to each agency to lower their costs 5% – recommending that if BLM and the Forestry Service end their land leases the goal is met, so they are knowledgeable on the financial side too! American mustang advocates must continue trying to change BLM and national policy, but in fact the round-ups and subterfuge continue even though the law is on our side. I see an ally here with valuable research and in agreement on basic principles! And that’s good news about their plan to retire the land leases!
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Jon Marvel is a personal hero of mine and Katie is close behind, they are amazingly effective in their defense of public lands and Katie has been very helpful to us..I suggested marvel for the new chief of the BLM..what better person exists and he is cowed by no one.
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Who is Jon Marvel?
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Lenore, How is a lease retired? In your rsearch did you find one or two links to materials that someone like myself, ignorant of water and BLM leases, might make sense of?
I would like to see all cattle allotments wiped from the face of the earth – just too expensive with little to no return to the USA taxpayer.
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