Story by Denver Channel 9 reporters Jeff Wolf and Kevin Torres
BLM 101: “Keep Repeating Same Old Lies!”
Click on above image to view Video and to Comment ~ photo by Terry Fitch
ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo. – The Bureau of Land Management is planning to scale back its program to round up wild horses as the federal government looks to cut $2 million from the agency’s budget.
A BLM spokesperson says it will likely have to round up 3,000 fewer horses next year.
At the turn of the 20th century there were more than 2 million wild horses in the United States. Today, there are fewer than 20,000.
The BLM has been rounding up horses in Colorado, Nevada and Wyoming for decades.
The BLM says it’s trying to control the wild horse population so it can make the land safer for other animals.
In the fall of 2010, Wyoming held one of its largest round ups in state history by collecting nearly half of the state’s wild horse population.
“We had thousands, thousands of wild horses when I returned to Wyoming in 1979,” Jeannine Stallings, a wild horse advocate from Cheyenne, said. “There are less than 1,500 in Wyoming right now.”
Like many wild horse advocates, Stallings knows how crucial the 1970s were. In 1971 the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act was passed, giving the BLM power to control wild horse populations.
“The first time I saw a wild horse was the first time I went to a gathering outside of Rock Springs, Wyoming,” Stallings said.
The towns surrounding Rock Springs are home to hundreds of wild horses. A number far less than it used to be.
“We take pride in what we do,” D’Ewart said.
D’Ewart is in charge of the Divide Basin herd. He’s a horse specialist for the BLM.
“The appropriate level is 400 to 600 animals and at this time we’re over double the high end of the appropriate manage level,” he said.
D’Ewart says it’s necessary to round up the wild horses so they don’t take over the land.
“These public lands are multiple use and there are a lot more creatures that depend on it, especially at this time of year,” D’Ewart said.
“They’re not damaging the land. Cattle do far more damage to the land,” Stallings said.
Advocates believe the BLM is helping ranchers who want more land for their cattle. They allege there’s a money exchange going on.
“It’s a lack of education on their part for saying what they’re saying,” D’Ewart replied. “It’s like politics and religion. No matter what you say to them, they’re going to believe what they believe and they’re going to say what they want.”
A portion of Wyoming is divided in to “checker board” land. That means each square mile is either owned by the federal government or by a private entity.
The BLM believes many advocates are confused by that.
Wild horse advocates have a different view.
“They flat out lie about everything,” Stallings said.
Advocates are especially angry with the way the BLM describes the wild horses. The BLM says the horses are starving and don’t have much to eat.
“The horses that are coming off the range are fat and sassy horses,” Linda Hannick, an advocate from Estes Park, said.
“There isn’t enough feed out there or water,” Amy Ruhs, a BLM horse specialist, replied.
Ruhs is in charge of the BLM’s adoption program in Wyoming. When the horses are rounded up, they’re brought to a horse holding pen in Rock Springs.
“If you have kids and you send your kids off to school and prepare them for life, well, I kind of look at the horses here the same way,” Ruhs said. “We’re not necessarily breaking up families. I feel like we’re bringing the horses to families.”
Advocates will argue horses are not humans. They’re animals. Out of the 2,000 wild horses that were rounded up in the southwest corner of Wyoming last fall, the BLM says only 25 of them have been adopted out.
“Like it or not, some of those horses are not adoptable horses. Some are very old. Some are not in good health. Some are so wild that probably the best trainer on earth couldn’t get through to them,” Stallings said.
Then there is the concern over the collection process. Each year, dozens of wild horses are killed during the round ups.
“They are terrified,” Stallings said, “utterly terrified.”
According to the BLM, most of the horses die because they’re sick.
“They [advocates] have different opinions,” Ruhs said.
It is a tough debate that will likely carry on for years to come. While the BLM looks for more ways to round up horses, advocates will continue to search for ways to keep the west wild.
Horse slaughter
Another debate in Wyoming and Colorado focuses on horse slaughter. Horse slaughter is illegal in the United States.
However, a legislator in Wyoming is trying to make it legal. Rep. Sue Wallis (R-Recluse) sponsored a bill to create a slaughter house in Wyoming.
“That’s not right,” Stallings said. “We should never put any animal through that.”
Currently, people who sell horses to slaughter houses have to send their horses to Mexico or Canada.
Although some horse advocates oppose the practice, others believe it’s a more humane way to put down the animals.
“There are plenty of horses starving out in the wild,” Wayne Kruse, owner of the Centennial Live Stock Auction in Fort Collins, said in an interview with 9NEWS in 2010. “Would you rather see a horse starve to death or be put down for slaughter?”
It’s not just Kruse. Some horse owners say they would like to see it as well.
“It needs to be done,” Mary Owens, a rancher from Wyoming, said. “These animals are being left to die and suffer and that’s wrong”.
Horse slaughter is a pretty big business. Each year, more than 100,000 horses are sent to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico from the United States.
Most of the horses are bought at auction houses. Kill-buyers are paid by the pound.
“Before, a horse destined for slaughter would bring in .40 to .60 cents (per pound), now it is .20 cents or less,” Kruse said.
It appears the proposal to build a horse slaughterhouse in Wyoming won’t make it very far. There’s too much opposition.
Federal legal issues could also get in the way.
Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
“If you have kids and you send your kids off to school and prepare them for life, well, I kind of look at the horses here the same way,” Ruhs said. “We’re not necessarily breaking up families. I feel like we’re bringing the horses to families.”
Lord Ms Ruhs. Give us a break from your skewed BLM logic!
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She has surely been drinking from that BLM Kool-Aide cup for far too long…that statement does not make any sense what so ever. But, that’s the sort of stuff you hear out of BLM employee’s mouths. Just like the Antelope Complex is not a grazing HMA and on the way out we are caught in the middle of a cattle stampede…it is just the norm.
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They did the same thing to the Native Americans. Sending children off to abusive boarding schools. But we weren’t really breaking up families, just bringing the white man’s brainwashing by brute force to families.
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What an excellent analogy!! Spot on!!
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“The BLM says it’s trying to control the wild horse population so it can make the land safer for other animals.”
Really? You’re telling me that wild horses go beat up the cattle and deer and elk and bighorn over food and water? Does the stallion attack these other animals to drive them off their turf? That cattle and horses can’t graze together? This is truly like Andrew Jackson’s manafest destiny and Native American policy. General Jackson said “The only good Indian is a dead Indian”. And Hitler’s oppion of the Jews. And that “send your kids off to school to prepare them for life”. Give me a break. PARENTS are suppose to do that, not farm it out (oh, wait! That’s the American way isn’t it? To outsource your responsibilities!)
I spend too much time reading and commenting on blogs like this….I should be posting on my own blog. Shame on me….. 🙂
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That is the most ridiculous sentence–“making the land safer for other animals.” They are running out of lies to spew. Gee, the scary predators, the wild horse. Now, I’ve heard everything. They sure can pull them out of their ___.
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Horse slaughter is not illegal in the USA. I wish it was. The Fed has pulled funding for federal inspectors, but any state can set up a state meat inspection system and inspect horse meat for sale within that state. I don’t think it will ever happen because there is no market for the meat. It isn’t used for pet food any more because there are better, safer and more PC options. (Did you know some modern horse wormers will kill some dogs?) Horses that have been given some common horse meds can never be part of the human food chain due to USDA food safety laws. Basically only horses that were raised as food animals and never treated for any illness/injury would ever be allowed into the food chain. So what would a US horse slaughter plant do with the meat? With USDA inspection horse meat could have gone to Europe in the past, but they are wise to the fact that we don’t have accurate drug records on our horses so they don’t want US horse meat anymore.
Bottom line, though horse slaughter is not totally illegal in this country it will never be a profitable business and we all know it is about the money. I don’t expect horse slaughter to be revived in this country.
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“It’s a lack of education on their part for saying what they’re saying,” D’Ewart replied. “It’s like politics and religion. No matter what you say to them, they’re going to believe what they believe and they’re going to say what they want.”
LOL. I totally agree, the BLM, being, y’know, a government agency treats this just like politics with no room for compromise or independent thought outside of department policy.
Other than that it seems like the reporters did do a decent job reporting both sides fairly. I find it funny they were speaking with the Rock Springs Field Office, though. Both White Mountain and Little Colorado are managed by Rock Springs and will be rounded up this year despite the fact that their statistics are clearly wrong. Between 2009 and 2011, the BLM is reporting population increases in those areas of 76.4% and 145.7% respectively. Meanwhile, the town of Green River has a wild horse theme to it with statues, paintings, bars named in these horses honor… I wonder how they will feel about decreased tourism when word gets around “Wild Horse Loop” is sorely lacking in said horses.
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Anybody in that area willing to contact “Denver Channel 9 reporters Jeff Wolf and Kevin Torres” and share some of the videos of the “roundups” Laura Leigh and RT have gotten? Or talk to those same indivduals about what they actually observed last week of February?? Seems those of us opposing this insanity are not being represented fairly here. Blessed Be!
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You don’t have to live in that area to send/fax pictures and videos–there’s plenty
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Send the picture of the foal with the umbilical cord still attached along with Laura’s commentary–Death of the Antelope Foal:
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Louie I believe they are two separate foals. Laura hasn’t seen the two foals she reported on earlier this week. And we will never know because foals don’t exist to the BLM. Funny enough it was almost a year ago now that one of the BLM staff told me that all new babies (regardless of species) are incredible.
Well if they are that incredible let’s see some real reform on the part of BLM. If you’re gonna put a baby down because–let an independent humane observer in there to watch and listen to the reasons why the baby has to be put down. Then let them report that to us.
I feel bad because in this case Laura again had approved adopters (even by BLM standards) and they wouldn’t let the foal go. What is with these people? Honeybandit suffered so that others wouldn’t. It is time for some real reform.
I think the first order of business is get the horses out of the care of the BLM. To do that we need people nationwide to not just open their pockets but to do the manual day to day care of the horses. People that know not just how to count horses but can give real numbers on growth rates of today–not just some science that came of space. We need people that can make tough decisions but who can stand the scrutiny of questions. We don’t get that with the BLM.
If we can come together and SHOW what we mean (like Madeleine) perhaps we stand a better chance of getting the horses away from the killers.
In the meantime perhaps a rotating roundup schedule would be more appropriate for the BLM. They would work from Oct 1 to mid Nov. That way they aren’t running heavily pregnant mares by the hundreds. Once you do one HMA its done for several years–unless there is some kind of emergency.
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investigative@9news.com
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I’ve been sending Kevin information, links, and the videos for several months. I was on in the short interview on the 9News story.
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This is a good link to every news station nationwide by state: It will link you right to the station, or network. & regional coverage…http://www.newslink.org/stattele.html
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Jade, that’s a good idea, send the footage to the news station…they can always use more footage!
BLM sounds like a broken record repeating the same old tired lies and propaganda along with the ranchers…and in case they haven’t noticed, people aren’t buying it anymore!
With the media attention, film footage, news reports and web blogs about what IS REALLY GOING ON, BLM cannot convinably lie anymore. People on the streets hear about how many animals are removed (usually in the 1,000’s) and know what the heck is going on. They think we’re stupid…
The people know they cannot and will not trust any government agency anymore, the corruption has reared it’s ugly head far and wide in broad daylight….I know I am just one of many sick of tax payer money going to subsidize all the weathly players and getting stuck for it while what we expect those agencies to be doing are nothing close to what they are. all this talk in D.C. about Shutting down the government…go ahead… you can start with DOI, BLM horse program specifically.
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It is Millions of dollars for roundups a year… one roundup can run well over one million.
But Thanks, Channel 9 as this was very good for Colorado and I appreciate this. There actually is a deeper more disturbing story if you can convince your boss to let you keep after this. mar
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BLM/Department of Inferior should NEVER have been put in charge of America’s Wild Horses and Burros in the first place. To coin a phrase “ You can’t turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse.(no disrespect meant for pigs)”.
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I watched the 9 news investigative report last night and here is my take on it. The two wild horse advocates they had on the program were (no offence ment here) on the older side. While the lady from the BLM young, attractive,long blond hair, just what will get peoples attention. The facility was clean, it showed her opening a gate for a truck with clean fresh hay bales on it, going into a pen with very few horses. She stated that the holding pens were like sending your kids to camp where they make new friends and that they don’t break up family,s but what she didn’t say was your kids will eventually come home from camp. You can e-mail the 9 news team here. I left them my take on it last night along with other people who refered them to your sites also. I live hear and would be glad to take any videos or pictures you put together personally down to their station an present them. But you must remember that our news stations, have checked the integrity and ethics at the front door before they go to work these days – as they are bought and paid for by pro government businesses. If you would like me to present anything to them let me know on the this site and will send you information on how to get in touch with me.
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I should add I live in Lakewood a suburb of Denver and can be to the 9 news station in about 20 minutes.
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Geri please contact me at vlhanick@gmail.com for more information.
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I have been working with Kevin for several months to encourage him to dig deeper in the issues that surround the wild horses, which he has done since he did his first story on the wild horses in southern WY last year. He interviewed me here in Estes Park and Jeannette in Cheyenne–she’s awesome–and we had very little advance warning to our interviews. However, he gave the BLM people a week to prepare–they were as articulate as ever??! He pulled no punches in showing that they )BLM people) had not much to say. I continue to send him links and avenues to pursue on his own. I think he gets it–there are just so many angles to pursue, as he is looking at the regional issues of our viewing audience–CO and WY. I sent him the photos from the Sun J roundup here in CO last fall and explained the issues around that event. There are 2 roundups scheduled here this summer–so there’s more to come. I also sent him RT’s blog so he could see the widespread interest and ivolvement of the advocates out there. Thank you RT! Keep up your great work.
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Linda, glad to hear from another Coloradoan, I was wondering since I am new at this, have you ever contacted Peter Boyles about any of this and sent links to him? Since he does do a lot shows that are not always mainstream?
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Here is what BLM is ALL ABOUT:
MILLIONS & MILLIONS & MILLIONS & MILLIONS & MILLIONS & MILLIONS of PRIVATELY OWNED WELFARE CATTLE on OUR PUBLIC LANDS.
BLM is also all about LYING & LYING & LYING & LYING & LYING.
More info on BLM’s release of hundreds of pregnant cattle ,
http://www.publiclandsranching.org/book.htm
http://www.westernwatersheds.org/
http://www.votehandmade.com/article/index.php?id=995
http://www.adventure-journal.com/2009/05/grazing-is-razing-the-big-bad-impact-of-livestock-on-public-lands/
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The BLM said that they want less Mustangs/Burros because they want it safer for Other animals? Are they Kidding???? What could possibly be dangerous about a horse?? The only thing dangerous that’s in our 10 Western states,
IS the B L M!!!!!!
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If BLM tells us we are wrong and they are right–will you buy it? Did any of the horses sign on the dotted line that they were willing to give up their freedom? If only 25 out of the 2000 were adopted is the program “viable”? What happened to the 303 herd areas of 1971– where are those disappeared horses from the 111 that were zeroed? Where are the lost foals? What about the mandate to manage the animals ON the rangelands? Got a problem with the word ON? For more drivel and cute you can go to the BLM fb homepage. As Stallings said,” Those horses should be left alone–period.”
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To give the wild horses any chance of being saved, they have to be taken out of the BLM’s hands.
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Yes, try the idea on for size… otherwise we fight them forever over everything… mar
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Linda, keep on doing what you’ve been doing! Even if I were coming to this issue without knowing anything, I would have taken you and Jeanette seriously. It would be clear to anyone watching that you both know what you are talking about. When a person has the courage of his convictions, it shows.
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Here is reporter, Kevin Torres’s reply to one commenter. I see that he joined the news team in September of 2009–another irony. How many came into this battle in September of 2009, when the BLM rounded up Cloud’s herd in Montana? That was when I was first heard the alert sounded:
kevintorres
9:44 PM on March 2, 2011
kevintorres
@Lineman7 – The BLM Representatives featured in my story have big positions within the Department. Jay D’Ewart is in charge of the wild horse program in Rock Springs and Amy Ruhs is in charge of the state’s wild horse adoption program. They each had a week to prepare for the interview. The advocate featured in my story had less than two hours to prepare. Each person gave their take on the BLM’s program
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