Guest OpEd by Simone Netherlands
“Good Ole Boy” Mentality out of Touch with the Facts
photo by Terry Fitch
It all started last winter with a self appointed committee the “The Feral Horse Committee of the Nevada Wildlife Commission” which consists of only a handful of “welfare ranchers” who want the wild horses & burros off their leased lands in Nevada. A handful of us were there and when we asked how can you guys feel so darn threatened by the handful of horses, how come you don’t feel so threatened by the deer, or elk or bunnies for that matter? Mike Stremler’s answer was:
“Well you wear nice clothes, how would you like it if my wife came and stole all your clothes out of your closet.”
They feel so falsely entitled to all of the water on our public lands that they feel that the wild horses are actually STEALING their water. Water that they have rights to but they do not pay for. Water that is on our public lands which they lease for next to nothing, thanks to the American Taxpayer.
Their attempt is to proclaim that WH&B’s are not “wild life” and they are using the state’s water unlawfully, so that they can lawfully fence them off from their water sources. Their claims are that the horses are feral because their fathers let them go out on the range approximately 40 to 50 years ago.
The feral horse committee wrote a letter to the state civil engineer who is in charge of water. They then proceeded to find a legislator willing to sponsor this incredibly cruel and evil bill AB329. Unfortunately they sneaked it passed horse advocates so quickly that no one noticed that it was going to a vote in the senate and the bill passed there already. If this bill actually goes through it spells slow dehydration deaths for thousands and thousands of Nevada’s Wild Horses and Burro’s and no one will even notice because these ranchers live way out in the boonies
AB329 will be heard by the “Nevada Senate Natural Resources Committee” at 2144 at 401 S. Carson Street. Carson City, NV. May 13th at 3.30 pm
There will also be a video teleconference set up in Las Vegas where people can watch the meeting as well as testify. It will be in Room 4412E at the Grant Sawyer State Building.
Many horse advocates will be there, but we need every single one of you to keep calling and writing until the session has ended. Please!
Contact info for committee members
Senator Mark Manendo 775-684-6503 mmanendo@sen.state.nv.us
Senator David Parks 775-684-6504 dparks@sen.state.nv.us
Senator John Jay Lee 775-684-1424 jlee@sen.state.nv.us
Senator Dean Rhoads 775-684-1447 drhoads@sen.state.nv.us
Senator Michael Roberson 775-684-1481 mroberson@sen.state.nv.us
Proving the History of Wild Horses and Burro’s in Nevada:
This is an excerpt from a 1906 article in the Montreal Gazette proving that the ranchers are full of self righteous BS and their claim that wild horses are not WILD, is nothing but a cowardly lie in order to attain their cruel agendas. It reads:
“The traveler often wonders at the large herds of horses found along the lake, seen in the desert along Walker lake below the Walker Indian Reservation. These horses are wild, not range animals gone wild, but wild horses. They are as unrestrained as the horses that once covered the planes with the buffalo and antelope, and no doubt can trace an ancestry free from the hackamore for half a dozen generations back. “
This article was written in 1906 when population in Nevada was almost nonexistent except for the few mining towns like Hawthorne which at that time consisted of 6 house. Long before the cattle ranchers settled there. The writer states that for at least 6 generations these horses have been wild and free, effectively proving their wildness for over 220 years at a very minimum and also proving that thousands of them roamed the planes with the buffalo before white men even settled the continent.
America once was great planes where the buffalo and the horses roamed in peace. There used to be over a million, now we are down to the last 20,000 if even that many; an independent unbiased count has never been done.
These are the last survivors of the BLM policies, the survivors of the poisoning and shooting by the Mustangers, the survivors of hundreds of tough winters and summer droughts. They have evolved into the toughest horse in the world with the most beautiful and amazing natural herd dynamics. They can survive a lot, but they cannot survive longer than 4 days without water.
The Wild Horses Need You, Now.
You must contact your reps. plus these committee members, plus Harry Reid at 702-388-5020 or Fax him at 702-388-5030 http://reid.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm
Contact Governor Brian Sandoval at 775-684-5670 or his Fax is 775-684-5683.
Tell the governor that you expect him to Veto this bill should it make it to his desk. Don’t be fooled if they say that this only pertains to private land as that is simply not the case it is public lands that are in question here.
His email is http://nv.gov/govforms.aspx?ekfrm=4294969014
Call the White House and complain as well, that number is 202-456-1111
Related articles
- Facebook Protest Mounts Against Nevada’s Attempt to Kill Off Native Wild Horses (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
- Wild horses wouldn’t be wildlife in Nevada (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
- Points to Consider: Wild Horse and Burro Mortality (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
- Movie Review: Wild Horses & Renegades (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
- Call to Action: Let’s Go Viral for the Wild Horses and Burros (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
Categories: Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
These welfare ranchers are heinous parasites. Bet they are the same people who squawk and stamp their feet about government spending too and other people getting government handouts. So very tired of this old white man entitlement complex. It is ruining the entire planet.
LikeLike
I am an old white man, with white hair, but trust me…I bear no feelings of entitlement.
This is a psychological disease that runs rampant in this country; the infection of entitlement…hence the coined name, “Welfare Ranchers”!
LikeLike
Oh, I know! This comment was not intended for many enlightened men, such as yourself. But I see this entitlement complex in BP, Big Oil, the old white haired Senate, Wall St and in CEOs who take huge bonuses as they are crashing the world economy for millions of people worldwide. It extends to the welfare ranchers who feel entitled to land at garage sale prices devoid of anything they deem inconvenient to their “way of life.” And it must stop if this planet is to survive. Let’s hope today will be a clarion call to this old, destructive mentality.
LikeLike
R.T.
First of all you’re not an old man, white hair maybe, but not old.(-: I’ve always enjoyed reading your articles…you say it like it is, with facts, compassion and integrity. I sincerely admire your continued and consistant fight for the welfare of our wild ones. Thanks to you, Laura Leigh and so many others that have dedicated themselves in helping to preserve these beautiful icons. It’s been one tragedy after
another, but this one is totaly despicable. I hope and pray that Gov, Sandoval will use the facts, good judgement, common sense and compassion, by vetoing this bill. You can be sure, I certainly will voice my opinion to everyone you have listed, first thing Monday morning! Thanks again RT, for all you do.
LikeLike
Hang in there. We expect Injustice. That doesn’t mean we let it take over.
LikeLike
I’m pulling this comment forward…it was posted under the NEVADA HORSE TRIPPING article. Many may not have seen it.
Bridget McGrath
May 12, 2011 @ 04:18:32
I meant to post this comment about a week ago, and then things got a little crazy! First, thank you so much for this blog and for this post. AWESOME! Second, I wanted to give an update on this issue. Because of the video and the subsequent embarrassment of having irrefutable evidence that false testimony was given and believed at the Senate Natural Resources Committee Meeting, this bill may be resurrected. Senator Mark Manendo, a real friend to animals, has been working tirelessly to not allow this issue to die. We’re keeping the pressure on, and will be sure to post updates!
Thank you again,
HelpAnimalsNV
LikeLike
Thank you, Louie. I actually forwarded Bridget’s comment to several major sources as I intended to write an article on it but we elected to hold off so as not to muddy the waters while the resurrection process was still underway. But it PROVES the point that we CAN and WILL make a difference.
“Turn up the volume and clog the faxes!!”
LikeLike
Good, I knew this was possible… knock on wood and all that. Thanks for the news Louie!
LikeLike
This should be shared when someone questions whether or not wild horses are indigenous to the Americas. It’s thorough, understandable, and well written:
http://www.wildhorsepreservation.com/resources/genetic.html
If those Nevada welfare ranchers who are trying to shut the wild horses out of their water sources had this article read to them every night as a bedtime story for a few years, maybe they’d have been a little more savvy about the facts- and we’d all be having fewer nightmares.
LikeLike
BTW, this is a good piece to read before calling the numbers listed above, so you’ll be able to express WHY we know for positive that wild horses are not feral, if asked in one of the calls.
LikeLike
Just found this article in the Washington Post—it needs lots of comments and the record set straight on the wild horse water rights. And of course the “old environmental damage by wild horses” is being trotted out by the cattlemen and hunters. What a crock-
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/wild-horses-wouldnt-be-wildlife-in-nevada-under-a-pending-bill-its-all-about-water/2011/05/12/AFqUEG1G_story.html
LikeLike
Forgive my ignorance, but how do you fence OUT the wild horses without also fencing out the other large wild creatures like elk and the like?
LikeLike
It has been mentioned here before, but remember that not only do these “people” great outrageous access to public lands and all those resources at ridiculously reduced rates, they can also use those leases to increase the assessment values of their private lands to secure personal and agricultural loans AND incorporate that value into the sale price of that land when they sell; the leases rollover with the sale to boot (last I checked).
Anyone know if they can sublease to other entities like mining/extraction entities?
LikeLike
Yes and this was done to foil change and to possess the lands the horses have.
LikeLike
Great article!!! I love reading Straight from a Horse’s Heart! Thank you for your undying commitment!
I wrote a very long letter opposing the 2 bills. I sent it to all the Senators you have listed. I also sent one to Senator Reid and to Governor Sandoval.
I posted one in thew Washington Post and my FB page.
I will keep writing & spreading the word! We can NEVER give up!!!
LikeLike
Shelley, are you in D.C.? If so, can you please contact me at: egatopardo@yahoo.com.
LikeLike
I also sent Governor Sandoval the link to the Nevada Legislature site so that he could read for himself just what people are saying and feeling about AB329 & SRJ5.
LikeLike
I live in Florida…but read a lot on this subject of No Water…for Horses..in Nevada.
How does the actress who is going to be in the movie… ( going to.be made. or is already being made.)….about Wild Horse Annie….feel about all of this with no water for horses out there in Nevada>>>? is she a horse person. also…..? What are her comments and feelings..( genuine feelings..) on this situation….?
I don’t remember her name…but it was on the internet about her making the movie… ” Wild Horse Annie “..about or showing how she felt , tried and did for the wild horses..
LikeLike
MIGHTY WHITE of those good ole boys to even assume that the wild horses are there because THIER family’s were generous enough to let some go 50 years ago. If my history lessons are correct the Indians were capturing and riding horses long before THEIR families owned that land. And the arrogance of Mike Stremler to make a comment like that ~ excuse me ~ the American tax payer pays for the land and water for those horses, they are not stealing anything. That was an intimidation tactic about clothes, I sure hope that advacate got right in his face and gave him a piece of her mind, for all of us. They started digging today in Snowmass, maybe there will be more evidence that horses are native to this continent ~ once and for all and not be disputed.
http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/146899
LikeLike
Great article! I believe, however, it is ‘plains’….not planes. 😉
LikeLike
These ranchers think they own our public lands. They really think the horses are drinking all the water? Many of these ranchers don’t even pay their leases. The wild horses have more right to be there than the cattle. Cattle are the worst offenders of destroying habitat. Lease laws need amending.
LikeLike