(In My Humble Opinion) by R.T. Fitch ~ Author/Director of HfH Advisory Council
A Million Acres is not Enough for Two Horse Herds
Your Tax Dollars Hard at Work ~ photo by Terry Fitch
You have got it right; the BLM wants to decimate the White Mountain and Little Colorado herds in Wyoming leaving only 274 horses on 1 million acres while allowing 6,000 cattle or 30,000 privately owned sheep to graze on your public lands, does that seem right, hell no!!
Call to Action: The BLM has released the following information –
“The Bureau of Land Management has scheduled a public hearing in Rock Springs this summer to gather public input on the use of helicopters and motorized vehicles in the management of Wyoming’s wild horses.
The BLM says it plans to use helicopters to help gather wild and free-roaming horses and to conduct an aerial census. Motorized vehicles would also be used to transport the horses.
Agency officials said earlier this year that an estimated 33,000 wild horses roam freely in 10 Western states. An additional 36,000 horses are cared for in government-funded holding facilities.
Animal rights groups have criticized the roundups as inhumane, but the BLM says they are necessary to thin overpopulated herds that cause ecological damage to rangeland.
The meeting will be held at the agency’s High Desert District Office on June 21.”
Love the way they use “gather” and the annual figure of 33,000 horses that they probably counted from using Google Earth..”Hey Billy Bob, is that a boulder, cow or horse…hell, let’s call it burro for fun!”.
From reading the above release, it appears to me that we have just been invited to a party; that the gauntlet has been thrown down and perhaps we should accept this invitation to voice the truth with as much press as we can muster. We were there for the horses in Phoenix and although the bogus board did not listen to a word that we said the public certainly did and that is precisely what we need to do here. We most certainly should take a stand for the horses as I am fed up and don’t intend to just roll over and take it anymore.
Talk it up, chew on it and let’s spit out a plan for “gathering” in Wyoming; between the BLM and “Slaughterhouse” Sue it’s a place that needs a little good karma injected into it for a change.
Wyoming Wild Horses and Burros…here we come!!!
Related articles
- Obama’s BLM Confirms it Will Resume Wild Horse and Burro “Gathers” (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
- Obama’s BLM Flips Off Wild Horse Advocates with New Board Appointees (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
- Obama’s BLM Squandered Wild Horse Funds Now Looking for Help (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
- BLM to Move 200 Captive Wild Horses from Foul Facility (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
- Captured BLM Wild Horse Gets New Home (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
Categories: Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Darn right.
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What do I nerd R. T? We all need to pitch in on this.
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Animal rights groups have criticized the roundups as inhumane, but the BLM says they are necessary to thin overpopulated herds that cause ecological damage to rangeland.
Sheep can graze very close to the ground and like other livestock will overgraze, if they are allowed to. Overgrazing can lead to loss of vegetation and soil erosion.
36,000 sheep and cattle vs 33,000 wild horses – their “ecological damage to the [our] rangeland is SO BOGUS !!!
AND, the “price” of leasing OUR land doesn’t come close to covering the cost of the roundups and imprisonment of OUR wild horses. The only ones who benefit (profit) from this [mis]-management are the few ranchers and their market.
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Find one DOI/DOA (Forestry) study that cites, references scientific research, addresses comment submissions, and/or actual recent population data (independently verifiable) that supports the funding or extermination (aka roundups) of Americas wild equines….find one.
Check out the IG (internal and external) investigations that can cumulatively do the same.
This a fast and loosey goosey outfit…not sure? And the changes from the sex and drug pooh with BLM is what? The fallout from the Deepwater Horizon is what? Who got fired from Katrina?
Man oh, man this is sick pooh. And who has been prosecuted from the Wall Street wreck?…Madoff doesn’t count. .
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I just can not wrap my brain around the blatant lying and gross mis-management presented by the BLM – this just makes my blood boil !!
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These Wyoming White Mountain and Little Colorado HMA’s are already being planned for this July and although there are many, many points in the EA that needed questioning … I would just like to point out one right now. I’m not a math whiz but … the Little Colorado HMA (per the EA) was reduced to 69 horses during the last roundup of November 2007. The returned mares were treated with PZP and there was sex ratio adjustment done in favor of the males. Keep this in mind as you see the percentage increase. After this summer’s roundup they plan on leaving 69 horses and removing 241. 69+241=310 horses they say will be on the range as of this July (pre-roundup). Using their figures … it means that the average annual increase of horses has been 46% for the past four years – since the roundup. Yep … 46% even though the returned mares were PZP’d and sex ratio was done. Gimme’ a break! Our wild horses and burros do NOT need management … the people who work for the BLM are the ones that need managing! (my humble opinion)
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GG:
WOWWW!!!…Wow! WOW! Excellent post (as usual..no stroking; just observant and certifiably sane)
That math you presented seems reasonable. I can’t dispute it (seriously).
Question to all and especially DOI:
Why does a non paid advocate possess better math and research skills off the cuff than the agency in charge of kill…err protecting the wild equines? BTW..MacDonald, Leigh, RT, John, et al (sorry for not calling all…especially for those that crawl the rocks, lots, gov’t junk sites) KNOW THE MATH, FACTS and TRUTH..and the Prez, committees in the House and Senate keep giving them money to_______(you fill in the blank.) Mr. President, my blank to be filled in is the injustice multiplied by your administration and previous administrations doing to the wild equines and the hypocrisy of the 1971 ACT.
Congress and Mr President…I can do math too. It doesn’t always require a dollar sign; sometimes it is just a promise kept.
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I’m having a hard time finding out where this meeting will be. Can someone narrow it down for me so I can do some research on how to get there. I want to put this out to everyone in my address book and try to get a crowd there.It would be a good time to take a vacation especially since I doubt that I could go to watch a round up without getting arrested. I wonder if their security guards will have to watch us pee like they did the ladies who went out to observe the round up killing exercises.
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OH BOY!!!!!! That’s almost 1200 miles one way for me. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to find enough people to help me pay the gas for this one. I’ll have to see about some other mode of transportation. Maybe I can take one of these tornados that have blown up lately.
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Get your anti-BLM virus booster shot before going into battle. We all knew that this is what they intended to do..no one was fooled. It is doubtful as to whether the BLM director OR the President are even consulted. Apparently, the orders come from “higher up”.
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It is a good idea to continue to comment on these Environmental Assessments so that in the event of a Congressional Investigation, there is a paper trail. Keep records of your letters and comments comments…copies, sending dates, etc. Last year was just a warm-up.
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Dear R. T.
It gets worse – they are also removing 1200 horses from Great Divide Basin in WY as well this summer – another 3/4 of a million acres.
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Lynette, is this what you’re looking for?
http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/info/news_room/2011/may/18hdd-helicopter.html
Tuesday, June 21 at 5:30 p.m.
High Desert District Office
280 Highway 191 North
Rock Springs, WY 82901
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Yes Louie, that’s it!!! Thank you. Now I can see if I can make it. Thanks again!!
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45,000 in holding as of march and 29,000 on the range. thats BLM numbers. they plan to take 7,600 every year for the next 4 yrs. thats about 30,400. are these numbers that make sense to you? WTH. bringing the numbers in holding up to 71,500. something has to give.
deborah
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Check with our “simple” math (nonDOI) and expert wild equine friends, scientists, etc…..there are NOT 29,000 wild equines left (by DOIs own math).
If you could cite the study that states there are 29k left, more than a few here would appreciate the effort. (not trying to be difficult; trying to examine facts/ truth)
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Why is BLM getting away with continually bringing in wild horses?
If they have well over 30K horses how are they able to keep them with out that being labeled as abuse? ( I say IF because no one really knows how many numbers they really have)
BLM’s main concern should be adopting out and re-releasing the 30K they have in holding pens. They should not be allowed to bring in more horses that are not only going to cost the tax payer more, but that are going to suffer because they don’t belong in holding pens. I don’t see how the amount of horses BLM has can be properly cared for.
Where is the law? I am sure if a rescue had that many horses they would be getting fined for zoning regulations or other USDA regulations that would be broken for housing so many of those horses. I can’t believe this is continually going on with out the leaders of BLM being fired or having some form of punishment.
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The environmental agencies whether governmental or private are clueless concerning the wild horse issue. The Environmental Defense Fund called me for a donation and I found myself educating him on the issue. The Wilderness Society and the US Fish and Wildlife are proposing to cut the Corolla wild herd to 60 from 105, not a viable herd. In discussion, they misquoted the amount of land available to the herd. The herd is encroaching on resort property and their hooves are destoying biodiverse areas. Give me a break, we only have 105 horses. Maybe a letter to all the environmental agencies could be a start on the education process.
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“Agency officials said earlier this year that an estimated 33,000 wild horses roam freely in 10 Western states. An additional 36,000 horses are cared for in government-funded holding facilities.”
They have been using these same numbers forever. They add a few to holding numbers is all. They don’t even know how many horses they have. And why are they not waiting for the reports to be completed before moving ahead on the round ups. Don’t they have a GAO and National Academy of Science reports coming out soon. They need to wait.
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I would very much like to go to this “public meeting” in Rock Springs. Seems they need to hear it in person as all this talking going on by email letters does nothing
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