Guest OpEd by Bonnie Kohleriter
Fly-over/Foaling Numbers Just Don’t Add Up
The BLM uses the fly-over in its Herd Management Areas( HMAs ) to tell us the numbers of horses in an HMA and to tell us of a need to gather and the quantity of horses to be captured and removed. The fly-over is done by those who would do the gather and profit from it . No instruments are used to verify their numbers and location though instruments are available such as photos and GPS tracking and have been repeatedly suggested to be installed.
The BLM employee uses a number of rationales to promote gathers. The fly-over employee can say horses are just one over the high appropriate management level (AML) and qualify them to be gathered down to the low appropriate management level. So if the range of the number of horses allowed in an area is 100-300 and 301 horses are deemed to be in that area, the employee can gather 201 horses down to the lower AML of 100. The BLM now has come up with the idea to gather horses in “complexes.” That means they will gather 3-5 herd management areas at a time maintaining that is good practice because the horses roam between HMAs. If it can be documented only one HMA is over the upper AML number, then all of the HMAs in that complex can be gathered down to their lower AML even though 4 out of 5 HMAs may be well within their range of numbers allowed. Finally, if any horses are deemed to be outside their HMA, they too can be automatically captured and removed, and, of course, not be put back into their HMA. When a helicopter contractor rounds up horses he will typically tell you horses are outside of their HMA as the more horses brought in, the more the profit. You won’t know as cameras and GPS tracking are not on the helicopter.
These practices have led to keeping the Wild Horse and Burro Specialists busy with writing environmental assessments to justify gathers and with conducting gathers themselves. But these practices have also skyrocketed the cost to the American taxpayer and to the horses as they have had to be removed from their public lands with dubious thinking and to be housed in expensive though barren corrals and prisons and in questionable “long term pastures” to which the American public doesn’t have privy. These unwarranted practices are also dwindling the number of horses now on the range down to 20,000 to 30,000. But the gather employees want to continue to be employed so suspected is, we are seeing an exaggeration of the numbers of horses on the range and their foal rates. Presented below is a table of a sampling of gathers to be done in the near future that shows the average yearly percent foal rate from the time of the last gather through this foal season, 2011, given the numbers presented by the BLM employees in their respective HMAs.
AVERAGE YEARLY PERCENT OF FOAL RATE
|
LAST GATHER DATE |
HMA/HA |
POST GATHER |
NUMBER FROM FLY-OVER WITH ADJUSTMENTS |
AVERAGE YEARLY PRECENTAGE OF FOAL RATE |
|
11-08 |
Sheepshead Oregon AML 161-302 |
Approximate 150 |
350 |
35% |
|
11-07 |
Little Colorado Wyoming AML 69-100 |
69 |
310 |
48% |
|
11-07 |
White Mountain Wyoming AML 205-302 |
205 |
660 |
33% |
|
08-09 |
Divide Basin Wyoming AML 415-600 |
415 |
1640 |
41% |
Presented here is also another table that shows percentage of foal rate from 2009- 2010 in HMAs located in Central and Southwestern Wyoming.
PERCENTAGE OF FOAL RATE FROM 2009 TO 2010 in WYOMING
|
Last Gather Date |
HMA/HA |
Post Gather |
2010 Quoted Number from Fly-over |
% of Foal Rate 2009-2010 Using Fly-over Numbers |
|
07-09 |
Conant Creek |
66 |
120 |
82% |
|
07-09 |
Dishpan |
49 |
155 |
216% |
|
07-09 |
Muskrat |
185 |
359 |
94% |
|
11-09 |
Green Mountain |
204 |
490 |
140% |
|
11-09 |
Steward Creek |
150 |
275 |
83% |
|
11-09 |
Crooks Mountain |
72 |
115 |
60% |
|
11-09 |
Antelope Hills |
72 |
162 |
125% |
|
11-09 |
Lost Creek |
96 |
155 |
61% |
The foal rates as shown are improbable, in fact, impossible. Yet their numbers are being used to demonstrate horses in their respective Herd Management Areas are over the Appropriate Management Level (AML) whether they, in fact, are or are not. And these numbers are being used to capture and remove animals questionably leaving behind, not the already low lower AML numbers of horses but only the very few horses that escape capture. This next year, unfortunately, may be the demise of the wild horse and burro on the range in the United States in many areas as the Congress is deluded into thinking wild horses and burros thrive in plenty on our public lands. It is a sad chapter in our history as the Mustangs, symbols of our freedom and companions in the development in our West are brutally captured and removed by a dishonest government. And it is infuriating to think these employees are getting away with spending money we American taxpayers don’t have.
These deceptive numbers given the public and Congress are not right. This is fraud committed by the BLM agency that was to protect and manage our wild horses and burros. Horses and burros should only be gathered if they are over an appropriate number which does not allow them or the land on which they live to remain productive and healthy. Horses should not be gathered because employees have a fear they may no longer be employed or because they fear they may not have the money next year to gather so” we’ll grab them while we can.”
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Categories: Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Bonnie,
Thank you for the examination of the crazy quilt that is DOI. How did you come by this information and foal rates again? Was this just a comparison from the last round up to the next scheduled (as you said)? I’m confused how that can be extrapolated and believe me, that I most certainly believe you. Just curious…
Advocates have always maintained what you have competently explained in your op-ed. I was just interested in your references, etc.
Thanks again.
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Use the national statistics as well as the EA to establish what was estimated to be left at the end of the last gather. Cross reference that number by speaking withe the WHBS or State Leads if possible or FOIA for the info.
Look at what is said to be their now. Consider the number of years between
last gather and now and compute the average yearly foal rate using your junior high math. When foal rate is quoted it is really the foal-death rate. In the
case of Wyoming in the Rawlins and Landers Districts you only are speaking of
one year’s change in numbers. They in the Red Desert are going to tell you there are even more horses there now to gather and remove this fall.
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In speaking with some advocates I feel I need to go more into how I got to my percentages. You know how the BLM says it has a 20 or 21% foal rate each
year, in general. So I took that, as an example. Say you have 150 horses this year, then next year you have 150 plus 150 times 20% or .20 equals l80 horses, then the next year you have 180 plus 180 times 20% equals 216. When I did this compounding activity with Sheepshead, Little Colorado, White
Mountain, and Divide Basin, I did not get a 20 or 21% foal rate yearly to get to their final numbers. Rather I got 35%, 48%, 33%, and 41% respectively. I have to admit a math mistake in the chart. Divide Basin was last gathered in
08-07, not in 08-09. The other numbers for Divide Basin are okay. As far as the second chart I simply took the difference in numbers from 2009 to 2010 and divided the difference by the original number to get the percentage increase from one year to the next. Is my math okay? Or am I a candidate for
BLM employment? I’m open for criticism.
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Seems all numbers coming out of the BLM are and have been fudged, and intentionally made to be more lies………………………. With all the intentional bold faced lieing going on there that the consequences would be easy to apply. …………………….and stick………………………..
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This agency now solely exists to maintain appropriate employment levels for its staff and to continue to use the 75-80% it is allocated each year on round ups and housing these horses. It is a completely captured agency answering not to the American people, but to special, monied interests and is only interested in keeping its staff employed doing what they do year in and year out. It’s not about stewardship at all, which is in direct violation of the law. I would peg the Wild Horse and Burro program as one of the most abusive of the public’s trust and dishonest programs we have in our federal government.
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There is one honest thing the BLM has told the public. In 2009, Tom Gorey, head BLM spinmaster, is on camera saying the round ups would really be ramping up over the next few years. Of course, he forgot to tell us why.
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Absolutely there is the possibility and probability of numbers being fraudulent – before the roundup of the Salt Wells and Adobe Town Herds in Wyoming I was told that the Rock Springs Grazing Association, who now has a lawsuit against the BLM to remove all horses from these lands, was financing the horse count flights and a member of the Association would be in the plane! I would assume that was also true last year before the roundup.
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Are contractors who do the round ups doing the flyover counts also?
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The WHB Specialists that do the round ups do the fly-overs. Or they
are the head leads. Then they take up another person(S) to work with
them in counting. So J’Ewart, WHBS, on Little Colorado and White Mountain took Melanie Mirati , the WHBS from Rawlins next door, with him. Melanie will
be raping the Red Desert Complex in Wyoming this fall.
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Contractors who do the roundup (helicopter and traps and trucks and trailers etc) are private contractors (Sun J and Cattoor) who are paid per their contract (per head of WH&B trapped, I believe) by the BLM.
The fly-over population census is not done by those round up contractors. It is done by two or three BLM employees in the plane (although pilot/plane are likely private and paid by the hour or contract).
Do you think they might possibly report back they saw the number of WH&B that their supervisor “wanted to hear”? Isn’t their future funding (i.e. their jobs) partially based on the number of WH&B in their jurisdiction?
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This seems like the twilight zone..Of course they worry about their jobs. What kind of a person would perpatrate cruelty and death job to keep a job? Yes, it is the EMPLOYEES OF THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT. It is obvious from all the comments where they would like the horses to go. I think they have had their welfare ranchers and the employees on the payroll for long enough. They all need to GO! As far as I can see, there has been NO accurate counting of anything because as we have seen the numbers just don’t add up.
And what is happening with the 40 who got caught at the border? Is this just going to be another cover up like usual. Has anyone heard anything lately on that? I would love to think that the investigation is continuing, but I truly wonder if this will just be swept under the rug. But we must keep the emails, letters and ccommunications coming and telling the truth when it comes to the Wild Horses and Burros. They are so under attack…I don’t blame any of those who have been caught to totally distrust the human being…Why should they trust us we have totally removed them from the World that they have come to know
and in some cases have killed their family members.
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This link is embedded in Mr. Cohen’s last Atlantic piece. It does relate to this post and thread. Please take the time to read, pass on and save it:
Click to access Rangeland-Report-Wild-Horses-Rock-Springs-FIN.pdf
I’m sure this has been discussed on SFTHH, but please reread.
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I have read it. Pretty damning, but no doubt will be ignored by BLM and the parasite ranchers.
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Denise,
Thank you for pointing out this link. There is so much information out there, so many links, that it is impossible to follow each of them.
This is the level of range land report that I expect the BLM WHB and ecologists to perform including pictures from a variety of locations on the range. Unfortunately, by this time, the level of trust I have for this group is below nil. Photos would need to be date and time stamped with GPS coordinates for me to belief they were taken from the place they said they were taken.
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Ok everyone we have a new outlet for our letters. Just sent a letter to the Washington Post regarding our Wild Horses and Burros. If you wish to comment you can go to letters@washpost.com. I know everyone in DC reads this publication…and others too. RT made a reference to your website regarding up to date info. Thanks again for keeping us update on all the issues.
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I am a very slow learner, Gail….re: …”RT made a reference..”. I’m confused, what website (the link I referenced re: Rangeland Report)?
Whatever the case, it appears that the hardcore advocate activists (you know, the ones that are in the real trenches, shellin’ out lawsuit money, etc) are really compiling a heavy duty list for a grand “big bang” on DOI/USDA.
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We have never, to my knowledge, seen even ONE photograph or video from a flyover to substantiate BLM claims. Why? They have a lot of cameras…they take pictures of ADVOCATES constantly at roundups. The BLM, along with the USGS developed the WHIMS program, but I think they only used it twice. BLM, SHOW US THE PICTURES!
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I guess we have to FOIA everything?
BLM instructions for aerial census state:
7. Use GIS/GPS technology to plot flight path and animal locations.
8. Take a camera. Photograph all groups of twenty or more animals when possible.
I want to see EVERY photo and GIS/GPS location that they are required to have per their policy …don’t you?
Click to access MS-4710.pdf
(page 10)
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Agreed, but do you know how they drag their feet on replies and the costs of each report?
It is staggering the wall they (and other government agencies) have been allowed to throw up…..literally.
And the costs!!!@!!??!!! Unbelievable.
That’s the tactic. I do think there is a solution to same, but will withhold comment.
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IF the foal numbers they come up with are accurate, then where are the foals when they gather? The numbers of foals in the trap do not add up. Either the count is false (or just a made-up number to justify the removals) or they are leaving all those foals out on the range to die without their moms. There is no other possible explanation, so which is it, BLM? Lies or killing foals in the cruelest way possible?
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I may have this incorrect (experts, correct me please), but it appears foals count in the forecasts, may count in roundup numbers for payout but not as wild equines or mortality rate (abortion, dead on the range, etc)….constant contradictions (as Mr. Cohen continues to highlight) and magically become a different class of equine after action of roundup.
Makes my head hurt.
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i have likened blm to a foster-care provider. they get paid to provide care/management, but in fact are abusing those in their care. it’s dispicable what blm and their cattle cronies are doing. i pray to God they are stopped before our wild horses and burros are gone. if we can’t protect these beauties we deserve the disdain from our neighbors abroad!!!
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i wish the crooked and cruel blm around the country would take oregon’s example. they care for their wild ones. i love oregon and i’m sure some other states do as well.
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Sorry, christine…I am going to have to disagree with you.
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please tell me what you disagree with.thanks
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States, when it comes to Ag, extraction and water control are at odds (for same) or in cahoots with DOI/USDA.
I don’t disagree that there are great folks in Oregon, Wyoming, etc. What I disagree with is that states, as a rule do not support wild equines (among other species, issues). Dave Duquette is in Oregon and helps United Organizations of the Horse, United Horsemen and pulling in Native Peoples tribes to peddle the anti-wild equine poop and proslaughter (tribes that as a rule have no equine culture because they are farm or fishing tribes).
No disrespect to you, just don’t agree about the state thing. And I could go through another laundry list about what states via Ag and state parks do to wild equines and slaughter of all equines in the US.
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Christina, I think Oregon does a good job with their wild ones, in general, but
I am upset with what Shaney Rockefeller, soil scientist turned wild horse and burro specialist is about to do with the horses in Barren Valley. She claims in
Sheepshead the horses are over AML so she wants to gather as a complex
messing with the horses in Sand Springs and Coyote as well. The numbers in
Sheepshead either have to come from a 35% yearly foal rate or the horses have to come from someplace else which isn’t substantiated. Horses in other areas are not low in numbers for what they should be. If you have an e-mail address, I will send you an analysis of Barren Valley. My address is bkohlerite@yahoo.com
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Again, not arguing with you, just asking what the reference and bibliography points are.
And Oregon has how many HAs/HMAs? Population is what? Controlled by whom…state, Feds, reservations?
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Bonnie, I am interested in this also. I will email you if possibly you might send me this research, too?? Thanks much. I appreciate this work and am glad you have done this for the up coming roundups. mar
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you know darn well blm is crooked. their comments are evasive and they downright lie. i’ve seen the terrible things they do to our horses and burros. i don’t understand why they’re exempt from animal cruelty. bureau of liars and murderers. horses have feelings just like us and they’re albout as smart as a 14 year old kid!!! i hope they choke on their profits .creepy excuse for humanity gives americans a bad name abroad.
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Looks as though they are hoping to do a bit of censorship, as well:
Inappropriate
23082011
Regarding your account: WildHorseEducationThe YouTube Community has flagged one or more of your videos as inappropriate. Once a video is flagged, it is reviewed by the YouTube Team against our Community Guidelines. Upon review, we have determined that the following video(s) contain content that may not be suitable for all viewers:
Horse hit with helicopter_Triple B
As a result, we have age-restricted this content.
Sincerely,
The YouTube Team
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Louie,
Age restricted…but not banned? Would that be considered progress?
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This does cement the fact that the YouTube team found the video of the horse being harassed by Josh from Sun-J to be too inhumane for young Americans to view. I think we are all in agreement that it is yet another testimony to the cruelty and sickness that permeates the BLM.
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Another log on the funeral pyre called USDA/DOI WH&B management!
Making progress folks…making progress.
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It’s too awful for kids to view but BLM still thinks it’s fine to do. So our government agency is allowed to treat animals in a way we cannot allow kids to see. Baffles the mind.
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But, it is verification and validation.
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Who ever did the complaining about the video held Youtube to task and I think they did their restriction because they did not want to ban the video. Someone may have done us a great favor in this, I am hoping. There are many offensive videos. LL’s are not them.
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This can be used to the Mustangs advantage, it it needs to be censored then it is indeed a horrible truth……………………….. There is prove positive the BLM is using extreme cruelty !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I have a coupla things to add to Ms. Kohleriter’s article:
From what I understand, there are a few people on the plane during the flyover – pilot in front and two or more on each side.
So here are my bones of contention:
Mules, in areas where they exist, are counted as burros.
Mules, however, are the same size as horses.
Horses and mules, unless singularly colored, are the colors of the landscape – bay, black bay, sorrel, palomino or dun. So how is it possible, from a flyover height, to distinguish a plain-colored horse from another ungulate? Or put another way, how distinctive are horses observed on the ground by binoculars in a straight line-of-sight from a similar distance? Let’s say, for the sake of argument, a rack of antlers might not be apparent from that height.
Burros have a limited array of colors, from black and dark bay to light grey-brown, also the colors the landscape and ungulates. Although they are much smaller than their wild horse cousins, how distinctive are they from a flyover height?
How apparent are mule and burro ears – their singular physical feature – from a flyover height?
I’m sure there is an applied expertise in a flyover, but to probability of mistakes of this nature concern me. Or the willingness to ‘fudge’.
And there seems to be a concentrated effort in flyovers to ensure discovery of overpopulation. The recent Piceance/East Douglas EA revealed a flyover that took over a month (some delays were weather-related) and encompassed over 500,000 acres to survey an HMA of less than 200,000 acres. The Tri-State flyover took 9 days. The Twin Peaks after-gather flyover determined over 700 horses and a small number of burros were left behind, even though data into foaling rates and the huge number removed AND an independent flyover determined less than 300 animals total (even with the small number released after).
Are the horses and burros that easy to spot or is the outcome pre-determined?
Last year, several roundups were suspended or cancelled because the pre-round up flyovers did not find the vast populations estimated. The tools utilized by the Bureau to ‘manage’ wild horses and burros are so generalized – 20% foaling, doubling their population every four years, etc. – they are virtually useless. And the use of the census flyover is, to put it mildly, suspect.
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You are correct on all points Lisa, and let me add a tidbit of info about the Twin Peaks post-capture fly over by BLM. Their official reports state that they left 793 horses and 160 burros on the HMA … but … one of the BLM persons that was in the plane doing the counting told me (and told someone else too) that they counted 400 something. Yep … not kidding you at all and although I know he would deny he said it … I can guarantee he did say it.
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the best way to get accurate numbers on the wild horses and burros is not a biased fly-over. send specialists out there on horseback with top of the line camera equipment that are not biased against the horses. i’m talking about ranger-type folks who know how to navigate their habitat.
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Go to this link:
Click to access Rangeland-Report-Wild-Horses-Rock-Springs-FIN.pdf
Read and reread, then save. We are getting it advocates….
Have a great day USDA/DOI/UOH/UH/FB/NCBA…we know you are following, reading, monitoring closely. You all will be undone by your dishonesty, cruelty and (insert whatever you want here)!!!!!
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Agreed; part of a wild horse and burro management program should be ACTUAL monitoring of wild horses and burros.
If the focus of appropriated money was less about roundups and holding facilities and divided equally to include to on-the-range management, I ‘might’ be more inclined to believe that which the Bureau publishes as Gospel.
But since their whole focus seems to be on waiting breathlessly for their turn for the next roundup and all the bells and whistles that entails, I have little interest or belief in their data.
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I ordered a map from BLM Rock Springs showing their mid-April 2010 aerial count map and information. On the top of the map it states 160 Wild Horses were counted on the Little Colorado Management Area and yet using the map I counted only 148 (144 plus 4 outside boundary) and they state 404 Wild Horses were counted on the White Mountain Management Area although I counted only 349 per their map (5 of which were on the border between the districts).
I then contacted BLM Rock Springs again and asked: Why does your stated total not equal the number counted per your map? To take it a step further, the apparent incorrect number counted was then used in the chart on page 3 of the EA.
Their response was that I needed to call (obviously they didn’t want their response in writing!) and they would explain the discrepancies. Someone else called for me and got only the expected BLM BS and not a single clear answer to their obvious and purposefull “error”. Not surprised. Just another example of them being caught in their own web of lies. I suppose this could or should have made their EA null and void?
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Was it a free map or cast anything? How long did it take to get the map….was it after, before or during the roundup?
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Sorry…should read cost…not cast.
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Denise- Map was of April 12, 2010 (White Mountain HMA) and April 14-15, 2010 (Little Colorado HMA) fly-over census. Cost was $5.11 and you can call BLM Rock Springs Field Office @ 307-352-0256 and pay with credit card and they will mail it and you should receive it within a few days. Map is 11′ x 17″ color with dots of sightings and dots have the number of horses sighted at that location. The EA (online) will give you a graph of their supposed population figures (page 10) for 2007 (pre & post gather) and 2010 [this is the one that supposed to match the map but did not] and then their projected census for 2011 … and wait till you see their increases! (April 2010 Little Colorado 160 horses and then July 2011 was 310 horses … which if I remember right made it about 46% increase per year [check this] not to mention some mares were given PZP in 2007 … gimme a break.
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GG…know you are the best (always knew, among others… and trying to educate myself and other advocates) Thanks for the info. .. it was depressing last I checked on FOIA contract info)…another log on the funeral pyre?
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An independent census would help us to stop BLM Now. I know we do not have the money. Frustrating to know that this alone could be used in court to end roundups… I am so glad this conversation is going on… yes, people are finally getting it. But the money to do the census still eludes us. This drives me crazy! All those taken these past two years could have remained if we could have done more! Why has this not been a priority?
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Mar – Agree.
Lots more non-biased census and observation needs to be done. If any of us can go out and observe and document our observations and share them … please do it. After last years Twin Peaks round-up a private aerial census was done by Craig Downer – a person that has MUCH knowledge and experience with the range as well as the entire WH&B issue plus fly-over census experience and the research and data was scientifically reviewed and was accurate. (Keep in mind that BLM BS states they left almost 1000 WH&B out there.) Although only seven (7) horses and zero (0) burros were observed, the complete report, using standard and scientifically accepted census methodology, estimated the entire HMA to have only 265 wild horses. “The line transects population survey estimates only 265 wild horses remain in the Twin Peaks HMA.” And what did BLM say to that? We are right and you are wrong…. in other words they don’t care about science or the law or accuracy or justice and they especially don’t care about the animals.
http://horsebackmagazine.com/hb/archives/4046
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Everything in DOD has to have justification through end users requirement to and thru justification for funding thru every step of the Fed budget process…includes a ton of science and proposals plus evaluation.
For some reason, DOI/USDA doesn’t have to be held to the same standard….could it be because we are talking about ANIMALS or plants?
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I am somewhat new to YouTube. Who flags?
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Louie – this is from YouTube’s “Community Guidelines” page:
http://www.youtube.com/t/community_guidelines
“We Enforce These Guidelines
Okay, this one is more about us than you. YouTube staff review flagged videos 24 hours a day, seven days a week to determine whether they violate our Community Guidelines. When they do, we remove them. Sometimes a video doesn’t violate our Community Guidelines, but may not be appropriate for everyone. These videos may be age-restricted. Accounts are penalized for Community Guidelines violations and serious or repeated violations can lead to account termination. If your account is terminated, you won’t be allowed to create any new accounts. For more information about how the Community Guidelines are enforced and the consequences of violating them, please visit the Help Center.”
Unless someone viewing the video complained, they may have made the determination on their own.
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So that means that someone or several have flagged Laura’s videos? WHO would do that?
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Where have you been, Louie? We have had some discussion of this lately. I would like to think it was BLM but that is not what I believe. There are those whom we have been up against in the ‘advocacy’ who have been acting badly. They are not about the horses but they are about influence and manipulation of the information gathered by Laura Leigh.
Who would do a thing like that? They are acting against advocates so i feel they cannot also Be advocates themselves- although they are very ‘in your face’ people. I see them as the Dark Side and they are helping BLM by undermining our most prolific advocate. They are arrogant and they are wrong in what they have done. Somehow they feel justified. It creeps me out.
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Dear Mar, I think youtube has just given us a gift , now we need to use it where it matters most, for the Wild Mustangs……………
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Well, since I never, EVER indulge in conspiracy theories, who do you suppose would NOT want Laura’s unedited and unretouched, action-as-it-happens video of an exhausted and traumatized SINGLE horse that the damn pilot simply could NOT just let that one damn horse go getting goosed by a helicopter skid less than 6 feet off the ground?
(Given that most horse rumps are about about 5 to 6 feet high… could that be an FCC violation??)
Hmmm… the possiblities are… not that many ‘who’s’.
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We are pretty sure of the ‘who’ but the why is something that is hard to fathom. My take; a personal grudge over nothing that should have come to this. This tape had already gone on CNN so it was a nasty gesture which does seem to have backfired on the person. Now LL has a video that has been tagged ‘restricted’ because of inhumane content!!!!
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I asked the BLM several times this year, why, after removing over 10,000 mustangs last fiscal year, the official number of wild horses on the range barely moved from February of 2010 to February of 2011. No response from them, as usual, only a reference to their handbook on methods used to count wild horse numbers.
BTW, on the Triple B roundup, for nearly two week only the number gathered was listed but not a detail count of studs, mares and foals. Sometimes the number shipped includes the detail count of stud, mare and foal count and sometimes it doesn’t. They are making it very hard to determine the percentage of foals in this roundup and when I see a chart like the one above (thank you Bonnie) I know why.
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Actually, the number has not changed since at least 2009 after removals of 10,000, 11,000 and 12,000 horses. I often ask Tom Gorey about this. He stands by the 38,500 figure and will not budge. Let’s see what number he says next year. It will be 38,500 and 36,000 horses in holding. Neither figure ever moves up or down.
The BLM states their goal for healthy range management is 26,000 horses. They have achieved this number, most likely a few years ago, but if they never adjust the 38,500 so they can keep rounding up forever. Convenient, isn’t it? Can you imagine knowingly providing your boss with erroneous figures every year? You’d be out of a job. Tom probably got a raise. And in this case their boss is the American people.
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That 38,000 number includes both horses and burros but even with that, the roundups would seem to be a colossal failure as the more they roundup, the number stays the same. I wonder if anyone in the BLM has noticed that, to those who are watching, all the money they have spend seems to have yielded no results? Maybe they think we can’t count either?
Next FY they say they plan to remove 7600. We’ll see.
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Lisa, the number of burros at this point is so inconsequential, that they honestly don’t even have to count them anymore. Estimates are around 2000 wild burros left. They should not be rounding up one more burro, period. They are obviously not overpopulated and obviously not the cause of any range destruction of any concern at this point. In fact, they should probably be on the endangered list instead.
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What gets me is that this is a government agency. The bean counters keep track of all expenditures. So they must know the amount of horses in holding and how much they are paying ranchers for holding. I don’t believe for 1 minute that they don’t know the true numbers of horses out on the range or in holding. And I don’t understand how they can get away with such lies.
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OK Mar, I understand now. Laura’s video made it to CNN. Have you all seen this?
Issues with Jane-Velez Mitchell
https://www.savingamericasmustangs.org/news_and_events/article/issues_with_jane-velez_mitchell_will_government_end_wild_horse_roundups/
Will Government end Wild Horse Roundups?
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Wow, Louie!! I think this is the reason this was complained about. It made it to CNN/HNN!!! Jane was so much better and makes the story clear this time. No screaming!! She lets Madeleine talk, at least until the end. What day did this air? I think you told me amid other things and I missed it. Thanks much!
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The date on the video is August 22.
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OMG !!! WHAT stupidity, how can you use the exact people who would gain from fudging numbers in a count???????? It Stands to reason and good commonsense only an unbiased counting by an agency who has nothing to gain either way !!!!!! should be doing the counting……………………………….. What the heck is wrong with these people??????????
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Lives of Our Mustangs should not depend on a stack deck………….
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The BLM will only be satiated when the actual head count is zero, of course, at that point they may just adjust their numbers to reflect the 26,000 or so that they say they need to get to. It’s so disgusting. So corrupt. So sad. Such a waste. I give you guys in there fighting the good fight ten tons of credit. Bless your hearts. I’ll be praying for a good outcome and not just more of the same. How do they stand themselves? Seriously…
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I got my newsletter from the Center for Biological Diversity for this week, which is actually a week after this post.
In it is a discussion of a water pipeline that is proposed to deliver water from Eastern Nevada to the Las Vegas area. The Center is opposing this plan.
Is anyone following this issue? There is a link at the Center site called Grazing. The Center is suing the government to force the BLM to raise the public lands grazing fees to where they are more competitive with private lands fees which it estimated to be $11.00 and some change. However, at the end of the article, it was stated that the Obama administration announced earlier this year that it is refusing to raise the fees.
More taking care of he who must not be named in the upper chamber.
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There is some expectation that the BLM knows what it is spending.
However, I viewed videotape of a Congressional hearing regarding the BLM’s budget for next year. When the BLM Director was acted how much the BLM spent in 2010 paying plaintiffs who had won their law suits against the BLM, he replied that he did not know. The Congressman who asked the question was incredulous. Nonetheless, that was Mr. Abbey’s contention, and by golly, he stuck to it.
I can not find a single thing that this agency is doing to a standard that is even minimally acceptable. There is nothing professional or systematic about its work. This does not mean that there are not a few fine people working within the organization, but the organization itself is broken. It is an artifact, an ananchronism.
We can no longer afford to have this albatross around our collective necks and around the necks of our horses.
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Wonderfully written Hoofhugs, the question is how do we get rid of this Agency of Horror ………………. They are exactly what you said an albatross in all ways , there isnt one thing commendable about anything they do, or for that matter any one of them, they create unbearable horror for the Wild Mustangs all needlessly…………..Waste money constantly , they are defunct, and all at the expense of Our Precious Mustangs lives………..
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As always it is about greed. Slaughter is about greed. The total decimation of our Wild Mustangs is about greed. Some folks in DC need to be held accountable for allowing our tax dollars to be wasted on what nature, with little help, will do on it’s own. Personally, I’d like to see every last employee of BLM charged with a felony fraud and embezzlement. Because in reality that is exactly what is happening. They are embezzling tax payers funds for the sole purpose of lining pockets. Non of this is in the benefit of the horse or the tax payer.
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