Information supplied by The Cloud Foundation
Obama’s BLM Retaliates Against Cloud Foundation for Litigation
Cloud behind BLM bars in 2009 ~ photo by Terry Fitch
BILLINGS, Mont. (Dec. 16, 2011) – The Montana Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Billings Field Office issued a Preliminary Environment Assessment outlining plans to strip at least half of the young wild horses from the Pryor Mountains in 2012. The BLM preferred alternative would result in a loss of 20% of the herd and 50% of the young horses, ages one-three, in order to reach their Appropriate Management Level (AML) of 90-120 set in the Herd Management Area Plan (HMAP) of 2009.
The Cloud Foundation (TCF) immediately brought suit against the BLM in 2009, challenging the AML of 90-120 horses, asserting that this low population would damage the genetic diversity of the herd and put them at risk of inbreeding and eventual die-off.
“The Pryor Wild Horse Herd has never been managed at the levels set in this recent HMAP,” states Ginger Kathrens, Executive Director of TCF. “In fact, Sandra Brooks, BLM Field Manager, from 1995 to 2008 stated that the herd ‘has been managed at dangerously low levels.’ She was referring to populations of 140 to 210 horses in the 1990s and 2000s. The genetic viability of this herd—their very survival—is at stake if BLM carries out this plan.”
Litigation brought by TCF also challenges the herd boundaries. Judge Gwin ruled that the Custer National Forest (FS) could be added as a defendant in the Foundation suit when the FS issued plans in the summer of 2010 to construct a two mile-long, buck and pole fence on the border between the BLM and FS lands atop East Pryor Mountain. The fence was completed in October of 2010 and, for the first time in the over 200 year documented history of the herd, wild horses were denied access to their late summer and fall meadows atop the mountain.
“BLM seems oblivious to the fact that a significant number of horses died over the past year, thus negating the need for their thoughtless proposal to remove more horses,” states Kathrens. “Early this summer we found the bodies of Cabaret’s band of wild horses in the melting snow, about 100 yards below the fence that kept them from accessing their normal migratory route to their home in the Forest Service.”
If the BLM undertakes their planned 2012 removals, the bait and possibly water trapping of horses could begin this winter and continue throughout the year. Written comments from the public must be postmarked no later than January 6, 2012. Emails will not be accepted. Comments should be sent to Jim Sparks, Field Manager, BLM Billings Field Office, 5001 Southgate Drive, Billings, MT 59101.
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Categories: Horse News, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
This is such a shame! What do callous uncaring people know…absolutely nothing and shouldn’t be in this business.
The blm is a shameful sham and the government should be ashamed for allowing all this to happen!
Makes me ashamed.
This wild beautiful man should be free under the laws that made it so!
Shame on the whole mess!
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I hope our written letters will have more affect than our E-mails have.
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Sickening!
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Where the H*LL does BLM come off saying emails won’t be accepted??????
That leaves faxes and postcards??????
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I feel so sorry for ALL the horses, but to take some of Cloud’s herd is absurd! Now I really feel sorry for Ginger, she didn’t need this. Public outcry should really be first priority in this new development.
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This is another despicable , disgusting move by the BLM?????
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Just when you think they’ve stooped low enough, they find yet another depth below hell….
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I SWEAR that if they do this, I will take off work and use my vacation time to be at that round up and protest long and hard. I will not sit back for this one!!!!And I hope I will be bringing a lot of my friends too!!
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Bravo !!! LynnIl, I hope i can do the same !!!! I am from Ohio ………………….
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Arlene, please Email me at bkwarner@windstream.net
I am in KY and I had your phone no. but some of my dogs got hold of some of my papers and tore them up with your phone no. on them. One of the cats knocked my papers off of a table so it helped the dogs. This is the REAL Animal House. LOL!
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You know they are just doing this because the Cloud Foundation just filed another lawsuit against them. We can not let them get away with this. Revenge is not what the government is suppose to do to its citizens or its protected wild life, or in this case wild horses and burros. Remove the darn cattle and let the horses be. 8 million cattle to 12,000 horses is just plain crazy.
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Words cannot even begin to explain the rage within me!!
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Dear Marge now we only need about 50 thousand more people to get really as mad and furious as we are !!!!!!
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The land controlled by the BLM belongs to all of us. Do ranchers in Montana use that land for their cattle? If they do, the fees are very low. There is enough room there for these herds. Also the range horses look in better shape than a lot of horses that are privately owned. There is certainly a problem with what is right here.
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http://www.lasvegascitylife.com/articles/2011/12/15/opinion/knappster/iq_49594018.txt#blogcomments
Knappster
POST A COMMENT
The shame of the BLM
“Right now, in an area of Northern Nevada known as the Calico complex, wild horses are running in terror across some of the roughest terrain in the West. Calico was the site of the bloodiest mustang roundup in history. Two years ago, I was there for part of it. BLM ignored all warnings about conducting a huge roundup in the middle of winter. The contractors used helicopters to frighten the mustangs, running them for miles across snow-covered ground, their hooves smashing onto sharp volcanic rocks. Dozens died on the spot. Some pregnant mares aborted their young. Others died in holding pens. A few literally ran their feet off — their hooves were worn to bloody stumps, so they collapsed and died.”
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Call Andrew Cohen from The Atlantic and or National Public Radio.
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Back a few months ago when I called BLM and asked about their statement of a roundup of Clouds herd I was told Cloud was just a movie horse. A poster boy! Said all those horses are used to people. I asked about helicopters for the roundup and he said it has not been determined yet. I know this is a clean blog but I am pissed! BLM if you are reading this I am not done! Also if you posted the S#$% on my facebook wall better stop it. I consider it harrassment!
Kiss my A##. I will make BLM a life long project of exposing your lies! It wasn’t too many years ago that the BLM was caught in lies and some fired! You are going after Cloud and his heard out of spite! Back off!
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Greed and cronyism. When you have big donors like Fortress Financial (aka Big Sky Uranium) padding the pockets of Obama and Max Baucus, it becomes too bad for our Wild Ones. They want their uranium and rare earth metals, and nothing is going to get in their way. It’s sad and disgusting. One has to wonder, do they get kickbacks from the Dept of Energy like the solar companies do? Letters should be sent to Obama, Baucus, Salazar, AND the BLM. If they know we are aware of their shenanigans, perhaps they may back down.
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The scheme of powersick domination. They do just because they can.
This is not about the horses anymore. It is about all of us becoming victims of their corruption. Government is the single largest source of violence and suffering, period. It is time for a revolution, America does need a serious wake up call. Corporations and the Elite use us like braindead puppets in their sick agendas. We have sent thousands of letters – yet this democracy is crumbling into a complete tyranny.
I believe in :” I keep my guns, freedom and money, you can keep the CHANGE”. Revolution. People need to wake the heck up.
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http://www.recordcourier.com/article/20111215/NEWS/111219941/1062&ParentProfile=1049
Group sues to stop BLM roundups
Staff Reports
On the eve of the 40th anniversary of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, a coalition of conservation and horse advocacy organizations on Wednesday filed a federal lawsuit to stop the Bureau of Land Management from proceeding with a massive wild horse roundup plan in central Nevada.
In U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the Western Watersheds Project, the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, and The Cloud Foundation, seek to block the BLM from implementing a precedent-setting plan to castrate hundreds of wild stallions in eastern Nevada’s Pancake Complex, as well as to extirpate all wild horses from the Jake’s Wash Herd Management Area, which lies within the Complex.
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All this talk about wasteful spending on the government level maybe someone should take a hard look at the BLM… This needs to stop, these politicians and other deep pocket people are killing off our wild animals with every excuss they can.
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UNREALLLLLLL…Why the hell are there not tv crews up there capturing these atrocities? I guess none of them have the guts to report the the real truth. And to confront those who are protecting the Wild Horses and Burros. Our country is being sold out from under us. I don’t understand the deal with Ted Turner, isn’t he on the BOD of Madeliene’s group? I am not from your area, does anyone come out from the local news channels? Are they too afraid of the back lash that might arise as a result of this? I find it interesting that they will not take emails as this seems to be the mode that all businesses use. They will do anything to quiet our voices. I still say, let someone fly over with another aircraft and document the attrocities from the air. Our news channels do it all the time. Its digusting and inhumane that they would close off their natural routes..I can’t even find any words to describe them. I can’t even imagine what will happen if and when that pipeline comes through. Its too bad that we couldn’t start a class action suit against the BLM and have it filed by those of us living in other areas of the country. After all the Wild Horses and Burros belong to us all regardless of what the BLM THINKS. We have a stake in it the same as they do, but we are there to protect them not kill them. We sure need a miracle here for the sake of horse and burros.
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Has anyone seen the recent comments by the Blood Queen on the Horse.com? Under Secretary Dr. Elisabeth Hagen has made one comment and the Blood Queen has made this statement: Prospective plant developers have already met with USDA officials about plant construction and operation regulations. “We met with (USDA Food Safety and Inspection Services) Deputy Administrator Phil Derfler and others from the agency when we were in Washington, D.C. and were assured by them that when we had plants that fulfilled the requirements, that there would be no obstruction and that all we had to do was request an inspector. How soon a horse processing plant might go online is uncertain, Wallis said. I would certainly say that someone is not telling the truth. And what is meant by a horse processing plant online? Does
anyone have a clue? Is this woman crazy? We had over 8,000 signatures who wanted the bill passed..
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And I bet that while the USDA budget has been cut and the inspection of HCHS has not been funded, the Ag committee in the House and Senate will find emergency funds for the inspections and/or Secretary Vilsack has a pile of “discretionary” funds he can use to start inspections again.
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like I have said in the past they need to use the money they are wasting on trapping and holding and feed it back into Medicare and S.S. We live in a government that is oblivious to the people and wants and needs! Just think how much money they would havt to rebuild necessities like those i mentioned
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We all must sign anything that comes along that supports Mustangs and Burros. It would be wonderful if someone actually read our petitions and didn’t let big money do the talking and acting. Power and Greed has taken over. We must vote these people out!!!! You local and state representatives need to be accountable for their actions or nonaction.
Why doesn’t the BLM just let the sanctuaries, privately funded, take over the responsiblilties of our Mustangs and Burros? It just seems that everyone that is on the fast track to extinction. History means nothing to these people.
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Reblogged this on I'm on the pursuit of happiness and commented:
Who doesn’t love when our government wastes millions of tax dollars and falls to petty, childish actions just out of spite? THEY ARE THE WORST AND I CANNOT BELIEVE THEY CONTINUE TO ACT SO MALICIOUS TOWARDS THE PUBLIC AND PRO-HORSE ADVOCATES.
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They need to stop the ruthlessly outrageous slaughtering of horses! Unbelievable obama legalized it for Americans to KILL them for sick nasty human consumption! They’re pets, not food!!!!
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This is where many of us came into this battle, in 2009. BLM rounded up Cloud’s Herd on Labor Day week-end. They were, more than likely, paid overtime for that. There were no government offices open to take complaints. Here is a letter that was printed on Cloud’s blog:
http://thecloudfoundation.wordpress.com/2009/09/page/3/
Letter to the Editor
September 15, 2009
This is one awesome letter — please everyone, write letters to your editors!
The Pryor Wild Horse roundup was quite alarming and troublesome. It was horrible to see old wild horses and their complete bands taken from their home, like Conquistador, Grumpy, Trigger, Shane and others vital to this historic and unique Spanish herd’s blood line. It was heart wrenching to see Floyd, an exceptionally rare blue roan, who was beaten in the face, and who should be returned to the Pryor Mountains to live forever. Then, there was Cloud, the stallion made famous by a PBS series, so courageously snaking his mares backwards into the corrals trying to rescue his family, so sadly torn from him. But, who are these wild horses really? A little fact not well known is that the Pryor Wild Mustangs truly belong to the Crow Tribe. They are their “Crow Ponies”. They always have been. They always will be, and the Crows deserve to be heard with regard to these majestic famous wild horses that are a stunning part of their cultural heritage. In truth, the BLM should listen to the Crows, for there is no one more deserving than they, who courageously fought to save their own lands, and who rode these spectacular Crow Ponies into many hunting quests and many battles. Truly, it can be said that the ancestry of the Apsáalooke Nation lives on, deep in the hearts of their very own “Crow Ponies”.
Carl & Laura
Billings, Montana
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