HorseTalk, October 10, 2009
A Leopard CAN Change Her Spots!
Madeleine Pickens at the 2011International Equine Conference ~ photo by Terry Fitch of Wild Horse Freedom Federation
Madeline Pickens, who has been promoting the set-up of a million-acre wildlife reserve to rehome captive wild horses, has praised the latest plan on the table to manage mustangs.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced wide-ranging proposals this week in which horses taken from the Western rangelands would be relocated to new preservation areas further east, utilising better quality grassland.
His plan includes the aggressive use of reproduction controls to manage numbers. Salazar hoped the new herd areas would provide tourism opportunities for nearby communities.
“I am delighted that the Secretary of the Interior has announced reforms for the Wild Horse and Burro Programme,” said Pickens, the wife of Texas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens.
“Much of what the Secretary said echoes what I have said over the past 18 months.”
“Those concerns about the existing Bureau of Land Management programme led me to seek a wild horse sanctuary/visitor centre that would be available to the American people.
“It is gratifying to know that the effort I have made in the past year and a half to offer this project for the sake of the wild horses and the American people has borne fruit in Washington.
“I respect Secretary Salazar’s forthright candour in calling attention to this serious problem, which has been ignored by the bureau for many years under previous administration.
Pickens said she would support Secretary Salazar’s efforts, and would gladly compete to offer the wild horse sanctuary that she has planned to the bureau as one of the facilities proposed by Secretary Salazar.
Pickens is behind the National Wild Horse Foundation, which has been promoting her plan to provide a permanent home for captive wild horses, which now stand at 32,000 – just 1000 fewer than the number that still roam wild across the western rangelands.
Under the so-called Pickens Plan, the foundation would buy and operate a ranch for the sole purpose of providing proper care and a perpetual home for the horses.
It would have year-long grazing capability, federal and private land for management flexibility, sufficient private land for hay production for at least 20,000 head during tough times – drought, deep snow, and rangeland fire – adequate water and sufficient size to support the horses.
The foundation would enter into a contract or co-operative agreement with the Secretary of Interior to relocate the 9000 wild horses currently held in short-term holding corrals to the ranch, and to accept future non-adopted wild horses.
The total population of horses on the ranch would be determined by its carrying capacity, but is anticipated to be 20,000 to 30,000 head. The horse population would be managed as a non reproductive herd.
The foundation would be able to take an extra 2000 to 4000 animals annually from future government wild-horse gathers.
Pickens believes her plan has the potential to save the bureau and taxpayers tens of millions of dollars annually.
Related Articles
- Salazar’s Ties to Wild Horse Slaughter Buyer Questioned (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Salazar threatens reporter after wild-horse questions (horsetalk.co.nz)
- Obama’s Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar Threatens Violence over Wild Horse Slaughter Story (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Public Funds to Pay for Pickens Desert Equine Disneyland Study (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Please Oppose Blm’s Devastating Plan for Wyoming’s Red Desert Wild Horses (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Another Piece of the Pickens Wild Horse Eco-resort (rtfitchauthor.com)
- DoI Secretary Salazar Punches Wild Horse in the Mouth (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Wild Horse Czar Salazar Says He Regrets Threat to “Punch Out” Reporter (rtfitchauthor.com)
Categories: Horse News, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Propaganda from the Mustang Tombstone, yesterday:
“Tomorrow, Madeleine Pickens will be a guest on HLN’s Jane Velez Mitchell Show. She will be on around 1pm PST, 4pm EST. Please record the show or tune in live. They will be discussing the Nevada roundup and the recent petition circulating to fire current United States Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar.”
http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=yjwty5eab&v=001fgXe_62hM0lq3zQgL2-rXuOwZz0MQR31qkuQfMszzaga3bKtrKEca5u7K4fMXPaAksX3oO7IiTZeKb7mwuH-nooAmEKLh636x1xonRuJD7k%3D
LikeLike
Doesn’t she care that these non-producing herds will soon die out and that this is more managing for extinction of our wild horses that have lost their freedom ?! 32,000 is a wrong number also. About 50,000 are in LTH and STH and only approximately15,000 still free . Some people will do anything to get their own way it seems, and wild horses will be removed from an HMA for her so-called eco-sanctuary.
LikeLike
Sounds like a big petting zoo, where eventually they will die off without reproducing. A sad end for these noble animals.
LikeLike
She’s 65. Who will outlive whom? And then there is the water.
LikeLike
i concur with the concerns about having the sanctuary be a non-reproducing herd. that means no more little foals suckling at their mommies…no mom stallion fights for mares, no more bachelor groups. i don’t understand. this is abnormal and they’ll just watch each other die and eventually die off! what is she thinking? our wild ones are going extinct and she’s helping. they need to stop the roundups and let her herd be reproducing or it’s not a good plan at all.
LikeLike
£÷y. We-ee-ell…it does dEClare: Our ReACTions are wanted! ! “Tell us what yoU*Think of the interview by
POSTing your questions & comments on OUR social media pages:
»Twitter
»Facebook ” ….
—»so GO 4 It ?! £÷O
And: …any0ne wh0 can USE these* 5 Words – bumping up aGainst 1 an0ther, in a sentence
…”respect Secretary Salazar’s forthright candour”…
deServes to HEAR yoUrs !?
{ jUmPiN’ thRouGh VolCaniC rOcKs «-» DISguised_as__Tiles_…}
Faceb00k:
http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001JO7AtIVSWrhHZ9YeoOYG49divX0-7Xyde3Qeypda4urz1Lec5Q59FtIX0pIzfdjlxBZx_dlhEMV2S4vhUUKjyul1bPL896SGadJURmZVsVU151FXPGOejaORis1JK-phNFdD76MsjOM=
;D
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
LikeLike
This ALL Stinks to High Heaven !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I Smell a Huge Blonde RAT !!!!
LikeLike
Sets herself up as a caring Saint Maddy , then turns into the Devil herself !!!!!
LikeLike
When someone who supposedly supports wild horses and burros contributes to the campaign on one of the wild horse extinction plan masterminds, and ends up with a bunch teepees and a genetically non-viable herd (unless her friends are going to bring in the horse cloners), there is something very wrong with this picture.
LikeLike
Extremely wrong !!!!! Was she bought off
LikeLike
As Madeleine and T.Boone are divorcing, as announced on the Huffington Post on Oct. 2 (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/02/t-boone-pickens-divorce-o_n_1933991.html), perhaps she has set her sights on her next big money oil man.
LikeLike
Maybe the the Horse thief!!!!!
LikeLike
Several years ago Pickens was to get 1,000 mustangs from the BLM , as a trial This never happened. At that time Don Glenn said this was a new plan from the BLM. She didn’t get the 1,000 and now a new repor( taking a year or more) will be done to determine how her ranch will be used. Several years have passed and thousands of mustangs have been rounded up. How can we believe Salazar will ever do anything for the mustangs . ( no matter how weak the plan) Salazar is doing what he was appointed to do. The new appointee will be no better, is my opinion. Policy comes from the White House. We have just voted in the same policy. Wild Mustang is only the name, the real thing will be gone. The new appointee will then get busy with the wolves.
LikeLike
So, apparently, there’s absolutely nothing we can do to stop any of this insanity. Because nothing we do is helping, or has helped these beautiful, innocent wild equines. I really wanted to believe that Madeleine had all the right motives & intentions, & maybe she thinks she is at least “saving” the ones she can, even though none will be able to reproduce & carry on. This entire thing is a huge let-down for all. I still don’t understand how such a small, reproducing wild population, of ANY species, can not just be left alone, & protected from extinction! There aren’t that many wild, free-roaming herds or bands left! None of this makes sense. So, basically, our “wonderful” (NOT!!!!) government is stealing from the future, right in front of our eyes, & laughing the whole time. Just because “they” do not appreciate or like these wild equines, does NOT mean future generations will feel the same! But our children & their children, & all other future generations won’t be able to do anything about it, because at this rate, none will be left, because our government will have permanently stolen & removed all from the wild, or killed them all off. These wild horses & burros belong to no one, yet, to ALL of us, not just our ignorant, assinine government to destroy at will! This makes me sick to my stomach, & I have lost all faith in humanity. Apparently, all of us, the “80%”, really don’t matter, we don’t mean a thing to this quickly becoming socialist/communistic government of ours. If “80%” can’t stop this, nothing can, when they take away the God given freedom of these native (whether one argues that they’re re-introduced, or not) wild animals, they are also taking away OUR freedoms!!
LikeLike
You are right Valerie. It seems like the ones with the big money have the power. The middle class honest working girl/guy just doesn’t matter. If some wild horse lovers should show up toting guns to protect the herds maybe than our All Mighty Government would finally listen.
LikeLike
Amen to that, Patty Hamilton! I’d be more than willing to learn how to handle & shoot a gun to protect something or someone I love, in this case, OUR AMERICAN WILD HORSES & BURROS!!!!
LikeLike
It’s all about money–always has been, always will be. Wild horses don’t make money, therefore they must go–so says the money-oriented government . It would have made no difference if the election had gone to Romney–except that he would have speeded things up as far as eliminating federal public lands (including the wild horses on them) and turning them over to the states to do with as they saw fit–and what states would have stepped up to preserve wild horses? None–and for the same reason–there’s no financial benefit compared to what raping the land with oil rigs, pipelines, mines, and wind farms. To believe that this would have been any better under Romney is blatantly naive and beyond ludicrous. It is what it is, and it’s all about money, regardless of who is in the White House. Are we surprised?
LikeLike
Its sounds like a good plan…if Salazar keeps his word…IF!!
LikeLike
YIKES!!!!!!
So Pickens praises Slaughterczar because it helps HER VISION???????????
Good God….what is wrong with humans?!?!
LikeLike
It is NOT a good plan!!! It removes horses from the range, sterilizes them and lets them die in a wild horse petting zoo–what good is that? Horses removed + horses sterilized= NO WILD HORSES. Read again!! This is NOT a good plan–it is an abomination!!!!
LikeLike
YEP!!!
Part of the government plan to permanently remove…and Pickens is kissing butt in the process.
LikeLike
This sure sounds like Joni Mitchell’s “Paved paradise” song. What will the admission be to see our wild horses? You know this museum won’t last longer than 38 years before they are all gone.
LikeLike
Excellent reference… so true.
LikeLike
Please take note of this somewhat off subject alert I received from ;
Tim Wildmon, President
American Family Association. The United States Senate will vote next Tuesday on a United Nations treaty that represents a grave threat to U.S. sovereignty, parental rights and the well-being of disabled children.
Please use the link provided to Urge your senator to vote “No” on dangerous UN treaty on disabled persons .. https://www.votervoice.net/AFA/Campaigns/30030/Respond
LikeLike
@Debra ~~$700 per night. Here’s my comment to MP :If Madeleine gets her Mustang Monument Eco-Sanctuary, how is she going to square it with the advocates that THREE wild herds will be removed from that range–and her horses (all non-reproducing geldings–no stallions,, or mares or foals) will be brought in. Can’t she “adopt” the wild horses already on that range? I don’t see the sense in removing wild horses (the real thing) for geldings–
LikeLike
thank you Ann! I am in total agreement with you! I called FOUL on MP over two years ago… to me all she is doing is hiding her and her investors (the Dallas Cowboy managment’s) money in a 501, then she is going to try and add to it by having people donate to the ’cause’.
If she was sincere about it, why wasn’t she at the Fallon NV auction the last couple of months saving horses picked off the Virginia highlands that were being offered up for slaughter?!
Hello… those ranchers in Elko that don’t want anything to do with her, maybe set in the ways and I don’t agree much with any of them on anything….except this…she is NOT an advocate, she’s looking for a way to make MORE money…and tax payer dollars are never ending!
LikeLike
Sterile wild horses will not act as they do in the wild, no testosterone, no herd cohesion; just a new ploy for making money from the blood of America’s wild horses. These horses occupied the lands long before the “developed” world even knew the earth wasn’t flat, we owe it them to protect them in their “reservation”; but then again, we follow the same path as we do for all concurred species, make money through exploitation or exterminate. Why can’t we as a people do the right thing for once? It is a sad heritage we now leave, I am so hurt by our inhumanity. This ploy by Mrs Pickens doesn’t fool those of us who really know the reality, and she had such a chance to do the right thing. One major fight is over water, a horse requires about 10 gallons of water per day and a cow requires about 20gallons per day. In a WY range where the intent is to zero out the wild horses, there are about 1,500 wild horses (5.2 million gallons per year); 15,000 cows and 75,000 sheep (about 57 million gallons of water if the cows are only there 6 months), so the real fight is over the water holes and we haven’t even considered oil and gas drilling requirements, mmm, that’s more water for the Pickens Plan, drilling for natural gas takes a lot of water. There are lots of alternatives being hidden by “so called good intentions”. We need to speak up for our wild horses, her Eco Resort in the numbers discussed will have everyone up in arms as the requirement for water will alter regional water availability for non producing agriculture, it’s destined to fail by design, but perhaps that is the design, the horses are off the reservation, only thing left is unthinkable, but its the plan.
LikeLike
$700 per night to stay @ the econsanctuary will definitely restrict the ‘average’ taxpayer to visit….kind of ironic, the one’s that could afford to go are the very same one’s that want to our wild horses extinct – the greedy politicians. Considering their sadomachochistic ways; I’m sure they would take delight watching the horses die off and revel in their own part of this “Obamadation” against our wild ones. More shame on our mankind……
LikeLike
The only thing this proves, or rather, confirms, is what we already knew, just how STUPID our government is, & all those people that make up our government are! Wild equines CAN “make money”! Perhaps if they spent as much time, energy & money to promote tourism to see, in person, up close & personal, or at least as close as the horses & burros would allow, these amazing, breathtakingly beautiful, wild & free equines, as they do on hunting them down, ruthlessly chasing them with helicopters, scaring many to their deaths, castrating them, then throwing them into short or long term holding facilities, they would then realize their importance, value & worth to this “great country” of ours! People all over the country & the world would pay plenty to see these creatures, but NOT living on some “fake sanctuary”! I know of at least 3 wild horse sanctuaries that ARE actually real, wild sanctuaries, meaning they may somewhat “control” their wild populations with birth control, but, they DO allow breeding & “controlled” reproduction. They even allow adoptions. I remember, long ago, when I was a young girl, being told that the BLM only “occasionally” did round-ups, only when “necessary”, & adopted out the ones that were captured & were young enough to be trained, the rest of the herds/bands, were set free. Then, Wild Horse Annie came around, & the ugly truth smacked us right in our faces! Horses being roped & tied to tires to drag around, then the imperfect ones being sold to slaughter for dog food!! The American government is a farce, always was, always will be! This crap has haunted me since childhood, & I will continue to help spread the truth to anyone I meet, whether they choose to listen, believe, act on, or, not.
LikeLike
It seems this is a battle on a spiritual front. When nothing works and no one is who they pretend to be, it is time to bend the knee to the One who specializes in miracles! I feel like I am fighting shadows. I will continue in my capacity but we need a miracle!
LikeLike
“Non producing” is the key word, folks! This is so wrong. Yes, they will live out their lives, but then what…the end of our wild mustangs! In the meantime, these beautiful and majestic creatures will not be living the freedom of family bands and all that comes with, being in the wild. Looks like we have nothing more than the devil working with the devil. God help these wonderful creatures who harm no one and who provide us with so much beauty.
LikeLike
Jane should ask MP where the 33,000 wild horses are from 2008..with that fiasco me and a few others smelt a rat….they went to slaughter, she knows it and kept her mouth shut. It’s a horror what’s happening to them, to me it was a 10 year plan that burns and ried did and our government is going along with it. We protested, with 150 people, there is thousands of us, but we could not get it together for them, now 4 years have gone by and thousands more wild have been tossed off there land, 😦 heartbroken and furious
LikeLike
dear Lin , know how you feel !!!!!! I have been furious and heartbroken for years, It is time to take the Bull by his horns !! Isnt it
LikeLike