By MARTIN GRIFFITH as it appears in the Las Vegas Review-Journal
Private Cattle Denude Range While Native Wild Horses Pay the Price
BLM Bird of Prey ~ by Terry Fitch of Wild Horse Freedom Federation
RENO – Federal land managers have concluded a roundup of wild horses in Northern Nevada with the removal of some 200 more of the animals from the range than planned, citing the their poor body condition and risk of starvation, but the move drew criticism from a wild horse support group.
Nearly 800 horses were removed from the Diamond Complex north of Eureka during the just more than two-week roundup that ended Wednesday, U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials said.
The agency was forced to exceed the original target of about 600 horses because of reduced forage due to last year’s drought as well as stress from recent snowstorms, officials said.
Doug Furtado, manager of the BLM’s Battle Mountain District, said last month’s string of storms forced horses off the mountain and into lower areas that lacked forage.
“Unfortunately, based on the overall poor body condition and lack of forage, and understanding that more than six weeks of winter remains, we decided to remove horses that were struggling or suffering,” he said. “We did the right thing for the well-being of the horses.”
But Anne Novak of California-based Protect Mustangs was skeptical. “They always have some excuse to take wild horses off the range – to make it easier to industrialize our open space,” she said. “They have already taken way too many off the range. If we don’t have enough wild horses on the range we risk losing herds.”
BLM officials said the roundup was necessary to prevent further deterioration of the range and to protect an “overpopulation” of horses that face limited forage and water.
Horses removed from the range are transported to BLM facilities in Nevada and Utah, where they are prepared for adoption or transferred to long-term pastures in the Midwest.
About half of the estimated 37,000 horses and burros on federal lands are in Nevada.
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Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
The excessive roundups, never seem to end!!!!! The State of Nevada is brutal, with its treatment of horses, period!!!!!Hopes that there will be moderation with Salazar leaving…
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Reblogged this on Serenity's Musings.
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Pastures aka slaughterhouses! They are killing our wild horses to make sure that all available resources go to cattle. Wild houses are a unique symbol of our past–cattle are not! Boycott Beef and tell your congressmen that this has got to stop!
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They say they round up horses because there are too many. If the horses are poor body weight, let nature take care of it’s self. If these animals are starving, then many would die off naturally and why round them up. I guess chasing them down with helicopters will make them healthier. This “logic” makes absolutely no sense what so ever.
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Good point! there seems to be no one listening tho, so how do we get the message heard?
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We all knew BLM would try to take more. That is their MO. And we know right now they will not return 200 in the spring to a range they said cannot support them because of the drought! They never should have been taken. Their bands are already destroyed! The BLM knows nothing about herd dynamics and has already destroyed any chance for families to be returned.
Horses are wildlife. If you want to supplement some with feed in very bad times, do so; or with water, do so. But allow the weak to die as they are meant to on the range. This constant so called ‘concern’ of BLM of wild horse suffering in the wild (at the hands of nature who has herself made them so strong and adaptable) and needing removal to survive is ridiculous. I see deer and elk who have starved and died over winter each spring. They are called “Winter Kill” and it happens every year. It is natural. Hundreds die in an area. Having lived decades out here in the mountains and deserts I know. Circle of life.
Nearly All of BLM’s removals are illegal. There is no science. Cattle are not included in assessments. They use emergencies to claim more and more and they do not get returned. No return policy.
When ‘advocates’ want to help BLM do Better Round Ups which are all Permanent Removals (and include zeroing out HMAs) and they are not working to stop the roundups or to actually change the overall mismanagement done by BLM from making these illegal decisions to remove, then I say these people are not advocates for the freedom and preservation of wild horses on the range. Why do any of us have to back off and listen to BLM positive talk from people who do not spend a record number of DAYS at roundups, but who go a few days and that is it???? What kind of snake oil are these people selling now? Only people who witness the roundups are allowed to speak about them? When the parties do not even share a common goal I say we all can have our opinions of roundups and the consequences of them free and clear. At least we want to stop all the roundups and begin a new management strategy that has a future. Stop gap strategies that drain the advocacy of money needed to stop the roundups but instead goes to an evasive confidence game run by the least transparent and the least able to work with others (and the most hostile to other legitimate wild horse and burro groups) and the least educated and who have not been gathering any data at all over 3 years (what a sin in itself!!!) or have bullied other observers to stay away? Give us a a break! If the advocacy is split you did it and continue to. Only one person lives off the wild horses and the advocacy exclusively. And that person is a fraud and a liar. Why should any of us listen to the lies that multiply daily? This person is in a competition. Daily; for the most attention and the most money. What about the wild horses and burros? I wish the IRS would audit this fraud and end the division and the nit picking from these ignorant power seekers.
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Mar, you need to voice your concerns with your eloquent way with words at some of these meetings. Maybe send this letter to the new Secretary of the Interior. Please!
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I have spoken at a meeting this past year and a workshop to BLM in Denver. They hear from me. I speak directly to them from here all the time. I do contact BLM often. Thanks!
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Hey ! BLM leave the horses alone.
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That’s bullcrap! Take more horses, just because they are there to take?? Has anyone seen the horses they took? Were they emmaciated? Is the land really that bad? No forage? Maybe the cattle should be taken off that same land so the land can take care of itself. The land won’t heal, especially with cattle on it. You are right, they do not want to listen to anything the citizens of this country have to say. What needs to happen is to get on the inside of the BLM and Dept. of Interior. They actually donot have any jobs that involve ‘animal caretaker’. There are managers, managers, managers, who don’t know how to manage themselves so they think they need to manage the horses. Can you say Agenda 21? Read Wild Horse Conspiracy. It’s all about power, land grab for those that can afford it. There’s going to be a what’s called PPC. Public-Private Corporations. The government is going to partner with private corporations where those corps get more money from the Feds. Public citizen beware. Almost makes me glad I’m old so I do not have to watch Canada, USA and Mexico joining up to be the Americas and then part of the European Union. Those that have, will have more, and those that don’t have, will be the ‘sharecroppers’ the workers for the rich to work and always be dependant on the government. I’m so sorry.
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A couple of things…I was able to obtain a photo of the mare they euthanized for being too far gone. Starvation happens in stages…first the fat, then the muscle is absorbed by the body to try to remain alive. Eventually it gets to vital organs and there is no turning back. The vet made the determination that this was the case. Now whether he was right of wrong I do not know but the photo is quite disturbing. The others are describe as ‘thin’ and I’m expecting more photos from my sources later today or tomorrow. Check Flickr as they might accidentally post some. In any case thin is what I would expect from an animal that lives in such an arid climate with such extremes in weather and temperatures. I don’t believe this to be an adequate excuse for the overage. I’ve also been informed the average distance the animals were chased was 4 miles…that seems to be a long way for horses with compromised body conditions.
Secondly, the local ranchers have ‘voluntarily’ reduced livestock grazing since 2000 because of the number of horses on the range. Unfortunately it needed to be a legal demand by the BLM rather than allowing voluntary cooperation because using the law would take the cattle off the range until the drought was considered over and then another year beyond for the vegetation to rejuvenate. The BLM didn’t want to piss off the ranchers so they asked them to help out and to a certain extent they did but not nearly enough. Now being voluntary they ranchers can move the cattle back on the range whenever their permits allow. Poorly handled by the BLM.
They are calling this a drought related roundup yet isn’t this the area the new Vegas water pipeline will originate?
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Steve – the Vegas pipeline will originate in the Goshute valley. Is that near this HMA?
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They’ll just put more cattle to forage and destroy the land!
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Most of the captives were 3 and 4 on the scale and some were 2s. BLM knows there are rescues who have offered their help to take wild ones who need help rather than have them shot. They will not allow any help from us to reach them.
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The White House claims, we need to raise taxes . However , the BLM continues to roundup horses Wasting tax payer money. If the cattlemen and mining groups paid the going rate on public land leases . the public land would make a profit. these roundups only help the cattle and mining groups . IF these horses are in poor body weight, let them stay on the range….thats called nature. In my opinion the Government steps in only when it makes money for someone.
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The BLM has been making a science project out of Lies and deception for many years they are experts at it…… I wouldnt believe a word they say !!!! Number one Nature handles the Balance she doesnt charge or waste money, # 2 She provides the Mustangs with the tools and resources to survive, BECAUSE she wants them there < simple isnt it!!!!She has reasons for them to be there !!!! It all has to do with thE BALANCE,,,……BLM LEAVE THE MUSTANGS ALONE. You are paid by the American People To PROTECT THE MUSTANGS !!!
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If someone just goes onto the range, but doesn’t do in-depth research of all of the other BLM “uses” in the area (we can’t rely on the BLM to tell us), it’s like having blinders on. You know what you see, but you don’t know all that is happening that you can’t see from your vantage point.
As an example, in the Jackson Mountains, when the BLM rounded up the wild horses because of an “emergency drought,” they had just sold all of the land in the southern portion of the HMA for geothermal leases right before the roundup.
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Most of the advocates are on HMAs when there are no roundups. There is much activity of visiting, taking pictures and even painting the wild bands. There are census done yearly by many local wild horse guardians. HMAs have many visitors and watchdogs who are sharing real information about the wild horses and their habits and range year round. Craig Downer did a really well researched assessment of the Salt River Horses’ habitat in Arizona. This is what we need. When Ginger or Lauren go into the field they tell the story of the experience with great insight and description as well as video and photographs. They watch the horses for hours and they bring back herd dynamics which add up into wild horse behavior. Others do this in Colorado and Oregon. I hope there are others we do not even know about; out there watching the wild ones. And they all do it on their own dime. We have work to do.
Celebrate the wild herds and visit them, learn about them on their HMAs!
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I have re-phrased one of the sentences in the article: Horses removed from the range are transported to BLM facilities where many are eventually sold to kill buyers and then to the dinner plate.
Sorry for being so crude but we know it is true and wish that ALL of the 80% of Americans who are against horse-slaughter would learn the truth and speak up loudly and continually. BLM’s favorite tactic is to ignore us in hopes that we who can see through their corruption will just go away…
We are not going away, BLM!
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I hate to say it but I’m really not surprised.BLM did this last year in the Pryors when they originally said they were going to take 30 horses. After they got approval they bumped it it to 40. No where did they indicate they were after the mare and foals combos. So they got two for the price of one since the six foals they took don’t count.
Perhaps if this new lady is approved by the Senate she will be more horse friendly than the Slaughterczar…I sure hope so.
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Here they go again! So if these horses are so debilitated – how can these dingdongs justify running them for 4 miles – cramming them into corrals with other herds – then cramming them into horse trailers? And THEN to continue to allow cattle grazing on these drought stricken areas? Isnt it amazing that BLM is afraid to rub the cattlemen the wrong way & legally prevent them from using the grazing allotments? Certainly doesnt take a genius to figure out whos in charge, does it?
Its a shame we cant all work towards the same goal – seems Ann Novak was asked her opinion which she gave.
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I feel so helpless with this. They are so cavalier with the horses it’s obvious they don’t care. Even in the statement it’s so obvious they are lying. When we look at the horses they have rounded up when they have used this “excuse” before, it’s obvious it is a lie, and what they are doing is using it as an excuse to get the horses off of the land for ulterior motives for bigger and more lucrative business propositions. It is unconscionable! Another “200 horses starving” MY ASS!
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Advocates need to look into the other BLM “uses” in the area where the BLM is rounding up the wild horses. There is certainly much for the public to be concerned about in the district Doug Furtado manages.
One specific example of what the BLM does (although this is in another area of Nevada) is that when the BLM rounded up wild horses off the Jackson Mountain Herd Management Area (HMA) due to an “emergency drought,” the BLM had just sold off most of the land in the southern part of the HMA in geothermal lease sales. Do you think the geothermal leasing was stopped because of the “emergency drought?”
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Why doesn’t this article spell out how much of the forage allocation goes to livestock in the Diamond Range. It is way up there, ca 90%! In spite of the fact that the WFHBAct meant for the wild horses to be the principal recipients of this resource within their legal area! Something very wrong. I agree with Anne Novak of Protect Mustangs. So little check on the monsters who are setting the wild horses up for displacement from their rightful legal areas where they contribute so much. See my book The Wild Horse Conspiracy
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Would someone officially connected to WHE please tell the public you are Not attempting to stop the roundups? Your intention is to make them better. That would seem to be very pro BLM and not pro Wild Horse! We do not share your goals and altho’ these people complain and say we must all work together how can we? We fight for the wold ones to retain their lands and freedom. It is the law. And this law needs champions and that means ending the roundups. They are illegal.
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Ooooohhhhhh…don’t say that over at Horseback Magazine.
(Mar?,,,,I agree with you and do post at Horseback).
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Denise, I am happily banned from most comments at Steven Long’s WHE PR site (Horseback).
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Thank you Anne Novak for your steadfast honesty and hard work!!!
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Yes, thank you Anne. Thank you for being available to speak to the press with your intelligent and compassionate voice and without a pitiful plea for money to pay for your gas. I know when we hear you that you speak the truth, you’ve done your homework and you are dedicated to seeing getting protection for the wild horses and burros through. If anyone is so inclined, Protect Mustangs, has been funded almost entirely by Anne herself. This is the same situation as Wild Horse Freedom Federation. These two groups forge ahead with integrity, speaking the truth so we are all educated and informed. The real deal. And both these groups pay for their expenses out of their own pockets (yes, they actually do have jobs and families which they support as well) if donated money is not coming in. Please support both these groups and share their progress reports and action alerts so that advocates have practical and researched information available when the usual emotional and blurry fundraising spatters hit the windshield. I’d name the group, but don’t think I have to. We have to clear the way to make progress. Lets do it. Please! The attempts at disunification by pubically discrediting people we can count on is nothing short of repulsive and smacks of cronyism with BLM and mouthpiecisms for BLM. (That was a new word, I think you can figure out what it means.) There is no rational reason for the spat of attacks we have seen the past few days. But predictable even as much as it was difficult to witness. And thank you Mar Wargo for your clear voice to the future, your vision of a peace and the way to it.
If we see any further public attempts to humiliate the core members of our advocacy, I encourage you all to stand up and speak to it. The horses and burros need this nonsense and perhaps this group (who have littered the path back with many a good advocate’s credibility, reputation, and goodwill) to go away.
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There’s that big lie again that there are 37,000 wild horses when there are probably only 18,000 left still free. All the studs the BLM captures are gelded now too.
As for the Diamond and other HMA’s tear down the damn fences so the horses can find forage and leave them alone. As for feeding them hay and the danger of colic that would only happen if they were fed alfalfa instead of grass hay. Some hay could be fed and it would be better than rounding the horses up and removing them and a lot cheaper too. Afterall they are fed hay by the BLM in the STH facilites.
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Where are the pictures(photos/video) of the forage or lack there of, & “Unfortunately, based on the overall poor body condition and lack of forage, and understanding that more than six weeks of winter remains, we decided to remove horses that were struggling or suffering,” he said. “We did the right thing for the well-being of the horses.” ???
MY GOD how stupid do they really think people are?
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Pure Bull Crap, always is. Those horses are fine out there. There is never any proof, and each time they strip off the horses they are never returned and cattle and gas move in. I try really hard not to hate anyone but I really don’t like these people.
The problem lies with our current government, for too long they have gotten away with what ever they want, their is no consequences any longer for when they lie and deceive us so now they just out and out lie with out a care and we keep taking it.
Until the people stand up and make a change this will keep going on and worse in all levels of our government. We have the right to say “STOP”. The Mustangs are just another branch of it all, we are the government and we can do what ever we want when ever we want.
Make a choice, stand up! Stand for change and keep standing for it. The only way it will happen is if we fight for it.
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The Diamond Complex roundup…the rest of the story…or some of it:
Furtado, Douglas W District Manager (775) 635-4010 dfurtado@blm.gov
http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/battle_mountain_field.html
News Release: BLM to Begin Environmental Impact Statement for the
Proposed Buffalo Valley Mine Project
Mineral Ridge Well EA and Dear Interested Party letter 30 day comment period ends March 8, 2013
June 2013 Competitive Oil & Gas Lease Preliminary EA 30 day comment period ends February 13, 2013
DNA for Oil & Gas DOI-BLM-NV-B010-2013-0025-DNA
Pleasant View Exploration Project Draft EA and Dear Interested Party Letter (comment period ends January 10, 2013)
Mount Hope Project
News Release: BLM Approves the Mount Hope Moly Mine Project in Central Nevada
Record of Decision
Silver Peak Area Geothermal Exploration Project EA and Dear Interested Party letter
Monte Cristo Diatomaceous Earth Project EA and Dear Interested Party letter
Wild Horse and Burro Gathers
Diamond Complex Wild Horse Gather
News Release: BLM Completes Diamond Complex Wild Horse Gather; Overwinters Some Horses Due to Drought Conditions (02-07-13)
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Drought?
http://www.generalmoly.com/news.php?releaseid=1772762
LATEST NEWS
LAKEWOOD, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jan. 9, 2013– General Moly, Inc. (the “Company”) (NYSE MKT: GMO) (TSX: GMO), a U.S.-based molybdenum mineral development, exploration and mining company, announced through its 80% owned Mt. Hope subsidiary, Eureka Moly, LLC, the initiation of preliminary construction activities including early well field development and clearing and grubbing of terrain that coincide with the Company’s ongoing cultural clearance efforts at its Mt. Hope Project in Eureka County, Nevada. A crew from Ames Construction, Inc. has been mobilized, and is initially focused on clearing the administrative office and mill site areas as well as clearing the water pipeline corridor in preparation for developing the well field and water distribution system to support heavy construction activities.
Ames Construction, Inc. has been contracted for civil construction at Mt. Hope including clearing and grubbing, well field development, grading, structural concrete, underground piping, tailings dam construction, pre-stripping and waste rock disposal construction and will be onsite until the conclusion of the process. A full-service, heavy civil and industrial general contractor, Ames has extensive experience throughout the Western United States having completed numerous mine facility construction projects for clients including Rio Tinto plc, Barrick Gold Corporation and Newmont Mining Corporation. Recent work in Nevada includes development of Newmont’s Phoenix Copper Leach Pad, Barrick Cortez Tailings Raise and Cell 4 Tailings Facility Construction and the raising of Barrick Goldstrike Mines’ North Block Tailings Dam.
General Moly is a U.S.-based molybdenum mineral development, exploration and mining company listed on the NYSE MKT (formerly the NYSE AMEX) and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol GMO. Our primary asset, our interest in the Mt. Hope project located in central Nevada, is considered one of the world’s largest and highest grade molybdenum deposits. Combined with our second molybdenum property, the Liberty project that is also located in central Nevada, our goal is to become the largest pure play primary molybdenum producer in the world. For more information on the Company, please visit our website at http://www.generalmoly.com.
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Thanks Louie! What a huge project that is and will obviously be using lots of water. Drought, indeed!
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Yes thank you Louie The Mt Moly project is expected to use millions of gallon a day, supposedly reusing, filtering. The water is available (there is actually huge reservoirs of water in that area – alfalfa is a huge business in NE Nevada) but will throw the areas south into artificial drought because it will draw down the water before it filters. for your information, this project will be to mine molybdenum, a rare component used for computer parts. The last word I had on the contractors was it is Chinese. there was a move by the contractor to take acreage in Idaho to install a walled city to house the workers and managers We will see how this project changes the landscape of Nevada and Idaho. It will necessitate huge roads, services and utilities. Horses and other wildlife are heading for a swift demise in the area. This news of BLM again putting our way of life in jeopardy and flaunting the law in doing so is sickening.
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Thank you, Louie. This research tells us what we already knew – that our wild ones are being removed from their land for “other” reasons and not to protect the animals but your research says it LOUD AND CLEAR.
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what a load…..of crap! I looked at those horses today and they are fat and sassy!
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NV Kate-
!!!!!!!
Not surprised at all.
Can you share pics – facebook or ?
Eagle Lake BLM, Twin Peaks HMA said they were going to remove ALL the horses and burros in the wildfire area and five mile zone beyond the fire (which would be all of the HMA and beyond … which would include other HMAs also) to save them from starvation and we have (and included in our EA comment letters) current pics that show that the horses are so fat that they need to go on a diet!
So far … they have held off and not captured them … but BLM and their “associates” will figure out something in order to get their way but many people are watching them …
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