Stallion of Antelope Valley HMA ~ photo by Terry Fitch of Wild Horse Freedom Federation
by Debbie Coffey, V.P. & Director of Wild Horse Affairs, Wild Horse Freedom Federation Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved.
I felt sickened recently when I read that an advocacy group was promoting the BLM’s use of the fertility control drug GonaCon and the chemical castration of wild stallions. Here’s why:
In BLM’s Comparison of Population Suppression Growth Methods document (9/3/13) received as part of a Freedom of Information Act request, chemically castrating stallions falls under the category of NON-REPRODUCTIVE or MINIMALLY REPRODUCTIVE HERDS! (In other words, on the fast track to extinction.) Under “Limitations and Barriers” of chemically castrating stallions, the BLM stated “WH & B regulation states to manage for sustainable populations. Solicitors indicate this presents gray area of uncharted waters to navigate legal challenge.”
THEN, under “NEEDS,” the BLM stated it needs “Clarification in the WH & B Act to indicate that non-reproducing herds are acceptable. Change to the WH & B regulations to eliminate the phrase “shall be managed as self-sustaining populations.”
Why does the BLM “need” this? Is this their REAL GOAL? Are non-reproducing herds acceptable to you?
In this document, the BLM states that GonaCon was “Initially thought to be long lasting, but preliminary data from a new USGS & BLM pen trial indicates suboptimal results in second year.” Also, under “Existing Science & Literature,” it states “new data to be reported in the upcoming year.” (In other words, NO existing science and literature currently exists, so why didn’t the BLM write “none,” like they wrote under other methods?)
The BLM is EXPERIMENTING on our wild horses & burros.
Before considering any fertility control of any herd, one fact should loom large: there are few VIABLE herds left on the range. Only about a third of the herds remaining on Herd Management Areas have over 100 horses. The BLM has mismanaged their mandate to protect the wild horses & burros.
A big thank you to Ginger Kathrens for her statement in the article below: “It is a fact that there are few mustangs left in the wild. The majority of our wild herds are not large enough to be considered genetically viable. The charge of overpopulation is a joke aimed at hoodwinking the media and the public.”
The BLM has NO PROOF that there is an “EXCESS” of wild horses and burros on public lands. There are few, if any, photographs or videos on aerial population inventory flights to prove the exaggerated numbers that BLM claims are on public lands. There are no independent observers from any wild horse advocacy groups on these flights.
The BLM can only legally remove wild horses from their federally protected Herd Management Areas if there is an “excess.” The BLM has no proof of an excess. Advocates should file for Freedom of Information Act requests for all photos and videos taken on the past 3 aerial population inventory flights of each Herd Management Area. Also, ask for the GPS location (and dates) of photos taken for Environmental Assessments to remove any wild horses.
Advocates should also be loudly protesting any and all of the BLM’s experimentation on wild horses, including the field spaying of mares, GonaCon and surgical and chemical castration of wild stallions. The push to give fertility control to non-viable herds is just a way for the BLM to sneak in NON-REPRODUCING and MINIMALLY REPRODUCING HERDS while trying to make their failed Wild Horse & Burro program seem palatable to the public.
I’m posting the article below along with a big thank you to Ginger Kathrens for all she does:
Obama & BLM Seek to “Rid the Range of Our Wild Horses”
SOURCE: The Desert Independent
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo – For twenty years Ginger Kathrens, Executive Director of The Cloud Foundation, has documented wild horses for PBS/Nature’s award-winning films, making her the country’s leading expert on wild horse behavior.
Upon hearing that the BLM budgeted two $6 Million contracts for helicopter roundups in 2014 and $1.5 million for plans to sterilize the stallions and mares she said, “The BLM is breaking their promise to Congress and to the American public. The case can be made that this is their solution to rid the range of our wild horses. They have made a mockery of the Wild Horse and Burro Act, an Act designed to preserve, not destroy wild horse families.“
The Cloud Foundation advocates for economical, sustainable methods for managing wild horses and burros “on the range,” many of which were recommended in the June 2013, National Academy of Science (NAS) Report: Using Science to Improve the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program: A Way Forward. The report states: current BLM Management practices (helicopter roundups and removals of horses from the range) are facilitating high rates of population growth.
BLM is on a collision course with reality. It appears they intend to continue inhumane and expensive helicopter roundups and removals of wild horses and burros when long and short term holding corrals are filled beyond capacity.
Will BLM simply castrate stallions and spay mares then return them to the wild, creating dead end herds and destroying the rich and complex society that Kathrens has documented over the years? In Oct. 2013 the BLM issued a request for information for Wild Horse and Burro Sterilization or Contraception: Development of Techniques and Protocols, inviting research project ideas for the permanent sterilization or contraception of either male or female wild horses and/or burros in the field.
Does the BLM intend to showcase the few herd areas where PZP is effectively controlling population growth with the intent to annihilate the rest by creating non-reproducing herds? Maybe this what Ed Roberson, BLM’s assistant director of resources and planning referred to in The Washington Post, Jan. 26, 2014 article U.S. Looking for Ideas to Help Manage Wild-Horse Overpopulation
“This is my fear,” Kathrens says. “It is a fact that there are few mustangs left in the wild. The majority of our wild herds are not large enough to be considered genetically viable. The charge of overpopulation is a joke aimed at hoodwinking the media and the public.
“Rather than spend $1.5 million for further studies the BLM needs to use the tools it has. Effective use of the proven and reversible fertility vaccine PZP will curtail population growth in an economical, sustainable way with no need for helicopter roundups. On the range management is being practiced in the Pryor Mountains of Montana, the McCullough Peaks of Wyoming, the Little Book Cliffs of Colorado, and it is being considered for the Onaqui wild horse herd in Utah,” said Kathrens. “PZP has successfully controlled population in the Assateague National Seashore where wild horses have been darted with the drug for decades. Instead, the BLM treated only 332 mares of the 4702 wild horses rounded up in 2013.”
The Cloud Foundation contends that BLM’s management of wild horses and burros on our public lands is wrong on every level:
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It is a waste of taxpayer dollars.
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It cheats the American public of the opportunity to experience these inspiring wild animals.
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It violates the intent of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act.
Categories: Horse News, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Sally Jewel is a joke!!! The BLM and our Governent, thumb their noses, at what is right and just for our Wild Horses. Where do the organizations who care, turn to??????
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We are making our own plans of action to fight for the wild horses & burros. The voice of every advocate is powerful and needed. Keep the faith. This is the Year of the Horse (& burro!)
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Do not allow the BLM and USFS and Farm Bureau and the extraction and mining giants and the domestic livestock grazing associations to pull the wool over your eyes. There are no excess wild horses and burros on their legally designated land. Per the 1971 Congressional Wild Horse and Burro Act, the designated land is to be devoted PRINCIPALLY although not exclusively to the wild horses and wild burros’ welfare in keeping with the multiple-use management concept of public lands.
Definition of “principally”: First, highest, foremost in importance, rank, worth or degree, chief, mainly, largely, chiefly, especially, particularly, mostly, primarily, above all, predominantly, in the main, for the most part, first and foremost.
There is NO reason for these wild horse and burro removals and destruction procedures … because there are NO excess wild horses and burros on their legally designated land. In 1971, when Congress passed the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, these animals were found roaming across 53,800,000 million acres. That amount of acreage could support more than a 250,000 wild horses and burros but even after 22,200,000 acres were stolen from the American people by government agencies the remaining 31,600,000 acres could support more than 100,000 wild horses and burros today. It is currently independently estimated that less than 20,000 wild horses and burros are living on their legal land today and yet the government continues its aggressive removal and destructive management toward total wild horse and burro extermination.
The recent National Academy of Sciences study found “no evidence” of overpopulation of Wild Horses and Wild Burros. The recent National Academy of Sciences study found “no evidence” of overpopulation of Wild Horses and Wild Burros. The recent National Academy of Sciences study found “no evidence” of overpopulation of Wild Horses and Wild Burros. Please excuse the repetition of the above statement but it can’t be said much clearer than that. Obviously the government’s actions toward the wild horses and burros needs to be closely and independently investigated and the animals left on their legally designated land.
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Yes, thank you, Grandmagregg. And in agreement with what you have so profoundly stated, I, once more, must say since there is no excess of WH&Bs on OUR Public Lands, why do we continuously suggest that the BLM use PZP. Every time we resort to this kind of rhetoric we compromise ourselves.
I am looking for an attorney or firm that is interested in filing a Class Action lawsuit in OUR behalf. We must stop cow toeing to these vile humans. If you have any suggestions, please comment.
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We all need to keep bombarding the congressional offices with this info. We cannot let this continue. Its too bad we cannot get a massive rally in DC this spring to STP all this from continuing. Michael Moore is great for bringing the poor use of our tax dollars to the fore front. I think I will email him and see what happens. Total idiots at the blm!!! There is nothing more one can say. The blm seem to think that they are running their own private company. However, it is with our hard earned tax dollars. The blm needs to be dismantled and this is the message I am going to bring to my legislators. To all my horse warriors out there —keep the faith because we will win the ultimate war!
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http://thewildhorseconspiracy.org/news/
Federal Government Budgets Millions for Roundups and Sterilization of Wild Horses and Burros
February 8, 2014
The Bureau of Land Management has announced that it intends to spend $12 million on roundups and $1.5 million on sterilization of wild horses and burros.
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PLEASE DO THIS:
The BLM can only legally remove wild horses from their federally protected Herd Management Areas if there is an “excess.” The BLM has no proof of an excess. Advocates should file for Freedom of Information Act requests for all photos and videos taken on the past 3 aerial population inventory flights of each Herd Management Area. Also, ask for the GPS location (and dates) of photos taken for Environmental Assessments to remove any wild horses.
Advocates should also be loudly protesting any and all of the BLM’s experimentation on wild horses, including the field spaying of mares, GonaCon and surgical and chemical castration of wild stallions. The push to give fertility control to non-viable herds is just a way for the BLM to sneak in NON-REPRODUCING and MINIMALLY REPRODUCING HERDS while trying to make their failed Wild Horse & Burro program seem palatable to the public.
Then demand a moratorium to the Dept of Interior Appeals. Demand a stay on all WHB activities except feeding and vetting of captive whb, including no spaying or castrating at the Delta facility. Demand the only activity in the whb program to be soliciting and awarding of scientific studies. Demand full panel consideration of reserve design (by Craig Downer) to replace BLM management policies. Send these demands to Dept of Interior Appeals division in DC on the grounds BLM is nonresponsive to any voice except rancher or hunter or special interest conservatiopn groups (such as Sierra Club or Audobon).
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Do you have more definitive information? I have no idea where to direct a FOIA request. I do not know how to protest BLM’s activities although I have emailed at a couple of BLM addresses and DOI addresses, nothing came of it. No reply. No action. I have no idea how to contact the DOI Appeals. Is that a unit? Many of us are ready to help, but need more information.
And there are positions to be filled at the BLM in March, I believe. We could use those published BLM and DOI addresses to write the DOI and BLM in mass, demanding as you say, that the new positions be filled by Craig Downer and RT Fitch not more Ranchers and anti-WH&B people. We could copy our congress persons and the President.
Who will help to put the needed addresses together and who will publicize?
BTW – there is a ride to DC being planned for Spring. I am unsure about the details, but some of us might go to DC to stand with them as they arrive. I am not aware if permits have been sought or obtained. Anyone know?
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Our tax dollars at work
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=9d6478bb41e2948ea84fff0f504791e9&tab=core&_cview=0
V–Wild Horse & Burro Flight Services
Notice Type:
Award Notice
Contract Award Date:
January 31, 2014
Contract Award Number:
D13PC00079
Contract Award Dollar Amount:
$6000000
Contractor Awardee:
EL AERO SERVICES, INC.815 MURRAY WAYELKONV89801-7808US
Synopsis:
Added: Jan 31, 2014 4:41 pm
IGF::OT::IGF ON CALL SMALL HELICOPTER FLIGHT SERVICES, EL AERO SERVICES
Contracting Office Address:
DOI, National Business Center, AQDDivision 4/ Branch 1300 East Mallard DriveSuite 200BoiseID83706
Point of Contact(s):
Haener,Janice 208-433-5043 janice_haener@ibc.doi.gov
Haener,Janice
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As these contracts are being signed, one wonders if they are binding, all while cheap leases are being given out to BP and Ranchers which are reportedly non-retractable. We must act.
Where is the legal help we need? Well, then why are the real estate, banking, ranching, hunting and energy producing entities getting away with suing the BLM? We have to stop talking and start acting, IMHO.
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https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=056832287d9969d216ba45f0b158bc9f&tab=core&_cview=0
V–HELICOPTER FLIGHT SERVICE-WILD HORSE AND BURRO
Agency: Department of the Interior
Notice Type:
Award Notice
Contract Award Date:
January 30, 2014
Contract Award Number:
D13PC00091
Contract Award Dollar Amount:
$6000000
Contractor Awardee:
WILL HOGAN T1620 W PETERSON AVEDEER LODGEMT59722-1818US
Synopsis:
Added: Jan 31, 2014 4:33 pm
IGF::OT::IGF WILD HORSE AND BURRO HELICOPTER FLIGHT SERVICES
Additional Info:
Contracting Office Address:
DOI, National Business Center, AQDDivision 4/ Branch 1300 East Mallard DriveSuite 200BoiseID83706
Point of Contact(s):
Haener,Janice 208-433-5043 janice_haener@ibc.doi.gov
Haener,Janice
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Thanks, Louie, for the many links you share with us. You’re a great researcher and we appreciate your efforts!
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This is just ONE example…the “tip of the iceberg”.
George Knapp is a two-time Peabody Award winner as well as a 19-time Emmy Award-winning journalist.
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/…
Finally, part two also discusses the alleged, “real reason” for the very recent Mustang round ups off the horse’s legal land. The 675 mile long Ruby Natural Gas Pipeline that runs right through the Calico Herd’s protected lands. After hearing about this pipeline,
The same Corporate Raiders who have been fined hundreds of millions of dollars, created environmental disasters all over the U.S. (and many other parts of the world) because they just turn their nose up at safety regulations, best practices, and common sense are ALL involved with the Ruby Pipeline.
The same bunch of villains who have plundered our public lands for decades, destroyed lives through their negligence and horrid lack of concern for anything but huge profits are now destroying yet another piece of Americana, the Wild Mustangs of the Great Southwest.
Watch part two and find out who these corporate thugs are and hear Mark’s plea to the ATS Community to help us expose the rest of this story!
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I love these guys. Can we work with them to get some action started? I am ready. Who else is?
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Try this link
THE MUSTANG CONSPIRACY Part 2
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread590146/pg1
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You know, Louie C, I just watched this again, and looked at the BP contract for the Ruby Pipeline, which I had never seen other than it being waved around in the video, and I am wondering why we have never done anything with this. I first saw it about two years ago, but it is from 2010.
I had forgotten how devastating it is. It is actual proof that we are being ripped off, our WH&Bs openly and illegally killed off or chemically sterilized or castrated for private gain, and we did not follow through. I think it may have been the timing.
I am going to distribute these links to some internet magazines and investigative reporters. This is about the horses so it really counts with us, but it is also about the end of America as we knew it and it should be everyone’s top priority period. It is another part of the network that needs to be linked. I’ll bet their are thousands who live by the Gulf who would watch this video and get mad as Hell.
I am going to try to contact Knap and Allin and tell them they have me as their willing helper and see if they have more and are still willing to help. I am going to try to convince them the timing is now right.
I think we should send these two links to our Representatives and Senators. There are still some good ones out there. I am lucky cause all three of mine care – Adam Schiff, Boxer, and Feinstein. I think that anti-slaughter folks who pass on WH&Bs cause of priorities and overload need to be persuaded to get involved with the WH&Bs. Most of us know or sense now, that the perpetuation of slaughter and the drive to open American slaughterhouses has been secretly motivated by a desire to slaughter all of the WH&Bs penned and free. It is time for the anti-slaughter, anti-fracking, anti-GMOs, and the WH&B advocates to come together with the anti-BP folks on the GULF and animal advocates everywhere including those of us who realize that Fukushima is beginning to kill the Pacific and our west coast.
BP has deadened the Gulf and gotten away with it and now they are destroying our public lands. If there are Americans that do not give a hoot about the horses, most do care about the environment and politics and Big Money.
Thanks for bringing this back into my consciousness. I am most grateful. You have given me something to work with. I would suggest we all spread this far and wide. It is the year of the horse and it may well be time.
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BTW – I want to remind everyone that Obama may be continuing the DOI/BLM policies of Bush, but Biden quietly worked with Victoria McCullough, et al, to get the defunding of the USDA inspectors done – so do not jump on Obama. There is more going on behind the scenes than we know, and antagonism is vinegar and now is the time for honey.
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The headline containing Obama’s name was used in the article’s source, so that’s why it was posted.
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Click to access TPA-BPEnergy.pdf
This is the “Smoking Gun” that contractually ties that wonderful outfit known
as BP Energy with the Ruby Pipeline that is being built right through the Mustang’s Federally Protected Range Lands.
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President Obama replaced EO 13112, The Invasive Species Act, (2/3/99) w/ 13751
Safeguarding the Nation From the Impacts of Invasive Species
Signed: December 5, 2016
EO 13708
Continuance or Reestablishment of Certain Federal Advisory Committees
Signed: September 30, 2015
80 FR 60271, October 5, 2015
Includes EO 13112, February 3, 1999
EO 13112 The Invasive Species Act replaced EO11987 The Exotic Organisms Act, May 24, 1977 created four months after President James E. Carter and TN Representative Al Gore, Jr. were sworn into office. In 1980 the Southeastern Division of he NPS notified NC Gov. Jim Hunt that he was to rid Cape Lookout National Park of all its feral livestock and wild horses. He wrote back that he would remove no animals until NPS sent him a complete plan for all the wildlife in the Park. He also stated that the NC. Department of Environment and Natural Resources did not consider the wild horses exotic since they were already present on the barrier island before the area was settled by Europeans. So the language of the EO’s is consistent with the language of the communications about the same species as listed.
Dr. Jay Kirkpatrick did his best to prevent the NPS from reducing the herd size of the Shackleford Banks wild horses in a letter he wrote in 1996 claiming that this exotic species policy is a written policy with absolutely no scientific evidence to support it. In some ways it seems that this NC herd was like a trial balloon that DOI was sending up to see if they could get away with their fraud before they began attacking wild horses in the West. There are some references that the BLM tried something in 1982 which would imply that they tried to use EO 11987 in the West, but did not get very far with it.
What is hurting wild horses and burros is the intermingling of the the UN’s Environmental Program and uninformed agency officials and IUCN members though protected from law suit by EO 21986 in January 1996, eleven months before NPS “euthanized” 86 horses that tested positive for EIA even non-apparent carriers. This herd was so genetically valuable that destroying this many horses that could have lived in quarantine pastures (except there were none in NC in 96).Is a crime.
I do not pretend to know everything and recognize that my perspective on behalf on the BLM Mustang I care for in NC makes my lens a little more narrow than others, but this is where the actions of federal agencies matches the language of the EO’s and the intent of the EO’s is spelled out in the documents of the IUCN & UCS as well as federal agencies in the 1993 OTA Report.
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Gee where did the government get the six million dollars to exterminate these beautiful
animals? Bp! Scary, but sounds like the Halocaust to me. What next?????
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Two separate contracts for helicopters @ $6 million EACH.
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Big bucks to get rid of our Wild Horses. Destroy the land and the wild horses. What will be left? This makes me sick.
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I can’t stress how strongly I support the notion of ‘proof’ of the flyover census, that video evidence must be catalogued and made available to the interested Public.
In any litigation brought against BLM to stop removals, it falls to the plaintiff to provide documentation to support the case. If BLM has any hopes of convincing the interested public that their claims of overpopulation are valid, their word on the subject has to be backed up by something we can all live with.
It seems to be the goal of BLM to alter existing wild equine populations BEFORE evidence of their numbers can be confirmed, then simply allow the Program to collapse under the weigh of the captives in holding. And like most aspects of the Wild Horse and Burro Program, it’s methodology is upside down or haphazard, applying preference to the path of least resistance – which also happens to be the most costly to taxpayers and wild equines.
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I believe that there is are NO EXCESS horses in the wild, and I know firsthand how the BLM lies. That being said, I wanted to ask everyone’s opinion of something happening here in Wyoming. The BLM is asking for public opinion about an offer that is being made for an ecosanctuary north of Lander, WY. The offer is being made by a veterinarian with 900 acres. I believe it would be sterilized horses that would go there. In my very uneducated (admittedly) opinion it would be better to allow some to go there and live halfway decent lives versus being held captive in holding pens or slaughtered, while everyone keeps up the fight to have the remainder returned to their rightful land…..your thoughts?
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Hi Elaine, thanks for the comment and this is a good place to ask questions. The horses that go to eco-sanctuaries, like long term holding facilities, are all SAME SEX. There are no family bands. Since they are all same sex, these are non-reproducing herds. While eco-sanctuaries are probably nicer than holding pens and better than slaughter, this perpetuates BLM’s plan for non-reproducing herds. We may be seeing the last generation of wild horses & burros on public lands, so capitulation is not going to save them. At BLM Resource Advisory Council meetings and other meetings, there seems to be a huge PR offensive by ranchers “advising” the BLM to slaughter of all of the horses in holding. We need advocates to either show up at these meetings, or demand teleconferences from the local BLM office, to listen to what is being said and to comment during public comment time. By the way, the BLM is supposed to post the agenda for public meetings prior to the meeting, so make sure they post an agenda or request that they e-mail a copy of the agenda to you prior to the meeting. Look up to see when the next Resource Advisory Council (RAC) meeting is in your area and request a teleconference.
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This is the BLM distraction and one of its biggest SCAMS.
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So the question becomes – HOW do we put direct pressure on Sally Jewel and the Obama Administration to force some dialog?? It’s as though we are not even in the room and this is going from bad to worse…I am SICK knowing that my tax dollars are paying these cretins. We can’t afford White House Tours during the sequester but the BLM has money for this!? It’s truly appalling.
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It’s my opinion that we need to pressure Congressional representatives for a Congressional investigation into every aspect of the BLM’s Wild Horse & Burro Program. Send your Congressional representatives e-mails specifically asking for this.
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Now that is something I can do. But we need to get lots of help so we need to spread the word.
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How about sending Louie C’s links above of George Knap and Mark Allin and their copy of the contract between BP and the DOI/BLM to put in a 675 mile pipeline right through OUR horses’ public lands? It might wake DC up if we send enough to many.
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I just received a letter from BLM – Grand Junction, Colorado that states they are accepting scoping comments for a revision of the Herd Management Area Plan for the Little Book Cliffs Horse Range in west central Colorado. The letter goes on to state that they have been doing fertility control research there since 2002.
BLM did not provided a link in the letter nor a link on their webpage nor an announcement on the federal register … that I can find.
The letter says to contact Jim Dollerschell @ the Grand Junction Field Office @970-244-3016. These wild horses need us to speak for them.
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GG, I have been trying to locate information on the BLM’s Sand Wash HMA in NW CO. They started some PZP “studies” in 2008 which were to last 4 years, and a couple of advocate sites I have visited mention this herd may be rounded up in 2014. I can find absolutely nothing on the BLM sites about this study, the results of this study, what decisions are being made as a result of this study, and if or when there will be a roundup in 2014. Since the roundup contracts have to be let in advance of the work, if this is going to happen it is probably already decided (and is maybe part of one of those $6million contracts). Why is this information not publicly available? Or if it is, why can’t someone find it after hours of searching the BLM websites for information?
I also must add that since I am studying population dynamics at a university, the standard population diagnostics are not to be found anyplace on the BLM websites either. To prove any “overpopulation” they first need an accurate population count (which includes mortality rates) then a trend over time, FOR EACH HERD. There is no good reason I can imagine that this graphed information is not available to the public in real-time, specific to each herd and showing annual changes. This is standard procedure for wildlife managers, why is the BLM not using standard methodologies for wild horse and burro management? It should be even more detailed since these are protected species.
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IMO … there are lots of reasons that you are unable to locate the information you want and need … the most obvious reason is that they do NOT want you or any of the public to know the truth. Another reason is that they do not know how many wh&b are out there in most of the designated HMAs – I have scientific proof that they have far over-exaggerated the population count on Twin Peaks HMA. Ginger Kathrens knows how many are on the Pryor and documents that HMA continually – otherwise we would not know or be able to find the truth about the Pryor Herd. You are correct that the information should be online and available to the public at all times – and kept updated – but it is not. For your purposes, may I suggest that you contact the Sand Wash field office and explain you are working on your thesis and have questions and ask who in their office can (and is willing) to help you. IF they direct you to someone that is willing, ask for the reports that you want and keep a “diary” of who you talked to and when and what they said. Ask for all genetic test results that they have on that herd. Ask that you be put on their “interested party” list immediately for all actions concerning that HMA and all actions (RAC meetings and oil and gas lease sales and grazing renewals in addition to anything to do with wh&b – everything) that are proposed for that field office. If they are not willing then document who said they would not help you and then go up the ladder and ask the state director why the field office would not help you and then FOIA the information immediately. May I also suggest you take some time to read this thesis report: http://csus-dspace.calstate.edu/bitstream/handle/10211.9/1492/WHB_Thesis_Final%2011.30.11.pdf?sequence=1
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They were there, but have been removed and replaced by something more difficult to understand. However, the numbers from the report that Dr.Cothran gave in 2000 were for the period of 200 yrs not the longer time span of 1,000 yrs.
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One of the horse rescues here in FL believes mares should be sterilized. I didn’t want to argue with her, but I always thought there was really NO excess mustangs.
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The BLM defines any horses over the top AML as excess if I remember correctly. I think this is why the RMP’s need to be changed .
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You are correct, Barbara, and the RMPs need to be changed but as you know so well there is more to the story.
1) If I had 1000 acres of pasture land and did not know if I had only one OR a hundred and one animals on my pasture how could I possibly make any valid or justifiable land management decisions? I could not. The BLM’s WH&B population counts are mostly wrong and favor over estimating WH&B on their legally designated land without accurate documentation (photos, videos, or independent research sources).
2) If I had 1000 acres of pasture and 82 head of cattle on it and 18 horses or burros grazing and the law stated that the land was to be PRINCIPALLY grazed by horses and burros then I would be in violation of the law because principally would mean at least 51 WH&B and 49 head of cattle (I’m not including the fact that many cattle now weigh closer to 1500 lbs and a mustang is normally far less than 1000 lbs.).
3) In recent years the BLM has approved many “drought management” and other plans that override the AMLs and favor “other uses”. Example: I wrote a comment letter to BLM yesterday regarding the proposed lease sale parcels for oil and gas extraction (Eastern Nevada – Elko District) which I think we all know use and/or pollute massive amounts of water … and low and behold the same day I got a letter from the same BLM district that says they have revised their previous drought management plan (as if THAT plan wasn’t bad enough!) and they will now “facilitate” more vigorous management including “wild horse removals” – no mention of stopping or slowing extraction uses of the precious water. This EA can be viewed online at http://www.blm.gov/rv5c This EA only got a 15-day public review period and it needs comments! (due 2/17/2014)
Since the wild horses and burros cannot MAKE them money but the extraction industry can … in their corrupt opinion that makes the wild horses and burros of no value. I disagree.
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Many thanks for all of that important information,Granny. And it seems no matter what the BLM just keeps doing whatever it wants to, and Congress does nothing about the 1971 WFRH&B Act being broken. Corrupt corporations rule and democracy is dead IMO.
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It’s such a catch 22. Limit reproduction, or haul off for slaughter? Either choice is sickening. Why can’t leaving the herds alone be the real choice??
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For starters, sterilization of Mares is contrary to the mandate of the Wild and Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act…which is the LAW.
Sterilization is anything BUT “minimal feasible” management.
http://www.animallawcoalition.com/wild-horses-and-burros/article/1059
“[m]anagement activities affecting wild horses and burros shall be undertaken with the goal of maintaining free-roaming behavior.” 16 U.S.C. §1333, 43 CFR 4700.0-6 “All management activities shall be at the minimal feasible level”.
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Repeat and keep repeating..bring the focus BACK where it belongs
This report was done 3 years ago. How many more roundups have the taxpayers had to pay for since?
How many more Wild Horses and Burros have disappeared from our Public Lands since then?
America’s Wild Horses and Burros are anything BUT overpopulated. At best, there are barely 21,000 left and they are disappearing fast. If the roundups and removals are allowed to continue there will be NO Wild Horses OR Burros left in the United States. It is their Legally designated land that has disappeared. More than 22 Million acres have been taken from them and that is a conservative estimate. WHERE has that land gone and to WHO?
Compiled by Carla Bowers 10/26/11 Revised 11/6/11
For NAS/NRC Study Panel of BLM Wild Horse & Burro Program
All numbers above are verifiable
22.2 million: Number of acres WH&B have lost since 1971
21,354: WH&B population as of 2/28/11 using BLM’s own data & 20% growth model (independent analysis)
Conclusions
–
America’s “legally protected” WH&B are not getting a fair share of land, forage & water.
The AML range of 16,000-26,600 for WH&B is too low & threatens the genetic viability & survival of healthy, self-sustaining herds over the long-term.
An independent, state-of-the-art census is required
America’s Wild Horses and Burros do NOT need to be captured or removed from their Legal Herd Managements Areas. There is NOT a problem with overpopulation.
The problem has been in getting the TRUTH in the open and to the American taxpaying Public:
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Louie C, the video and pdf of George Knap and Mark Allin is the perfect way to wake Americans up. You are a genius to have brought this up. I am so grateful and I am jazzed. This is the perfect timing. All works itself out if you just wait for the right timing. I am convinced. After all it is the Year of the Horse. Thank you.
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Well, I will retire to a night of link reading, as I am ignorant compared to so many of you, but I am also sick of hearing, listening, talking and making absolutely no progress. We have to find a way to put what you know to work to stop them. It must stop or we must just turn our backs and walk away. Or I must. How much more can our horses stand? How much more can we stand? Good Night!
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Elaine
How the FOIA system works… here are two good places to start:
http://www.foiadvocates.com/samples/1.html
http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/res/FOIA/filing_request.html
Using the sample letter from the above link, write your letter being specific about what data you wish – especially a date range etc. Then re-read your request a few times to be sure it makes sense to someone in an office that will not be familiar with the situation. Be clear. Most brief requests are free (see links) but don’t expect them to just send you what you want in a few days – it does not work that way so you must be patient and consistent.
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“WHERE HAVE ALL THE WILD HORSES AND BURROS GONE?”
https://rtfitchauthor.com/2013/12/07/counting-wild-horses-an-aerial-tour-of-twin-peaks-wild-horse-and-burro-habitat/
Counting Wild Horses: An Aerial Tour of Twin Peaks Wild Horse and Burro Habitat
“For several years Straight from the Horse’s Heart (SFTHH) and Wild Horse Freedom Federation have followed the struggles of the last remaining wild horses and burros on one of the largest HMAs in the United States; Twin Peaks that stretches across the state lines of both California and Nevada.
Besides personal visits of our own, several other wild equine advocates have been keeping an eye on what is left free on the open range, one of those advocates is Grandma Greg who has documented her findings and made them public here on SFTHH.
Her most recent installment was
“Where Have All the Wild Horses and Burros Gone?”
which is pretty much required reading for any advocate as it contains links to the full report and many of the preceding documentation that verifies that contrary to what the BLM alleges there are ‘NO Excess Wild Horses and Burros.’
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Thank You.
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Quit messing with the horses. Leave them alone. PERIOD!!! Theres not that many left and the ones you pinned up need to be set free. I have more to say but cant on here.
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Over management to create zero population growth in the wild is insensitive to natural forces which will then create a negative population growth where foals will not be born to replace those horses that die of natural and environmental causes. They have no need of this artificial interference and this dangerously low reproductive rate could be and likely will be catastrophic. Making decisions to apply fertility drugs to wild horse herd mares and sterilization of stallions would put wild horse herds in danger of a die-off if any natural or man-made disaster struck the herd management area – be it wild fire or extreme weather or mass predation or other. If a majority of the mares are non-reproducing and thus zero or even just a few births, then it is easy to see that the entire herd would be in jeopardy – both genetically and physically – and would diminish their ability to survive into the future. We then have a herd that is not safe on its own range. This is completely unacceptable – per the law and per the wishes of the American people as well as the laws of nature.
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I would really love it if we could preserve our wild horses and burros, but I do not believe this is possible until people understand what at least one scientist and expert in the field has told us, and that is EO 13112 is THE problem. This did not help me initially because EO 13112 was too late for what happened in NC in 1996, but when I read EO 13112, there was a notation that it replaced EO 11987 of May 24, 1977. This fit perfectly with the NC narrative, and fell into line with the other evidence. Not one wild horse and burro preservation organization seems to be interested in my input, but I offer it again since recently discovering that a series of documents in Wikileaks supports this thesis for the federally protected wild horses and burros of the West. These are documents created by the CRS, but stored out of the public view at the CIA. May have been park of docs leaked by Chelsea Manning or someone else. I have no ego in this, but I do care deeply about the horses, but perhaps even more deeply that the laws of our country and legitimate scientific evidence can be corrupted by corrupt politicians and members of the scientific community of the United States.
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