Source: Multiple
“Below is an unedited article that has appeared in many publications across the country and beyond. The content, as usual, is riddled with bad facts, incorrect information and bombastic assumptions that all point to the demise of our wild equines for the benefit of special interest groups who support individual political agendas. I am sickened to the very depths of my soul. We, as Americans, are so much better than this but the public’s will is continually denied by those who hold political office. They ALL need to go!” ~ R.T.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Chris Stewart and Sen. Orrin Hatch introduced legislation Thursday giving states and Indian tribes the option to take over the management of wild horses and burros. The Wild Horse Oversight Act of 2015 would preserve all protections under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 and allow states to implement horse and burro management plans that address the specific needs of their own state.
“The federal government has never been able to properly manage the horses and burros in the west,” Stewart said.“Every state faces different challenges, which is why it’s important that they have the ability to manage their own wildlife.”
In the 44 years that the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act has been in place, horse and burro populations have soared above the populations envisioned in the legislation. This has led to the destruction of important rangeland and habitat for native species.
“The BLM is neither capable nor equipped to manage wild horse populations, and federal stewardship has allowed their numbers to reach unsustainable levels,” Hatch said. “Deferring management authority to states and tribes is a commonsense solution that will mitigate the devastating ecological consequences horse overpopulation is causing to public lands in the West. Ranchers shouldn’t have to pay such a steep price for the federal government’s inability to manage wild horse populations successfully.”
This bill would allow states to form cooperative agreements to manage herds that cross over borders, and the federal government would continue to inventory the horses and burros to ensure that the population numbers as prescribed by the 1971 Act are maintained.
“States and tribes already successfully manage large quantities of wildlife within their borders,” Stewart said. “If horses and burros were under that same jurisdiction, I’m confident that new ideas and opportunities would be developed to manage the herds more successfully than the federal government.”
A local approach would allow for coordination and partnerships between landowners, ranchers and other groups, Stewart said, “to provide better oversight and create a localized approach to each population and rangeland.”
Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Contact Mr. Trump he has been a very effective cause for everyone
After All…what do you have to loose by contacting him
donaldjtrump.com
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Worse made worser, are you kidding?
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The Donald does not talk about the oil on public lands. He is hung up on the fact that we didn’t take the oil in the ME when we left Iraq, so maybe there is a shot.
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Is Donald Trump in support of wild horse welfare or are you trying to be satirical? I haven’t heard anything about his stance on animal welfare and rights issues. That also begs the question: I wonder if R.T. or a contributor will post another article on where the GOP candidates stand on animal welfare.
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If he runs as a third party and thwarts the Republicans, he deserves a round of applause and a medal – and his independence is refreshing.
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or ‘trumps’ the Republicans, I should say. It’s poetic!
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Contact your local congressman and senators and ask them to repeal this act. Or the horses and burros will go to the slaughter horse pipe line. What the kill buyers do to these horses is cruel and inhuman and the slaughtering process, lets just sau it’s a inhuman way to slaughter a horses, besides horses meat is toxic, please check out kaufmanzoning.net caution this website is not for the faint at heart.
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Pure, unadulterated bullcrap. If the public is dumb enough to go along with this, then they haven’t been watching while the states violently ‘manage’ wolves into extinction, and probably the sage grouse and grizzly bear too. Which animal is next to be unlucky enough to fall under the ‘management’ of humans?
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All one has to do is to see how spectacularly the state have messed up the so-called ‘management’ of wolves (and just about anything else too) to see what a load these statements are.
The Western states do not all face different challenges; they all face the advancement of cattle and energy development for human needs, and a looming lack of water in the future. Leadership and loudmouths have not relied on science for anything, and even our science doesn’t have all the answers.
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“The federal government has never been able to properly manage the horses and burros in the west,” Stewart said.“Every state faces different challenges, which is why it’s important that they have the ability to manage their own wildlife.”
Interesting that Mr. Stewart describes WHBs as “wildlife” since they are not typically managed as such, being neither domestic or wildlife as regards, say, humane treatment.
Interesting also he describes tribal management as successful, in light of the shenanigans on the Navajo Reservation in conjunction with the USFS in recent memory. The argument then was the Navajo could not manage their proliferating herds and needed government help to send them to slaughter. Remember the news about tribal members own branded horses being stolen and shipped from their backyards, never to be seen again?
While government “management” has overall been far from ideal, providing less accountability in the form of more state and tribal rabbit holes for WHBs to be disappeared into would be unthinkably worse and less justifiable. For example, if a sovereign tribe built a slaughter facility (as some have proposed) how would the WHBs belonging to all Americans be kept out of the pipeline? Would the FOIA be enforceable for citizens to gather information? How would corruption be rooted out, and how would any money trails be traceable?
State and tribal leaders always have their own political agendas and funding sources and cannot be trusted to keep the best interests of all America’s WHBs enforced.
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Politicians say whatever is convenient for them at the time, and hope that nobody notices the discrepancies and hypocrisies. And most of the time people don’t! Giving the states control of wild horse herds will be the fast-track to losing them to slaughter, just like with our wolves. Don’t even think about it!
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Wary of any state,most with budget issues and anti-wildlife agendas to improve the current fiasco over saving our remaining wild horse population,they will likely side with the wealthy ranchers and hunting groups and others who do not care about endangered species like the wild horse is becoming
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Rep STEWART
From ORGANIC CONSUMERS ASSOCIATION
They voted against you.
They voted against the 90-percent of Americans who are in favor of mandatory labeling of GMOs. They voted against the producers of non-GMO foods.
HR 1599….The Monsanto Protection Act passed the House
http://ppjg.me/2015/07/25/hr-1599-the-monsanto-protection-act/
AYES– 275– STEWART
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Sen Orin Hatch
Trans-Pacific Partnership
Orrin Hatch Pushes for Passage of Trans-Pacific Partnership
http://www.thenewamerican.com/economy/commentary/item/17070-orrin-hatch-pushes-for-passage-of-trans-pacific-partnership
From PUBLIC CITIZEN
The TPP would even elevate individual foreign firms to equal status with sovereign nations, empowering them to privately enforce new rights and privileges, provided by the pact, by dragging governments to foreign tribunals to challenge public interest policies that they claim frustrate their expectations. The tribunals would be authorized to order taxpayer compensation to the foreign corporations for the “expected future profits” they surmise would be inhibited by the challenged policies.
We only know about the TPP’s threats thanks to leaks – the public is not allowed to see the draft TPP text.
http://www.citizen.org/TPP
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As if things weren’t horrible enough for our wild ones already, this is another BIG blow against our wild horses and burros and the American people and a big step in the management toward extinction of our wild horses and wild burros. Sickening!
This is the big lobbyists telling the politicians what is going on (lies!) and telling the politicians what they want done and the politicians know who financially support them so the politicians want to make the supporters happy – a vicious and filthy cesspool. Does anyone think that these dirty politicians are not getting paid (in one way or another) for these “favors”?
This line especially made me want to puke, “devastating ecological consequences horse overpopulation is causing to public lands in the West.” As we know and has been proven over and over, it is the overpopulation of for-private-profit corporate owned domestic non-native livestock that have devastated our public lands – NOT wild horses and burros.
And more puking for this statement too, “Ranchers shouldn’t have to pay such a steep price for the federal government’s inability to manage wild horse populations successfully.”
As one example, the 2013 average private fee per AUM for non-irrigated land in California was $19.50, Colorado $17.50, Idaho $15.50, Oregon $15.00, Utah $14.50 and Wyoming was $18.70 when we the American people were getting paid $1.35 … yep! Not to mention bank loans and other financial favors received by the welfare ranchers. Read Welfare Ranching: The Subsidized Destruction of the American West http://www.publiclandsranching.org/book.htm
As for the tribal lands, there are already portable slaughter facilities all over the west and most decisions are made according to money as the first priority.
The statement by Hatch SHOULD read, “The American people who own the public lands and resources and wild horses and burros shouldn’t have to pay such a steep price for the federal government’s inability to manage private welfare rancher livestock on public lands”. And then this same statement can be used to include the mining and energy extraction and other mis-management of resources on public lands by dirty politicians and their governmental worker-bees known as the BLM and USFS and USFWS.
Bottom line: There are NO excess wild horses and burros on their legal lands.
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I love it ! Steep price! Congress even increased cattle grazing fees to $1.65 this year, but the American people (taxpayers supporting BLM) subsidized ranchers $12.35 per cow/calf pair to make it so the BLM just breaks even on the grazing program. My worst nightmare is to let Fish and Wildlife manage the wild horses. And it was just a couple of years ago that the Indian tribes came to the BLM asking for money to help them manage wild horses. So I see this is an ill-conceived plan based on no fact to assuage Utah livestock leasees/voters.
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Study: Livestock Grazing on Public Lands Cost Taxpayers $1 Billion Over Past Decade
WASHINGTON— A new analysis finds U.S. taxpayers have LOST more than $1 billion over the past decade on a program that allows cows and sheep to graze on public land. Last year alone taxpayers LOST $125 million in grazing subsidies on federal land.
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2015/grazing-01-28-2015.html
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This needs more investigation and more following of the money, but as an example of how Orrin Hatch regards our American citizens’ public lands and wild horses and how he has assisted in the promotion of the giveaway of our American Wild Horse and Burros land here is one example:
“Orrin Hatch. Now in his seventh term as Utah’s senator, Orrin Hatch is the most senior Republican in the Senate… Among his many initiatives is the Utah School Trust Lands Exchange Act.”
Utah School Trust Lands Exchange Act —> A large portion (26,000 acres?) of the Blawn Wash WH&B LEGALLY DESIGNATED HERD AREA lands were transferred to the Utah School Trust and zeroed out of any wild horses and burros. This has nothing to do with education – it is about acquiring valuable federal land for the sake of private and state control. And does this make you wonder just who controls the Utah School Trust?
“BLM wranglers scoured the Blawn Wash area last summer, removing every horse they encountered.” http://www.sltrib.com/news/2140065-155/utah-sues-feds-demanding-removal-of
It appears that scouring all U.S. lands in Utah and removing every wild horse from all of Utah would make Orrin Hatch a hero to some Utah citizens.
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Hey; isn’t Utah the same state that blackmailed BLM by threatening to remove wild horses themselves if BLM didn’t stand down from harassing poor ol’ rancher Bundy?
Western states, foaming at the mouth to take over management of Public lands and resources have demonstrated they are largely incapable of administering state resources or wildlife with the general interest of the Public in mind, but lean more toward the wealthiest whiners within their states. I love the pretense of a cohesive union between private land ranchers and the Public land users, as if they are cut from the same cloth…as GG mentioned above, there’s a smidge of disparity between paying upwards of $20 to graze a critter for a month on private land and paying the equivalent of a cuppa Joe at Denny’s for your bull, cow/calf or 5 sheep for a month on Public land.
But that’s their burden to bear. Ours is “You think you’re gonna do WHAT with our horses??”
There’s a certain smirky arrogance in the Senators proposal, but it isn’t likely that, granted purview over land historically Public, management would be remotely beneficial. And land leasers might consider – will the Sate of Utah continue to charge those laughably low fees that the Fed has been forced to charge since the Taylor Grazing Act was penned 70 or 80 years ago?
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Yes Lisa, it was the Iron county Utah Commission and their “associates” that you speak of. This new announcement is the same/similar but on a state-wide and eventual America-wide basis.
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It’s obvious these ‘government jackals’ (or should we say jackasses) have more hands padding their pockets than their own…
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The war against our wild horses and burros has escalated to an alarming level. Why? Follow the money and I bet it leads to big ag and big energy.
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The federal government killed “eradicated” almost 80 wild Spanish (Iberian) Colonial Mustangs in our state in 1996 and a few more before 1998 when a law was passed to protect them. In 1997 the FWS started creating the environmental condition that would cause the genetic collapse of another herd by limiting the herd to roughly the absolute minimum Dr. E. Gus Cothran states is the absolute minimum number to create enough genetic viability for a self-sustaining, geographically isolated herd to survive with a loss of genetic variability of about 1% per year for 200 years. Of course, after the first 100 years, there is no more genetic viability left—this is correctable if the herd is allowed to “blossom” and new members are occasionally introduced to the herd. Yet, Senator Reid blocked the bill to correct this situation twice, and he did nothing to help Senator Robert C. Byrd get the Restore Our American Mustang Act through the Senate after it, too, passed the House in 2009.
If it were up to the people in the state where I live the Corolla herd would never have gotten into the shape that they are in, and the state might be able to work with the FWS. In fact, I seriously doubt if the current governor or state legislature would put up with the type of scientific fraud that this entire country has been subjected to.
When NPS sent Governor Hunt a letter indicating their intent to remove exotic feral horses and livestock from Cape Lookout in 1980, he told NPS that the state’s Department of Natural Resources and Community Development considered the horses native because they were here before the land was settled by the Europeans. He was also governor in the 1990’s. Perhaps he was told he had no choice since there was now a federal law in place through international treaty (Article 8 (h) to prevent, control, and eradicate alien species in states or parts of states (nations) where they are found to the extent practicable. He may also have been told that this article would be drafted into the 1997 Update of the International Plant Protection Convention and then the wild horses and burros of the West would also fall under the same procedure.
As a nation we were still pretty innocent then, and the idea that someone would do something as amoral and unethical as creating false systems to sell false science was unlikely to have entered the realm of the possible to most people. It had, fortunately, entered the minds of the professors who taught me in graduate school. They were quite concerned about the ease with which people could be persuaded that a product that had never been tested had been proven safe in studies that were too small to be statistically significant, or that a single study by a single author would be adopted without anyone else being able to replicate the results. Important issues like statistical significance, probability, and the risk versus benefit ratio are never discussed in our scientific dark age. Rather than finding truth, truth is intentionally and methodically suppressed. Truth is the enemy; not the goal. And until we insist on the truth, we will continue to get falsehood. If we are content to live in a world where we never whether what we hear, what we see, or what we read is in any way true or verifiable, then we that is the world we will continue to live in.. .and it only gets worse from here.
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The People’s Treasure
by Michael Leunig
They’re privatising things we own together. They’re flogging off the people’s common ground.
And though we’re still connected by the weather They say that sharing things is now unsound.
They’re lonelifying all the public spaces. They’re rationalising swags and billabongs.
They’re awfulising nature’s lovely places, Dismantling the dreaming and the songs.
Their macho fear of flabby soft sensations Makes them pine for all things hard and lean.
They talk of foreign market penetrations And throbbing private sectors. It’s obscene.
They’re basically unloving types of creatures With demons lurking underneath their beds.
You’ll notice that a necktie always features To keep their hearts quite separate from their heads.
So if they steal away the people’s treasure. And bring the jolly swagman to his knees.
They can’t remove the simple common pleasure Of loathing public bastards such as these.
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I have never heard a worse idea. Never.
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This is just horrible. I don’t understand why politicians do not listen to the majority of Americans when we speak in unison. My email Inbox is full daily with signing different petitions regarding animal and wildlife welfare, extinction of species, destruction of our environment, climate change, corrupt legislation, and unsubstantiated science. I know it comes down to greed and the money trail. But, how and when will it ever stop. I come from a long line of public servants earning meager wages to keep state and federal government offices working. We would never consider making unethical choices that would adversely affect so many. All I can say is, “Beam me (and all the Wild Horses) up, Scotty” to the planet that now most resembles earth to live in peace and harmony.
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Be sure to go out to PopVox and comment there…..Thank God no cosponsors…
In the Senate:
S. 1845 A BILL TO AMEND THE WILD FREE-ROAMING HORSES AND BURROS ACT TO PROVIDE FOR STATE AND TRIBAL MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION OF WILD FREE-ROAMING HORSES AND BURROS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/114/s1845
In the House of US Representatives:
H.R. 3172 TO AMEND THE WILD FREE-ROAMING HORSES AND BURROS ACT TO PROVIDE FOR STATE AND TRIBAL MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION OF WILD FREE-ROAMING HORSES AND BURROS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/114/hr3172
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The STATES DO NOT HAVE THE FUNDING RESOURCES OR EXPERIENCE TO MANAGE THESE HORSES. While I disagree with the BLM the ONLY way the horses should be cared for is under the Horse Advocates. The States lack and expirience and funding which will put these horses at risk of slaughter or negligence. The States have been clear in their Anti wild horse stance and should be NOT given a Congressionally protected animal. The horses deserve protection. They have been protected for Decades and need to remain so. The States are NOT prepared to care for this American icon and intend to destroy its population without reservation. EXPLAIN to Congress its unethical as well as financially unstable to allow the states to divide the horses. All horses covered under the current BLM budget face enough issues without cash strapped states getting involved. Even with a good budget these states are biting off More than they are prepared to handle. The herds need to be maintained by one Agency. Preferably one that wants Mustangs and not divided.
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Manage = murder.
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