In reading the BLM “news” release below, I had a couple of thoughts:
1) There should be NO LIVESTOCK FENCING ON PUBLIC LANDS. Why should structures for a PRIVATE BUSINESS be allowed on public lands?
2) The “terrible truth” is that if there wasn’t livestock fencing on public lands, and if the BLM wasn’t using a helitorch, which makes the fire spread very fast and far, these 28 wild horses might’ve been able to escape BEFORE they “were overtaken.”
In memory of the wild horses that died because of livestock fencing/fast spreading fire, here is a video showing the beauty of the wild horses of the Hardtrigger HMA:
_______________________________________________________________________________
Twenty-Seven Wild Horses Perish in Soda Fire
BOISE — Twenty-seven wild horses died near Salmon Creek within the Hardtrigger Herd Management Area, about 45 miles southwest of Boise, when they were caught in the fast-moving Soda Fire.
The horses were found by a team of BLM employees and a veterinarian who were checking the condition of two herds in the area. A gate was opened near the animals, but they were overtaken before they could escape.
“Due to the severe and erratic nature of the fire, we anticipate there will be more horses that were injured as they tried to escape the fire,” said Acting BLM District Manager Jenifer Arnold. “It’s a terrible reality for wildlife, livestock and wild horses living on the range, to be overtaken by an intense, wind-drive range fire.”
Additionally, two horses have been euthanized because their injuries were so extensive that they could not have survived.
Three wild horse herds were affected by the Soda Fire. The Sands Basin herd has about 60 horses and the Hardtrigger herd has roughly 170 animals. The third herd management area, Black Mountain, was not damaged to nearly the extent of the other two.
“Most of the wild horses have been able to find water and at least some forage,” Arnold said. “We began to haul supplemental hay in last week and we’ll continue to monitor the herds’ condition.”
Because of the condition of the horses and the lack of long-term forage to sustain them, an emergency gather is planned. The horses will be cared for off the range until they can return when conditions improve. Dates for the gather have not been determined.
**As fire suppression activities continue on the Soda Fire, there will be no media tours available to visit the Herd Management Areas.
Categories: Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Just damn make sure those 27 horses don’t make it onto next year’s over-inflated population estimate.
That wasn’t bitter. That was fury.
LikeLiked by 2 people
And Lisa, per FOIA data, they already trapped 39 of our wild ones last September off the Hardtrigger HMA … what ya’ want to bet that even after the removal of those 39 and the deaths of at least another 27 in this fire, that the BLM will STILL say the population increased 20%!
Although I agree with you … “bitter” and “fury” don’t even come close to how I feel from what I have learned in my years of research about our wild ones and how they are treated like vermin by the agency (and their money grabbing cohorts) that is responsible for their PROTECTION.
LikeLiked by 2 people
BLM strikes again, 27 lives were lost due to them, Where does it stop? Ever? I don’t think so, not with these killers of our wild horses.
LikeLiked by 1 person
And if you look at (about page 300?) of this link, you will see the private domestic grazing allotment boundaries for the Hard Trigger HMA – and these would be the basic fence lines that would have been the reason these horses were trapped by the fire and died this horrible death.
Click to access FinalWildHorseandBurroReportWithStateMaps10-26-12.pdf
Hard Trigger HMA is divided:
by part of the Share’s Basin domestic livestock welfare rancher grazing allotment and
by the Rats Nest domestic livestock welfare rancher grazing allotment
and
by the HardTrigger domestic livestock welfare rancher grazing allotment
and
by the Reynolds Creek domestic livestock welfare rancher grazing allotment.
Private/corporate for-profit domestic livestock have NO business on our public lands – especially the congressional designated wild horse and burro areas.
LikeLike
How many cattle died? Why are wild horses fenced in on public land?
LikeLiked by 1 person
The fences are on the WH&B Herd Areas for one reason – and one reason only – for domestic private/corporate owned domestic livestock. ALL of these fences and cattle guards and gates and the domestic livestock themselves need to be removed from our land that belongs to the American people.
In the early 1940’s, due to severe over-grazing of our public lands by privately owned cattle, our public rangelands were in such bad shape that the cattle were starving dropping dead on the ranges and the ranchers werent faring much better. Things were in such a sorry state that the ranchers went crying to Congres s for help. In effort to help these ranchers, the government created The U.S. Grazing Service, which cut up our public rangelands into allotments that could be allocated or “permitted” to individual ranchers who would then have that allotment all to themselves and not have to worry about his cows having to compete for grazing with that of his neighbors cows. The grazing system was set up so that each individual rancher would have his own grazing area on our public lands. Fees for public land grazing were set and remain set to this day,..at waay under market value. Today, the U.S. Grazing Service is called the Bureau of Land Management, and only about 18 – 20,000 ranchers hold grazing permits across all of our western lands. Most permit holders today are not really ranchers at all,.. but Big Corporations like Del Webb or Hilton, or other Investment Companies some foreign (UAE)or by already wealthy individuals like Ted Turner.These are “the new” welfare-ranchers. Due to rangeland degradation and the bottom dropping out of the U.S. Beef Markets,, alot of grazing permits have been retired, that is, they are no longer used for grazing cows, but, just the same, the permittees are allowed to hold on to their permits and trade them or lease them out to other entities for other purposes….Grazing Rights on our public lands today is not really about cows anymore,…its about holding title to a “vested interest” in the land. A grazing permit increases the value of the holders “base property” and are traded and sold like the latest “hot commodity” they are. Grazing permits are as good as gold at the banks if you are looking to get a loan, so as you can see, the BANKSTERS have also a vested interest in our public lands, and are holding liens on them!
The Cost of the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management Livestock Grazing Programs is estimated to cost taxpayers, all tolled, approximatley $500.000 million per year!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Many thanks for your valuable information as always, Grandmagregg.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Taylor Grazing Act established the allotment and permit system in 1934, in large part as an effort to end bloody range wars between various cattle and sheep interests. Ferry Carpenter from Hayden CO was a lawyer and cattle breeder instrumental in creating this policy, everyone with an interest in grazing law should read his autbiography: Confessions of a Maverick, since it still influences our legal system to this day. Wild horses were then more or less ubiquitous and ranchers still turned their stock loose to graze and reproduce so wild horses were not part of the focus of the Taylor Grazing Act, though this single law still directs our deadly policies towards them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
GG, I always welcome reading your investigative reports – kudos to you! However, I have to object to your characterization of the “bottom falling out” of the US beef market… cattle prices (while always cyclical) are staying strong and I know the cost of a well-bred cow/calf pair in my area is around $3k and people with no ag background at all are trying to get in on the strong market. Reminds me of the horse market in the ’80s in some ways.
1. “Earned cow herd returns in 2015 predicted second highest on record” by Harlan Hughes for BEEF
Hughes writes, “Average total costs per cow came to $947 in 2014. This is a 13% increase in costs over the 2013 average of $839 per cow. The earned net returns of $657 are the returns to unpaid labor, management and equity capital. This compares with $242 per cow in 2013. I project that the earned returns in 2015 will be the second-highest on record. Yes, these are good times for beef cow producers. The year 2015 could be the second-best year ever for beef cow producers.”
http://beefmagazine.com/blog/4-experts-weigh-fall-2015-cattle-prices
LikeLike
IcySpots-
I did not write that article. I always TRY to include the link (or author’s info) when I post something and I try to make it clear what my thoughts are versus what I copy and paste from other people’s work or thoughts by using quotes … but obviously I did not do that on this statement. I apologize for that and thanks for bringing it to my attention!
Here is the link:
http://saveourwildhorses.rallycongress.com/2526/end-welfare-ranching-on-public-lands-revoke-all-grazing-permits/print/
LikeLike
I’m so fed up with the damn ranchers having more cattle than they have their own land to keep them on and so they think they are entitled to DEMAND the use of BLM lands, which WE THE TAXPAYERS maintain!!!! BLM collects the minimal fees for these welfare cattle, and use it in whatever manner they wish, and WE THE TAXPAYERS foot the bill for ALL OF THE MUSTANGS NOW IN HOLDING PENS, while the BLM cries about how “THEY” have to spend SO MUCH to house all of these horses. SIMPLE ANSWER TO THAT…..GET RID OF THE DAMN CATTLE ON BLM LANDS AND PUT THE HORSES BACK!!! STOP GELDING THE STALLIONS THEREBY DESTROYING THE GENE POOLS AND ABILITY TO MAINTAIN HERDS FOR VIABILITY IN BREEDING, AND LEAVE THEM ALONE!!! Contrary to BLM standards, I’ve YET to see any ONE mare give birth to a damn litter!!!! WHICH would have to happen in order for them to repopulate at the rate BLM says they do!!!! It is time to REMOVE THE CONTROL that the BUTCHERS of LANDS and MUSTANGS are using to “manage to extinction” that which WE THE TAXPAYERS love and want to remain as a living symbol of our history!!!!!!
LikeLike
As you read this (below) think about how much worse it is for them when there is a wildfire!
How Bad are Fences for Wildlife?
http://www.backcountrychronicles.com/how-bad-are-fences-for-wildlife/
Study of Wildlife Mortality and Fences
I did some research and found a recent study (Harrington & Conover, 2006) published in the Wildlife Society Bulletin (Volume 34, Issue 5, pages 1295–1305, December 2006) of antelope, mule deer and elk mortality along an 600 miles of road (1,200 miles of fence) in Utah and Colorado. They found 0.25 mortalities per year per km of fence (0.11 antelope; 0.08 mule deer and 0.06 elk) , or one dead antelope every year per 5.6 miles of fence; one dead mule deer every year per 7.8 miles of fence and a dead elk every year for every 10.3 miles of fence.
In addition to animals found dead and tangled in a fence, they also found a dead ungulate lying next to a fence every 1.2 miles (every year), of which 90% were fawns that supposedly were separated from their mothers and were unable to cross the fence.
If the Harrington & Conover study found a dead animal tangled every 2.5 miles of fence every year and a dead animal next to a fence every 1.2 miles every year then over the two year study, they found over 1,900 dead animals in or next to fences in one study.
How many miles of fence are there?
The average BLM allotment is 7,476 acres. If the USFS allotments are about the same size, that would total 33,841 total allotments for both BLM and USFS. If each allotment was fenced with no cross fencing and each allotment was square, each allotment would have 13.67 miles of fence. Since many allotments would share common fences, if we assume that each allotment shares fencing on three sides with other allotments, at a minimum, there would be over 115,000 miles of fence.
If we assume the data from the Harrington & Conover study can be applied to our crude estimate of the amount of fences on BLM and USFS lands, then there could be over 92,500 animals killed annually (in 16 Western states) due to fences.
LikeLike
wow. great research!
LikeLiked by 2 people
WOW….how scary for the wildlife!! BUT GUARANTEED, neither the BLM nor the USFS will EVER admit to these numbers!!!!
LikeLike
How can we make this horrid news hit the big social media sites the way Cecil’s killing did? Wouldn’t the general public be outraged and appalled that these horses burned to death because of welfare rancher fencing? One stinking gate? How many cattle died? And other wildlife? If this doesn’t hit big media, inspite of all the dominating fire news, then these poor horses died in vain.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi Diana, share the link to this article, and any others that you find important, on the internet. Each person makes a difference, so the more people that learn what is happening to the wild horses & burros, the better.
LikeLike
Diana, I think we need photos of what happened. Somebody has them, certainly. It is beyond stupid to think for a minute any horses would know a gate always closed even existed, much less was opened for them as an escape route. I wonder how many died fighting the wire as the flames and smoke overtook them. Our tax dollars at work, sickening.
LikeLike
I can’t help but wonder if the BLM let this happen on purpose . This is an outrage.
LikeLiked by 1 person
And Barbara, I think this happens more than we will ever know. I did a FOIA request after the Twin Peaks, Rush wildfire asking for any reports regarding any wildlife including WH&B that died resulting from the almost 400,000 acre wildfire and the response was that nobody did a report or had the answer. And yet with my own eyes I saw BLM running all over the burned portion of the HMA in OHV apparently looking for dead WH&B and other wildlife and doing range reports … and I talked to those BLM employees and they told me that all the WH&B had run away from the fire (impossible for all of them to run away due to the fences) … more to the story but “you get it”.
LikeLiked by 1 person
GG, I have evacuated many domestic horses from fire areas, and can relate that the smoke is usually the most harmful to them. Even if they can run, if they are trapped in a fenced area the smoke will destroy their lungs long before any flames catch them.
LikeLike
When has the BLM (((((EVER)))))))put horses back when they took them off the range? Bull Sh*t.
My guess is the gate was opened after the fact.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Are they using Napalm on these wildifires?
According to early reports by the USFS, the Pagami Creek Fire started off as a 2 acre (believed) lightning strike. The Forest Service watched the fire until it reached 130 acres on August 26. “Then the Forest Service decided to use several hundred gallons of a napalm-like material to really get it going.” When the fire reached 1,750 acres, several Forest Service representatives noted “we were putting quite a plume up in the air.”
… “early suppression efforts included a ‘firing’ operation in which helicopter crews dumped 1,900 gallons of ‘jelly gasoline’ on the fire over Labor Day weekend to create a buffer that would keep the fire from traveling northward to a populated area [Fernberg Road]…Sanders acknowledged that the gasoline drops, some from a machine that injected the thickened fuel into ping pong balls and dropped them from low altitude, expanded the nucleus of the original fire.”
… Cook forest ranger Tim Sexton says, “Thirty-one barrels of the accelerant, each 55 gallons, was either fired from a suspended torch or spit out of a helicopter via ping pong balls.” Exactly how much accelerant was used in the fire, for how long, and what part did it play in the ultimate conflagration?
How is it that no one within the Forest Service questioned allowing the fire to spread, in part by using napalm, when the original fire could have been easily doused with water?
Click to access Pagami_Fire_Palcich_SOS.pdf
LikeLiked by 1 person
http://fireaviation.com/2015/08/06/helitorch-video/comment-page-1/#comment-4003
LikeLike
LikeLike
How can we stop them from doing this ????? This is BEYOND WRONG!!!!! WHAT was the NEED to even START this damn fire like this??????? and then the little bit of water on it??? SERIOUSLY????
LikeLike
In this report–massive wild fire chars rangeland on Idaho-Oregon border – it states 4 helicopters are being used – so what ya think-in
http://www.agweb.com/mobile/article/massive-wildfire-chars-rangeland-on-idaho-oregon-border-naa-associated-press
LikeLike
BEAVER – Firefighters are planning a massive, 10,000-acre controlled burn next month south of Beaver in hopes of reducing the risk of an out-of-control wildfire in the area.
April 8 2014
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865600514/Large-controlled-burn-planned-near-Beaver-in-May.html
The juniper and pinion-packed Greenville Bench area about 6 miles outside Beaver is the nursery for what firefighters say could be a catastrophic wildfire.
A controlled burn is tricky because the weather has to be just right to allow firefighters to keep the blaze under control, he said.
Additionally, helicopters drop a diesel gasoline gel, which Howell compared to NAPALM, to promote burning in the prescribed area.
LikeLike
A controlled burn–hum–back in 2012 the lower north fork fire -was a controlled burn – thousands of acres, loss of life, homes burned, I saw this guy from my house, that’s how close it was
Forest Service apoligize for Colorado wildfire blamed on “controlled” burn.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/28/us/colorado-wildfire
LikeLike
GG, that “controlled” burn almost reached my old house and its new owners, and resulted in lawsuits related to the deaths of I think four people trapped by flames. Supposedly the USFS revamped their training and drastically restricted controlled burning afterwards since this one met all the criteria for safety but then (who would have thought?) the wind changed. I think anyone living anyplace near where controlled burns could happen needs to be strident in opposing them anymore. Usually the notices are small and easily overlooked, sometimes just a small sandwich board along the road is all the notice people get. Witness how many people call in fires only to learn they are “controlled” burns.
LikeLike
Every time I hear “controlled burn”, I cringe! NM’s Cerro Grande controlled burn and its aftermath.
“Over 400 families in the town of Los Alamos, New Mexico, lost their homes in the resulting 48,000-acre (190 km²) fire. Structures at Los Alamos National Laboratory were also destroyed or damaged, although without loss or destruction of any of the special nuclear material housed there. Amazingly, there was no loss of human life. The US General Accounting Office estimated total damages at $1 billion.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerro_Grande_Fire
LikeLike
Maybe it is time for the BLM and the FS to be reined in and sued
Activists score victory in effort to stop the government killing of millions of animals.
http://www.alternet.org/environment/activists-score-victory-effort-stop-government-killing-millions-animals#.VdJMlYNpDlE.facebook
LikeLiked by 1 person
And I found this–maybe a good place to take some of the documentaries on the plight of our earth’s equines–they feel animal rights is the social justice movement of our time
Prestigious film festval announces first ever category dedicated to animal rights
http://theirturn.net
LikeLike
The Animal Law Coalition discussion group on LinkedIn that I belong to is the most active of any of the 30+ groups I belong to by far. We have over 3,000 members.
LikeLike
Well written comment WildHorseGuy, several things to think about and consider.
Having helped evacuate domestic horses, goats, sheep, cattle and dogs and cats, with some of the horses that were untrained and had been being used as breeding stock, during wild fires (and floods) in more remote areas in Southern CA, I can say that not only do the animals, even the trained ones, often revert back to sheer instinct and look for those things they’re familiar with (like the placement of gates and/or fencing as you mentioned), humans also become panicky and don’t always think straight, and also revert back to “survival” and they become hysterical in some scenarios and can cause further problems for those around them. It stands to reason that if humans revert to base survival nature, wild horses are definitely going to go into “flight-mode” and in the chaos of an approaching wild fire with suffocating smoke, burnt embers and ash coming down, the heat, the flames, and the very frightening NOISE a racing wild fire makes, the horses could have become disoriented and even if a gate was open, they were in flight trying to escape and ran the wrong way, doubled-back, some may have dropped from smoke inhalation and lung searing before the flames reached them, and chaos took over.
I too would like to know if it was private land that has a fence around it that borders the public land, or if a fence was strung illegally in public land areas because of good forage and water sources for cattle to be rotated from one large section to another during grazing season.
Do you know if maps of that area are available to find out if its checker-board land or Open Range/federal/public land?.
LikeLike
What happened to WildHorseGuy’s two comments? They were long, but informative.
LikeLike
One of the commenters said, “it is possible that the horses were going to get pinned in regardless”.
Response: They would NOT have been “pinned” if the livestock fences were not on the Herd Area.
The fences are on the WH&B Herd Areas for one reason – and one reason only – for domestic private/corporate owned domestic livestock. ALL of these fences and cattle guards and gates and the domestic livestock themselves need to be removed from our land that belongs to the American people.
If you look at (about page 300?) of this link, you will see the private domestic grazing allotment boundaries for the Hard Trigger HMA – and these would be the basic fence lines that would have been the reason these horses were trapped by the fire and died this horrible death.
Click to access FinalWildHorseandBurroReportWithStateMaps10-26-12.pdf
The Hard Trigger HMA is divided:
by part of the Share’s Basin domestic livestock welfare rancher grazing allotment and
by the Rats Nest domestic livestock welfare rancher grazing allotment
and
by the HardTrigger domestic livestock welfare rancher grazing allotment
and
by the Reynolds Creek domestic livestock welfare rancher grazing allotment.
Private/corporate for-profit domestic livestock have NO business on our public lands – especially the congressional designated wild horse and burro areas.
If these horses were allowed to be Free-Roaming as the congressional law states, they would very very likely be alive today.
LikeLike
Yet another multi-national corporation has managed it’s way into our agencies…
ICL Performance Products Ltd.
There is something else that is very disturbing
The safety data sheets indicate that many of the serious potential health hazards are “Not determined”
“CAL FIRE uses something called Flash 21”
Click to access FLASH21A-2010MSDS.pdf
Click to access FLASH21B-2010MSDS.pdf
LikeLike
The Soda Fire is 90% contained.
http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4475/#
Maps on the website.
LikeLike
More playing God by the BLM and FS it sounds like and they sure as hell don’t know what they’re doing. I know about prescribed burns and how they get out of control but using heli torches and “ping pong balls” is just plain stupid.
As for the horses the fire sure would have been moving awfully fast to make them panic and run past an open gate. Usually horses will go thr. any opening they see.
LikeLike
ALL Wildlife are impacted by fences on Public Lands, especially during wildfires.
Mule Deer Caught In Fence – Carmel Junction, Utah
http://www.thewildphotographer.com/2011/11/mule-deer-caught-in-fence-carmel.html
This is one of the saddest scenes I have confronted as a photographer. This mule deer fawn has caught its’ foot in a barbed wire fence it attempted to jump. The animal was still alive when I found it today, while driving east of Zion National Park, a few miles west of Carmel Junction, Utah..
The wire had cut completely to the bone all around the foot. I attempted to cut the wire with some small pliers I had, but I couldn’t cut the heavy wire.
I drove to Carmel Junction and asked a cashier in the store to call the authorities and she called dispatch and they contacted a deputy sheriff to meet me at the scene. When the deputy arrived an hour later, we agreed that the best thing to do was to put the deer out of its’ misery and shoot it. The deputy shot the deer and I left.
Deer often misjudge how high to lift their hind legs when jumping wire fences and the foot gets caught under the top wire and above the next wire. There is no escape from this. A slow painful death always results from being caught this way. There was a dead fawn caught in the fence the same way, less than a hundred yards from this live one.
This fence was in place to keep privately owned cattle, which were grazing on Government BLM land, from getting onto the highway.
LikeLike
2012
Twin Peaks Wild Horse and Burro Herd Management Area Rush Creek Wildfire Report September 2012
https://app.box.com/s/yf5mucjs…
PHOTOS
burned cow in riparian area ( this bovine was obviously a recent death during the fire apparently either from smoke inhalation or burned alive.”
Both photos (above and below) are of Rye Patch
cattle guard with safety rebar sawed out. Removal of “Wild Horse Annie” safety bars on cattle guards are documented as having caused broken legs and ultimate death when wild horses are being chased by helicopters or vehicles or panicked by fires.
Fences and gate near water trough – this is “normally” open but note barbed wire strewn around.
Fences were all up and we never did see any fences cut or opened in the area we observed on this post-fire trip. The above gate is often open but just dropped in animal walkway (lower photo) – a death trap for
livestock, wildlife and wild horses and burros that live here. We have seen it like this before and have
pulled it back against the fence to protect animal legs (as seen in upper photo).
Lots of rusty barbed wire on the ground and rolled up in a tangled mess with some strands just strewn a long distance next to the road
LikeLike
Per George Knapp:
“…there is no question that you are widely perceived as an apologist for BLM, the person who always makes himself available to the media when the wild horse program receives criticism…”
http://americanherdsspecialfeatures.blogspot.com/2007/12/o-willis-george-answers.html
LikeLike
And here is the SOLUTION to a majority of our public lands problems and especially our wild horse and burro herd areas including the ultimate deaths of the 27 plus 2 wild horses that were found dead:
What can be done to address the problems associated with public lands livestock grazing? There is a simple answer: end it. Get the cows and sheep off, let the wild creatures reclaim their native habitat, and send the ranchers a bill for the cost of restoration.
http://www.publiclandsranching.org/book.htm
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree with that solution.
LikeLiked by 1 person
George Knapp
I-Team: Stampede To Oblivion
http://americanherdsspecialfeatures.blogspot.com/2010/04/i-team-stampede-to-oblivion.html
STAMPEDE TO OBLIVION WINS
REGIONAL EDWARD R. MURROW AWARD!
I have a tremendous amount of respect for Edward R. Murrow. His story of dedication to quality journalism and truth telling was recently resurrected by writer, director and actor George C. Clooney in the historical enactment of Murrow’s journalistic challenge to tell the truth about Senator McCarthy in this brilliant and gripping drama nominated for six Academy Awards titled, “Good Night and Good Luck”.
In reading historical accounts of Mr. Murrow’s contributions to journalistic integrity, it is very clear that his work changed the face of journalism and set the bar for journalistic standards. He is often considered the living embodiment of the highest ideals of what the public should expect from news and media sources; a staunch refusal to allow political and economic influences to exert such pressures that conflicts of interest becomes the norm and truth becomes the casualty – or worse still – used instead as a vehicle to manipulate public opinion and support for flat out lies.
And so, it was with great pride and humble gratitude that American Herds is profoundly pleased to congratulate our own Las Vegas based veteran investigative reporter George Knapp and the I-Team’s Ian Russell and Matt Adams for being the recent recipients of the regional Edward R. Murrow award for their hard hitting documentary, Stampede To Oblivion, and the truths this investigative report reveal about what has been happening behind the American scene and BLM’s “management” of the Wild Horse & Burro Program.
Mr. Knapp has followed the tragedies and travesty’s that have been heaped upon America’s wild horses and burros for many years now, being one of the few who has refused to buckle and allow their progressive extermination to quietly fade into oblivion in favor of more shiny, blond stories – now the general media standard slopped in the public’s trough.
LikeLiked by 1 person
OH no, Wildhorseguy was Willis Lamm. Ha! Ha! . The joke is on me. LOL !! LOL!!
LikeLike
As of this morning’s update, the Soda fire is 95% contained. No further mention of wild horses or other wildlife.
LikeLike
There is no such thing as a controlled burn. Fire can always get out of control. Those horses did not deserve to die. Horses need our protection.
LikeLike
DESATOYA Wild Horse Herd Management Area – Wildfire
It appears from maps that the 4,000+ acre Cold Springs wildfire has burned about a mile into the south/west portion of the Desatoya HMA (mid/Nevada). Perhaps someone will please call the BLM Stillwater office and ask them what they are doing for the safety of the wild horses and about opening gates and fences for them? The fire appears to be in the South Smith grazing allotment area. Thank you.
http://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/lahontanvalley/17769243-113/tuesday-update-
http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/info/newsroom/2015/august/cold_springs_fire1.html
LikeLiked by 1 person
FIRE/DESATOYA WILD HORSE HERD MANAGEMENT AREA
CONTACT
775-885-6107
OR
Lisa Ross
Phone: 775-304-8850
Cold Springs Fire Update 08-19-15
Date Started: Friday, 8/14/2015
Cause: Lightning
Total Personnel: 272
Injuries/Illnesses to Date: 0
Size: 4012 acres
Structures Threatened: 0
Percent Contained: 60%
Resources: 3 helicopters, 3 seats, 10 engines; 10 crews; 5 water tender; 3 dozers
Structures Lost: 0
Estimated Containment: 8/22/15
Carson City, NV – August 19, 2015, p.m. – The Cold Springs Fire, named for the nearby Cold Springs station, started at approximately 4:00 p.m. on Friday, August 14. The fire is burning approximately 50 miles east of Fallon, NV, off the Carroll Summit Highway between Fallon and Austin in juniper trees and grass. Air and ground units are actively engaged in fire suppression activities. Investigators have confirmed that lightning was the cause of the fire.
The fire is burning mostly in inaccessible steep and heavily wooded terrain in the Desatoya Mountain Range. Crews made progress yesterday completing direct line on all divisions and have started to mop up and secure the edge of the fire. Fire behavior had minimal activity and no perimeter growth yesterday. Highway 722 was opened yesterday with restrictions enforced by NDOT.
Firefighter safety is a priority and fire behavior changes will be monitored as warming temperatures and lower humidity are expected to continue. The weather today is expected to be mostly sunny, with a high in upper 90’s with winds 10 to 20 mph. Mostly clear tonight, with a low around 59 and winds 10 to 20 mph.
The Fire Management team is asking all hunters and recreational users to avoid use of the Carrol Summit Highway (old Highway 50) between East Gate and Austin at this time due to the heavy use of fire equipment, aircraft, and numerous fire personnel utilizing the area and road. The fire was actively burning within Nevada Department of Wildlife Hunt Unit 184 in the lower central section of the Desatoya Mountain Range.
The fire has burned some areas of General Greater Sage-Grouse habitat and Priority Habitat Management Areas.
A Nevada Type 3 Incident Management Team, led by Incident Commander Tyler Hecht, took over operations of the Cold Springs Fire on Monday morning, August 17 at 6:00 a.m.
To stay updated on the fire visit http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4528/
LikeLike
DESATOYA WILDFIRE
CALL TO LISA ROSS/BLM
Caller talked to Lisa Ross and was told that….
the fire is 90% contained and the Horses are OK.
Caller reported that there were no new updates on the incident website and was told that there would be soon.
MORE CALLS FROM CONCERNED PUBLIC WOULD BE GOOD
Call the phone# given below and ask to speak with Lisa Ross
Contact #s provided on the incident webpage will most likely be answered with an answering machine
775-885-6000
LikeLike
I emailed them yesterday … no response.
Thanks for the info, Louie.
I hope our wild horses truly are ok.
LikeLike
http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/BLM-Firefighters-Battling-50-Acre-Brush-Fire-East-of-Fallon-321928132.html
The fire has burned some areas of General Greater Sage-Grouse habitat and Priority Habitat Management Areas.
LikeLike
From Wildlife News—-fire fighting wastes money
http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2015/08/17/fire-fighting-wastes-money
LikeLike
While we are discussing cattle business a little today—read this:
Tyson beef plant casualty of too little beef production
http://m.omaha.com/money/denison-iowa-tyson-foods-beef-plant-a-casualty-of-too/article_6cbcdf45-8ec3-54f9-9da1-a06f4640fd15.html?mode=jqm
LikeLike
PHOTO/MUSTANGS FLEEING FROM FIRE/IDAHO
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cold-Creek-Nevada/117892101564277
Idaho Magazine
Wild mustangs fleeing ahead of the Soda Fire to get to safety.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the link to the photo, Louie.
LikeLike
Just now announced by BLM:
“ALL OF THE HORSES WITHIN THE SANDS BASIN AND THE HARDTRIGGER HMAS WILL BE REMOVED” and “Approximately 65 HORSES WILL BE GATHERED FROM THE BLACK MOUNTAIN” …”Last week, 29 horses were killed by the fast moving fire, and six more required euthanization due to injuries sustained in the fire.”
NO MENTION OF THEM EVER BEING RETURNED – EVER.
LikeLiked by 1 person
BLM program to reseed burned areas with native seeds… something horses do naturally. One comment indicates grazing should be restricted 4-5 years after a burn to allow regrowth to survive. Any bets the Soda Creek horses will never go home again?
http://www.hcn.org/articles/blm-aims-to-restore-the-wests-post-fire-landscape?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email
LikeLike
Watch this:
Again, I repeat myself, to capture these wild horses will cost the tax-payer about $1000 per horse plus long term care costs, not to mention the extreme terror they just went through during the fire … and yet some BLM “big-wig” has decided that the terror of the capture and the terror of losing their families and the terror of living the rest of their lives in a feed-lot is not worth a few thousand dollars to distribute some hay to them for a few months until the land starts to green-up. This is idiotic in a financial way and pure and simple animal abuse for the sake of removing the wild horses so that the livestock profiteers don’t have their feelings hurt when they cannot return their welfare cattle to these public lands for a few years … where they don’t belong in the first place! This is Wild Horse and Burro land designated by the Congress of the United States of America.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Amazing fly over video. Just another excuse for BLM to remove our wild horses instead of doing what is right and what makes sense–bring in hay and water.
LikeLiked by 2 people