Horse News

As the BLM zeros out the West Douglas herd

By on • ( 23 Comments )
West Douglas Stallion taken day of ruling Sept 15, 2015 by plaintiff Dr. Don Moore

West Douglas Stallion taken day of ruling Sept 15, 2015 by plaintiff Dr. Don Moore

You can call the roundup hotline at 970-878-3818 for information about daily public viewing “opportunities.”  (like this is a big gift to you)

To find out about the daily number of wild horses removed, injuries and deaths, you can look here.

SHAME ON THE BLM.

Categories: Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs

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23 replies »

  2. Tried to comment on BLM’s webform but it would not accept it. Un-working website means no comments from all those crazy people who dont like our extermination program, otherwise known as American citizens. Funny that way, right?

    I looked up the staff directory page for the White River areas.
    http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/BLM_Information/directory/northwest_district/wrfo.html

    Its very interesting to me that many of their staff are petroleum engineers. So basically their function is to exploit American public lands for the purposes of extracting gas/oil and of course to remove wildlife to serve their cattle rancher overlords. Actually this is not an exaggeration of their activities. I guess I’m old fashioned but I thought the agency was about managing these lands with an eye to conservation and protection, not exploitation.

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  4. Amazing how thin that stud is in the photo taken TODAY.

    Wondering what possible legal justification there can be for this, as in how did the court define “irreparable harm” since for these animals in the crosshairs, there will be no reparations.

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  6. From ANIMAL LAW COALITION
    http://animallawcoalition.com/can-the-wild-horses-and-burros-be-saved/

    Wild horses and burros are supposed to be treated as “components of the public lands”. 16 U.S.C. § 1333(a) The law is clear that “wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death” and entitled to roam free on public lands where they were living at the time the Act was passed in 1971.

    Even designated ranges managed under a multiple use concept are to be “devoted principally” to wild horses and burros. The wild horses and burros on these lands are not to be eliminated for cattle or mining or recreation or even secondary to these other uses.

    There is no authority for BLM’s “herd management areas” under WFRHBA
    The BLM has authorized itself to divide herd areas into “herd management areas”, something not authorized by WFRHBA. 43 CFR 4710.3-1. In this way, with no statutory authority at all, BLM has limited wild horses and burros’ access to thousands of acres that were historically their herd areas.
    Neither WFRHBA nor FLPMA authorizes BLM’s multiple use concept for all herd areas

    In fact, the statute makes clear that the protections under WFRHBA take precedence. FLPMA, 43 U.S.C. § 1732 (a) Yet, despite this, BLM has issued a regulation that provides “[w]ild horses and burros shall be considered comparably with other resource values in the formulation of land use plans.” 43 C.F.R. §4700.0-6(b).

    Limiting BLM’s power – Colorado Wild Horse and Burro Coalition, Inc. v. Salazar
    ‘[t]he principal problem in maintaining wild horses in the West Douglas Herd Area is a major shift in wild horse grazing use patterns that has occurred since the early 1980’s. …It is probable that intense energy exploration and development occurring in the northern part of the herd area has concentrated use in the south….This change of use has resulted in overgrazing the Texas Creek drainage, and horse use in Missouri and Evacuation Creeks that are not a part of the 1971 herd area…. Accordingly, it is this shift in the West Douglas Herd’s grazing patterns, likely caused by human development, and not overpopulation, that formed the basis for BLM’s decision to remove the West Douglas Herd.’

    BLM’s management of the wild horses and burros is now focused on removing them from public lands:

    From 1971 through 2007, over 267,000 wild horses and burros were removed from their homes by BLM. In 2001, BLM stepped up removals. According to the Government Accountability Office, “[s]ince then, about 10,600 animals have been removed, on average, per year.” Just since 2001 the BLM has removed over 74,000 wild horses and burros. “BLM has reduced the nationwide population in the wild by about 40 percent since 2000.”

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  8. Are they killing the horses, or keeping them for ‘adoption’ or slaughter? What a sham, and what a good for nothing Interior Dept. Can violations of the Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act generally be addressed in a lawsuit, or has the Interior Dept. already got that covered? They have done absolutely nothing – after saying they wanted a report from the NAS, and apparently they didn’t like the results and recommendations of that report, so they ignored it.

    I’d love to be able to stand in their way, and see if the ‘contractor’ could get away with kicking the sh*t out of me like they did that poor burro in order to get me to move.

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  10. This is an atrocity committed by the BLM;I hope they hang their heads in shame at the end of the day,along with the do nothing Congress and the federal government cave in to cattle ranchers and their lobbyists;lawsuits and rescue groups and the outcry of well-meaning citizens have not helped us get this monster hell bent on eradicating our equine population in the wild;we are outnumbered and underfunded and it’s a tragic outcome

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    • I saw this article earlier & commented! Doesnt it make you wonder how any state or county can even think about enlarging a uranium mine after the gold mine disaster? Blows my mind! And I read somewhere recently that there is more than enough uranium already stored to last for many years! Just like money – never enough for some people.

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    • Good to hear that someone in the US is doing something about re-wilding. Very little mention of wild horses in their report – wonder if they feel the same about them as some other conservation organizations.

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    • The judge quoted a line from the Rolling Stones song “Wild Horses”
      “(They) have (their) freedom, but (they) don’t have much time”
      Reminded me of what horse drag said – the judge had on his desk “don’t come here for justice, it is only found in heaven”.

      Smart Ass !!!!!

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  16. NWF Helps Score Win for Colorado Wildlife Haven
    0 11/24/2014 // By Judith Kohler
    http://blog.nwf.org/2014/11/nwf-helps-score-win-for-colorado-wildlife-haven/

    The National Wildlife Federation was among 10 conservation groups that sued in 2008 after the BLM sold leases on top of the Roan and at its base – important big game winter range – for $114 million. In 2012, a federal court ruled the BLM failed to consider more environmentally protective plans and ordered the agency to take another look.

    Court-ordered mediation led to the settlement announced Nov. 21. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and BLM Director Neil Kornze traveled to Denver for the announcement by Gov. John Hickenlooper and the parties to the lawsuit. The government will buy back leases held by the Bill Barrett Corp.
    Under the agreement, most of the public land on top would be closed to leasing or protected from surface disturbance. More than 50 percent of the public land at the base would be protected from surface disturbance. The oil and gas would have to be accessed from other locations, using underground, horizontal drilling.

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