BLM Announces Plan to Destroy the Onaqui Mountain Wild Horse Herd in 2019
By Carol J. Walker, Director of Field Documentation, Wild Horse Freedom Federation
Yesterday the BLM issued a press release on its Decision Record for the Onaqui Mountain Wild Horse Herd in Utah. The BLM says “The objectives of the approved population control measures are to slow the herd’s population growth and achieve and maintain a balance between wild horses on the range and other public land resources.”
You can read the Decision Record and all the other documents here:
Their plan is to remove 465 wild horses from the Herd Management Area in 2019 using both bait trapping and helicopters. Currently the population is estimated to be 505 wild horses, but the BLM is estimating that with foals born in 2019 that the population will be at 586, and they want to bring the herd down to the low end of the Appropriate Management Level of 121 wild horses. As usual, the BLM does not allow for any foal mortality, which can be as high as 40% in the first year of a foal’s life, nor do they allow for deaths of older horses during the winter.
If the BLM brings the numbers of the herd down to 121 wild horses, this is far below the number necessary to maintain genetic viability, which according to the leading wild horse geneticist Dr. Gus Cothren is 150 adult wild horses. This risk to the genetic health and survival of this herd will be compounded by the continuing plans of the BLM to use birth control, PZP and Gonacon, to control the birth rate of a herd whose numbers will already be too low.
Ten wild horse advocacy groups including Wild Horse Freedom Federation as well as 7872 individuals submitted comments regarding this plan earlier in the year, and there was tremendous public outcry against this plan. This herd is much loved by members of the American public who come from all over the country to visit, observe and photograph this herd.
Volunteers had begun documenting and training to give birth control to the mares in this herd in order to control the population, and keep the horses in their herd management area with their families where they belong. But the BLM disregarded the wishes of the public and plan to proceed with decimating this herd.
As usual, the BLM has no concern for what happens to these horses once they are removed. If they proceed as they have been doing with herds rounded up in Wyoming this last year, the youngest will be offered for adoption, but likely the public will not even be able to see, let along adopt or purchase all the adult horses over 5 if they get shipped to the private facilities like in Axtell, Utah or Bruneau, Idaho. Instead these horses will be shipped to holding facilities or sold by the semi-load and end up at slaughter.
This is wrong. This plan is cruel, inhumane, dangerous to the continued heath of the herd and against the wishes of the people who care about these wild horses. America’s wild horses do not belong to the BLM, they belong to all of us, and they deserve to live their lives wild and free in their families in their homes, and managed in the most humane and least invasive way possible.
Previous Posts:
To find out more about Wild Horse Freedom Federation and our work to keep wild horses and burros wild and free on our public lands visit: www.WildHorseFreedomFederation.org
Categories: Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
What do they mean by ”destroy”? They can’t just destroy them off lies so our land dies. It’s all s Land sabotage. We can’t allow this, not again not like this again. Our horses have done nothing 2 deserve such barbaric fates. All for elites planned ecocide ordered by the 1% elites, to starve us later by killing our eco, that’s the real reason they want our beautiful helpful healing American Icons lives. Only because they help US, but the depopulation agenda is more important to the ones running our country behind the closed doors. They ordered this, we didn’t. Its only to hurt us later.
On Dec 15, 2018 11:31 AM, “Straight from the Horse’s Heart” wrote:
> debbiecoffey posted: ” BLM Announces Plan to Destroy the Onaqui Mountain > Wild Horse Herd in 2019 By Carol J. Walker, Director of Field > Documentation, Wild Horse Freedom Federation Yesterday the BLM issued a > press release on its Decision Record for the Onaqui Mountain ” >
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People seem to remain unaware that in order to enlighten the BLM as to how we feel about what they are doing to our wild horses – they MUST comment to the BLM – NOT RT, OR CAROL WALKER OR FACEBOOK!! There are 57 comments on Wild Hoofbeats blog regarding the Onaqui wild horses NOT to the BLM but to Wild Hoofbeats. Carol has said many times over to COMMENT to BLM! Somehow, there are far too many people who are not letting the BLM know how they feel – but speaking to the choir (us, that is)
I guess this is the social media impression that all you have to do is “like” or comment online. But it does absolutely no good for us to tell each other how we feel – it has to be made clear to the “powers that be”! And judging from the quantity of FL (form letters) shown on the BLM’s site – not everyone realizes that form letters dont really made an impression at the BLM – personal comments just might! At one point – no matter how many form letters were received – they counted them as one!!! I would hope that still isnt the case, but I’m pretty sure it is.
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This is bull crap! Where can I comment to the BLM, I need to give them a piece of my mind.
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H&Halike… I made a comment on YouTube featuring a BLM ‘processing’ video of the Kiger herd for ‘adoption’, and though my comment was truthful about the plight of most of the mustangs (probable slaughter or destruction of their lives through horrible captivity), a BLM rep immediately shot back at me citing I was a liar and that they upheld the 1971 Protection Act. Disgusting!
I have not found a site directly to them to post comments, or they would probably be at my door with shotguns, lol. Though YouTube appears to be a place that they are live on, methinks they do protest too much. A sure sign of GUILT.
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Thank you for the location of where I can comment. Just curious, on a scale of 0-10 (0 being not at all and 10 being all the time) how much do you dislike the BLM and how they handle what they are supposed to do?
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Actually the most effective thing you can do is call your Senators and Representatives. The comment period for the plan has passed, they announced they are going ahead.
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The Onaqui herds are in Utah, and the Senators and members of Congress there have phone numbers. If they do not listen to the voices of the people opposed to this annihilation, they do not deserve to hold the office.
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You want to give me a phone number directly of some high strung politician?
If not, that’s totally okay.
Also, when I say “high strung politician”, I am talking about all of them and not speaking ill will to one party, I am speaking ill will to the majority of politicians throughout all the political parties.
Because, you kinda have to admit that most politicians boil your blood.
Sorry….. that comment was supposed be a heck of a lot shorter😬
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The best person to contact right now to really voice your feelings, concerns and to hopefully get some action is:
Mayor Ben McAdams – resigned recently to take House seat in Congress 1/3/19 (Dem)
A former Senator and Mayor of Salt Lake Cy.
(The Onaqui AMA is 40 miles SW of Salt Lake Cy)
385-468-7000 / Salt Lake City office #
Twitter/ @MayorBenMcAdams
Because of the transition we’re all aware of in Congress right now, I will just list this Utah Senator and the Senator-elect below:
Sen. Mike Lee (R)
801-524-5730 / SLC office #
202-224-5444 /DC office
Sen. Elect Mitt Romney (R) (to replace ol’ creep Orrin Hatch)
385-233-5272 / Utah office
Let’s all call and tweet until their ears bleed.
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For what it’s worth, here is additional contact info for the BLM/UTAH:
Ed Roberson- BLM State Director/Utah
Anita Bilbao- Assoc. State Director/Utah
801-539-4001 /Salt Lake City office
(For “gather-specific” info on the Onaqui herds: Tami Howell/ 801-977-4300)
Salt Lake FIELD office:
Matt Preston- Field Manager
801-977-4300
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KSL-TV
Up close and personal: Utah’s wild horses draw crowds
An occasional visitor to mustang territory is Rep. Jason Chaffetz. He sometimes stalks the horses with a camera and has captured several impressive action shots.
“They’re graceful; they’re beautiful,” Chaffetz said. “But they like to fight, too. And that’s the fun of it.”
Perry, a retiree from Indiana, was photographing the Onaqui herd that ranges across desert mountains and valleys near the U.S. Army’s Dugway Proving Ground.
“I counted them last night and we had about 155 out here,” said Jim Schnepel of the Wild Horses of America Foundation. “That’s kind of atypical of wild horse groups.”
As the unusually large group of horses clustered into one easily photographed bunch, several groups of people arrived, most carrying cameras.
Author Susan Imhoff Bird is working on a book about the living symbols of the Wild West.
“I am writing about the wild horses and the passion that it stirs within us, as humans,” she said.
https://www.ksl.com/?sid=39994951&nid=148
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The BLM should designate the Onaqui HMA as a National Wild Horse Range due to its proximity to Salt Lake City, the accessibility of the Onaqui herds for photographing and wild horse viewing, the popularity of this herd with visitors and tourists and the economic benefits of the Onaqui horses to the local area;
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CHAINING IN THE AMERICAN WEST (VIDEO INCLUDED IN ARTICLE)
Every year the Utah Bureau of Land Management (BLM) spends millions of taxpayer dollars destroying thousands of acres of native pinyon pine and juniper forests and sagebrush stands. While the projects devastating these lands are mostly done in the name of “habitat restoration,” there is little evidence that supports the BLM’s assertion that these projects improve landscapes for anything other than cattle grazing.
Recently, we’ve seen a significant uptick in both the agency’s eagerness to conduct vegetation removal activities and in the funding available for them. Projects continue to grow in size and scope.
What is a Vegetation Removal Project?
“Chaining,” the most environmentally destructive option, uses a large anchor chain dragged between two enormous bulldozers to tear trees out of the ground, roots and all. The bulldozers used for these chainings travel back and forth as the chains, which can weigh more than 20,000 pounds, flatten hundreds of trees with every pass. As this occurs, the chains rake across the surface, destroying soils, sagebrush, grasses, and forbs and leaving discarded trees in their wake, which can litter the landscape for decades.
The Public is Paying Millions of Dollars for this Destruction
https://suwa.org/chaining-and-vegetation-removal/
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This has to stop ! BLM and our government need to leave the last of America’s wild horses alone! It’s inhuman the way they are ran by helicopters until they can no longer run, babies are ran over or collapse. The ones who survive get to live in a holding pen like a caged animal until sent to slaughter! How can we allow this to happen?
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H&Halike…
On a scale of 1-10 per your BLM question, I would definitely have to say a solid 11.
The damage that has been done is astronomical via the corrupt DOI dirtbag Zinke commander, and the BLM is complicit in all of his criminal enterprises. This will probably continue with the next DOI head appointed, though we can only hope that the tenure of what is literally the most despicable Reptile Regime on this Earth will be short-lived now.
The BLM is one of the most mismanaged and evasive agencies with little or no accountability. Our wild horses have paid for this in untold suffering and blood, and are still paying. By the staggering multi-thousands.
THIS CANNOT CONTINUE.
It is effective to contact your Congressional officials, as often and in as many ways that you possibly can, and keep in mind that these atrocities with brutal roundups, totally unnecessary and immoral captivity in wretched conditions, and horrific slaughter, are at the hands of the BLM. And it involves many, many herds on a constant basis that has been unprecedented in the last two years of utter hell as Zinke has been assaulting our wildlands in the big sell out to cattle, oil, and mining ‘leases’.
The BLM will be taken to task in a thorough investigation hopefully, and though it will be too late for the thousands and thousands of wild herds that have gone to destruction, this corruption will be prosecuted and a massive reconstruction will take place in this nefarious agency.
Then will we have vindication and sanity will return, with peace and protection for our wild horses.
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Oh, and feel free to comment and spread the truth whenever and wherever you can. If it’s YouTube or your local radio station, your newspaper or advocacy sites like this one… YOUR voice matters always!
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These are the best horses we have…. domestic horses are not as tough….. I rode a wild horse for 25 years and it was the best horse I ever had 🌹
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I am stunned! If I had my own farm I would take some, but seeing that I board my 3, I can not. God gave us theses beautiful creatures. People forget they will stand in judgement for this or any mistreating of animals! All they have to do is have the boys gelded, and leave them alone. They would die out years later naturally. Shame on them!!!
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The best person to contact right now to really voice your feelings, concerns and to hopefully get some action is:
Mayor Ben McAdams – resigned recently to take House seat in Congress 1/3/19 (Dem)
A former Senator and Mayor of Salt Lake Cy.
(The Onaqui AMA is 40 miles SW of Salt Lake Cy)
385-468-7000 / Salt Lake City office #
Twitter/ @MayorBenMcAdams
Because of the transition we’re all aware of in Congress right now, I will just list this Utah Senator and the Senator-elect below:
Sen. Mike Lee (R)
801-524-5730 / SLC office #
202-224-5444 /DC office
Sen. Elect Mitt Romney (R) (to replace ol’ creep Orrin Hatch)
385-233-5272 / Utah office
Let’s all call and tweet until their ears bleed.
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This is a disgusting and unnecessary action. These are warm, satient beings. They have lived and survived in their lands for decades!!!
Leave them alone!
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It must be stopped. And keeping it from the public isn’t legal – they only get away with it because people don’t know or aren’t aware. I’d hate to think people don’t care – we must demand our right to be able to document this so that people can step up and make their values known, the BLM and other agencies do their job for the entire people, not just ranchers and hunters.
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Balance? Humans have passed ‘balance’ probably in the 60s or 70s – the country’s human population has doubled in many of our lifetimes alone!
What they really are saying is that they have to take more land to satisfy the endless needs of an overpopulated nation.
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Thank goodness the ‘balance’ of power in the House is going to be changing soon!
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Personally, I think this crap of the BLM rounding up the wild horses. The birth control method but New Mexico is using has helped them control the wild horse herd population. Why can’t the BLM do the same thing? All they want to do is round them up and send them to slaughter cuz everyone knows in their right mind all those horses being rounded up cannot find a home at least most of them anyway. This destruction of wildlife and the American wild mustang needs to stop. No money will be coming into the states because most people go to the states where the wild horses are to see them if they don’t have horses to go see they won’t go to that state. So the BLM it’s cutting off their nose despite their ass.
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Nancy… Unfortunately New Mexico has alot of contradictions going on with the welfare of our Wild Horses and little Burros.
Checkout that major s**thead Dennis V. Chavez, kill-buyer and owner of the slaughter house ‘feedlots’ in Los Lunas, NM. If any one of these abusers needs to go to prison for life, it’s this criminally insane excuse for a human being.
Some of the horses on tribal lands are also sent to slaughter. Ironically, by the the tribes themselves.
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I wish a journalist would contrast the public land HMA shrinkage using MAPS. The difference over the past 20 years shows the agenda of DOI hasn’t slowed at all. More flyovers of long term holding Facilities could also expose issues hidden from the public. Things don’t seem to change without visual proof and exposure.
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