By Jeniffer Solis as published on NevadaCurrent.com
“The Forest Service’s proposal would put wild horses at risk of being killed for food, and goes against California’s existing law prohibiting the sale or transfer of horses for human consumption.”
photo by Carol Walker of Wild Horse Freedom Federation
Nevada Democratic Reps. Susie Lee and Dina Titus signed on to a letter Monday objecting to the U.S. Forest Service’s impending plan to sell federally protected wild horses “without restrictions on slaughter.”
Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) sent a bipartisan letter signed by 64 members of Congress, including Titus and Lee, to the chief of the U.S. Forest Service after the agency removed nearly 1,000 of California’s largest herd of wild horses from the Devil’s Garden Plateau Wild Horse Territory in Modoc National Forest.
The U.S. Forest Service has indicated it intends to sell the rounded-up wild horses for as little as $1 per horse “without limitation,” potentially starting this month.
“We are deeply troubled by this proposal as it represents a severe abdication of the government’s responsibility to manage these federally-protected horses humanely,” reads the letter. “The Forest Service’s proposal would put wild horses at risk of being killed for food, and goes against California’s existing law prohibiting the sale or transfer of horses for human consumption.”
California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and 23 members of the California state Legislature have also written to the U.S. Department of Agriculture to voice concerns with the Forest Service’s plan. The Forest Service is under the Agriculture Department.
“It’s appalling that a federal agency would abandon its responsibility to protect wild horses from this gruesome fate,” said Joanna Grossman an equine program manager for The Animal Welfare Institute, a nonprofit dedicated the preservation of wild horses. “Americans undeniably and overwhelmingly cherish these animals. For our wild horses to end up as horse meat in foreign supermarkets is unconscionable. The option to sell federally protected horses as cheaply as possible and with no restrictions on slaughter should not even be under consideration.”
Nevada has the largest concentration of wild horses in the nation — an estimated 32,000, compared to California’s 5,000. Titus in the past has described wild horses as “a source of pride for our residents, visitors, and tribal communities” in Nevada.
Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter, Wild Burros
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
This was just shown again on nation-wide television. The only thing that has changed is that it is now government sponsored/taxpayer funded and much move lucrative.
THE MISFITS
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…and the pilots…only now they use helicopters instead of fix-wing aircraft..aren’t “they” clever in the many ways they flaunt the law
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AWARD – WILD HORSE GATHER, MODOC NATIONAL FOREST This contract was awarded to Cattoor Livestock Roundup Inc. with a potential award amount of $480,000. Period of Performance 09/14/2018 – 11/14/2018 (2 months)https://www.usaspending.gov/#/award/68507872
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You can’t even buy a tiny McDonald’s hamburger for $1.
I can’t imagine a more cynical devaluation of the value of our public lands and those species whose lives our laws “protect” upon them.
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A bit of review
2016
Modoc County (Devils Garden Wild Horse Territory) “funny business” that is NOT funny. (excerpts)
The local Farm Bureau and the Devil’s Garden Wild Horses “management” (excerpts):
“The Modoc County Farm Bureau Takes Charge of Developing the Revised Management Plan
The Forest Service subcontracted the development of the revised WHT plan to an entity representing local grazing interests. In August 2012 over one year after the Service issued the scoping letter the Modoc County Farm Bureau (“Farm Bureau”) entered into an agreement with the Service to develop the new management plan for the WHT.
(“The entire plan development, not just the data collection, will now be funded through a new challenge cost share agreement between the Forest and the Modoc County Farm Bureau.”).
Under this agreement, the Farm Bureau agreed to collect all of the data on wild horses, draft a monitoring report, prepare the draft EA and final EA, and oppose any appeal of the agency’s decision. AR04713. In return, the Service paid the Farm Bureau $203,000.
The Farm Bureau was not a disinterested party. Its purpose “is to protect and promote agricultural interests in Modoc County,” including the grazing allotments that overlap with the WHT that are used to feed the cattle that compete with horses.
The Farm Bureau “has many members whose livelihoods depend on grazing operations affected by the ever-expanding wild horse herd within or adjacent to” the WHT.
Almost immediately after signing this agreement, the scope of the WHT plan revision was dramatically revised. On October 31, 2012, Susan Stokke, Field Manager for the Farm Bureau’s project, informed the Forest Service that the Farm Bureau wanted to change the WHT boundaries.
Ms. Stokke is the wife of Sean Curtis, the Director of the Farm Bureau.” (https://www.scribd.com/document/318720720/Appellants-Initial-Opening-Brief-Filed)
https://rtfitchauthor.com/2016/09/30/devils-garden-wild-horses/
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September 30, 2016
DEVIL’S GARDEN PLATEAU WILD HORSE TERRITORY MANAGEMENT PLAN
Interdisciplinary Team (IDT) Members
IDT Leader(s): SUSAN STOKKE and ROB JEFFERS
Wild Horses: ROB JEFFERS
Range: SUSAN STOKKE
Click to access 68506_FSPLT3_1452088.pdf
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MODOC FARM BUREAU
This year’s Distinguished Service Award went to SUSIE STOKKE
The was the creative force behind the development of Modoc County Farm Bureau’s Retired Worker Program which has been using Resource Advisory Committee funds, supplemented with matches from permittees, farm bureau and Modoc County to accomplish work on the Modoc National Forest that the Forest was not staffed or funded to complete. She was also the organizational mind that conceived developing the Wild Horse Territory Plan through the Retired Worker Program and along with ROB JEFFERS is responsible for its timely and efficient completion. This Plan was the essential first step in reducing the over population of wild horses.
https://www.facebook.com/Modoc-County-Farm-Bureau-355141114541710/
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The Forest Service just turned the entire operation and $ over to the Modoc Farm Bureau..how slick was that?
2018
Per usaspending.gov, we, the taxpayers, are paying Cattoor Livestock Roundup Inc. $704,490 to capture and remove our Devil’s Garden wild horses from the Modoc National Forest
AND we are paying the Modoc County Farm Bureau $501,396 to assist with the management of the capture and removal of our Devil’s Garden wild horses AND you and I are also paying John Ivie (media/photographer?) $28,400 for the Devils’ Garden capture and removal of our wild horses.
Those costs that we are paying to capture and remove our Devil’s Garden wild horses equate to $1,234,286
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Does this mean our National Forests are now considered to be horse farms?
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They’re sure not “protecting the harvest” are they
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