Often forgotten, the gentle burros are, likewise, under attack by governmental agencies in an attempt to mirror efforts to manage all native wild equines into extinction
Join thousands of concerned and caring Americans around the country.
Protest Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s appointment of Callie Hendrickson to the BLM National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board[1] as the General Public Representative.
A creative passion for the horse as a child and rebirthed with an affection for the wild mustangs of North America fine art painter Melody Perez relocated to the west two years ago with a vision to get back to her artistic roots only to discover the plight of wild horses and burros as she researched for painting equine subjects. Her painting technique is vivid and realistic as she re-creates on canvas the spirit of these living legends and the land they dwell upon.
HOUSTON, (Horseback) – The tin ear of the federal Bureau of Land Management is clearly so out of tune to the desires of the American public and so in tune with the wants of corporate agriculture, hunting interests, and natural resource exploitation that the agency, and its titular head, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, has made appointments’ that not only mock public opinion but create a fetid cesspool of criticism where it now wallows – a pool of its own making.
It is rare that we can look back over a week that has passed and find more good news than bad but in reviewing the past week, there have been a lot of good things that have occurred for the wild horse and burro advocacy that should not go recognized.
The BLM recently appointed Callie Hendrickson to the BLM National Advisory Board. The American public opposes and rejects this appointment. Tom Gorey, spokesman for the BLM, chose to attack and insult the public over its concerns rather than convey the extremist thinking of Callie Henrickson to which the public takes exception.(See the Atlantic Monthly article: The Lasso Tightens Around America’s Wild Horses by Andrew Cohen) Callie Henrickson is to assume the position of “General Public” advocate on the BLM National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board, but do her views represent the opinions of the public or for that matter, of the Congress, BLM employees and contracted employees?
COLO. SPRINGS, CO (Feb. 16, 2012) – The Obama Administration proposal to increase public land grazing fees from the regulatory minimum will do little to match the administrative costs of the program according to the Colorado-based, Cloud Foundation (TCF). The fee would increase by $1.00 per month for a cow/calf pair or five head of sheep. TCF has long advocated for a dramatic increase in the fees for “welfare” livestock ranching on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service lands.
To wild horse advocates, the ones who fret daily over the worsening plight of the American mustang, Montana’s Republican former senator Conrad Burns holds a special spot in the pantheon of enablers, cynics, scoundrels and villains who have conspired for generations to endanger the health and safety of the herds. In November 2004, at the last minute, it was then-Senator Burns who inserted into a 3,300-page budget appropriations bill a single-paged rider that amended the 1971 Wild Horse Protection Act so it was legal, once again, to slaughter wild horses.
RENO, Nev.—Wild horse protection advocates are accusing the federal Bureau of Land Management of stacking a public advisory board with friends of cattle ranchers at the expense of mustangs, and warning that the panel is increasingly sympathetic to the idea of slaughtering excess animals in overpopulated herds on U.S. lands in the West.
COLO. SPRINGS, CO (Feb. 8, 2012) – The Cloud Foundation strongly protests the appointment of another pro-slaughter member to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board. On February 5, 2012, Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, named Callie Hendrickson of Grand Junction, Colorado as the newest member of the Board. Hendrickson will fill the General Public position, replacing Janet Jankura of Ohio who applied to serve another term but was denied.
The other day I finally had the opportunity to watch War Horse and was lucky enough to do so with my wife and her parents; the resulting afterglow yielded ample rewards.
My in-laws were not horse people until Terry and I got hitched; not that I brought horses with me into the relationship but I did bring the means that allowed Terry to live her dream, and her parents were there, in Brazil, when she was given Apache the Mongalarga Marchador who now lives with us in Texas. My in-laws were hooked and always insist on taking care of the “GrandAnimals” when we travel. So the invitation for a movie and a dinner was quickly accepted with great relish. We attended a Monday afternoon matinee for not only the rock-bottom price of the tickets but because we knew that there would be few patrons present to distract us. And we were right, there were only 9 total, including us, but one felt that she was above the rules and not only left her cell phone on but answered it in the middle of the movie. I activated my death ray and vaporized her, immediately…in my mind.
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