Cloud’s Herd Faces An Uncertain Future
An open letter from Ginger Kathrens of the Cloud Foundation Dear friends, As many of you know, I’ve been documenting the lives of the Pryor Mustangs for a very long time. In […]
(SPECIAL EDITION) Labor Day 10 Years Ago ~ Cloud’s Herd: the Death of a Promise
by R.T. Fitch “It dawned on me as I slept, this morning, that there was something about today, Labor Day, that resonated in my soul. Not the true meaning of what Labor […]
The Cloud Foundation Wins Reprieve for Pryor Wild Horses
PR from The Cloud Foundation Temporary Retraining Order prevents September 2 Trapping and Removal COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – Susan P. Watters, United States District Judge, has ruled in favor of Ginger Kathrens and […]
BLM Boosts Pryor Mustangs’ Maximum Population Number
Written by Gib Mathers as published in The Powell Tribune “I think, quite honestly, one of the biggest obstacles to their continued survival is their gene pool,” The Pryor Mountains can support […]
BLM Plans Annihilation of Cloud’s Herd
The BLM Billings Field Office mailed a Scoping Letter to interested parties on July 28th, stating their intent to reach an “Appropriate” Management Level (AML) of 90-120 adult wild horses, one year of age and older in the Pryor Mountains. If they carry out this plan 45 to as many as 75 horses would be removed in 2012. We cannot allow this to happen.
The Senseless Capture of Cloud’s Herd: One Year Later
(In My Humble Opinion) by R.T. Fitch ~ author of “Straight from the Horse’s Heart” A Turning Point in Wild Horse Advocacy It was a year ago today, September 7th, that myself, […]
Don’t Fence Cloud’s Herd In!
The Custer National Forest awarded a contract on August 6, 2010. It calls for the building of new, bigger, stronger, longer fence to prevent the Pryor Wild Horse Herd from grazing on their mid-summer through fall pastures atop their mountain home. The first question I am always asked is “Why?” To answer honestly, I am not sure what is pushing this kind of expensive and unwanted project. But, to even try to answer the question requires a bit of a history lesson.
The Cloud Foundation Expands Lawsuit to Protect “Cloud’s” Wild Horse Herd
Washington, D.C. (July 23, 2010)—On July 21 the Colorado-based Cloud Foundation, Front Range Equine Rescue and author/advocate Carol Walker filed an amended complaint in Federal District Court to add the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to their current suit against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The suit challenges both agencies’ rejection of a Natural Management Approach for the herd and the planned construction of a two-mile long fence which would cut off the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Herd from crucial summer and fall grazing lands they’ve used for centuries. This small herd is the world’s most famous and the last remaining in Montana, sometimes called “Cloud’s herd” for the now-15-year old band stallion who TCF Director and plaintiff Ginger Kathrens has documented for the popular PBS Nature series. The herd traces its history back to the horses of the Spanish Conquistadors, the Lewis and Clark expedition horses, and Crow Indian War ponies. Plaintiffs contend that the USFS and BLM are engaging in illegal treatment of these federally-protected mustangs and that the Pryor Wild Horses are entitled to use lands in the Custer National Forest, currently not included in the designated range.
BLM Error or the Right Move?
Now I don’t want to muddy the waters or go off into left field but in an effort to be fair and balanced it appears, at least at first glance, that the BLM is in the process of doing a good thing for the wild horses in the Pryor Mountains.
Is a TRO in BLM’s Future?
Activists have been scratching their heads as the federal Bureau of Land Management sweeps America’s wild horses from the Western landscape. Why? Because the 1971 Wild Horse and Burro Act clearly set aside plenty of room for them almost 40 years ago and the agency appears to be in violation of federal law.
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