By Erik Molvar as published on The Idaho Statesman “BLM; Take Note!” ~ R.T. “It is intolerable that agencies entrusted with enforcing our laws are themselves wantonly violating them…” Conservation groups cheered when a federal judge ruled last month that the Forest Service and Idaho Department of Fish […]
Eye Witness Observations by Carol Walker ~ Director of Field Documentation for Wild Horse Freedom Federation “Today was a very tough day for me for a number of reasons. But no matter how tough it was for me, I always keep in mind, it is a thousand times […]
The BLM will continue its emergency gather of wild horses in the southern portion of the Jackson Mountains Herd Management Area (HMA) following a court ruling Wednesday.
In this day and age there is plenty that is going on to keep one from sleeping well and gaining a good night of much needed rest. Usually, I am pretty good at holding such monsters at bay and obtaining the required sleep to function properly for yet another day. But last night was a different story, several words of text and droning voices kept nagging at me through the mist of the night and I could not shake the feeling of dread and the threat of an evil presence as I floated through the fog with my head looking squarely back behind at where I had just been.
The letters of the elusive words rushed by so quickly I could not read them and the raspy voice droning away was unintelligible until this morning when I entered my office and read the words as clear and crisp on my own computer screen from a blurb that I had written, yesterday.
“I truly believe these animals should be left wild and free,” said Lisa Friday, a wild horse advocate from Richmond, Va., who traveled to Utah to observe the roundup.
“The alternative is natural selection,” she said, noting that the forces of nature are effective in population control.
Friday also disputes the BLM’s findings of deficient range on Winter Ridge.
PORTLAND, Ore. —The Cloud Foundation is outraged at the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) lack of transparency and avoidance of public input pertaining to the Kiger/Riddle Mountain roundup happening now outside of Burns, Oregon. The herds are famous for their Spanish Conquistador ancestry as well as Disney’s hit movie, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. The Foundation asks Congress to stop the illegal roundup now in order to save these herds from being destroyed. BLM’s plan would reduce the two herds to grossly non-viable populations of less than 50 animals each.
The day goes something like this: we hear the distant sound of helicopter rotors. Across the valley we see a small cloud of dust as a family band of wild horses runs to escape an overhead helicopter. The cold, frozen wind roars in our ears as we watch the seven horses run one way and then another trying to escape the noise of the pursuing chopper.
The disturbing images of the roundup going on in eastern Nevada have upset many. We showed Nevada Congresswoman Shelley Berkley the video and she was appalled by the pilots behavior. Shelly Berkley–“I was troubled by images from the recent wild horse roundup. The Bureau of Land Management must ensure that all rules are followed during any roundup. Those who are hired to perform wild horse roundups must obey these rules and if they fail to do so, appropriate steps should be taken.”
On January 24th our good friend and college Robert Winkler of The Desert Independent published a guest editorial written by the wife of one of the Bureau of Land Management’s chief helicopter wild horse stampede contractors, Sue Cattoor. I read it, I gagged, I moved on and did not comment. There was a moment that I considered posting it, here, and decided against giving this self-ordained queen of wild horse suffering any more publicity to feed her maniacal ego. But after days of eating at my soul; I just can’t let it go as I sincerely owe it to the tens of thousands of wild horses whose lives have been destroyed, both figuratively and literally, to respond to this trashing of the truth and blatant attempt to further mislead and twist the opinion of the American public.
Las Vegas, NV (December 23, 2010)—The Cloud Foundation voices its concerns today over the significant BLM participation in the early January “Summit of the Horse”, better known as the “Slaughter Summit”. BLM Director, Bob Abbey, will be a keynote speaker at the conference, which purportedly ties wild horse management to the “solution” of horse slaughter. American wild horses must be protected from groups trying to profit from their slaughter. Director Abbey’s taxpayer-funded trip to Las Vegas to participate in a conference supporting horse slaughter is concerning.
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