First post in a LONG time! Its a copy-paster, but a good'un, ya'll! From the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign:Our voices are making a difference for America's wild horses, and now is the time to keep up the pressure!
In the last two months, after receiving well over ten thousand public comments in opposition, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has postponed two scheduled wild horse roundups in Utah's Confusion Mountains Complex and eastern Nevada's Eagle Herd Management Area. The agency even admitted that the tremendous public opposition to the roundups influenced its decisions.
And on February 5 -- several weeks early and 500 horses short of its 2,432 horse removal goal, the agency halted the intensely controversial Calico roundup. 39 horses lost their lives due to the helicopter stampede and capture, and an additional 25-30 pregnant mares spontaneously aborted. Equine veterinary experts consulted by AWHPC dispute BLM's claim that the miscarriages were due to poor nutritional condition of the mares, citing the stress and trauma of the roundup and capture as a more likely cause.
Now we need you to act again to oppose the massive removal of more than 3,300 wild horses from two BLM herd management complexes in California and Northeastern Nevada.
I've already missed the comment deadline for one of these, but here is the other:Twin Peaks Complex in California: Comments Due March 5BLM is accepting public input on the proposed roundup and removal of 1,800 wild horses and 180 burros from the Twin Peaks HMA, northeast of Susanville, Calif. In keeping with the BLM practice of setting arbitrarily determined and artificially low "appropriate management levels" for horses and burros, BLM is claiming that this 798,000-acre public land area can only sustain 448-758 horses and 72-116 burros. Customize and email the sample Twin Peaks letter below today!
Two additional protest sscheduled: - Las Vegas, NVWhen: Thursday, February 18,, 2:00 pm, for Secretary Salazar's and President Obama's visit. Where: on the court house steps. - Washington, D.C. When: March 24, 1:00pmWhere: in front of BLM's offices
SAMPLE TWIN PEAKS LETTER To:
twinpeaks@ca.blm.gov Dayne_Barron@blm.govSubject: Public Comment for preparation of Twin Peaks Herd Management Area Preliminary Environmental Assessment
Dear Mr. Barron,
I oppose the current proposal by the Eagle Lakes Field Office to roundup 1,800 wild horses and 180 burros from the Twin Peaks Herd Management Area (HMA). BLM has been found repeatedly to arbitrarily set Appropriate Management Levels for Wild Horses at numbers so low they often defy common sense. Such is the case with BLM's contention that 798,000-acre Twin Peaks public HMA can only sustain 448-758 horses and 72-116 burros.
BLM's proposed massive removal of wild horses and burros from the Twin Peaks HMA and the warehousing of these animals in government holding facilities violates the intent of Congress and the will of the American people that our wild horses be managed on the range in a humane and minimally-intrusive manner that preserves their wild and free-roaming behavior.
As a result, I urge the field office to consider the following measures to improve management of the wild horses in the Twin Peaks HMA:
Re-evaluate and increase the Appropriate Management Level (AML) for wild horses for this 798,000-acre complex;
Utilize BLM's discretion under 43 C.F.R. 4710.5(a) to close or limit livestock grazing in the Twin Peaks HMA and/or or designate this area to be managed principally for wild horse herds under 43 C.F.R. 4710.3-2
Offer any ranchers grazing livestock in the Twin Peaks HMA the option to retire cattle grazing allotments or convert cattle grazing allotments to wild horse allotments to promote ecotourism activities;
Implement and expand the current proposal of fertility control treatments to allow more horse to remain on the range'
Implement range improvements and water enhancements that will benefit all animals, including wildlife and horses, living in the Twin Peaks HMA.
Further, any environmental assessment conducted for this capture plan must include objective evaluation of the above mentioned items, as well as an detailed economic analysis of the costs associated with the capture, removal and warehousing of these horses, and a full consideration of the impacts of capture, removal and warehousing on the horses taken from the range.
Please use this opportunity to implement a humane and progressive management program for the Twin Peaks mustangs and burros and reject the plan to massively round up and warehouse these free-living animals.
Thank you for your consideration.
For more info on the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, go to their website:WildHorsePreservation.com
