Keep pushing to stop Wild Horse Roundups!

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.gov

Subject: 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

ROAM! (Restoring Our American Mustangs) passed!

From the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign:

The Restoring Our American Mustangs (ROAM) Act - HR 1018, introduced by U.S. Representatives Rahall and Grijalva, passed in the House of Representatives this morning. The bill amends the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act by adding important new protections and provisions, such as the banning of helicopter round-ups and the reclaiming of land lost by America's wild horses over the past 30 years.

Thank you so much to all who raised your voices in support of this critical piece of legislation. Now we need to prepare for the Senate vote!

On behalf of the horses, thank you for your support, The AWHPC Team
American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign
www.wildhorsepreservation.org
Click here to join our email list and receive the latest updates.

(Note: The blogger is exstatically happy!)

Wild Horse Round-ups

From the AWHPC:

On Wednesday, May 20, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will conduct a public hearing to discuss the use of motorized vehicles or aircraft in the monitoring and management of wild horses and burros on public lands in Nevada.
Please contact BLM to protest the harsh practice of chasing wild horses and burros with helicopters, often over exceedingly long distances. Please also ask that what appear to be no-bid contracts to BLM's primary round-up contractor, Catoor Livestock Roundup, Inc., totaling about 18 million dollars (our tax dollars!) since 1996, be subject to review.
BLM's primary concern in round-up operations continues to be efficiency, to the detriment of the horses' welfare. Instead of helicopters, urge officials to use bait trapping, a much safer and more humane method of capture. BLM has refused to use bait trapping in such instances as the 2007 Jackson Mountain round-up, when 185 horses ended up dying at the holding facility due to stressed immune systems. Demand that limits on distances over which horses may be chased be enforced, and that accountability and penalties be established for round-up contractors who violate humane handling procedures.
The hearing will be held at 10 a.m. in the Great Basin A and B conference rooms at the BLM Nevada State Office located at 1340 Financial Boulevard, Reno, Nev.
To make oral or written statements to present at the hearing, contact JoLynn Worley at (775) 861-6515. Written comments can be emailed to: nv_gathers@blm.gov or mailed to:
BLM Nevada State Office,
Attention: Helicopter Hearing,
P.O. Box 12000,
Reno, NV 89520
and must be received by Tuesday, May 19 to be considered at the hearing.
For eye-witness accounts of helicopter round-ups, please click here.
The AWHPC TeamAmerican Wild Horse Preservation Campaign
www.wildhorsepreservation.org
Click here to join our email list and receive the latest updates.

Wild Horse Reprieve; but our work isn't done!

From the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign. I've highlighted some important points in this brief for you.

As many of you may recall, last summer BLM announced it was considering putting to death thousands of wild horses in its care, as a way to balance the books. After a massive public outcry, the decision was postponed until the next Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board meeting. The meeting took place this past Monday, following release of a long-awaited Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on the federal Wild Horse and Burro Program.

The GAO Report was a disappointment in that it failed to address the systemic problems associated with BLM's wild horse management policies, focusing instead on options available to address the glut of horses in government holding: 'euthanasia,' sale without limitation (i.e. slaughter), or release of the captive horses on some of the 19 million acres lost by the herds since passage of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act. The GAO merely sent BLM and Congress back to the drawing board, while failing to investigate the underlying cause of the current crisis: the unnecessary removal of thousands upon thousands of wild horses from our public lands.

At Monday's meeting, BLM Deputy Director Henry Bisson announced that any decision regarding 'euthanasia' would be postponed for a year. In the meantime, BLM will be working with Madeleine Pickens, wife of oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens, as well as other private parties, who have offered to take thousands of horses off BLM's hands into privately-run sanctuaries. Our deepest gratitude goes out to Mrs. Pickens and the other good Samaritans offering their land in this 11th hour reprieve for the horses.

A looming crisis has been averted, but many concerns remain:
- More than ever, a moratorium on round-ups is in order until actual numbers of wild horses and burros on public lands have been independently assessed, and legally-mandated range studies have been conducted.

- The BLM 'bail-out' by private parties should come with strings attached to ensure that we are not just emptying government corrals so that BLM can continue rounding up more and more horses.

- At Monday's meeting, the Advisory Board made some highly disturbing recommendations, including shipping horses abroad as 'foreign agricultural aid,' removing restrictions against slaughter for horses sold under the Burns Amendment, and extending Burns Amendment sales to younger horses and foreign markets. Death in a Canadian or Mexican slaughterhouse is no better, if not worse, than a government bullet to the head. WE MUST REMAIN VIGILANT.

The incoming Obama-Biden administration presents an opportunity toward a new beginning for the federal Wild Horse and Burro Program. Please contact the Office of the President-Elect and express your concerns and hopes for the future of our wild horses.

On behalf of America's wild horses and burros, thank you for your support,

The AWHPC Team
American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign
www.wildhorsepreservation.org
Click here to join our email list and receive the latest updates.

A big thanks goes out to all of the private parties who have donated time, money, and land to help these horses. However, just as the AWHPC suggests, it will all be in vain if we allow the BLM to use this 'bail out' as an excuse to round up more horses. I hope those parties have let it be known that this is a one time deal, and I hope that they will continue to put effort into encouraging the BLM to change their round-up policies, and stop the problem once and for all.

Eleventh Hour Action for Wild Horses

From Front Range Equine Rescue:

The link below will give you some information about the upcoming meeting (November 17) where BLM will again promote and possibly decide its horrific plan to kill and/or sell to slaughter wild horses in government holding facilities.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27738672/

Please continue to leave messages for your Congressional representatives, call your local media and respond to “comments” on news articles on the internet. The public outcry must become deafening for our horses.

And:

This link is to the GAO (Government Acct’g office) recommendations; see the final one. Feel free to contact Robin at the number provided with your thoughts and humane recommendations. One simple solution would be to raise the nominal $1.35 per animal unit fee charged to livestock permittees on our public lands to cover the cost needed to feed wild horses (and burros) in holding facilities.

http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-77#recommendations

If the cost could be raised, I'd like to then argue that Wild Horses should be allowed to roam free for the same cost! We may only have until tomorrow to sway the BLM, so make the next few hours count!

Tell the BLM to stop mismanaging wild horses

From Front Range Equine Rescue:

Dear Friends:

As you know the BLM proposed a massive killing of wild horses in holding facilities as a way to manage their budget. The next BLM Advisory Board meeting has been scheduled for Monday, November 17 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Reno, Nevada.

Written comments pertaining to the meeting can be sent to Bureau of Land Management, National Wild Horse and Burro Program, WO-260, Attention: Ramona DeLorme, 1340 Financial Blvd., Reno, NV 89502-7147.

Written comments must be submitted by November 12 (close of business). Ramona’s number is 775-861-6583.

Please contact her to express your opposition to any plan to kill wild horses (they call it euthanasia) in holding pens. BLM has been presented with both short and long term strategies to help the horses by numerous wild horse advocates. We have no indication they plan to implement any of these suggestions.

Ideas to suggest:

Raise the cost to public land permittees from the meager $1.36/acre that they pay

Expand the range back to areas where wild horses were allocated usage per the 1971 Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act

Let wild horse herds back into zeroed out areas

Start a “sponsor a wild horse” program where the public can donate to help feed horses in holding facilities

Fire those at management level who grossly mismanaged the BLM’s budget for the wild horse and burro program; use their salaries to help pay for the horses’ needs

Offer any other constructive ideas you have and express your concern over the proposed killing. Let them know how important wild horses (and burros) are to the American people.

For the horses,

Hilary T. Wood

President/Founder

www.frontrangeequinerescue.org

P.S. – Our attorney, a long time wild horse advocate, will be attending the meeting to express our views.

Letter to the BLM Deputy Director of Operations

From Representatives Nick Rahall (WV, Chairman, Committee On Natural Resources) and Raul Grijalva (AZ, Chairman, Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands)

http://wildhorsepreservation.com/pdf/EuthanasiaBLM_letter.pdf

Say 'No!' to BLM's magic bullet

After last week?s shocking announcement that it was considering putting to death thousands of wild horses to address its budgetary shortfalls, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) went into damage-control mode, laying the groundwork for ugly compromises. Meanwhile, AWHPC Coalition members met with key congressional staffers today to assess the situation and formulate a plan of action. In addressing this crisis, our allies in Congress are counting on the American public?s vocal support.

Below is a list of action items for you to help in this fight:

Alert Oprah Winfrey to this tragedy. She needs to hear from thousands of us urging her to feature our wild horses, American icons, on her show.

CNN?s Anderson Cooper should be urged to investigate the matter.

Please also contact your US Representative, two US Senators, and Rep. Nick Rahall, Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee and long-time friend of the horses, using the following talking points:

- BLM is warning that the 29 thousand horses left on the range could cause an 'ecological disaster.' Three decades ago, when federal protection was enacted for the horses because they were 'fast disappearing from the range,' population levels were much higher. The horses were not posing a threat then, so how could they be now? How about the fact that 12.5 million acres allocated to wild horses under federal law have been taken away from them? How about the 6 million head of private livestock grazing the same public lands?

- The additional funding BLM is seeking, with our horses as bargaining chips, should only be granted subject to strict independent oversight and the following conditions: 1. A moratorium on round-ups until actual numbers of wild horses and burros on public lands have been independently assessed; 2. The review of scientific findings that contradict claims of wild horse overpopulation and negative impact on the range; and 3. Implementation of in-the-wild management, including non-invasive fertility control methods, which would save millions of our tax-dollars.

- Unrestricted sales and instant titling of adopted horses are not acceptable alternatives: slaughter is a worse fate than a bullet to the head.

- Members of the public have expressed an interest in contributing to the support of America?s wild horses. Please implement tax incentives for that purpose, ensuring monies are strictly allocated to in-the-wild management and to care for horses already in holding pens.

To locate your US Representative and two US Senators, visit www.congress.org and enter your zip code.

BLM has set up a web-page for the public to comment. While we are under no illusion that they have any interest in the American public?s wishes, you may give them a piece of your mind by calling 202-208-7351 or by following this link.

Remind them that we, the American people, entrusted them with our wild horses, living symbols of our freedom and spirit. After decades of lies and backroom deals, millions of acres lost to private livestock, and millions of our tax-dollars wasted on rounding up horses by the thousands, our precious herds are decimated and 30 thousand horses languish in government corrals. Now a bullet or slaughter are the only alternatives they can offer us for our wild horses?

BLM cannot say we did not warn them or plead with them; they cannot say we did not offer solutions. They have failed us and we will be asking our congressional representatives to hold them accountable for their wild horse management duties, duties so egregiously subordinated to special interests. Enough is enough.

It is time America stand up for its wild horses, a national treasure. Ask your family, friends, neighbors and colleagues to speak out at this critical time. We are the horses? only voice.

For more suggestions on how to help, please click here. On behalf of the horses, thank you for your support,

The AWHPC Team
American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign
www.wildhorsepreservation.org
Click here to join our email list and receive the latest updates.

Death Sentence for rounded-up mustangs

From the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign:

The Bureau of Land Management?s (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board met on Monday. In our pre-meeting alert, we had expressed grave concerns over BLM?s plans, asking whether ?kill authority? was next on BLM's misguided agenda. Lo and behold, BLM came out and announced it is now considering simply putting to death 'excess' wild horses! How did it come to this?

In 2001, BLM obtained a 50% increase in annual budget for implementation of an aggressive removal campaign. 24,000 horses were slated for capture, with no long-term plan for their welfare. Now, predictably, the federal agency finds itself in the untenable positions of warehousing over 30,000 horses (more than remain in the wild); the funding it wants to save by euthanizing our wild horses was wasted on years of unnecessary round-ups to cater to special interests.

6 million head of private livestock graze our public lands and BLM wants us to believe that 25,000 wild horses are overpopulating the range? Removals are based on flawed and biased data; BLM itself admitted at Monday?s meeting that not even its censusing techniques are accurate. In 2005, while in the process of rounding up thousands of horses supposedly due to poor range conditions, BLM eased public land grazing restrictions for private cattle.

BLM?s irresponsible approach to wild horse management created the problem, and the agency is now asking the American public to swallow a very bitter pill, all the while continuing to round up horses by the thousands (2,000 are slated to come off the Nevada range in the coming weeks alone).

America cannot let this stand. Congress is in recess for Independence Day week, but stay tuned for a national action plan next week.

On behalf of America?s horses, thank you for your support at this critical time,

The AWHPC Team
American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign
www.wildhorsepreservation.org
Click here to join our email list and receive the latest updates.

Green Mountain, WY Mustangs

The federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is proposing a new grazing system on Wyoming public lands for a private livestock allotment known as Green Mountain. The new plan has critical implications for three wild horse Herd Management Areas (HMAs): BLM itself admits that the proposed miles of new fences would cause an increase in wild horse mortality by ?severely limiting? known migratory routes and critical access to summer/winter habitat, thereby trapping horses in winter to die in the snow. BLM?s records show that fencing in the same area caused 60 to 80 horses to die over a single winter in the mid-80s. BLM also admits that the new fencing would result in a severe loss of genetic diversity by segregating herds that are currently able to inter-breed.

Citing drought, BLM has already removed so many wild horses from the three affected HMAs that population levels are now below what BLM itself deems to be an ?appropriate management level.? BLM acknowledges that wild horse losses caused by the new fencing would be detrimental to ecotourism opportunities in the area, ?causing a visitor loss by as much as 90%.? Yet, BLM continues to support heavy livestock grazing in that same area, citing concern for the economic welfare of local ranchers.

The new grazing system would benefit 16 private livestock operators who pay $1.35 per month per cow/calf pair grazing on our public lands (about one-tenth of private grazing rates!), while American taxpayers continue to pick up the real costs.

Please voice your support for Alternative 3, the only option that will reduce livestock grazing, not add any new fences, will protect wild horse/wildlife habitat, and supports the creation of a wild horse-viewing loop.

Comments must be received by Friday, June 27, 4:30 pm MST

Lander Field Office
P.O. Box 589, Lander, WY 82520
Fax: 307.332.8444 Phone: 307.332.8400
Email: Lander_wymail@blm.gov

Make sure to include your name and address as well as a reference to the Green Mountain Allotment, EA# WY050-EA07-153.

On behalf of the horses, thank you for your support,

The AWHPC Team
American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign
www.wildhorsepreservation.org
Click here to join our email list and receive the latest updates.