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After receiving 9,000 public comments, the BLM announced yesterday that it is postponing the roundup of nearly 500 horses living in the Eagle Herd Management area in eastern Nevada. Despite issuing an Environmental Assessment detailing a capture plan scheduled for mid-February, the BLM now states “there is not adequate time to safely conduct the proposed Eagle Herd Management Area (HMA) gather prior to the beginning of foaling season.” The agency states that it is currently seeking a solution for 50 horses who have wandered outside the Eagle HMA. The decision comes days after the BLM ended the Calico roundup, in which, to date, 39 wild horses have lost their lives and an additional 20-30 pregnant mares spontaneously aborted. Last month, the BLM also postponed the roundup of 200 horses in the Confusion Mountains HMA in Utah. The federal lawsuit challenging the legality of BLM roundups and long-term holding facilities continues in federal court, with a hearing scheduled in late April. Read BLM’s full press release here. January 22, 2010 – The Assault on America’s wild horses continues BLM is still in the process of capturing 2,500 horses from Nevada's Calico Mountains; so far, 9 horses have died, including a foal who had to be euthanized after suffering severe damage to his hooves, presumably as a result of being chased by a helicopter for miles over volcanic rocks. BLM is also reporting that 20 to 25 horses have been injured. These numbers are a good indication of the amount of stress suffered by all the horses currently being rounded up. Ignoring nationwide protests, the federal government continues its all-out assault on America’s wild horses, with two additional massive roundups in the works. When combined with the Calico roundup, the number of horses targeted for removal in Nevada exceeds 4,200! Comments for both new roundups are due by January 27. Eagle Herd Management Area Please send
your comments to: Antelope Herd
Management Area Please
send your comments to: No email address is provided, but you can call Bruce Thompson at 775-753-0286. Join us in protesting this egregious mismanagement of America's last remaining wild horses and gross waste of tax-dollars. Write Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and President Barack Obama. Ask them to call for a moratorium on roundups and implementation of in-the-wild management, in keeping with the intent of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. Secretary
Salazar President Obama Upcoming protests: Phoenix, AZ, Saturday Jan. 30, 11:00 am to 1:00 pm at the BLM office One North Central, Suite 800 Boulder, CO, Saturday Jan. 30, 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm Downtown, corner of Broadway and Canyon
This just in: BLM has postponed the roundup of 200 horses living in the Confusion Mountains in Utah, after the agency received thousands of emails from AWHPC supporters. Eric Reid, Wild Horse and Burro specialist at BLM’s Filmore field office, confirmed that he had just received an email today from the Washington office that handles the roundup schedule, saying the Confusion roundup was being removed from the schedule. BLM had planned to conduct this roundup without public comment nor a current environmental assessment. The roundup would have left behind only 70-100 horses in the 235,000-acres public land complex.
After last month's "surprise" roundup on the Surprise Herd Management Area (HMA) in California, BLM continues to remove wild horses from public lands without accountability or transparency to stakeholders, the American public. The next scheduled roundup is to be conducted at the Confusion HMA in Utah, an expanse of 235,000 acres. BLM's stated goal is to maintain the herd size between 70 and 100 head, or less than one horse per 2,000 acres. 185 horses are slated for removal. Although this process began on December 15th, there is no public comment period provided and almost no information, with the roundup scheduled to start in just over two weeks. When contacted by an AWHPC coalition member, a BLM employee at the Fillmore field office couldn't readily locate the information. The field officer had no knowledge as to whether a recent census was conducted, how determination of excess horses was made, or what the estimated wild horse population in the herd area is. When questioned about this lack of transparency he said that they may make a determination based on a prior Environmental Assessment (EA) but he did not know when the last EA was done. TAKE ACTION: Attn: Eric Reid, Rangeland Management Specialist Fax: 435.743.3135 Demand a public comment period and a copy of the applicable Environmental Assessment. Demand that the roundup be delayed because of this egregious failure to make any information available to the public, just two weeks before it is scheduled to begin.
Despite legal efforts from wild horse advocates, this Monday the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) began a massive, two-month long roundup of over 2,500 wild horses from the Calico Complex in North Western Nevada. This will take place in the dead of winter, and will drive the herds for miles out of the mountains over snowy and icy terrain. Young foals, older horses or pregnant mares will face the brunt of this brutal roundup. Aside from the immediate humane implications is the glaring fact that the BLM has no viable plan for these horses. It was not long ago that the BLM announced a proposal to euthanize some 30,000 wild horses stockpiled in federal holding facilities. This overstock of horses is a result of years of capturing more wild horses from the range than the agency could successfully place through their adoption program. Rather than discontinuing the roundups, and implementing proven 'in the wild' management solutions, the BLM is marching forward to the beat of the same old drum. BLM claims that the horses are being removed to protect the range from overgrazing, yet they increased allotted cattle grazing on the 500,000-acre Calico Complex. Please join us in protesting this egregious mismanagement of America's last remaining wild horses. Protests in Four Cities Tomorrow Who: AWHPC,
In Defense of Animals, The Cloud Foundation and Author Terri Farley Similar rallies will be held Wednesday in Chicago, Denver and London. If you cannot attend the rallies, you can still have your voices heard: - Write your representatives in Congress and ask them to protect America's wild horses by supporting The ROAM Act (HR 1018/S 1579). Find your Reps at www.congress.org or call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to be connected. - Write to Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and ask him to support policy initiatives that protect America's wild horses on the range where they currently exist, and to issue a moratorium on further round ups until the BLM's mismanagement can be addressed and reformed. The
Honorable Ken Salazar
A lawsuit has been filed to stop the massive roundup denounced in our November 9 alert. As a result, the roundup initially planned to begin Dec. 7 has been postponed until Dec. 28. The Bureau of Land Management received more than 8,000 comments about the plan, and the three-week delay will allow time for the court case and any appeals of the formal decision to be filed. Justice Department lawyers agreed to the delay by late Tuesday. Motions seeking a preliminary and permanent injunction against the roundup were filed Wednesday.
The federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has issued its 2010 Round-up Schedule which provides for the capture of a staggering 12,000 additional wild horses and burros, at the cost of 32 million of our tax dollars! Given BLM’s recent handwringing over the number of horses in government holding, this announcement is simply baffling. More than ever, America’s wild horses are under siege, their long-term survival increasingly threatened. Nevada’s Calico Complex, with over 2,500 horses slated for removal next month, is high on the list of questionable removals and another example of BLM’s out-of-control behavior. This herd was last rounded up in 2005, when BLM left an estimated 575 horses on the range and gave the mares a contraceptive vaccine. Yet, BLM now claims there are over 3,000 horses in that same area, a preposterous number, even by BLM standards. Locals familiar with the herd are adamant there are far from that many horses left on that range. Indeed, only BLM’s creative accounting could find that a herd has quintupled in size in less than five years, let alone a herd under a contraceptive program! Interesting background information: last year, BLM authorized a 300% increase in cattle grazing for the area, and the building of a fence that BLM itself admitted might cut wild horses from their winter range and cause them to die. Wild horses would also be locked out of the best pasture with the most abundant water during the driest time of the year. At the time, BLM justified its decision by arguing that wild horse populations in the area were minimal. A couple of months later, it came out with its puzzling claim of population explosion, setting the stage for this massive round-up. Clearly, something here is amiss. Where did these 3,000 horses come from? Comments to BLM regarding this round-up must be provided by Thursday, November 12, 4:30 pm PST to Jerome Fox, BLM, 5100 E. Winnemucca Blvd., Winnemucca, NV 89445; Fax: 775.623.1503; Email: NV_WFO_Webmail@BLM.gov (please be sure to include the following reference #: DOI-BLM-NV-W030-2010-0001-EA) More importantly, the Department of Justice, which is currently investigating BLM for other misdeeds, must be made aware of another instance of this federal agency running amok. Please express your concerns over BLM’s questionable practices and continued mismanagement of our wild horses to: John Cruden,
Acting Assistant Attorney General
Special report by Peabody award winner George Knapp -- A hard-hitting and eye-opening investigation into the wild horse issue and BLM's management practices. This is a must see! Please circulate far and wide. Watch the 5-part series: I-Team Special: The Stampede to Oblivion - Segment 1 I-Team Special: The Stampede to Oblivion - Segment 2 I-Team Special: The Stampede to Oblivion - Segment 3 I-Team Special: The Stampede to Oblivion - Segment 4 I-Team Special: The Stampede to Oblivion - Segment 5 To forward
as a single link:
On Wednesday, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced a plan to revamp the federal Wild Horse and Burro Program and establish government-run preserves in the Midwest and East. While we agree that the Program is in dire need of an overhaul and we applaud the government’s commitment to avoid the mass-killing of horses in its care, the plan outlined by Secretary Salazar raises several concerns. The underlying premise used by Mr. Salazar to justify his new initiative is itself flawed. His statements perpetuate BLM’s claims of overpopulation and range degradation: Mr. Salazar assures us that wild horses, who were deemed to be “fast disappearing from the American scene” when the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act was passed, “have returned to rapid growth,” with a population estimated at 33,000 head, from a supposed 25,000 in 1971. In fact, BLM’s first census, conducted in 1974, found 42,000 horses. In a later study, the National Academy of Sciences found BLM’s population estimate to have been “undoubtedly low to an unknown, but perhaps substantial, degree.” How can a 25% net population loss amount to “rapid growth”? How can a species that constitutes only half a percent of large grazing animals be scapegoated time and time again for range degradation? As a rancher himself, surely Mr. Salazar is aware of the millions of head of private cattle that graze the same public range as America’s few thousand wild horses. Based on this dubious overpopulation claim, Mr. Salazar wants to continue removing wild horses from their rightful Western range: Over 30 million dollars will be spent in fiscal year 2010 to capture over 12,000 wild horses and burros! Removing thousands upon thousands of horses from their legally allocated range to move them into government-run facilities is not in keeping with the intent of the ’71 Act, which aimed at preserving the horses “where presently found.” This was reaffirmed last August by the US District Court for the District of Columbia in its decision to prevent the capture of Colorado’s West Douglas herd. In its decision, the Court stated in part: “Congress did not authorize BLM to “manage” the wild horses by corralling them for private maintenance or long-term care as non-wild free-roaming animals off the public lands.” The Court deemed removal for long-term care to be contrary to Congress’s intent to protect the horses from capture “as components of the public lands.” On a more positive note, we are encouraged by Mr. Salazar’s acknowledgement of the horses’ value as an ecotourism resource. But wild horses should be viewed in their natural Western environment and expressing their natural social behavior. Captive, gelded, non-reproducing herds hardly convey the majesty of these icons of the West. Of course, the devil is in the details, and we are withholding further comment until the specifics of Mr. Salazar’s plan are fleshed out: how will the new “preserves” differ for BLM’s current long-term holding facilities, also located in the Midwest? Will the preserves be established for the benefit of the 32,000 horses currently held by BLM, or will they constitute an outlet for further roundups? Will the remaining Western herds be managed in the wild at genetically viable levels? While we applaud the government’s efforts toward a more humane approach, Secretary Salazar’s new initiative is another step toward the privatization of America’s iconic wild herds and away from the survival of the American wild horse in its natural state as an integral part of the Western landscape. More than ever, a moratorium on roundups 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 ROAM Act needs to be passed so that the horses can reclaim the more than 19 million acres they have lost since being granted federal protection.
- Mustangs on the Hill Tomorrow, Tuesday, September 29, is "Mustangs on the Hill" Day: Wild horse advocates will be lobbying their Senators for the passage of S.1579, the Restore Our American Mustangs (ROAM) Act. This critical bill, which passed before the House of Representative last July, amends the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act by adding important new protections and provisions, such as the banning of helicopter roundups and the reclaiming of land lost by America’s wild horses over the past 30 years. A press conference will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. in Room 1334 of the Longworth House Office Building in Washington, DC. If you are unable to attend the day’s events, please call your two U.S. Senators, urging them to support the ROAM Act (S.1579). More generally, please urge your Senators to address the mismanagement of our wild horse herds on public lands:
To locate your Senators, please visit www.senate.gov. Please also call the Senate Committee on Natural Resources at 202.224.4971 to express your support for wild horses and the ROAM Act. - Last of the Mojave Burros The last remaining wild burro heritage herds in California’s Mojave Desert are threatened with removal this week. Please take advantage of this lobbying day to also call Senator Feinstein’s office at 202.224.3841 and ask her to intercede with BLM officials and put a stop to these roundups.
In a letter to BLM officials, Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva calls for suspension of all wild horse round-ups. Those of you wishing to thank him for standing up for America's wild horses and burros can call Representative Grijalva’s office at (202) 225-2435.
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!
Next Tuesday, July 14, is Horses on the Hill day, a national lobbying day against horse slaughter. Having our voice heard on Capitol Hill is more important than ever. While our Campaign’s main focus is on keeping wild horses in the wild, we must also ensure that the thousands of wild horses unnecessarily rounded up each year do not end up over the border at Mexican or Canadian slaughterhouses. Although the last remaining U.S. slaughterhouses have closed their doors, slaughter remains our wild horses’ greatest threat once they have been removed from the range. Nothing the Bureau of Land Management says or does will change that sad reality. If you are able to join us in person please see the information below. If you aren’t able to attend in person, but would like to participate in the effort, AWHPC Coalition member The Humane Society of the United States has helped arrange for a national call in day so everyone can join Horses on the Hill. Date: July
14, 2009 FOR THOSE ATTENDING: Packets of basic information will be provided at a 10am briefing with Senator Landrieu for use in your meetings. However, we also recommend that you include any letters from friends, rescues or others you know want to be heard on the issue in support of S. 727 and H.R. 503, the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act. During your meetings it is important to share personal and local stories about horses and horse rescues that have impacted you. An end of day reception has been added by AWHPC Coalition member AWI for everyone to touch base one more time before going home. Drinks and refreshments will be served. Location:
Animal Welfare Institute
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has announced a plan to zero out 11 wild horse herd areas (HAs) from Nevada’s Ely district. BLM justifies the wholesale elimination of the herds by blaming the horses for environmental damage while ignoring livestock impact, past and present, and other factors. For example, no consideration is given to the role that cattle fences -- including those that deprive horses of access to water -- are playing in unnaturally constricting the movements of the horses. The 11 Herd Areas represent 1,386,992 acres and are home to only 620 wild horses, or one horse per 2,237 acres! Yet BLM still means to tell us that in these vast areas wild horses are overpopulated and destroying the ecosystem. For a first-hand account of the range conditions on the Herd Areas in question, click here. Please protest this gross waste of tax-dollars and mismanagement of our natural resources by contacting the following:
Comments must be received by Monday, July 6, 2009. Please include your name and address and the following reference: 8560(NVL0000) - Notice of Proposed Action: Elimination of all wild horses from 11 Herd Areas.
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 May 19 to be considered at the hearing. For eye-witness accounts of helicopter round-ups, please click here.
Please contact the AZ State BLM Office to insist on a vigorous investigation into this matter: 602.417.9500 - ASOWEB_AZ@BLM.gov. People who have relevant information should also call the Federal Law Enforcement Agency at 1.800.637.9152. There is a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. If found and convicted, the perpetrators face fines and prison time.
With the 111th Congress comes a new opportunity to end the transport of American horses for slaughter in Mexico and Canada: please call your U.S. Representative and urge him/her to co-sponsor the newly-introduced Conyers-Burton Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act (H.R. 503). While our Campaign’s main focus is on keeping wild horses in the wild, we must also ensure that the thousands of wild horses unnecessarily rounded up each year do not end up over the border at Mexican or Canadian slaughterhouses. Although the last remaining U.S. slaughterhouses have closed their doors, slaughter remains our wild horses’ greatest threat once they have been removed from the range. Nothing the Bureau of Land Management says or does will change that sad reality. Please visit www.congress.org and enter your zip code to locate your federal Representative. Remind him/her that horse slaughter is NOT humane euthanasia and that America’s wild horses are also being slaughtered - we should not allow these living symbols of our Nation to end up as a gourmet meal for diners in Europe and Asia (which is where horse meat is exported to).
The Obama Transition Team is currently taking suggestions and votes on America's "top ideas." With only 2 days left, a call for a Congressional Investigation of BLM’s Administration of the Wild Horse and Burro Program has been submitted but it needs to get at least 1,000 votes if it is to move up to the "next round"! The deadline is December 31st for this critical opportunity to demand accountability on behalf of our wild horses and burros. It is imperative this idea make it to the next round. If this idea moves on, a new round will begin and the Top 10 Ideas will be presented to the President on his inauguration day. Write your friends, your family and tell everyone you know; this is their chance to make a difference for America's Mustangs and Burros! Let them know they need to VOTE NOW using this link: http://www.change.org In order to vote, you have to create an account or sign in to the Transition Team’s website.
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:
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.
This Monday, September 15, is National Call-In Day for Horses: please call your U.S. Representative and express your support for the Conyers-Burton Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act of 2008 (H.R. 6598) which would end the transport of American horses for slaughter in Mexico and Canada. While our Campaign’s main focus is on keeping wild horses in the wild, we must also ensure that the thousands of wild horses unnecessarily rounded up each year do not end up over the border at Mexican or Canadian slaughterhouses. Although the last remaining U.S. slaughterhouses have closed their doors, slaughter remains our wild horses’ greatest threat once they have been removed from the range. Nothing the Bureau of Land Management says or does will change that sad reality. Call the Congressional Switchboard to find your Representative - 202.224.3121, or visit www.house.gov and enter your zip code. Remind them that horse slaughter is NOT humane euthanasia and that America’s wild horses are also being slaughtered - we should not allow these living symbols of our Nation to end up as a gourmet meal for diners in Europe and Asia. Gold Butte's Burros need your voice. BLM has proposed a new Herd Management Area (HMA) Plan for the Gold Butte HMA in Nevada, effective for the next 10-20 years. The Gold Butte HMA is the last of three HMAs in the Lake Mead Conservation Area BLM has not yet zeroed out: the area used to be the third largest concentration of wild burros in the West with an estimated population of 800, with 600 in Gold Butte alone. The plan authorizes round ups every 4-5 years with a population target of 22 burros. When the herd grows to 49, BLM intends to remove them again, even though the established appropriate management level allows up to 98 burros throughout the 271,000 acres of the HMA. BLM is only offering two options: the new plan or 'No Action.' Please support the No Action Alternative until a viable option is presented for responsible management. This should at least include:
Comments must be postmarked by September 19, 2008. Contact: Be sure to include EA # NV052-2008-435, Gold Butte Herd Management Area Plan in your response.
Although the last remaining U.S. slaughterhouses have closed their doors, slaughter remains our wild horses' greatest threat once they have been removed from the range (that is if BLM doesn't put them to death first - see previous alert). The new Conyers-Burton Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act of 2008 (H.R. 6598) is scheduled for a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday morning. Similar to the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 503/S. 311), the Act will prohibit the sale and transport of horses to be slaughtered for human consumption, including horses exported over long distances to Mexico and Canada. Since this new bill was introduced by Judiciary Committee Chairman Conyers and specifically addresses the extreme cruelty inherent in horse slaughter, it has the potential to move quickly through the process if we can build up enough congressional support. H.R. 503, the anti-slaughter bill we've advocated for in the past, seems stalled, and H.R. 6598 has a better chance of being enacted. It is essential that we gather as many co-sponsors as possible for this bill. Please make a brief, polite phone call to your U.S. Representative before Thursday, July 31st, to ask him/her to co-sponsor the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act. After making your call, send a follow-up email urging them to put an end to the cruel practice of shipping American horses to foreign slaughterplants. Call the Congressional Switchboard to find your legislators - 202.224.3121, or visit www.house.gov and enter your zip code.
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, using the following talking points.
To locate your US Representative and two US Senators, visit www.congress.org and enter your zip code. To contact Chairman Nick Rahall, a long-time friend of the horses, click here. 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: http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/wild_horse_and_burro/feedback.html Remind them that we, the American people, entrusted them with our wild horses, living symbols of our freedom and spirit. After thirty-five years 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 and 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.
The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board met on Monday. As Americans were making plans to celebrate Independence Day, BLM announced it is considering putting to death thousands of our wild horses, as a "solution" to its budget shortfall. How did we 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 putting our wild horses to death 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, as our Coalition members work with key lawmakers to identify a solution-based proposal that protects America’s wild horses, living symbols of our nation's spirit.
BLM’s Draft Herd Management Area Plan for the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range in Montana, home of famed stallion “Cloud,” calls for a drastic population reduction, down to 90-120 and targets older horses for removal, the same horses who end up in long-term holding and could now be threatened with a BLM bullet to the head. Please send your comments by Friday, July 11, via email to MT_WildHorse@blm.gov (subject line: “Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range/Territory Preliminary EA and Draft HMAP”) or mail, to Jared Bybee, BLM-Billings Field Office, 5001 Southgate Drive, Billings, MT 59101BLM should be urged to:
Please also relay your concerns to Montana’s two U.S. Senators:- Senator Max Baucus;1-800-332-6106- Senator Jon Tester; 1-866-554-4403 (ask to speak with Tracy Stone Manning or Bill Lombardi).
The Fish and Wildlife Service is preparing a Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) for Nevada’s Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge. The CCP, to go into effect in 2010, will dictate future management considerations for the Refuge, including that of its horses and burros. The half-million acre refuge is home to some 800 wild horses. Fish and Wildlife Service has a mandate to manage "native" plant and wildlife species. Under current classifications, wild horses are considered an "exotic" species, so Sheldon officials intend to call for the removal of most if not all of the horses from the Refuge. However, while it may take years for Government red tape to catch up with the most current science, new evidence proves that the modern horse did in fact evolve on the North American continent - making the American wild horse a "reintroduced native wildlife species". Please submit your comments to Sheldon officials, emphasizing the following points:
Comments are due by Monday, June 30th, and should be emailed to SheldonCCP@fws.gov.
The Bureau of Land Management's National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board will meet Monday, June 30 in Reno, from 8 am to 5 pm at the Silver Legacy Resort Casino, 407 North Virginia Street. Based on proposals floated around during the Board’s last meeting, we are gravely concerned with the direction BLM policies seem to be taking. After massive round-ups over the past 7 years, the federal agency finds itself in the untenable positions of warehousing over 30,000 horses (more than remain in the wild), without a long-term plan. It was this irresponsible approach that led to passage of the infamous Burns Amendment in 2004 (click here for the background story). Attempts to sell wild horses at auction under the Burns Amendment have been largely thwarted by public outcry, so BLM appears to be considering building a quick-fix directly into its “adopt-a-horse” program: a fee waiver with immediate titling of adopted horses. In other words, BLM is considering giving away America’s wild horses and removing protections against their resale for slaughter. This, in BLM’s own words, would “open up the Canadian market.” Canada is a horse slaughter hub and BLM’s idea would indeed open up that market, as “adopters” would be able to immediately sell their freshly-adopted horses to slaughter, turning a handsome profit on a government “freebie” (while we, as tax-payers, keep picking up the hefty tab for round-ups!). This is exactly what happened in 1984, after massive round-ups had landed 40,000 horses in holding corrals: a fee-waiver program resulted in an estimated 20,000 wild horses ending at slaughter. The course of events currently unfolding is all too familiar and cause for serious concern. We urge you to take preemptive action: voice your objections to a fee-waiver program in your comments to the Advisory Board and, more importantly, contact your U.S. Representative and two U.S. Senators to voice your concern and protest the federal government’s irresponsible management of America’s wild horse herds. Call the Congressional Switchboard to find your members of Congress - 202.224.3121, or visit www.congress.org and enter your zip code. Those who cannot attend the BLM Advisory Board meeting should submit statements via mail or email by Wednesday, June 25:
What is next after the Burns Amendment’s sale authority? Kill authority? TAKE ACTION TODAY! Our voice is the horses’ only hope against systematic eradication by a government program designed to fail. Pass the message far and wide - it is critical that the phones resonate on Capitol Hill.
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
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will host a public meeting next Thursday, June 12 at 7:00 pm at the Bellaire City Hall Auditorium, 7008 South Rice Avenue, Bellaire, TX. The meeting will focus on natural and cultural resource management activities on state park properties, with a focus on management challenges at Big Bend Ranch State Park. As you may remember, Big Bend and its century-old burro herd were the focus of intense controversy after Park officials shot 71 burros last year. The Park-sanctioned removal policy was driven primarily by a plan to introduce big horn sheep into the Park, presumably to enhance a state-run big game hunting raffle program. The 35-year veteran Park employee who exposed the shootings was transferred and ended up quitting. An investigative officer also quit in disgust, reporting that burros were left to suffer a slow death, shot in belly, hips, and that orphaned babies were left to fend for themselves. If you can attend, please comment on the Park’s misguided idea of wildlife “management” as applied to wild burros. Media Contact: Lydia.saldana@tpwd.state.tx.us
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will conduct a public hearing on May 15 to discuss the use of helicopters in wild horse round-ups. 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 last year’s 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 10:00 a.m. hearing will be held this Thursday, May 15, in the Learning Center of the Nevada State Office, 1340 Financial Blvd, in Reno. If you cannot attend, please send your comments by Tuesday, May 13, to the Bureau of Land Management, Natural Resource Division, P.O. Box 12000, Reno, NV; fax 775-861-6712 ; email: Mike_Holbert@blm.gov For eye-witness accounts of helicopter round-ups, please click here.
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the House of Representatives’ landslide vote in favor of H.R. 249. The bill, which would restore the prohibition on the commercial sale and slaughter of wild horses and burros, has since been stuck in the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Please urge Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (NM) to bring the bill to a vote: senator_bingaman@bingaman.senate.gov; 703 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510; ph 202.224.1792. Remind the Senator that the very first picture at the top of his website is of wild horses. Surely, we can expect him to be consistent and allow a bill that would protect these magnificent animals from slaughter to come to a vote. If your state is represented on the Committee, please also contact the relevant Senator and urge him/her to help bring this crucial piece of legislation to a vote. Click here for a list of Committee members.
Nevada’s Virginia Range is home to about 1,000 wild horses. Because it is located on state, rather than federal land, the herd is under the jurisdiction of the Nevada Department of Agriculture. The Department’s new Director, recently appointed by Governor Gibbons, just recommended the removal of many of the horses from the Virginia Range and their sale at auction, where they will likely be picked up by kill-buyers. Grossly inaccurate data was put forth in support of this decision. Please protest this irresponsible and unwarranted plan:
The REPAIR Act (H.R. 767) has been making its way quietly through the U.S. Congress. The stated goal of this seemingly harmless piece of legislation is to eradicate “harmful nonnative species” from federal wildlife refuges and adjacent private lands. This could have dramatic consequences for wild horses on wildlife refuges: although they are a reintroduced native wildlife species, horses are treated by the government as nonnative. This means that the REPAIR Act would allow refuges such as Sheldon to appropriate federal dollars (our tax dollars!) specifically to eradicate wild horses (click here for a report on Sheldon’s last round-up). The REPAIR Act passed in the House and is now awaiting a Senate vote. As Chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator Barbara Boxer (CA) controls if and when the bill is brought to a vote. Please alert Senator Boxer to the unintended consequences H.R. 767 could have for thousands of wild horses. Urge her NOT to move the bill until it is amended to exclude wild horses from its scope. Web-form; ph: 202.224.3553. Our Florida members should also urge bill-sponsor, Senator Nelson, to add such an amendment to his bill. Web-form; ph 202.224.5274. If a Senator from you state sits on the Environment and Public Works Committee, please also contact him/her to voice your concern. Click here for a list of Committee members.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is seeking public input on several areas in northern Nevada managed for livestock and wild horses. Please show your support for viable wild horse herds by asking BLM to consider the following in their management plans:
As taxpayers, we want government officials to ensure that our wild horses are not sacrificed to private interests. Please urge BLM to propose plans that ensure a “thriving ecological balance,” not just for livestock and big game animals but for wild horses too! Comments must be receive by Friday, February 15th: Surprise
Field Office
Last December, we asked you to provide input into a management plan the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was developing for the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, home of famed stallion “Cloud.” In true BLM form, the agency just issued recommendations that completely ignore the will and input of the public: its proposal to drastically downsize the herd from 143 to 92 animals, a number too low to ensure genetic viability, is a terrible and unexpected blow. BLM should be urged to maintain the herd at a genetically viable number by increasing the horses’ range and by focusing tax dollars on range improvements rather than on costly and traumatic removals. The Pryor wild horses, the only remaining herd in the entire state of Montana, are of unique Spanish descent. Please voice your concerns to james_caswell@blm.gov and jared_bybee@blm.gov. In other news, BLM will be holding a National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board meeting in Tucson on Monday, February 25. For those able to attend, please make sure you are there for public comments by 3:00 pm at the Radisson Suites located 6555 E. Speedway Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85710. Those who wish to speak should provide the Board with a copy of their comments before noon.
This Tuesday, January 22, is National Call-In Day for Horses: please call your U.S. Representative and two U.S. Senators and express your support for the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 503/S. 311) which would end the transport of American horses for slaughter in Mexico and Canada. While our Campaign’s main focus is on keeping wild horses in the wild, we must also ensure that the thousands of wild horses unnecessarily rounded up each year do not end up over the border at Mexican or Canadian slaughterhouses. Although the last remaining U.S. slaughterhouses have closed their doors, slaughter remains our wild horses’ greatest threat once they have been removed from the range. Nothing the Bureau of Land Management says or does will change that sad reality. Please visit www.congress.org and enter your zip code to locate your federal legislators. Remind them that horse slaughter is NOT humane euthanasia and that America’s wild horses are also being slaughtered - we should not allow these living symbols of our Nation to end up as a gourmet meal for diners in Europe and Asia (which is where horse meat is exported to).
The Bureau of Land Managemen (BLM) is currently accepting public comments to a Draft Resource Management Plan for Utah. This Plan will determine the management of rare pinto wild burros in the Canyonland Herd Management Area (HMA) for the next 10-20 years. Utah only has two areas set aside for wild burro preservation.The current proposal is offering Alternatives that will double the Canyonland burros' appropriate management level up to 200. Please show your support for viable herds by requesting Alternative D, subject to the following conditions:
Your comments are crucial to the future of America's wild burros, whose target population the BLM has set below 3,000 nationally, a level that had once been deemed desirable for Southern California alone! For more information on the declining state of burros in the West, please refer to this case study.Comments must be submitted in writing by Friday, January 23, 2008. Email: UT_Richfield_Comments@blm.gov
As 2007 is coming to an end, we would like to thank you for your support over this past year and to give you an update on recent developments affecting America’s wild horses. Round-up
Numbers BLM,
Transparency and Public Input We can only hope that these roadblocks will not intensify in the coming year and that the American public will be given the continued opportunity to provide input into decisions that affect our natural resources and national heritage. 71
Burros Shot by State Employees at Big Bend State Park Pryor
Mountain Wild Horse Range Management Plan
Two of our Coalition members, the Corolla Wild Horse Fund and the Humane Society of the United States, have partnered to offer a reward of up to $12,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for a series of unsolved wild horse shootings on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. In November 2001, five of the famed wild horses of North Carolina’s Outer Banks were shot on the same day. A second shooting occurred on December 26, 2005. In July 2006, members of the Corolla Wild Horse Fund were called to the United States Fish and Wildlife Currituck Wildlife Refuge where they observed the body of yet another horse with a large hole in its side. These cases may or may not be connected. The Currituck County Sheriff’s Office is investigating this case. Anyone with information is urged to contact that office directly at 252-453-2121. Corolla Wild Horse Fund Contact: Karen McCalpin, 252-453-8002, director@corollawildhorses.com
Thank you to all of you who, despite the short notice, managed to send your comments to the Fish and Wildlife Service last week regarding the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge. Our protests were not in vain, as the comment period has now been extended until Tuesday, October 9. Those who did not have enough time to send their comments last week should take advantage of this extension to have their voices heard by emailing sheldon-hart@fws.gov, or writing to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 111, Lakeview, OR 97630. Below are additional talking points for comments in response to the EA:
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has temporarily closed its National Wild Horse and Burro Center in Palomino Valley, NV, after the death of some 130 wild horses. The deaths were attributed to poor health combined with pneumonia and severe diarrhea related to salmonella. The pneumonia is blamed on dust and lack of moisture, compounded by wide fluctuations in fall temperatures. The salmonella bacteria developed when the horses switched from eating wilderness brush to hay. The horses’ poor body condition at the time of their round-up, combined with the stress of the round-up and captivity conditions, are likely to be the cause of the outbreak.
The US Fish & Wildlife Service has issued a revised Environmental Assessment for wild horse management at the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge. The revised draft EA, provided via a link below, is available for public review and comment until September 26, 2007. Written comments should be e-mailed to sheldon-hart@fws.gov or mailed to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 111, Lakeview, OR 97630.
Draft EA: http://www.fws.gov/sheldonhartmtn/sheldon/horseburro.html
- Last May we alerted you to the Fish and Wildlife Service’s plan to capture more horses from the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada, despite the deathly results of last year’s round-up. Your protests to this plan were not in vain: we are happy to report that the Fish and Wildlife Service has cancelled the proposed round-up and will issue a revised Environmental Assessment. Our heartfelt thanks to U.S. Representative Nick Rahall who has been at the forefront of the battle for Sheldon’s horses. - Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives once again agreed to stop the slaughter of American horses for human consumption, by adding a provision to the Agriculture spending bill for 2008 that prohibits the use of funds to allow horse slaughter to continue. The funding restriction for horse slaughter was first enacted two years ago, but the USDA has stubbornly refused to implement the law. Consequently, the battle continues for enactment of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, which would once and for all put an end to the slaughter of America’s horses. Action Alert Our Canadian Coalition members just alerted us to the fact that Canada is gearing up to round up wild horses and foals in September to send them to slaughter. Corrals have already been built in Alberta in preparation for the capture. Please contact the Canadian government and the Alberta tourism board to protest this cruel plan. Canadian citizens should also contact their members of parliament. You can send your comments by e-mail to, or write or fax Stephen Harper, Canada’s prime Minister at: Stephen
Harper Please also express your concerns to the Alberta tourism board: Fay
Orr Derek
Coke-Kerr
BLM is proposing to remove 150 wild horses from the Jakes Wash & Moriah Herd Management Areas (HMAs) in Nevada, leaving only 30-40 horses on 208,000 acres (less than one horse per 5,000 acres!). BLM will only leave very old horses on the range, as they are likely planning to “zero out” these HMAs completely as part of the new 2007 Land Use Plan. While BLM claims the HMAs’ wild horse population is “excessive,” livestock in that same area have been allocated 3,300% more forage than wild horses, despite the fact that the range is legally designated for horses. This latest effort to “reduce competition” with livestock is just another egregious example of BLM’s bias in favor of subsidized private ranchers on public lands, and will cost an estimated $317,000 of our tax-dollars. Please protest this gross waste of tax-dollars and mismanagement of our natural resources. Send your comments to BLM by Tuesday, July 17, 4:00 p.m. PST: BLM Ely Field
Office Urge the government to take “No Action” on the scheduled round-ups. Be sure to reference the EA # NV-040-07-002 - Jakes Wash & Moriah Herd Management Area Capture Plan, and to include your name and address.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will conduct a public hearing on May 16 to discuss the use of helicopters and motorized vehicles in wild horse round-ups. BLM claims that “no objections have been raised for a number of years about the use of helicopters and other motor vehicles to manage wild horses and burros." Please help us “refresh” BLM’s memory by protesting the harsh practice of chasing wild horses and burros with helicopters, often over exceedingly long distances. 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. Instead of helicopters, urge BLM to use bait trapping, a much safer and more humane method of capture. The 10 a.m. hearing will be held this Wednesday, May 16, in the BLM Nevada State Office, 1340 Financial Blvd., in Reno. If you cannot attend, please send your comments to the Bureau of Land Management, P.O. Box 12000, Reno, NV 89520; fax 775.861.6712; email Susie_Stokke@nv.blm.gov. Comments must be received by May 16. For eye-witness accounts of helicopter round-ups, please click here.
Click here for the draft Environmental Assessment and here for a detailed rebuttal. Many of you still remember last year’s disastrous round-up from the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada, during which foals were trampled or left behind to die. Determined to make good on its plan to eradicate wild horses from the Refuge, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) is planning yet another round-up this year. The stated reason for the removal is to enhance the populations of pronghorn antelope and sage grouse, two species that bring in revenue from hunting permits. FWS’ long-term plan is to leave as few as 75 horses (down from 1,500) on the Refuge's half a million acres, or less than one horse per 6,500 acres! This target number is based on 30-year old data gathered at a time when livestock grazing was prevalent on the Refuge, and despite a 1980 Environmental Impact Statement that had determined that forage allocations could easily support a herd of 400-600 wild horses and 60-100 burros with no threat to wildlife. Last year, FWS only allowed “mass adoptions” of the captured horses, paying three adopting agents $300 per horse (our tax-dollars!) to take them by the truckload. Just this past winter, several Sheldon horses had to be seized from their adopters by the Canadian police due to neglect. As Canada is a horse-slaughter hub, the mere fact that these horses were allowed to be sent across the border in the first place is cause for grave concern. Please write the Fish & Wildlife Service to protest this disturbing plan and such a gross misuse of our tax-dollars. If you live locally, please also attend the meeting to be held this Tuesday, May 8, at 7:00 pm in the Daly Middle School Auditorium, 220 South H Street, Lakeview, Oregon 97630. A strong show of public support is critical. Specifically, the following issues should be raised:
Please send your comments before May 17 to sheldon-hart@fws.gov, or write U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 111, Lakeview, OR 97630. Make sure you reference the “Environmental Assessment for Horse and Burro Management at Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge”, and include your name and address. Please also write your Members of Congress to denounce the Fish & Wildlife Service plan for wild horses on the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge. Visit www.congress.org and enter your zip code to locate your US Representative and two US Senators.
This morning the House of Representatives passed H.R. 249 by a landslide vote of 277-137. The legislation, which restores the prohibition on the commercial sale and slaughter of wild horses and burros, will now move on to the Senate. Our deepest gratitude goes to bill co-sponsors Nick Rahall (D-WV) and Ed Whitfield (R-KY), and to all our supporters who made their voices heard.
Two pieces of legislations critical to the welfare of America’s wild horses will come under consideration this week. Your help is urgently needed to push them through. Please call your members of Congress in support of the following measures: - H.R.
249: Call your U.S. Representative - S.
311: Call Senate Commerce Committee members
Wild horses of the McCullough Peaks (WY) are at risk due to increased oil and gas drilling activities on the public lands on which they range. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently allowed the drilling of one gas well which is now in production; the drilling company is now planning two to three additional wells in the same area. Without proper planning and oversight, drilling can severely damage wild horse habit and threaten the herd’s survival. Please contact Tricia Hatle, local BLM wild horse specialist, to express your concerns for these horses. As taxpayers, we want government officials to ensure that our wild horses are not sacrificed to private interests. BLM should be urged to implement protective measures as necessary to mitigate damage to the land and the horses. Please email your concerns to Ms. Hatle at Tricia_Hatle@BLM.gov and include your name and address.
The State of New Mexico, where in 1974 there were 6000 wild horses, now has a population of less than 400 of the beautiful animals. Yet Bill Richardson, New Mexico Governor and Democratic presidential hopeful, has not yet announced his position on signing a Wild Horse Protection Bill - after it passed unanimously in the New Mexico House, and with only one opposing vote in the New Mexico Senate! SB655, The Wild Horse Protection Act, creates a legal definition for the wild horse in New Mexico and establishes protections conserving the Spanish Colonial Horse, now extinct in Spain. Please urge Governor Richardson to sign this bill. Let him know protecting wild horses is an incredibly popular position nationally, as they are truly majestic symbols of the West for all Americans. Please call Governor Richardson’s office today at 505.476.2200 or use this web-contact form.
The Bureau of Land Management is currently accepting public comments to a Draft Resource Management Plan for Arizona. This Plan will determine the management of wild horses and burros on public lands in Arizona for the next 10-20 years. As it is currently drafted, the proposed Plan eliminates 80,000 acres of historic herd areas, sells or transfers access to natural water sources and critical habitat, reduces population levels, and generally fails to ensure future protection and survival of the herds. Please request that the Plan be revised as follows:
Your comments are crucial to the future of Arizona’s wild horses and burros. The more comments received, the more significant the impact. Comments
must be submitted in writing by Thursday, March 15.
Legislative Update: on the heels of Reps. Whitfield and Rahall reintroducing H.R. 249 to repeal the 2004 Burns Amendment, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act was also reintroduced , as H.R. 503 in the House of Representatives and as S. 311 in the Senate. Both H.R. 249 and H.R. 503/S. 311 are critical to the protection of our wild horses. The House Natural Resources Committee will be voting on H.R. 249 this Wednesday, March 7. If your Representative is a member of the Committee (click here for list), please contact them and urge their support for H.R. 249. To locate your U.S. Rep., please visit www.house.gov. Round-Up Report: despite public protests, BLM went ahead with the Clark Mountain (CA), Spring Mountain (NV), and Adobe Town/Salt Wells (WY) round-ups, capturing a total of 1,100 horses and 704 burros. The Wyoming round-up took place despite serious concerns over the health of horses being run for miles in extreme weather conditions. For each round-up, the public and media were kept at a distance, unable to document the proceedings. In Nevada however, a film crew was able to capture footage of a baby burro being roped and dragged, and of another burro being kicked in the head by a wrangler. Hundreds of sheep brought in after wild horses removed: a supporter contacted us to report that, after 200 horses were removed in December from the Dry Lake Complex in Nevada, he was shocked to see about 1,000 sheep trucked in to that very area, less than two weeks after the round-up. Questioned on the issue, BLM confirmed that the area includes a grazing allotment for 2,200 private sheep, whereas for horses the “appropriate management level” is set at only 128 head, or one horse per 5,500 acres! What BLM failed to address is why substantially more forage is consistently allocated to private livestock on the very areas that should be “devoted principally” to wild horses under the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act. Livestock grazing fees lowered yet again: in January, BLM announced that fees to graze private livestock on public lands would be lowered to $1.35 per animal unit month (less than 6 cents per acre per year!). When BLM eased public land grazing restrictions for private cattle in 2005, two retired government scientists denounced the decision as “whitewash,” saying that their conclusions that the proposed new rules might adversely affect water quality and wildlife, were replaced with language justifying less stringent regulations favored by cattle ranchers.
The Bureau
of Land Management (BLM) is planning to remove 65% of wild horses from
the Stone Cabin Complex in Nevada, leaving only 300 horses on over 1 million
acres, or less than one horse per 4,000 acres. By way of comparison,
that same area was home to over 2,500 horses in the 1980s.
On January 5, legislation was introduced to reverse the Burns Amendment, which had opened the door to the slaughter of thousands of our wild horses. Our deepest gratitude goes out to Reps. Nick J. Rahall (D-WV) and Ed Whitfield (R-KY) for introducing H.R. 249, which would restore the prohibition on the commercial sale and slaughter of wild horses and burros. There are currently about 30,000 wild horses in government holding, more than remain in the wild. Last year, only half of the horses rounded up got adopted. 7,000 more will be rounded up this fiscal year. Because of the Burns Amendment mandate that horses deemed ‘unadoptable’ be sold without any restrictions, including at livestock auctions, there is real concern as to the fate of thousands of wild horses currently in government holding. Faced with public outcry over this situation, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) claimed to have worked on an arrangement with US-based slaughter plants whereby the plants would no longer have accepted BLM-branded horses. Yet, America’s wild horses are still finding their way to slaughter in the US, as well as Canada and Mexico. Just a few weeks ago, the Humane Society of the US released an undercover video that revealed the barbaric practices of Mexican slaughterhouses, where workers repeatedly stab horses with a short dagger in an attempt to sever the spinal cord, leaving them paralyzed and unable to breathe, but still sensible to pain as they are hoisted up by a chain and their necks slit. As this New Year ushers in a new Congress (sans Senator Burns and with Rep. Rahall as head of the Resources Committee), we hope that America’s wild horses will finally get their rightful place in the American landscape and a reprieve from government mismanagement.
The Bureau
of Land Management (BLM) is relying on a brand new population estimating
method to justify the removal of 1,349 horses from the Adobe Town-Salt
Wells Herd Management Areas (HMAs) in Wyoming. After horses were rounded
up from the area just last year, only 861 were estimated as remaining
on the range. Using their new estimating method, BLM later increased their
population estimate by about 800% for the Salt Wells HMA alone!
This stunning discrepancy is of great concern as it brings into
question the 'standard' population calculations that BLM has been using
for decades to manage our wild herds, and opens the door to equally drastic
population adjustments for other herds.
The Clark Mountain burros, a small, genetically unique herd located in California’s Mojave desert are threatened with total eradication: unless we make our voices heard, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will soon round up ALL the burros from the area. For a disturbing eye-witness account of last year’s round-up, please go to this page. The removal decision is based on a faulty land use plan that decided, without supporting evidence, that the burros were affecting desert tortoises. The fact is that, provided they have adequate water, the burros do not even range in the same area as the tortoises. The burros’ access to water was closed off when part of their range was allocated to the Park Service. All it would take to remedy the situation is for Park Service to allow water to be piped back to the burros’ range. Park Service officials had originally agreed to that, but then reneged on their offer. Concerned citizens have volunteered labor and materials to complete the simple project at NO COST to taxpayers. PLEASE TAKE ACTION NOW - Contact BLM to protest this eradication plan. Express concern over the fact that using helicopters for the capture will put this rare genetic line further at risk and that California’s burro population will soon be too low to sustain itself. Email your comments to ca690@ca.blm.gov before December 29. Include your name and address, and this reference number: CA-690-EA-04-27. - Urge the National Park Service to allow water to be piped to the burros. Your tax-dollars should not be wasted on rounding up burros when an alternative is available at no costs to taxpayers. Contact Mary Bomar, NPS Director, phone: 202.208.6843 - fax: 202.208.7889 – email: mary_bomar@nps.gov - Urge the Department of the Interior to reconsider its arbitrary land use plan for the Mojave desert. Point out that there is no scientific evidence of cumulative impact to the land or any other species. Contact Dirk Kempthorne, Interior Secretary, phone: 202.208.3100 - fax: 202.208.5048 – contact via web form - It is also critical that our California supporters contact Senator Diane Feinstein. The Senator spoke out last year to oppose removal of the burros. She has since remained silent on the issue. Please urge her to follow through on her efforts on behalf of the burros. Senator Diane Feinstein, SH-331, Washington, D.C. 20510-0504 - phone: 202.224.3841 - fax: 202.228.3954 - contact via web form A public meeting will be held on this issue Wednesday, December 13 at the BLM Barstow Field Office, 2601 Barstow Road, in Barstow, beginning at 6:00 pm. Please attend if you can. Please also alert the media to this irresponsible plan.
The Bureau of Land Management has issued its 2007 Round-Up Schedule. Close to 7,000 horse and burros will be captured, further threatening the genetic viability of our wild herds. The absolute minimum estimated cost of these round-ups and annual containment of the captured horses exceeds 15 million of our tax-dollars. Of immediate concern is the plan to zero out horses and burros from yet more Herd Management Areas (HMAs) in Southern Nevada, leaving less than 100 horses on over 1 million acres. After this latest round, BLM will have zeroed out horses from 6 out of 9 HMAs in the area. A total of 4 HMAs will also have lost their entire burro populations. Cold Creek near Las Vegas is of particular interest, as it was the site of a mystery helicopter round-up last summer. About 200 horses are feared gone, yet BLM denies any horses were taken. Officials have failed to investigate the matter, despite repeated pleas by concerned residents who witnessed most of this beloved herd being hauled away to an uncertain fate. Please protest this gross waste of tax-dollars and mismanagement of our natural resources by contacting the following: - Karla
Norris - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV), who should be urged to revise his position on wild horse management in his state. You can email him by clicking on his name above, or write him at 528 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510-2803 - fax: 202.224.7327. - Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, N.W., Washington DC 20240 - fax: 202.208.5048 - Please also alert Nevada to the fact that continued mismanagement of its wild horse herds will hurt tourism in the state. Contact the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, 3150 Paradise Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89109 – ph: 702.892.0711; fax: 702.892.2906, and the Nevada Commission on Tourism, 401 North Carson Street, Carson City, NV 89701 – ph: 800.638.2328. - Our Nevada supporters should also contact their U.S. Representatives to protest this eradication plan (locate your Representative at www.house.gov).
The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act urgently needs to be brought to a Senate vote. Please call your two Senators and urge them to co-sponsor the bill (S. 1915). It is critical that this be done before the end of this Congressional year, or our victory in the House will be lost. To locate your Senators, please visit www.senate.gov.
This morning the House of Representatives passed the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 503) by a landslide vote of 263-146. The legislation will now move on to the Senate. Our deepest gratitude goes to bill sponsors John Sweeney (R-NY), John Spratt (D-SC), Ed Whitfield (R-KY) and Nick Rahall (D-WV).
Round-up season is now in full swing. On the heels of the Sheldon debacle, we have received yet another disturbing report of abuse at a round-up site, this time in Utah, home of the treasured Sulphur herd: one mare reportedly was run into a panel and broke her neck; a lost foal, carelessly turned in with other horses, was kicked and died; and a mare who had suffered neck injuries apparently from roping, was left for days to agonize on the ground of the corral. For a full report and pictures, please click here. Please protest this abuse by emailing Gene Terland, Utah's Associate State Director at Gene_Terland@blm.gov and Kathleen Clark, BLM Director, at kathleen_clarke@blm.gov. For a list of upcoming round-ups, please click here (wait for file to load).
Cold Creek near Las Vegas, NV, was the site of a mystery helicopter round-up on August 5-6. While no BLM round-up was officially scheduled, local residents witnessed two helicopters flying over the area for hours; a wrangler told one of them that 204 horses were being rounded up that week-end. Locals familiar with the herd have reported that most of the new foals are now missing, as well as many mares and at least one stallion, yet BLM will not acknowledge any horses were taken. Officials have refused to investigate the matter, despite repeated pleas by concerned residents who witnessed most of this beloved herd being hauled away to an uncertain fate.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is proposing to remove 402 of the estimated 482 wild horses of the High Rock Herd Management Area in Washoe County, NV, citing "lack of forage and available water." Yet, the environmental assessment states that "the canyons are relatively well-watered." The BLM is working with the Department of Wildlife to permanently re-route the horses' water to "water developments" for big game and cattle. The absolute minimum estimated cost of this round-up and annual containment of the captured horses is $203,000. Please protest this gross misuse of our natural resources and tax-dollars by sending your comments before August 23 to: E-MAIL: asurian@ca.blm.gov Or write to: SURPRISE
FIELD OFFICE Make sure to include your name and signature, and this reference number: # CA-370-06-16
Many of you contacted your federal legislators to express outrage over the disastrous results of the late June round-up conducted by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) at the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge. Well, your efforts were not in vain: on July 19, US Representative Nick Rahall wrote FWS Director Dale Hall requesting that FWS cease and desist from any further wild horse removals at the Refuge. Read Mr. Rahall's letter here. FWS has now cancelled its planned September round-up. Our deepest gratitude goes out to Representative Rahall.
Starting this Friday, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will be rounding up 1,700 horses, leaving the 12-million acre Buck & Bald Complex in Nevada with only 500, if that (see BLM's fuzzy math below). Unlike the Fish and Wildlife Service (the agency responsible for last month's Sheldon round-up), BLM has a legal obligation to manage wild horses on public lands. For this round-up, BLM has failed to provide a current Environmental Assessment (EA - a fact-finding process required by law for each round-up), relying instead on last year's EA. In its 2005 EA, BLM estimated that the population in the Buck & Bald Complex totaled approximately 1,286 wild horses; 795 were removed. The agency now claims the complex has a population of 2,200 wild horses. Even with a 20% increase in the population from the summer of 2005 until the present, that's a miscalculation by nearly 1,600 animals - an error of approximately 350%. In other words, the BLM now plans to remove more wild horses this summer than they originally estimated even existed on the Complex. Something is very wrong here. Local observers tell us that range conditions currently appear good on the Complex, which contradicts BLM's justifications for the round-up. In addition to the usual pressure from private cattle interests, oil and gas exploration seems to be a factor motivating this sudden ramp-up in population reduction. Although it appears too late to stop this round-up, we hope the media may be interested in observing the proceedings on the heels of the Sheldon debacle. Please contact CNN using this form and suggest they do a story on wild horse round-ups. Specifically, Anderson Cooper's "Keeping Them Honest" segment would be a good venue for this topic.
We are sad to report that a foal that had been trampled during the Sheldon round-up and later rescued by a couple of good Samaritans did not make it after all. He died of internal injuries last night. On a more positive note, the Fish and Wildlife Service is facing a barrage of angry protests and having to answer questions from Washington D.C. After adamantly denying that any horses had been killed during the round-up, FWS had no choice but to acknowledge the deaths in a "progress report" issued after the release of our incriminating report.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has done a very good job of convincing the public that last week's controversial round-up at the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge went smoothly and that no horses were killed. That could not be further from the truth. Granted, all round-ups are traumatic events for horses chased by helicopters, torn from their family groups and getting their first taste of confinement; injuries are common. However, nothing could prepare our investigators for what they witnessed. In total, over 330 horses were captured, including very young foals; reportedly, one adult and at least seven foals died, mares aborted their fetuses, and several foals were injured. Some captured mares still had their foaling placentas attached to them, with their newborns unaccounted for. Some foals were simply left behind in the chaos of the round-up. Wranglers could only locate eight of them: three, aged four to six weeks, were rescued after spending days as orphans on the range; the five others were already dead. Supposedly due to security concerns following public outcry, FWS had law enforcement set up a two-mile security perimeter. In spite of the secrecy, our investigators were able to document the process up close. Their report, including some very disturbing pictures and a corroborating vet report, can be found here: www.wildhorsepreservation.org/sheldon.html (WARNING: some graphic pictures) Throughout this process, FWS showed no consideration for public concerns and chose to ignore pleas by humane groups and Members of Congress. All they had to do was postpone the round-up by a month so that days-old foals and heavily pregnant mares would not have to endure such conditions. All in all, a gross betrayal of public trust. Please forward the above link to your federal legislators and to the media. Tell them that you expect public servants to be held accountable for their actions. Dale Hall, Director of Fish and Wildlife Services, should be made aware of his agency's misdeeds: email him a link to our round-up report using this web-contact form; you can also voice your protest by Phone: (202) 208-4717 or Fax: (202) 208-6965.
We are pleased to inform you that the time has finally come for the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (HR 503, S 1915) to be voted on by the U.S. House of Representatives! Sometime in the next few days, the House will vote on HR 503, a bill that bans the inhumane practice of horse slaughter in the United States. While our Campaign's main focus is on keeping wild horses in the wild, we must also ensure that the thousands of wild horses unnecessarily rounded up each year do not end up at the slaughterhouse. Slaughter is our wild horses' greatest threat once they have been removed from the range, and nothing the BLM says or does will change that sad reality. Contact your federal Representative today by calling the Capitol Switchboard and providing your zip code: (202) 224-3121. Ask them to support HR 503, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act. After calling, take a moment and send an email or fax. You can find and email your Representative online through www.house.gov. Please remind your Representative that:
Many of you have inquired about the status of the Sheldon round-up denounced in last week's alert. Despite Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) being inundated with calls and emails protesting its plan, it went ahead with the round-up on Monday and Tuesday: over 330 horses were captured, including heavily pregnant mares (some foaling at the round-up site) and orphan foals, some only days old. Please note however that your efforts were not in vain: FWS is facing a massive public outcry; the media has picked up on the story; two federal legislators sent stern letters of protest; and Governor Schwarzenegger even contacted Nevada authorities to inquire about the matter. The fact is that, over the past year, wild horse advocates have generally been recognized in Washington D.C. as the most efficient grassroots group. This was confirmed again just recently by several Members of Congress to the Institute for a Democratic Future, who called us to congratulate wild horse advocates on their grassroots efforts. So please do not let placating responses from government officials shake your confidence. FWS staffers have been very diligent in responding to concerned citizens. Unfortunately, they are not doing so in an honest, truthful manner, spreading lies and misinforming the public. We would like to take this opportunity to address some of their statements:
These public servants' salaries are paid by our tax-dollars. The least they owe us is the truth. Please alert the media and your federal legislators.
On Thursday, June 29th, the Bureau of Land Management will hold a meeting to hear public comments regarding their plan to use motorized vehicles to round up wild horses from the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range in Montana. The meeting will be held from 7:00-8:00pm at the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area Visitor's Center in Lovell, WY. The BLM plans to remove about 24 wild horses from the Pryor herd and make them available for adoption. The use of motorized vehicles causes excessive stress and needless suffering as the animals are chased to exhaustion. If you can attend this important meeting, please plan to do so and let the BLM know that you do not approve of the use of motorized vehicles in the capture and removal of wild horses. Please also take the opportunity to remind them that you would like to see wild horses remain in their rightful home, on America's vast public lands and that this continued removal of horses threatens the genetic viability and long-term survival of one of our most treasured natural resources - the American wild horse. Those who are not able to attend can mail their comments to: BLM Field Office, 5001 Southgate Drive, Billings, MT 59101
Without any opportunity for public review or comment, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has engineered a plan to eradicate wild horses from the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada. The plan calls for the capture of as many as 1,200 animals, starting June 19, at the height of foaling season. Even the BLM does not conduct round-ups during foaling season, because new-born foals risk being separated from their mothers, trampled to death, or run to exhaustion, and pregnant mares may abort their foals. The stated reason for the removal is to enhance the populations of pronghorn antelope and sage grouse, two species that bring in revenue from hunting permits. However, FWS has failed to conduct a legally-required Environmental Assessment in connection with this removal. Their long-term plan is to leave as few as 75 horses on the Refuge's half a million acres, a number too low to ensure genetic viability of the herd. Even more disturbing, the newly-announced plan allows only "mass adoptions" of the captured horses, with FWS paying three "carefully screened" agents $300 per horse (those are our tax-dollars!) to take them by the truckload. An investigation has shown that the address provided by one of the adopting agents is virtually a Grand Central Station of horse slaughter, used by killer buyers for two slaughterhouses located in Texas. In addition to the $300 paid by FWS, each horse may bring in $500 or more at the slaughterhouse. This plan for the Sheldon horses is extremely disturbing at every level and a gross misuse of our tax-dollars. Please contact the Fish and Wildlife Service and ask them to put a halt to the plan until proper environmental studies have been conducted, as required by law, and until the safety of any captured horses can be ensured; denounce the plan to round-up horses at the height of foaling season:
Please also write your Members of Congress to denounce the Fish and Wildlife Service plan for wild horses on the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge. Visit www.congress.org and enter your zip code to locate your US Representative and two US Senators. The media should also be alerted to this travesty. Visit www.newslink.org for media contact information. Major newspapers and networks should be encouraged to investigate this matter.
Last August, BLM removed 795 horses from the Buck and Bald Complex in Nevada. This year, they plan to remove another 1,700 horses, leaving only 500 on this 12 million-acre Complex. For this round-up, BLM has failed to perform an Environmental Assessment (a fact-finding process required by law for each round-up), relying instead on last year's Environmental Assessment. BLM simply claims last year's census under-estimated population levels. In addition to the usual pressure from private cattle interests, oil and gas exploration appears to be a factor motivating this sudden ramp-up in population reduction on the Complex. Please mail or fax your comments by June 15th to: BLM Elko Field Office, Attn.: Shane DeForest, AFM Renewable Resources, 3900 East Idaho St., Elko, NV 89801. Input can also be sent by FAX: 775-753-0255. Please include your signature and the following reference: Buck and Bald Complex - Comment to Proposed Wild Horse Gather, Summer 2006. Your comments should include the following points:
The Amendment, introduced by Representative Rahall and co-sponsored by Ed Whitfield (KY), John Sweeney (NY) and John Spratt (SC), passes without opposition toward preventing funding for the sale/slaughter of wild horses for fiscal year 2007. The Amendment still needs to go through the Senate. When an identical amendment reached the Senate last year, Senator Conrad Burns (MT), who happens to chair the Senate Appropriations Interior subcommittee, simply, in his own words, "threw it out". Will the Montana Senator choose once again to subvert the democratic process and ignore the will of the American people?
Representative Rahall (WV) has once again stepped forward to give us a real chance to fight for our wild horses, by introducing an amendment to the Interior Appropriations Bill. This new amendment, to be offered for a floor vote by the U.S. House of Representatives this week (most likely this Thursday, May 18), ensures that no tax dollars can be used for any sale of wild horses that could lead to their slaughter. An identical amendment passed overwhelmingly in the House last year, but was blocked at the last minute in the Senate by Senator Conrad Burns (MT). Because this is a floor vote, every Representative's vote will be recorded - they know we will be watching. Now is our big chance to speak out for our horses. Before Thursday, we must reach every single member of the U.S. House of Representatives and secure their vote for the Rahall Interior Appropriations Amendment. PLEASE TAKE ACTION NOW: 1) Please CALL your U.S. Representative and urge that he or she "Please vote for the Rahall Interior Appropriations Amendment to Protect America's Wild Horses from Slaughter. Not another wild horse should go to slaughter." Visit www.congress.org to locate your U.S. Representative. Ask to speak to the Interior Appropriations staffer and if your Representative voted 'yes' on last year's amendment, please mention this when you call. To find out who voted 'yes' last year, click here. 2) Please tell everyone you know to contact their U.S. Representative and urge support for the Rahall Interior Appropriations Amendment.
The Pryor Mountain herd was made famous by Ginger Kathrens' Emmy Award winning PBS series, "Cloud: Wild Stallion of the Rockies." Now Cloud's very herd is threatened by a BLM plan to round up 50% of the coming yearlings, as well as 12 bachelor stallions, in addition to use of fertility control measures. While we support the use of fertility control in certain instances where population control is needed, such measures should be used in lieu of round-ups, not in addition to round-ups. BLM's plan calls for a removal of horses in 2006, and possibly in 2008 and 2010 to reach a population of 100. Such a population level is scientifically recognized as non-genetically viable, so BLM mentions that they are studying the possibility of importing wild horses from Utah to avoid genetic decline! Such an absurd and intrusive management plan should be vehemently protested as a waste of our tax-dollars. Please mail your comments by May 5th to: Bureau of Land Management Please include your signature and the reference number:. EA#BLM-MT-010-FY06-19, Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range Population Control, 2006. Your comments should include the following points:
AWHPC's dedication to preserving the American wild horse extends to America's burros as well, and today the Clark Mountain burro herd needs our help. This small, unique herd located in California's Mojave National Preserve is managed by the National Park Service (NPS) and is in serious jeopardy. The NPS is in the process of eradicating burros from the Clark Mountain area. The initial phase of their plan includes helicopter round-ups during which animals are subjected to extremely stressful running conditions under which they can literally be run to death. For a disturbing eye-witness account of such a round-up, please follow this link to our Testimonials page. The last phase of the plan involves elimination by "humane methods," which include gunning down any remaining animals to achieve zero population. We are told that hunters have been solicited by the Park Service to shoot burros on the range. It is important to note that when an animal is shot, it is not necessarily a "kill." The burro could be injured and left to die a slow, painful death. PLEASE TAKE ACTION NOW to protest such an inhumane plan for the Clark Mountain Burros: voice your concern and outrage to Mojave National Preserve Superintendent Dennis Schramm, 760.252.6103, Dennis_Schramm@nps.gov. Our California supporters should also contact their federal legislators to protest this eradication plan: - Representative Jerry Lewis, 2112 RHOB, Washington, D.C. 20515-0541, Phone: (202) 225-5861, Fax: (202) 225-6498, Contact Via 'Web Form.' - Senator Barbara
Boxer, SH-112, Washington, D.C. 20510-0505, Phone:
(202) 224-3553, Fax: (415) 956-6701 - Senator Diane Feinstein, SH-331, Washington, D.C. 20510-0504, Phone: (202) 224-3841, Fax: (202) 228-3954 , Contact via 'Web Form'
BLM and PLC have sent 15,000 letters to public lands ranchers and are broadcasting radio ads in cattle country urging ranchers to purchase horses at ten dollars a head. This marketing program covers 7,000 mares and geldings ten years of age and older. BLM urges the ranchers to purchase these horses so as to make room for more horses to be rounded up from public lands. In a Casper Star Tribune article published today, Niels Hansen, chairman of the Wyoming State Grazing Board, clearly states he doesn't see a problem with selling "old, unusable horses" to slaughterhouses. His only concern is whether, under BLM's bill of sale, the horses can legally be re-sold to slaughter; but, as BLM Director Kathleen Clarke testified before Congress in March of 2005, "Once the bill of sale has been effectuated, then we have no control over what the buyer does."
In what could be its most absurd and cynical move yet, the Bureau of Land Management is partnering with the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, the American Sheep Industry and the Association of National Grasslands (represented by the Public Lands Council), in a campaign that promotes the purchase of wild horses and burros by public lands ranchers. View their joint press release at www.beefusa.org. The very people who lobby tirelessly to remove wild horses from our public lands at taxpayers' expense are now urged to purchase these same horses at bargain basement prices. Ranchers did not want to share their public land allotments with these horses in the first place; do we really think they are now going to let them graze these same allotments out of the goodness of their hearts? Who better than the National Cattlemen's Beef Association to funnel wild horses to slaughter? In fact, it is interesting that this announcement should come on the heels of the USDA's decision to allow horse slaughter to continue despite Congress overwhelmingly passing an amendment banning such practice for one fiscal year; the horse slaughter ban was vehemently opposed by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. Without independent oversight and incentives to ensure the ranchers will provide long-term care for these horses, we can't help but see something sinister at play in this latest maneuver by the BLM and the cattle lobby. PLEASE TAKE ACTION NOW to protest this latest maneuver by the BLM and the cattle lobby: voice your concern and outrage to Gale Norton, Secretary of the Interior, Department of the Interior,1849 C Street, N.W., Washington DC 20240 - fax: 202.208.5048.
In direct contradiction with the clearly expressed will of Congress, the USDA has decided to circumvent the recently enacted one-year horse-slaughter ban by allowing three foreign-owned horse slaughter plants to conduct their own private pre-slaughter inspections. This in effect allows the plants to bypass federal legislation and continue slaughtering American horses for human consumption abroad. Slaughter is our wild horses' greatest threat once they have been removed from the range. Please contact the
USDA and express your outrage at this subversion of the democratic process:
Docket Clerk, Docket Number 05-036IF, U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Food Safety and Inspection Service, 300 12th Street, SW, Room 102 Cotton
Annex, Washington, DC 20250 Please also write your Members of Congress to urge their support of H.R. 503 and S. 1915 (the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act), which would permanently ban horse slaughter in the United States. Visit www.congress.org to locate your federal legislators.
BLM has implemented an internet adoption program through www.horsetopia.com which allows potential adopters to bid on horses remotely and avoids shipping horses cross-country before they have an adopter. This is generally considered a good idea.
BLM is using brush fires as an excuse to remove ALL the wild horses from an area in Lincoln County, NV, including from unburned lands. BLM has no plan to return the horses to their rightful range once the "emergency" has passed. Yet, BLM continues to allow cattle and/or sheep to graze on every acre of unburned lands, including large portions from which horses are being removed. It is clear that an "emergency" does not exist if BLM is going to allow hundreds if not thousands of head of cattle/sheep to graze right next to, and likely stray into, the burned areas. BLM has not explored reasonable alternatives, such as removal of livestock from sensitive unburned habitats so that wildlife displaced by the burn have some areas without extreme competition from domestic livestock. Please send your comments protesting BLM's herd-removal plan by January 14th (Saturday) to: Caliente Field Station,
BLM Make sure to include your signature and the reference number: EA # BLM -NV-040-06-008 on Ely South Desert Fires Emergency Wild Horse Gather. Your comments should include the following points, in your own words:
A preliminary injunction is preventing the U.S. Forest Service from rounding up hundreds of wild horses in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest (Arizona). Rounded-up horses would likely have ended up at the slaughterhouse. According to a federal judge, the Forest Service failed to prove that the horses had strayed onto the forest after the 2002 Rodeo-Chediski fire and were domesticated. Three advocacy groups argued that the horses could be traced back hundreds of years and were in fact wild, triggering federal wild horse protection. The preliminary injunction will remain in force until a full trial is held or the case ends with a summary judgment.
Officials at the U. S. Bureau of Land Management are working with veterinarians to determine what has caused the deaths of 18 wild horses that were being held in the agency's Litchfield Corrals near Susanville. The animals died over the past two weeks, including the Labor Day holiday weekend. A veterinarian has examined the animals and sent blood samples to a laboratory to help determine the cause of death. In the meantime, BLM has suspended planned horse gathering operations in the High Rock Canyon area of northwestern Nevada, and suspended wild horse and burro adoptions from the corrals. The affected horses were gathered over the past month from herd areas in the Devil's Garden region of the Modoc National Forest, and from BLM-managed rangelands near High Rock Canyon in northwestern Nevada. They were being held with approximately 300 horses and burros awaiting public adoption. "We are working closely with veterinary experts to determine what happened to these animals," said Linda Hansen, manager of the BLM's Eagle Lake Field Office in Susanville. While no causes have been ruled out, the BLM said there has been no evidence of foul play.
After a workshop held in Santa Fe, NM, November 29 and 30, 2005 on wild horse fertility control, the Humane Society of the United States and the Bureau of Land Management have agreed to develop an Memorandum of Understanding to co-operate on:
"The BLM sees this as a way to reduce horse removals, to place fewer horses in short- and long-term holding facilities, and to achieve budgetary savings," said Don Glenn, Acting Group Manager of the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program, Washington, DC. *** AWHPC supports the use of fertility control methods on wild horses solely to the extent population control is necessary in certain areas. In using these methods, we can only hope that BLM will respect the intent of the 1971 Act and allow our wild horse herds to thrive on their legally allocated herd areas. For more information on wild horse management solutions advocated by AWHPC, please visit our Solutions page.
AWHPC is happy to report that over 30 local and college radio/TV stations nationwide have offered to air our PSA featuring Viggo Mortensen. If you believe your local radio or TV station may be interested in airing the PSA, please send their email contact to info@wildhorsepreservation.org so that we can approach them.
Congress has given the National Park Service permission to increase the size of the wild horse herd on Shackleford Banks, North Carolina. The mandate is meant to maintain the herd's genetic diversity without straining the resources of the grassy barrier island where they live, part of the Cape Lookout National Seashore. The herd's base size will increase to 110 and will periodically be allowed to expand to 130 or more, under a bill approved by unanimous consent Wednesday by the U.S. Senate. The House already approved the measure. "Numerous studies by world-renowned scientists ... have confirmed that in order to maintain the herd's long-term viability, its optimum size is around 120 animals," said Representative Walter Jones (R-NC), who sponsored the bill. The same concerns regarding herd viability should dictate herd management decisions on BLM lands in the West. Unfortunately for our Western herds, when cattle interests are at stake, policy-makers tend to disregard "studies by world-renowned scientists."
Sales Summary as of mid-September: Number of horses sold
-- 1,445 Twenty individuals and two Native American tribes seeking a total of 427 wild horses canceled their purchases after the BLM revised its sale contracts to impose criminal penalties for selling the animals to slaughter.
Source: Bureau of Land Management
Eureka, NV, July 8: herd of 390 reduced to 60 Fish Lake, NV, July 24: 819 horses removed Buck and Bald Complex, NV, August 11: 795 horses removed Spring Creek Basin, CO, August 21: herd of 90 reduced to 40 Adobe Town, WY, August 24: 600 horses removed Salt Wells Creek, WY, September 5: 300 horses removed Sandwash Basin, CO, September 28: herd of 360 reduced to 160 Green Mountain, WY, this week-end: BLM plans to remove 490 wild horses, i.e. 90% of the herd, and use fertility control on most of the remaining mares. Spring Creek round-up testimonial (from local Coalition member WindFlyers Mustang Sanctuary): There were some round-up injuries - mostly puncture wounds to legs from being run through sage and oakbrush. A yearling colt was injured sufficiently for a veterinarian to pull him from the adoption. He is now at our Sanctuary where we are working with him to overcome his terrible fear of people due to rough treatment he endured while in the stocks at the adoption facility. One fatality did occur - a 2-year-old colt was used in a training demonstration. Ropes were used in the round pen session and the colt suffered from a spiral fracture of the pastern. He was euthanized, but not until he endured standing on three legs for an entire night and day in a small pen with three other 2-year-olds. A local vet said the herd looked in excellent condition, weight wise, and that reflected good range conditions. This begs the question: if these horses are healthy and well-fed, why cull more than half of this already small herd?
In a press release from its Whiter River Field Office, the BLM recently announced its decision to remove ALL wild horses from the historic West Douglas Herd Area by 2007. This would be a violation of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act, but the livestock permittees want these horses GONE, so that their cows have exclusive use of this pasture. They seem to have a lot of political influence, and even got Senator Wayne Allard's office to write a letter on their behalf to the White River Field Office, encouraging them to get rid of the horses. We urge you to call, fax and write the BLM to tell them you, as an owner of these PUBLIC lands, want a viable herd of wild horses in West Douglas, Colorado. The phone number for the White River Field Office is: 970.878.3822 for the Area Manager, Kent Walter; 970.878.3800 for the main desk. Please also contact BLM's national office: Kathleen Clarke, Director, Bureau of Land Management, 1849 C Street NW Rm. 406-LS, Washington, D.C. 20240 - ph: 202.208.4896; fax: 202.452.5124. Our Colorado supporters should also contact their U.S. legislators to protest this eradication plan (locate your legislators at www.congress.org).
The Ensign/Byrd Amendment passes in the Senate toward preventing funding for the slaughter of horses for fiscal year 2006. Click here for a voting summary. The amendment, which prohibits the use of Federal funding for the slaughter of horses, will go into effect on October 1, 2005, protecting ALL horses in the United States - both wild and domestic -from the brutality of the slaughterhouse.
Last June, your efforts were instrumental in the House of Representatives voting to stop the use of any federal taxpayer funds to slaughter horses. Now Senators John Ensign (R-NV) and Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) are expected to introduce an identical measure in the Senate, in the form of an amendment to the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Bill. If the amendment passes in the Senate, it will in effect stop the brutal slaughter of horses - both wild and domestic - in the United States for human consumption abroad. Please take a moment to contact your two U.S. Senators TODAY, urging their immediate support of the Ensign/Byrd Agriculture Appropriations Amendment. The Senate will consider the amendment during the week of Sept. 12 (most likely on Tuesday, Sept. 13), so your immediate assistance is critical. We must reach every single member of the U.S. Senate and secure their vote. There is no other way to win this battle for America's horses. TAKE ACTION TODAY! . Call or fax YOUR TWO US SENATORS before Tuesday, September 13th. Ask them to support the Ensign/Byrd Agriculture Appropriations Amendment (prohibiting your tax dollars from being spent on horse slaughter) and respectfully request their specific position on the issue. Your phone call or fax could make all the difference. . Pass the message far and wide - it is critical that the phones resonate on Capitol Hill To find your two US Senators, visit www.senate.gov or call the Capitol Hill operator at (202) 224-3121.
The Department of the Interior just issued a press release further misrepresenting the facts and issue through the media, and urging Americans to save wild horses by buying them from the government. The truth is that BLM continues to round up too many horses at PUBLIC expense and then asks for the public to bail them out by pulling at our heartstrings.
Several weeks ago, the Rahall-Whitfield Interior Appropriations Amendment to stop federal funding of the sale/slaughter of wild horses for fiscal year 2006 won by a landslide in the House of Representatives. Unfortunately, the Amendment was not introduced in the Senate version of the Interior Appropriations bill and was ultimately removed by House and Senate negotiators from the final version of the bill. So Senator Burns got his way, despite overwhelming opposition from the House of Representatives and the American public. Meanwhile, we are still working toward passage of the Rahall-Whitfield bill (H.R. 297/S.576), which would permanently repeal the Burns Amendment.
BLM is conducting a round-up in Nevada (Buck and Bald complex) of 1,300 horses in 100 degree heat (780 are being removed while the rest are given birth-control). Although the land area affected is 1.7 million acres, BLM blames a 5,000-acre forest fire and lack of forage for the removal. We eagerly await the day when BLM removes cattle from 1.7 million acres because it had a 5,000-acre wildfire! In fact, claims of limited forage directly contradict a local BLM Manager's recent statement to one of our supporters that "there's a lot of feed out there." This round-up is particularly ironic in that the local BLM office increased grazing allotments for private cattle this year, based on "extra" forage due to all the rain last winter. BLM issued a Full Force and Effect decision for this round-up, which means it went into effect immediately, without the possibility of an appeal.
Several weeks ago we asked you to contact your U.S. Representatives to urge them to support the Rahall-Whitfield Interior Appropriations Amendment to stop federal funding of the sale/slaughter of wild horses for fiscal year 2006. You spoke out in massive numbers and we won that vote by a landslide! Unfortunately, the Amendment was not introduced in the Senate version of the Interior Appropriations bill. However, there is still a chance to hold onto the victory that we achieved in the House: The House and Senate will be meeting in Conference to hash out the differences between their bills and draft a final, unified version. We need you to contact Members of the Senate that are on the Conference Committee and ask them to keep the Rahall Whitfield amendment in the final version of the Interior Appropriations bill. Here is the list of Senators on the Conference Committee:
June 20, 2005 - New wild horse bill introduced on Capitol Hill by Nevada legislators extends Burns sale mandate to ALL wild horses in government holding. A bill introduced today by Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) in the U.S. Senate, with a companion introduced by Representatives John Porter (R-NV) and Shelley Berkley (D-NV) would reduce minimum horse adoption fees by 80% to $25, eliminate the limit of four horses per adopter per year, and establish a one-year waiting period for buyers to receive titles to wild horses purchased through the Burns Amendment's sales program. Without a limitation on how many horses can be titled to an adopter/purchaser each year, the one-year limitation becomes meaningless because large operations will now be able to obtain very cheap horses in unlimited numbers, keep them for a year in large pastures and turn a handsome profit at the slaughterhouse after a year. The bill would also extend the Burns Amendment's sale mandate to ALL "excess" wild horses, i.e. the 22,000 animals currently in government holding, giving the government a quick and dirty way to dispose of all rounded up horses. This new provision, dressed up by the Nevada legislators as a nice solution to the Burns Amendment debacle, is yet another blow to the wild horse cause, with 22,000 horses now in jeopardy.
As announced a month ago, the Bureau of Land Management has resumed sales under the Burns Amendment, with restrictions on buyers to prevent the horses from ending up at the slaughterhouse. Our initial reaction was that the restrictions announced by BLM would do little to protect the horses. BLM's own National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board recently validated our concerns: during their last board meeting, they found not only that the restrictions are unenforceable, but also that BLM had no legal authority to impose such restrictions in the first place. In a glaring example of BLM's failure to properly screen potential buyers, it has now come to our attention that BLM recently sold a load of horses to an ex-con who has been under watch by BLM's special investigators due to past misdeeds.
BLM laments "poor range conditions" to justify its current aggressive removal campaign, with 10,000 wild horses in the process of being rounded up for this fiscal year alone. Yet, in a stunning display of double standards, BLM announced today it would ease restrictions on permittees - mainly large corporations such as Anheiser Busch and Hilton Hotels - grazing their private cattle on our public lands. The new rules will make it harder to crack down on overgrazing and other harmful practices, and limit public comment on grazing decisions made by the government. Range biologists have long blamed cows for range degradation, rather than the few remaining wild horse herds (see Wild Horses and the Ecosystem). Still, the horses are the ones coming off by the thousands.
The Sweeney/Spratt Amendment passes in the House toward preventing funding for the slaughter of horses for fiscal year 2006. Click here for a voting summary. The Amendment will go into effect on October 1, 2005, protecting ALL horses in the United States - both wild and domestic - from the brutality of the slaughterhouse. The Amendment still needs to go through the Senate, but we can be sure that Congress is getting the message that Americans care about their horses and do not want to see them on foreign dinner tables. On the heels of another success in the House, it is critical that we use our momentum to push H.R. 297 through, to ensure a permanent repeal of the Burns Amendment. Please contact your Representative to either thank them for voting "yes" on the Sweeney/Spratt Amendment, or express your disappointment if they voted "no." Click here to find out how your Representative voted. If they voted "yes" and are not yet a co-sponsor of H.R. 297, please point out that you also expect their support for H.R. 297, which would PERMANENTLY protect wild horses from slaughter.
The Pryor Mountain wild horse herd was made famous by Ginger Kathrens' Emmy Award winning PBS series, "Cloud: Wild Stallion of the Rockies." Now Cloud's very herd
is threatened by a BLM plan to suppress herd growth through use of fertility
control measures. They need your help. While we support the use of fertility
control in certain instances where population control is needed, this
is not the case for Cloud's herd, as the population level is already low
due to mountain lion predation. Bureau of Land Management Please include your signature and the reference number: EA # BLM -MT-010-FY05-16 on Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range. Your comments should include the following points:
While our Campaign's main focus is on keeping wild horses in the wild, we must also ensure that the thousands of wild horses unnecessarily rounded up each year do not end up at the slaughterhouse. Slaughter is our wild horses' greatest threat once they have been removed from the range, and nothing the BLM says or does will change that sad reality. This Wednesday, June 8, Representatives John Sweeney (R-NY) and John Spratt (D-SC) will offer an amendment on the agriculture appropriations bill to stop the funding of USDA inspections of horses for slaughter. AWHPC fully supports the Sweeney-Spratt Amendment which would in effect stop the brutal slaughter of horses - both wild and domestic - in the United States for human consumption abroad. It is critical that
we reach every single member of the U.S. House of Representatives and
secure their vote for the Sweeney-Spratt Agriculture Appropriations
Amendment. There is no other way to win this vote for America's
horses! . Call YOUR US Representative before Wednesday June 8th! Your phone call could make all the difference. . Pass the message far and wide - it is critical that the phones resonate on Capitol Hill. Use the Congressional Switchboard to find your US Representative: 202-224-3121 or go to http://www.house.gov/.
Wild horses were chosen by the Nevada public to represent their state - home to more than half of our Nation's free-roaming wild horses - on a quarter to be minted in January next year and distributed nationwide. Nearly 60,000 people voted in the contest to choose one of five designs for the state's quarter. The wild horses were a clear winner, gathering 18,900 votes or 32 percent of the people who cast ballots.
In a move that defies common sense, BLM has increased the number of horses it plans to round up this fiscal year from 9,800 to 10,335, while projections for the number of horses that will find adoptive homes have been lowered from 7,150 to 6,676. With adoption pipelines saturated and 8,400 horses already up for sale under the Burns Amendment, these numbers are extremely disturbing, both ethically and fiscally. Once this summer's round-ups are completed, there will be officially more wild horses in captivity than in the wild.
When the amendment reaches the Senate, Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations interior subcommittee, plans "to throw it out." Senator Burns' allegiance became clear when he stated: "I'm in the livestock business, and I've bought and sold horses all my life, Basically, the marketplace works." Senator Burns' infamous rider, surreptitiously included in the 3,300 page federal budget last November, allows the government to sell wild horses at livestock auctions, freeing up subsidized public land grazing for private cattle. Maybe Senator Burns needs to be reminded he is now in the U.S. Senate, not in the livestock business.
The Rahall/Whitfield Amendment passes in the House toward preventing funding for the sale/slaughter of wild horses for fiscal year 2006. The Amendment still needs to go through the Senate, and will not go into effect until November '05. However, this floor vote helps demonstrate that Congress has heard the people's voice loud and clear: Americans want their wild horses protected. With a recorded, up or down vote, Representatives knew their constituents would be watching. And so the horses won. It is critical that we use our momentum to push H.R. 297 through, to ensure a permanent repeal of the Burns Amendment. Please contact your Representative to either thank them for voting "yes" on the Rahall/Whitfield Amendment, or express your disappointment if they voted "no." Click here to find out how your Representative voted. If they voted "yes" and are not yet a co-sponsor of H.R. 297, please point out that you also expect their support for H.R. 297, which would PERMANENTLY reverse the Burns Amendment. If they voted "no", please ask for an explanation: many legislators are simply misinformed due to BLM's aggressive propaganda; we need to help educate them on the issue so that they can make an informed decision on the fate of our wild horses. Do not hesitate to forward negative responses to info@wildhorsepreservation.org so that we can help you formulate an accurate, well-informed response.
In a last ditch effort to derail the Rahall/Whitfield Amendment, BLM came out this morning with the news that sales of wild horses under the Burns Amendment would resume today, but with limitations to prevent the horses from ending up at the slaughterhouse. Representative Richard Pombo (CA) used this piece of news to urge his colleagues to vote "no" on the Amendment. The fact is that the restrictions on buyers announced by BLM will do little to protect the horses: when BLM Director Kathleen Clarke testified before Congress in March, she stated that, "Once the bill of sale has been effectuated, then we have no control over what the buyer does." No changes, no tightening of language, and no amount of rhetoric will change that fact. A sale is a sale. Under the changes announced by BLM, 35 of the wild horses that went to slaughter in recent weeks would still have gone to slaughter, and there would be absolutely nothing that anyone could do about it. No liability. No recourse. All a buyer has to do is to sell the horses to a middle person and then there are NO PROTECTIONS in place against a sale to slaughter.
BLM announces a partnership
with the Ford Motor Company and Take Pride in America to raise funding
through the newly created "Save the Mustangs" Fund. The purpose of the
Fund, which looks to the public for donations, is to facilitate placement
of the Burns horses with good homes. We encourage Ford, the BLM, and Take
Pride in America to thoroughly investigate any potential sanctuaries/tribal
lands before placing horses in these situations. History has proven that
many well intended rescuers have been unable to care for these animals
who then ended up neglected, abused or slaughtered.
Celebrities are speaking out en masse on behalf of America's wild horses. Click on the links to read Robert Redford's letter and an appeal by Willie Nelson, signed by the likes of Sir Paul McCartney, Whoopi Goldberg, Richard Gere, Carole King and Richard Pryor.
The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on Thursday, May 19, on an amendment to the Interior Appropriations bill that ensures that no tax dollars can be used for any sale of wild horses that could lead to their slaughter. By introducing this amendment to the Interior Appropriations Bill, Representatives Rahall (D-WV) and Whitfield (R-KY) have once again stepped forward to counter the Burns Amendment. Unlike H.R. 297/S. 576, the Rahall/Whitfield Amendment does not rescind the Burns Amendment, but simply prevents funding for its implementation for fiscal year 2006. This means that if the amendment passes, the BLM will not be able to spend any money on implementing Burns' sale mandate. This also means that H.R. 297/S. 576 will still be needed for a permanent reversal of the Burns Amendment. The vote on May 19 will be a floor vote: every Representative's vote will be recorded, giving the public a chance to know where their Representatives stand on the slaughter of wild horses. Before Thursday, we must reach every single member of the U.S. House of Representatives and secure their vote for the Rahall-Whitfield Interior Appropriations Amendment. TAKE ACTION: 1) Please CALL your U.S. Representative and urge that he or she "Please vote for the Rahall-Whitfield Interior Appropriations Amendment to Protect Wild Horses from Slaughter. Not another wild horse should go to slaughter - we already lost 41 to the slaughterhouse in the last few weeks." Visit www.hsus.org/leglookup to locate your U.S. Representative. Ask to speak to the Interior Appropriations staffer. 2) Please tell everyone you know to contact their U.S. Representative and urge support for the Rahall-Whitfield Interior Appropriations Amendment.
Representatives Rahall (D-WV) and Whitfield (R-KY) held a press conference today to address the slaughter of 41 wild horses sold by BLM under the Burns Amendment. Mr. Rahall called the slaughter a "wake up call" for Congress to re-examine a law it passed last year relaxing sales of the animals. Several celebrities provided signed statements and quotes denouncing the slaughter: Willie Nelson, Richard Gere, Richard Pryor, Nicollette Sheridan, Mary Tyler Moore, John Fusco, Patrick McDonnell, Peter Max, Tony Curtis, and Bo Derek.
After more horses slip through the cracks, the Secretary of the Interior's office suspends indefinitely all sales of wild horses under the Burns Amendment. Here is what happened: A Native American tribe, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, who had purchased 200 animals from the BLM, exchanged these older animals with younger animals with a horse dealer, whose intent was to send them directly to slaughter. Of the two loads (a total of 87) that were slated to be shipped to the slaughter plant in DeKalb, Illinois, only one (containing 51 animals) actually arrived at the plant. Unfortunately, 35 of those animals were slaughtered before BLM could intervene. The remaining animals from the first load are currently being held safely at the DeKalb plant, and the second load of animals is being held safely at the horse dealer's. Law enforcement has been involved, and BLM will be buying back all of the remaining horses, with financial help from the Ford Motor Company.
Multiple sources have confirmed that on Monday, April 18th, six wild horses were slaughtered at the Cavel International facility in DeKalb, Il. The horses, sold by the Bureau of Land Management pursuant to the Burns Amendment's sale mandate on Friday, April 15th, had been purchased in Canon City, CO, for $50 each by Dustin Herbert of Meeker, OK. Mr. Herbert, a former rodeo clown, had claimed that the horses would be used for a church youth program, and would not be sold for slaughter. But by Monday, less than 3 days after he purchased the animals, all six were slaughtered so that their meat could be shipped overseas to end up on foreign dinner tables. The six animals had been rounded up from the Antelope Hills Herd Management Area, WY, on October 11, 2004. Please contact your local and national media expressing your outrage over this latest development. Please also keep the pressure on Senators Conrad Burns (MT) - fax: 202.224.8594, and Harry Reid (NV) - fax: 202.224.7327. They need to hear from their constituents as well as from concerned citizens from all states protesting this latest development. Please also express your outrage to Gale Norton, Secretary of the Interior, Department of the Interior,1849 C Street, N.W. , Washington DC 20240 - fax: 202.208.5048.
While we ALL keep pushing for and await passage of the House/Senate bills, H.R. 297/S. 576, we need to urge the BLM/Dept. of Interior to implement some formal rules regulating the sale of the horses now subject to the Burns Amendment. We are part of a coalition that filed a formal petition for rulemaking for just this purpose about three weeks ago. We did this because the horses ARE being sold. While we hope to stop this, and pass the bills, we need these rules as part of our practical plan to help the horses being sold now. Regulations would set specific standards on how to accurately determine a horse's age, what constitutes "offered for adoption three times," how the sales and transportation should take place, and other rules to ensure humane treatment of the Burns horses, all contained in the petition for rulemaking. The agency contacts are below. We need your short letters urging that the regulations be promulgated to go out as soon as possible (with a copy to your U.S. Representative/Senators). Gale
Norton,
Secretary of Interior Kathleen Clarke,
Director of the BLM Jeff Rawson, Director
of the Wild Horse and Burro Program in D.C. Dear ___________, I am writing to urge you to draft and implement formal rules regulating the sale of horses pursuant to the recent Burns Amendment to the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act. A formal petition for rulemaking was recently filed requesting that regulations set specific standards on how to accurately determine a horse's age, what constitutes "offered for adoption three times," how the sales and transportation should take place, and other rules to ensure humane treatment of the Burns horses. I respectfully request
that your agency act swiftly to implement the proposed rules.
The Bureau of Land Management says it is selling wild horses to Native American tribes for the first time. The BLM has sold 141 horses to the Rosebud Sioux in South Dakota and 120 horses to the Three Affiliated Tribes in North Dakota. More sales are planned in the next several weeks, bringing the total to more than 500 horses.
A couple of weeks ago, BLM announced the sale of 200 wild mares to a for-profit Wyoming company - the first transaction under the Burns sale mandate. In a new development that confirms our worst fears regarding privatization of wild horses, Wild Horse Wyoming just announced its intent to breed the mares - an absurdity in and of itself given the current crisis - and sell their foals to Mexico and third-world countries. Please note that Mexico is the second largest supplier of horse meat worldwide. Click here to read the full article. Please write a letter
to Deb Thomson,
the Laramie Boomerang editor, expressing your outrage. Please also alert
Kathleen Clarke,
Director, Bureau of Land Management, 1849 C Street NW Rm. 406-LS,
Washington, D.C. 20240 - fax: 202.452.5124.
Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV), introduces S. 576, a companion bill to H.R. 297, which would restore the prohibition on the commercial sale and slaughter of wild horses and burros. Please call and write your two U.S. Senators urging them to co-sponsor S. 576. Visit www.senate.gov to identify your two Senators. Letters should be addressed to: The Honorable [Name Here], U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20510. Please also call and write Senator Robert C. Byrd- Phone: (202) 224-3954; Fax: (202) 228-0002, to thank him for taking action on our behalf and introducing S. 576.
Spearheaded and hosted by the American Horse Defense Fund, the National Capitol Hill Day for Horses brought us to DC to lobby in favor of H.R. 297. AWHPC representatives met with staffers from Senators Burns and Reid's offices to convey the public's overwhelming dissatisfaction with BLM's new sale mandate. We also met with numerous Representatives to urge them to co-sponsor H.R. 297. We are happy to report that the co-sponsor list is growing rapidly, with a new total of 34 co-sponsors. Finally, Representatives Rahall, Sweeney and Whitfield joined us for a press conference to close the event. Carol King was also present and spoke in support of the horses; actor Viggo Mortensen contributed his voice to a moving PSA. Our heartfelt thanks to all of them for their support.
BLM's Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board will be meeting in Boise, Idaho, on March 14. You are encouraged to send comments to the Advisory Board regarding BLM's wild horse management practices. Specifically, you are encouraged to express your deep concerns over the fact that 9,800 wild horses and burros are slated to be rounded up for fiscal year 2005, yet BLM, by its own admission, only expects to adopt out 7,150 animals during that same period. With adoption pipelines saturated and 8,400 horses already up for sale under the Burns Amendment, these numbers are extremely disturbing. Please speak up to denounce the continued mismanagement of our wild horses on our public lands. Two copies of your comments should be submitted no later than March 9 to: Bureau of Land Management Those able to attend the meeting in Boise can do so at the Owyhee Plaza Hotel, 1109 Main Street, between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on March 14.
The BLM has announced
the sale of 200 wild mares to a Wyoming company, the first transaction
under its new sale mandate for wild horses and burros. The 200 mares were
sold to Wild Horses Wyoming, LLC, a southeastern Wyoming for-profit company.
Ron Hawkins, ranch operations partner in the company, said, "I'm very
pleased and proud that Wild Horses Wyoming is the BLM's first buyer of
wild horses under the legislation recently passed by Congress. Our company
is committed to the long-term care of these historic animals, and I urge
the public to support us in our efforts to ensure good homes for those
horses facing an uncertain future under the new law." Wild Horse Wyoming's
business plan includes breeding the mares. The American Horse Defense Fund, an AWHPC Coalition member, is organizing the National Capitol Hill Day for Horses on March 7. The goal of the event is to educate our federal legislators and gain cosponsors for H.R. 297 (the Rahall/Whitfield bill that would reverse the Burns Amendment) and for H.R. 503 (the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act). We encourage you to schedule meetings in Washington D.C. for that day with your U.S. Representative and two U.S. Senators or their staff. Participants should print and fax the registration form. AHDF has an arrangement for preferred rates at the Best Western (call 202-457-0565). If you have any questions regarding this event, please email ahdf@aol.com. If you are unable to attend in D.C., please schedule appointments for March 7 with your U.S. Representative and Senators' district offices in your home area (make your appointments early, as schedules fill up quickly). Please find attached talking points for you to use in these meetings, as well as a cover letter and supporting documentation for you to hand out to your legislators or their staff. If you cannot obtain an appointment on March 7, plan on assembling outside the district office a few minutes prior to the office opening; carry AWHPC flyers and alert your local media. We need critical mass for that day, in D.C. and across the country.
We appreciate BLM's efforts to find good homes for these 8,400 horses, but the fact is that the market is already saturated. Thousands more are getting rounded up as we speak and will soon take their place in government holding facilities. The government cannot expect wild horse advocates and humane groups to continue cleaning up its mess. We need to keep up our efforts to reverse the Burns Amendment and send a clear message that we want our wild horses managed in the wild.
Out of the 1,916 horses captured, only the 440 too old to be easily adopted out but too young to be sold under the Burns Amendment, will be released back into to the wild. All horses over nine years of age are being removed and will be sold without limitations, pursuant to the Burns Amendment. A total of 1,476 horses will join the 22,000 animals already in BLM pipelines. Click here to see pictures of a Nevada round-up.
To make sure the Rahall-Whitfield bill (H.R. 297) actually comes to a vote, we must turn our attention to the House Committee on Resources, where the bill was introduced. Committee Chairman Richard Pombo (CA) should be urged to promptly bring H.R. 297 to public hearing. Contact him at 1324 Longworth House Office Bldg., Washington, D.C., 20515; ph: 202.225.1947; fax: 202.226.0861. If your U.S. Representative is among the members of the House Committee on Resources, it is also crucial that you contact them. If you have already called or written them about the Burns Amendment, please also write them at the Committee's address (1324 Longworth House Office Bldg., Washington, D.C., 20515) to request their support for H.R. 297 and urge them to promptly bring the bill to public hearing.
While AWHPC wholeheartedly supports H.R. 503, it is critical that we keep up our efforts in support of H.R. 297, which would reverse the Burns Amendment and address the immediate threat currently faced by our wild horses.
"Very few icons of the West remain, and wild horses are certainly a symbol of the frontier era and our nation's spirit. To allow them to be slaughtered without exhausting all other options, such as adoption, is an affront to our history," declared Rahall. "It has been illegal for the past 33 years to sell or transfer wild horses and burros for processing into commercial products because many Americans abhor the thought. They would be aghast to know that these animals now can and will be slaughtered so their meat can be offered on menus in France, Belgium and Japan," stated Rahall. "To suggest that an acceptable solution to a federal agency's management dilemma is commercial slaughter is an irresponsible approach to our public lands and the wildlife that roam them," said Rahall. "A public outcry has again begun across the United States over the change in law that now allows this disgraceful deed. We need to act before it is too late for thousands of these animals," concluded Rahall. Please call and write Reps. Nick J. Rahall (WV) - ph: 202.225.3452; fax: 202.225.9061, and Ed Whitfield (KY) - ph: 202.225.3115; fax: 202.225.3547, to thank them for taking action on our behalf and introducing H.R. 297.
While a BLM official assured us there is no immediate plan to sell wild horses to slaughter, he conceded that over 8,400 horses have already been identified by the BLM as subject to the Burns Amendment's sale mandate. By law, these horses are no longer available for adoption and have been pulled from BLM's adoption listings. BLM officials will be meeting in Phoenix, AZ (Jan. 20-30) to determine logistics for implementation of the new sale mandate.
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