How the West is being lost; more wild horses to be rounded up by BLM

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Wild horses

http://current.com/items/91980854_the-american-wild-horse-preservation-campaign....

"Look back at our struggle for freedom,
Trace our present day's strength to its source,
And you'll find that man's pathway to glory,
Is strewn with the bones of the horse."
--- Anonymous

In 1971, an unprecedented public outcry moved Congress to unanimously pass the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act, granting federal protection to America's wild horses and burros as “living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West […] that […] contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people.”

2 million wild horses once roamed the West; fewer than 25,000 remain.

Cattle outnumber wild horses at least 200 to 1 on public lands.

The removal policy is costing over 39 million tax-dollars a year.

Now thousands of wild horses are threatened with slaughter.

The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign is dedicated to preserving the American wild horse in viable free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage. Its grassroots efforts are supported by a coalition of over forty organizations.

The AWHPC Coalition is calling for a Congressional inquiry into the government’s wild horse management policies, and coordinating a grassroots campaign in support of:

* the review of scientific findings that contradict BLM's claims of wild horse overpopulation and negative impact on the range;

* a moratorium on round-ups until actual numbers of wild horses and burros on public lands have been independently assessed;

* Higher Appropriate Management Levels (AML) for wild horses on those rangelands designated for them;

* implementation of in-the-wild management, which would save millions of tax-dollars.

YOU CAN HELP! What you can do: http://www.wildhorsepreservation.com/action.html

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Wild burro family...

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Wild Burro in Death Valley, California

http://blogs.epicindia.com/leapinthedark/2008/02/wild_burros_killed_as_wildlife....

Wild Burros Killed As "Wildlife Management"

“Congress finds and declares that wild free-roaming horses and burros are living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West; ... and that these horses and burros are fast disappearing from the American scene. It is the policy of Congress that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death; and to accomplish this they are to be considered in the area where presently found, as an integral part of the natural system of the public lands” The Wild-Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971

http://www.wildburrorescue.org/

Wild Burrow Rescue & Preservation Project

Our mission statement:

"Dedicated to the live capture-rescue, rehabilitation and lifelong care of otherwise doomed wild burros."

Preserving America's Heritage

http://www.returntofreedom.org/

Welcome to Return To Freedom

Return To Freedom is dedicated to preserving the freedom, diversity and habitat of America's wild horses through sanctuary, education and conservation, while enriching the human spirit through direct experience with the natural world.

The January 9th (2010) rally in Los Angeles drew a crowd of nearly 200 people, including celebrities Wendie Malik, Francis Fisher, Amanda Pope, Elaine Hendricks, and Tatjana Patitz. Authors Deanne Stillman and Petrine Mitchum were also in attendance. Signs calling to "Stop the Roundups" were carried as the public raised a united voice on behalf of our mustangs. Following the rally, RTF Founder Neda DeMayo joined other American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign (AWHPC) members in a meeting with Senator Feinstein's staff, asking the Senator to increase her efforts on behalf of America's wild horses. Additional rallies are being planned throughout the country.

http://www.charityguide.org/volunteer/vacation/wild-horses.htm

PROTECT WILD HORSES AND BURROS

Wild horses are a species originally native to North America, and have long been a symbol of freedom and the pioneering spirit of the American West. Unfortunately, wild horses and wild burros — which have also existed here for hundreds of years — compete for grazing land with cattle and other livestock, making them a point of contention between ranchers and animal advocates. Legislation protecting wild horses and burros has been weakened in recent years, despite the fact that their numbers have already been drastically reduced. By spending your vacation volunteering at a sanctuary for wild horses and burros, you can help ensure the survival of these magnificent animals.

During the 1800s, it is estimated that there were more than 2 million wild horses and burros roaming the American West. After years of widespread extermination efforts to make way for increasing numbers of livestock and cattle, public outcry over the slaughter of America's wild horses and burros eventually led to the passage of the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act in 1971, granting federal protection to the wild horses and burros of this country. At that time, their numbers had already been reduced to about 60,000, and public support for the act generated mail volume second only to that over the Vietnam War.

But after decades of successful protection, in 2004 a rider was included in the federal budget that allowed for the capture and slaughter of thousands more wild horses and burros. Today, the federal government estimates that there are only about 35,000 wild horses remaining on public lands. Each year many of these horses and burros are rounded up into crowded holding areas and put up for public adoption by the Bureau of Land Management. Under the current legislation, wild horses and burros that are more than 10 years old and that have failed to be adopted three times are sold for slaughter and eventual consumption overseas. The rest remain in holding areas indefinitely.

There is now legislation pending to restore protection of wild horses and burros, but until it is passed, their future remains uncertain. Sanctuaries and research efforts to save wild horses and burros need your help to make sure that these legendary animals continue to survive.

Be prepared to roll up your sleeves and get dirty; much of the work with wild horses and burros is hands-on.

* The Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary is home to the largest herd of wild horses remaining in North America, with roughly 500 wild mustangs and foals under its care. Located on 11,000 acres in South Dakota's Black Hills region, the sanctuary's mission is to provide a home for unwanted and unadoptable wild horses. A research area also focuses on questions of wild horse herd management for the benefit of wild horses everywhere. Volunteers must be at least 21 years old, and the minimum stay is one month. Volunteers generally provide their own transportation, accommodations and meals. Duties range from hands-on ranch work to office work and giving tours. Work schedules are a minimum of 35 hours a week.
* The Wild Burro Rescue and Preservation Project is dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and lifelong care of wild burros, which have been subject to lethal removal by shooting in the National Parks. Located in Olancha, California, the organization conducts live rescues of wild burros that would otherwise be eradicated, and cares for them at its sanctuary. Volunteers provide their own transportation in exchange for room and board.
* The Wild Horse Sanctuary, located on 5,000 acres in Shingletown, California, provides a home to roughly 200 wild horses and wild burros that have been captured by government agencies off of public lands. The sanctuary also participates in research on birth-control techniques for wild horses that could help manage wild horse populations everywhere. Especially needed

http://www.wildhorsepreservation.com/

The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign

The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign is dedicated to preserving the American wild horse in viable free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage. Its grassroots efforts are supported by a coalition of over forty organizations.

The AWHPC Coalition is calling for a Congressional inquiry into the government’s wild horse management policies, and coordinating a grassroots campaign in support of:

* the review of scientific findings that contradict BLM's claims of wild horse overpopulation and negative impact on the range;
* a moratorium on round-ups until actual numbers of wild horses and burros on public lands have been independently assessed;
* Higher Appropriate Management Levels (AML) for wild horses on those rangelands designated for them; and
* implementation of in-the-wild management, which would save millions of tax-dollars.

Please take action now.

“I believe, as do so many of my fellow Americans, that the wild horse is an irreplaceable national treasure. It would be a tragic mistake to allow this noble creature to disappear from our western landscape."

- Robert Redford

In 1971, an unprecedented public outcry moved Congress to unanimously pass the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act, granting federal protection to America's wild horses and burros as “living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West […] that […] contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people.”

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BLM captive wild horses in Palomino Valley 12/11/09 - Photo by K. McCovey

Wild horses...

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Calico Mountain Mustangs...

Wild horses rounded up by the BLM

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http://rtfitch.wordpress.com/2010/01/01/terror-in-nevada-a-blm-wild-horse-roundu...

Sheer terror in their eyes, steam coming from not only their breath but from their soaked coats in the freezing temperatures and what has not dissipated into the frigid air has frozen solid to their winter coats. This is a Department of Interior “approved for release photograph” documenting the cruel and inhumane roundup going on in Northern Nevada at this very moment…and just in, at least one horse is now dead, one that we know of.

Plagued by controversy and bad press BLM Director Bob Abby decided to ignore the advice of a Federal Judge and proceed with a wintertime roundup of epic, disastrous proportions. Tens of thousands of American citizens have spoken out and demanded that the Obama administration stop this dangerous operation but to date the new President has elected to remain silent on the topic.

Warned by equine professionals that the chasing of wild horses down snow covered mountains with helicopters would not only prove dangerous and deadly but also destroy the health and well being of the native wild animals; again, the BLM pressed forward but this time on private land so that neither the press or the public could view or monitor the deadly operation.

Many questions have been raised by this clandestine operation that will cost the U.S. tax payers close to $2,000,000.00.

If the horses are being removed because there is, allegedly, little grass on which they can feed, why then did the BLM increase the grazing permits for private cattle by 300% last year, for the exact same public land?

Are the ranchers who own the private land paying and reimbursing the BLM (and US tax payers) for the removal?

Who is allowing the BLM to set up shop on their private land?

Why is the operation done in secret after program manager Don Glenn assured everyone it would be public?

Why is the current Administration, a proposed Administration of “change”, turning a deaf ear to thousands of phone calls, tens of thousands of emails and multiple demonstrations across the country?

Last year the BLM wanted to destroy the 33,000+ wild horses it allegedly has in long term incarceration because it could not afford to feed them; why do they plan on ripping 12,000 more from their rightful land in fiscal 2010? Does that makes sense?

No, of course it does not make sense, nothing about the random acts of violence the BLM commits makes sense.

The questions are limitless and the answers are obvious to the public but remain unanswered by an agency than has gone full-blown amuck.

As we speak, our young men and women are fighting and losing their lives while battling terror and tyranny that rips apart families, steals their land, kills tribal members and incarcerates the innocent. Yet here, within the U.S. Government, we have an agency that is doing the exact same thing; ripping apart families; stealing the very land that the U.S. Congress gave to the horses, killing many while they run the remainder into traps where the horses will live in prison for the rest of their lives.

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Wild colt

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Wild horse round-up - terrifying!

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Peaceful, yes?

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A gentle wild horse

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So free!

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Our beautiful wild horses,

http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/index.php/news-events-a-media/press-releases/2...

Fallon, NV (January 19, 2010)— 956 wild American mustangs rounded up off public land by helicopters in the past two weeks now stand in a feedlot-style Bureau of Land Management (BLM) contracted holding facility outside of Fallon, Nevada on private land. The new Fallon facility is not equipped with shelter, windbreaks or protection of any kind for the horses. High winds, rain and snow are expected to continue through the end of the week. In Calico, herds can move to sheltered canyons for protection from the harsh winter weather. Yet, in Fallon, they are deprived of adequate protection despite recommendations from wild horse advocates. This is in direct opposition to BLM’s own standards.
“I’m confused by the double standard. Before members of the public are allowed to adopt a wild horse from BLM we must prove we have adequate shelter. Why doesn’t BLM have to meet the same standards?” asks Ann Evans, adopter of three mustangs.
Yesterday, members of the public reported an inhumane lack of windbreaks. No apparent effort has been made to tie canvas tarps on fences to block the howling wind and the anticipated driving snow. On Friday January 15, advocates asked local Nevada BLM staff, Directors and top-level Department of Interior (DOI) under-secretaries to intervene on behalf of the horses by creating wind blocks.
"Those that care about the welfare of the wild horses or burros are asking for minimal protection for these vulnerable animals. Wild horse families are being ripped out of their natural environment where they can take care of themselves, separated from their family members and incarcerated on a windswept plain outside Fallon where they have no ability to protect themselves from the elements. BLM then tells the public their actions are for the good of the animals,” states Ginger Kathrens, Executive Director of The Cloud Foundation (named for the famous wild horse Kathrens has documented for the PBS/Nature series)
The DOI and BLM responded that at the just constructed Fallon facility “weather is not that extreme to require wind breaks for healthy horses. . . they do not require protection from the elements to maintain good health. . . .there is nothing to be concerned about from an animal well-being standpoint.” Thus, no actions to protect the captured horses have taken place, not even for foals or sick horses. Advocates contend that the horses are more prone to strangles (equine distemper) due to the lack of adequate protection.
“When these horses were rounded up, some where limping and wet with sweat. They are now terribly traumatized, depressed and confused. Their immune systems are compromised, making them more vulnerable to illness, like strangles (equine distemper) and death,” explains Craig Downer, wildlife ecologist, third generation Nevada native, and witness to the Calico roundup.
“BLM continually tells the public and the media that the wild horses are starving and must be removed from the range. Yet, the BLM provides them with no shelter in dangerous weather conditions where the horses will burn fat reserves attempting to keep warm. No reputable rescue would place any horses in a situation like Fallon,” stated Hilary Wood, President and Founder of Front Range Equine Rescue.
When asked about the lack of windbreaks the BLM indicated that the contractor who built the facility was not asked to provide any shelters or windbreaks. BLM zeroed out a portion of the Dishpan Butte wild horse herd in Wyoming solely on the basis that the wild horses did not have cover according to BLM Program Chief Don Glenn.
“We owe so much to these mustangs—it’s a dishonor that our government does not provide wind protection from the harsh elements,” said Elyse Gardner, humane observer, Calico and Pryor Mountains roundups

The Cloud Foundation and the public call on Secretary of Interior, Ken Salazar, to sto

http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/

When Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Ginger Kathrens recorded a tottering newborn wild foal, she hardly anticipated how he would change her life. She named the pale colt Cloud.

This website is dedicated to keeping you up to date on important issues regarding wild horses as well as on Cloud's herd in the Arrowhead Mountains. The Cloud Foundation site aims to be an important source of information for wild horse lovers. Check back often to stay abreast of current events involving Cloud and all of his compatriots!

Cloud was rounded up for the third time in September of 2009 despite a huge public effort to try and stop this unnecessary roundup. Cloud and his band were released two days after they were captured but Cloud's grandchildren and his daughter were removed along with more than 50 others, leaving the Pryors herd at only 125 horses. Cloud is now back in the wild & we continue our work to preserve what wild horses value most- their freedom and their families. Click here for a recent update on Cloud and the wild horses of the Pryors, including the four bands we rescued, a whole sub-population removed in the last roundup.

http://www.saveourwildhorses.org/

At the turn of the 19^th century there were millions of horses running free on the Western range. By the time bills passed to protect them in 1959, 1968 and 1971, the vast herds had become so reduced that they actually faced extinction.

In 2008 we are once again facing the total destruction of our wild horse and burros by the very agency that is supposed to protect them, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Under the BLM the Wild Horse and Burro Program has lost 12.5 million acres of grazing and the herd areas have dropped from 303 to 201. Herds whose numbers one reached into the hundreds, now are in the tens.

If removals continue at their current pace, none of our “protected” wild horses or burros will be left on the range. An independent audit of BLM population census reports shows that the population of wild horses is 13,600 and the burro population is less than 4,000. All while 4.6 million cattle graze peacefully on the range, taking food from our wild horses and other wildlife.

We must move immediately to protect these beautiful majestic animals for our future and our children’s futures.

We hope that you find this website helpful. Please consider joining us to help protect OUR wild horses and burros. These horses and burros belong to the American people and should be protected.

http://current.com/items/91972267_sight-of-wild-horses-leaving-gut-wrenching.htm...

Latest submission from julesrs007.

http://current.com/items/91789190_activists-decry-wild-horse-roundups.htm

Previous Current.com submission

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Wild burros

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A burro after the chase...

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Wild horses belong in the wild...

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An already-captured (by BLM) burro

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Wild burros being rounded up...

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Poor horses...!

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How wild horses are rounded up. Looks peaceful, doesn't it???

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Calico Mountains Wild Horses...

Wild Horse Update - Your Help Needed To Stop Another Roundup

http://ida.convio.net/site/MessageViewer?em_id=10401.0&printer_friendly=1

We told you this was going to be a long, hard fight – thank you for sticking with us to take action on each and every unacceptable assault by the Obama Administration on our wild horses. We are up against deeply entrenched special interests who want wild horses removed from public lands so they can conduct business as usual. That means cheap usage of our public land for their private profits at the horses’ and taxpayers’ expense.

It’s time to get public comments in on another large removal of wild horses planned by the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM). This time the BLM intends to remove over 500 of the estimated 645 horses living in or near the “Eagle Herd Management Area” in eastern Nevada outside of Ely. While 500 individuals is fewer than the 2,500 horses currently being rounded up and removed from the Calico Complex in northwest Nevada, the Eagle roundup is even more ludicrous because it is 125,000 acres larger than Calico, but the government will only allow 100 horses to remain! In Calico, by contrast, 500-900 horses will be left behind in the approximately 500,000-acre public land complex.

The proposed Eagle HMA plan puts these wild horses at great risk because the BLM is reducing the number of horses to dangerously low numbers, which could threaten the viability of the herd. Many horse advocates believe this is the BLM’s method of systematically dwindling horse population numbers down to untenable levels in order to ultimately eradicate these American living legends from public lands.

The Obama Administration is continuing the Bush Administration policy of targeting wild horses in order to serve special cattle and other industry interests. Under President Obama's oversight, the BLM is actually accelerating the pace of wild horse removals, with 12,000 horses targeted for capture from our public lands in Fiscal Year 2010 alone. The majority of these horses will be sent to government holding facilities, where they will join the 35,000 wild horses already stockpiled at taxpayer expense.

Please click on above link to send an e-mail to all the relevant decision-makers. Take the time today to submit your comments and protest against another massive Obama Administration wild horse roundup.

In Defense of Animals https://secure2.convio.net/ida/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&...

IN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS