Yesterday we were documenting the largest national processing and adoption facility, Palomino Valley Center, near Reno and noticed a filly was down. She was alive but down and seemed to be in distress. All the other fillies in the huge pen were eating and she was down. She tried to sit up and then went down again. We immediately called the BLM staff in the office to alert them of the situation. They said they would send someone right out to check up on her. We are still waiting for a report from BLM on her status. Check back for updates as we will keep you posted.
Please share widely so people can see what’s happening to our wild horses in captivity.
They should never have been removed from the wild lands in the first place!
We are grateful to the donors who helped pay for the expenses to get us in the field by chipping in to pay for gas, etc.
Last June our investigation uncovered wild horses dying at Palomino Valley during the heat wave. Watch the Video about it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdM2NrJcX8o
We are not funded by corporations and we have no conflict of interest. We are boots on the ground and we need your help to do the work. Every dollar counts. Please donate to Contact@ProtectMustangs.org for gas and field work expenses via www.PayPal.com. Thank you!
We will always fight for mustangs to be Wild & Free and we will protect those in captivity!
SACRAMENTO, CA: The Bureau of Land Management’s National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board will meet for two days in April in Sacramento, California, to discuss issues relating to the management and protection of wild horses and burros on Western public rangelands. The meeting will take place on Monday, April 14, 2014, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Pacific Time), and on Tuesday, April 15, 2014, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Pacific Time).
The Advisory Board provides input and advice to the BLM as it carries out its responsibilities under the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. The law mandates the protection and management of these free-roaming animals in a manner that ensures healthy herds at levels consistent with the land’s capacity to support them. According to the BLM’s latest official estimate, approximately 40,600 wild horses and burros roam on BLM-managed rangelands in 10 Western states.
The BLM recently announced it is seeking research proposals to develop new or improve existing ways of controlling the population growth of wild horses and burros that roam public lands in the West. The agency has issued a Request for Applications to alert veterinarians, scientists, universities, pharmaceutical companies, and other researchers of the BLM’s need to develop new, innovative techniques and protocols for implementing population growth-suppression methods. The submission deadline for applications is May 7, 2014.
The public may address the Advisory Board on Monday, April 14, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., local time. Individuals who want to make a statement at Monday’s meeting should register in person with the BLM by 2:00 p.m., local time, on that same day at the meeting site. Depending on the number of speakers, the Board may limit the length of presentations, set at three minutes for previous meetings.
Speakers should submit a written copy of their statement to the BLM at the addresses below or bring a copy to the meeting. There may be a Webcam present during the entire meeting and individual comments may be recorded. Those who would like to comment but are unable to attend may submit a written statement to: National Wild Horse and Burro Program, WO-260, Attention: Ramona DeLorme, 1340 Financial Boulevard, Reno, Nevada, 89502-7147. Comments may also be e-mailed to the BLM (at wildhorse@blm.gov); please include “Advisory Board Comment” in the subject line of the e-mail.
For additional information regarding the meeting, please contact Ramona DeLorme, Wild Horse and Burro Administrative Assistant, at 775-861-6583. Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may reach Ms. DeLorme during normal business hours by calling the Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.
The Advisory Board meets at least once a year and the BLM Director may call additional meetings when necessary. Members serve without salary, but are reimbursed for travel and per diem expenses according to government travel regulations.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM’s mission is to manage and conserve the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations under our mandate of multiple-use and sustained yield. In Fiscal Year 2013, the BLM generated $4.7 billion in receipts from public lands.
November 27, 2010
Jared Bybee, Wild Horse and Burro Specialist
Department of the Interior
Bureau of Land Management
Billings Field Office
5001 Southgate Drive
Billings, Montana 59101-4669
VIA FAX: 406-896-5281
RE: Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range Fertility Control Preliminary Environmental
Assessment Tiered to the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range Environmental Assessment
and Herd Management Area Plan May 2009 EA DOI-BLM-MT-0010-2011-0004-EA
Dear Jared Bybee:
Background
I appreciate the opportunity to submit comments on the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range
Fertility Control Preliminary Environmental Assessment Tiered to the Pryor Mountain Wild
Horse Range Environmental Assessment and Herd Management Area Plan May 2009 EA DOI-
BLM-MT-0010-2011-0004-EA. My background is in equine reproductive immunology and
wildlife conservation. I applaud the Billings Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management
(BLM) for a thoughtful approach to this issue. Cover letter 4700 (010.JB) dated November 1.
2010 and signed by James M. Sparks, Field Manager states that the BLM would consider
comments and revision to the EA or unsigned FONSI as appropriate. I urge a “no action
alternative” as outlined on page 7 and 8 of the EA. This request is based on two pieces of new
scientific evidence about effects of current immuno-contraception use.
Porcine Zona Pellucida (PZP) Contraception
The proposed action as stated on page 7 of this EA would exempt “mares ages 5-10 unless they
have produced foals, or are part of a large bloodline.” This is reminiscent of the approach taken
with the Assateague Island wild horse population. It is a compromise approach to this issue, in
comparison to placing all mares on PZP. However a recent study shows that mitochondrial DNA
diversity is low in the Assateague Island horse herd (Eggert et al. 2010). Since mitochondrial
DNA is inherited from the mother (mare), this is evidence that female inherited genetics on
Assateague Island wild horses is under represented. It is imperative that this be assessed before
rolling out a similar management plan for the Pryor Mountain wild horses.
There is a recent Princeton University study on PZP effects. Consecutive PZP applications,
analogous to the proposed action plan in this EA, showed that mares gave birth later in the
season, and were cycling into the fall months (Nunez et al. 2010). In a state like Montana where
freezing temperatures are found in the fall, this can have serious and long term effects on foal
survivorship.
I must include a statement on long term consecutive use of PZP. Any form of PZP contraception
is not completely reversible in mares depending on the length of use of PZP. Contraception can
only be reversed when the antibody titer decreases to 50-60% of the positive reference sera (Liu
et al. 2005). Mares treated for 7 consecutive years do not return to viable fertility (Kirkpatrick
and Turner 2002; Kirkpatrick et al. 2009). The issue of reversible contraception is very important
to be able to maintain wild equines in the United States. Long term treatment with PZP has
inherent negative potential for this herd.
I am requesting a new look at the proposed fertility control action for the Pryor Mountain wild
horses.
Sincerely,
Christine DeCarlo, Ph.D.
Lori S. Eggert, David M. Powell, et al. (2010). "Pedigrees and the Study of the Wild Horse
Population of Assateague Island National Seashore." Journal of Wildlife Management
74(5): 963-973.
J. F. Kirkpatrick, A. Rowan, et al. (2009). "The practical side of immunocontraception: zona
proteins and wildlife." J Reprod Immunol 83(1-2): 151-7.
J. F. Kirkpatrick and A. Turner (2002). "Reversibility of action and safety during pregnancy of
immunization against porcine zona pellucida in wild mares (Equus caballus)." Reprod
Suppl 60: 197-202.
I. K. Liu, J. W. Turner, Jr., et al. (2005). "Persistence of anti-zonae pellucidae antibodies
following a single inoculation of porcine zonae pellucidae in the domestic equine."
Reproduction 129(2): 181-90.
Cassandra M. V. Nunez, James S. Adelman, et al. (2010). "Immunoctraception in Wild Horses
(Equus caballus) Extends Reproductive Cycling Beyond the Normal Breeding Season."
PLos ONE 5(10): 1-10.
(Posted for educational purposes)
Associated Press February 05, 2014 as seen in the Boston Globe (Cross-posted for educational purposes)
BILLINGS, Mont. — Republicans in Congress called Tuesday for an overhaul to the Endangered Species Act to curtail environmentalists’ lawsuits and give more power to states, but specialists say broad changes to one of the nation’s cornerstone environmental laws are unlikely given the pervasive partisan divide in Washington
A group of 13 lawmakers released a report proposing ‘‘targeted reforms’’ for the federal law, which protects imperiled plants and animals.
Proponents credit the law with staving off extinction for hundreds of species — from the bald eagle to the gray whale. But critics contend the law has been abused by environmental groups seeking to restrict development.
Led by Representative Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming and Representative Doc Hastings of Washington state, who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, the Republicans want to amend the law to limit litigation from wildlife advocates that has resulted in protections for some species. And they want to give states more authority over imperiled species within their borders.
Also among the recommendations are increased scientific transparency, better economic impact studies, and safeguards for private landowners.
The Republicans said only 2 percent of protected species have been recovered despite billions of dollars in federal and state spending.
‘‘The biggest problem is that the Endangered Species Act is not recovering species,’’ said Hastings. ‘‘The way the act was written, there is more of an effort to list [species as endangered or threatened] than to delist.’’
The political hurdles for an overhaul are considerable. The law enjoys support among many environmentalists, whose Democratic allies have thwarted past proposals for change.
Federal wildlife officials had not yet seen the report from Hastings’ group and would not comment until they review it, said a press secretary for the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
TODAY’S THE DAY for the biggest Anti-Fracking rally in California’s history! THOUSANDS of Anti-Fracking Activists & Concerned Californians are making the trek to Sacramento to tell Governor Brown and his administration one thing: #DontFrackCA! We’ll be hearing from voices from all over the state who are witnessing fracking in their own communities and organizing against it. A broad coalition of groups have come together to demand an end to fracking in California. We hope to see you there & Bring your friends!! Don’t forget to TWEET (#DontFrackCA, #fracking) while you’re making history!!
What: Don’t Frack California Rally and March
Where: The Capitol Lawn, L between 10th and 12th streets, Sacramento, CA
When: Saturday, March 15th, 2014, 1pm
Sign Up: dontfrackcalifornia.org
For Buses & Rideshares: Check out the State-wide rideboard at dontfrackcalifornia.org/rideboard
More info: dontfrackcalifornia.org
Click Here to Share the Info on Facebook & Tweet about Us! #DontFrackCA, #fracking
America’s wild horses are being pushed off public land to reduce environmental roadblocks to fracking as seen in GASLAND Part 2. Join us to say “No!” to fracking!
We’re experiencing the worst drought in the history of CA. Communities are struggling to know where their water is coming from. And, what is the solution to the administration of Governor Brown? A call to the conservation of its citizens, not the big oil and gas. Join us TODAY in Sacramento to demand an end to #fracking in our state!
Despite the fact that the National Academy of Sciences stated there is “no evidence of overpopulation”, a group with alleged funding related conflict of interest is pushing the sterilizant known as PZP on an uninformed public using the ‘it’s either slaughter or PZP’ scare tactic.
Today’s drug pitch is found in the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/suzanne-roy/wild-horses-at-risk-of-sl_b_4934857.html It references population control experiments on the less than 48,000 acre Assateague Island in the East and lacks scientific comparison with the vast open range found in the West–where some herd management areas cover 800,000 acres or more.
Why did the coalition of several groups give up the fight for wild horses’ real freedom?
Freedom is the American mustangs’ right according to the Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act of 1971. They should not be manipulated by man on the range nor in congressional back rooms. Native wild horses should never be domesticated through sterilizants with man choosing who breeds. That’s nature’s job in the wild. It fosters survival of the fittest.
The solution to the fertility control debate is to focus on what the wild herds need to thrive in freedom not what a campaign, driven by a sanctuary or the BLM, wants to achieve. We need good science to find solutions.
The BLM wants to eliminate the majority of wild herds to free up public land for toxic drilling so why is this coalition following BLM’s lead to push population control before science?
There is no accurate population count to justify roundups. BLM’s overpopulation claims are a farce.
What’s the solution for a falsified overpopulation problem? A reality check and good science.
Fearing extinction from excessive roundups since the 2009 public land grab for energy exports, America’s wild horse birthrate in the West is abnormally high. That should be a red flag that there is something seriously wrong with ecology on their native range.
The Chainman Shale deposit of oil and natural gas in northeastern Nevada and into Utah is about to boom. Exploration began around 2009 in tandem with vast roundups removing the majority of wild horses who have the legal right to be on public land. Some went to probable slaughter and others make up the 50,000 captives warehoused in long-term holding facilities at taxpayer expense.
America’s wild horses should live wild and free–not drugged up with “restricted use pesticides” passed by the EPA for pest control and unsafe for domestic horses.
We invite the public and elected officials to demand a 10 year moratorium on roundups for recovery and studies to develop good science for management. Wild horses are an essential part of the thriving natural ecological balance. They will help reverse desertification and reduce global warming by filling their niche on their native range.
Contact us if you want to keep America’s herds wild and free. Our email is Contact@ProtectMustangs.org We need your help in various ways.
Remember the herds are the lifeblood of our native wild horses. Due to underpopulation their genetic viability is in crisis today. American wild horses must be protected from experimentation and from domestication so they can always run wild and free.
Protect Mustangs speaks out against the Cloud Foundation’s PARTNERSHIP with BLM using risky PZP that could terminate natural selection: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=4941
www.ProtectMustangs.org Protect Mustangs educates, protects and preserves native and wild horses. The nonprofit conservation group strives for a moratorium on roundups and science-based holistic land management to reduce global warming.
BISON ACTIVIST ARRAIGNED
Comfrey Jacobs vs U.S. Government
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 11, 2014
Contacts:
Stephany Seay, Buffalo Field Campaign, 406-646-0070 or 0071
Mike Mease, Buffalo Field Campaign, 406-646-0070 or 007
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK: Comfrey Jacobs appeared in U.S. federal court today for his first arraignment after being arrested for blocking the road to Yellowstone National Park’s bison trap on Thursday morning, March 6, 2014. Mr. Jacobs was charged with three offenses: disorderly conduct, breaking a closure, and interfering with a government operation. He was offered a plea bargain: if he plead guilty he would be charged $1,000 in restitution, be placed on unsupervised probation for five years, and be banned from Yellowstone National Park for five years.
Mr. Jacobs did not accept the plea bargain, as he is awaiting further legal council. There will be a continuation of his arraignment on April 2, 2014. If Mr. Jacobs chooses to go to trial, he will be tried by a judge and not a jury of his peers.
The goal of Comfrey’s decision to block access to Yellowstone’s bison trap was to prevent more of America’s last wild, migratory bison — the most important bison population in the world — from being shipped to slaughter. Mr. Jacobs stalled slaughter operations for more than two hours.
Comfrey’s action demonstrated strong public opposition to the buffalo slaughter and has drawn an incredible amount of media and public attention to the issue. The day following Mr. Jacob’s blockade, Yellowstone National Park issued their only press release for this year’s controversial bison operations, announcing that the Stephens Creek bison trap was empty and Yellowstone had no further plans to capture this season.
“My action raised enough public awareness that Yellowstone announced a cease to their operations the following day,” Mr. Jacobs said.
This was the first time a citizen exercised civil disobedience at Yellowstone’s Stephens Creek bison trap. Yellowstone National Park initiates a 7-mile public access closure surrounding their Stephens Creek bison trap while highly controversial bison management activities are underway. Members of Buffalo Field Campaign were present to document and lend support.
Comfrey told Buffalo Field Campaign, “I have no regrets. I accept all the consequences of my actions and hope it raises awareness on this issue.”
Since February 7, approximately 450 wild buffalo have been captured in Yellowstone National Park’s Stephens Creek bison trap, located in the Gardiner Basin. 318 were shipped to slaughter or research facilities and some were released. Additionally, more than 270 wild bison have been killed by state and treaty hunters just outside Yellowstone’s boundary in Montana. Through hunting, slaughter and consignment to research, more than 600 of America’s last wild, migratory bison have been eliminated this year, marking a decimation of the world’s most significant bison herds.
“Comfrey Jacobs is a hero,” said BFC’s Executive Director Dan Brister. “His actions speak for thousands of people who are upset by the slaughter of America’s last wild buffalo.”
Yellowstone and its partners in the Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP) have set an arbitrary population target of 3,000-3,500 bison, yet a Yellowstone bison carrying capacity study has determined that the Park can sustain upwards of 6,200 wild bison. Additionally, there are tens of thousands of acres of public lands surrounding Yellowstone that could sustain thousands more.
“The IBMP’s population target is totally driven by politics with no basis in science,” said Stephany Seay, a BFC spokesperson. “Wild American bison are ecologically extinct throughout their native range, and while they have no federal protections they certainly warrant Endangered Species Act protections.”
The wild bison of Yellowstone are the most significant bison populations in the world, the direct descendants to the tens of millions that once thundered across North America. Wild, migratory bison are ecologically extinct throughout their historic range with fewer than 4,000 existing in and around Yellowstone. They are the only bison to hold their identity as a wildlife species. North America’s largest land mammal, wild bison are a keystone species critical to the health and integrity of grasslands and prairie ecosystems.
The zero-tolerance bison politics of Montana’s livestock industry are driving the policies that are pushing these significant herds back to the brink of extinction. This is also the first year that IBMP-affiliated tribes have signed slaughter agreements with Yellowstone, and have shipped bison to tribal slaughter facilities.
Buffalo Field Campaign is a non-profit public interest organization founded in 1997 to stop the slaughter of Yellowstone’s wild bison, protect the natural habitat of wild free-roaming bison and other native wildlife, and to work with people of all Nations to honor the sacredness of wild bison. BFC has its headquarters in West Yellowstone, Montana, and is supported by volunteers and participants around the world who value America’s native wildlife and the ecosystems upon which they depend.
“We’re so grateful Josh Fox answered our call for help and included the American wild horse crisis in his awesome film GASLAND Part 2,” says Anne Novak, Executive Director of Protect Mustangs. “We won’t sell out. We will continue to fight for their right to live wild and free.” www.ProtectMustangs.org
HBO released GASLAND Part 2 in 2013 to an audience of more than 40 million people. Since then the film’s audience has grown around the world.
Today America’s wild horses are underpopulated. The Spin Dr.s have released a huge campaign to fool Congress and the public into believing there are too many when the truth is the feds are managing our native wild horses to extinction.
Why? Follow the money and it leads you to Big Oil & Gas that wants to FRACK their native land and needs tons of water for fracking.
What else can you do? Email, call and meet with your senators and representative to request a moratorium on roundups for scientific studies to ensure their survival. Fertility control is premature. http://www.contactingthecongress.org/
Read the fine print, ask questions and beware of vague pledges people are asking your senators and representative to sign. Certain wild horse groups aren’t fighting for the herds’ freedom any more but are pushing for fertility control experiments and sanctuary-style management with restricted use pesticides (PZP, etc.) branded as “birth control” and without scientific studies on population when wild horses are underpopulated and are being managed to extinction by the feds.
Protect Mustangs speaks out against the Cloud Foundation’s PARTNERSHIP with BLM using risky PZP that could terminate natural selection: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=4941
Rejects unreasonable demand to return to widespread buffalo slaughter
Helena, MT — The Montana Supreme Court affirmed the decision of a lower court today, allowing wild bison room to roam outside the northern boundary of Yellowstone National Park. The ruling upholds a February 2012 decision by state agencies to allow bison seasonal access to important winter and early spring habitat outside the north boundary of the park in the Gardiner Basin area until May 1 of each year.The ruling rebuffs demands by some livestock producers and their allies to require aggressive hazing and slaughtering of bison that enter the Gardiner Basin area from Yellowstone National Park in the winter and early spring in search of the forage they need to survive.“Today’s state Supreme Court ruling represents a victory for all those who want to see wild bison as a living part of the Montana landscape,” said Earthjustice attorney Tim Preso, who defended the bison policy in the case on behalf of the Bear Creek Council (BCC), Greater Yellowstone Coalition (GYC), and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). “Now that the Court has rejected claims requiring bison to be slaughtered at the park’s boundaries, we can move forward to secure room for wild bison to roam outside of Yellowstone National Park over the long term.”
In two lawsuits filed in May 2011, the Park County Stockgrowers Association, Montana Farm Bureau Federation, and Park County, Montana, sought to block implementation of the new policy and require state officials to adhere to outdated plans for bison hazing and slaughter. Although the plaintiffs in the cases raised concerns about the potential for bison to infect cattle with brucellosis, the only two cattle ranchers operating year-round in the Gardiner Basin did not join the legal challenge.
Bison are the only native wildlife species still unnaturally confined to the political boundaries of Yellowstone National Park for any part of the year. As recently as 2008, more than 1,400 bison—about one-third of the current size of Yellowstone’s bison population—were captured and slaughtered by government agencies while leaving Yellowstone in search of food.
