Breaking News: Invasion of privacy suppresses free speech

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BLM places outrageous conditions on public comment

For immediate release:

WASHINGTON (May 31, 2012)—Protect Mustangs, a Bay Area-based preservation group, asks the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to revise their conditions for receiving written comment that requires personal identifying information that BLM says they can not safeguard. What started as an issue jeopardizing public process for people who want helicopters roundups to stop has mushroomed into a free speech issue for all Americans.

“This in an invasion of privacy—a restriction of our rights of free speech,” states Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs. “It will stifle public participation.”

Due to the BLM’s lack of public notice for a public hearing, the preservation group released an alert titled: Government transparency and public process jeopardized. They gathered comments requesting the Nevada public hearing  be rescheduled with 30 days notice and comments against using helicopters and motorized vehicles for roundups and management. Early Tuesday morning the group sent the comments to the Director of BLM in Washington requesting he intervene and reschedule the public hearing. Wild horse photographer, Cat Kindsfather, hand delivered the comments to BLM officials at the hearing.

As a result of Protect Mustangs’ grassroots efforts and the public rallying for their right to comment,  the BLM released the press release announcing they will extend only the written comment period for the use of helicopters and motorized vehicles for roundups and management in Nevada.

BLM also states:

Comments submitted to BLM must include your address, phone number, email, or other personal identifying information in your comment. Please be aware your entire comment–including your personal identifying information–may be made publicly available at any time. While you may request we withhold your personal information from public view, we cannot guarantee we will be able to do so.

The preservation group opposes BLM’s terms for public comment for 2 reasons:

1.) The controversial Nevada public hearing regarding using helicopters and other motorized vehicles for roundups and management, must be held with 30 days notice so the American public may attend and give oral comment as well as written comment.

2.) The BLM must accept written comments and protect personal identifying information if the commenter has requested their information be withheld from public view. Requested personal identifying information should not be excessive.

“Any person who requests that their personal information be safeguarded should have that right to privacy—especially by a government agency,” states Kerry Becklund, director of outreach for Protect Mustangs.

Refusing to keep personal identifying information confidential, stifles the public process because anyone can get a copy of the comments according to BLM protocol. The public wants to know their rights to privacy are ensured.

“Are the BLM’s new written comment conditions intended to suppress public comment?” asks Novak. “It’s a no-brainer that this is going to discourage people. What’s happening to America’s public process and our rights to free speech?”

 

# # #

 

Media Contacts:

Anne Novak, 415-531-8454 Anne@ProtectMustangs.org

Kerry Becklund, 510-502-1913 Kerry@ProtectMustangs.org

Contact Protect Mustangs for interviews, photos or video

 

Links of interest:

Reno NBC affiliate News 4 reports: Wild horse advocates say the BLM jeopardized public process http://www.mynews4.com/news/local/story/Wild-horse-advocates-say-the-BLM-jeopardized/a8kN1TVKZ0WLiaEBaISvDA.cspx

BLM press release with comment guidelines requiring personal identifying information that will not be safeguarded:

http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/info/newsroom/2012/may/carson_city__blm_nevada.html

Protect Mustangs press release: Government transparency and public process jeopardizedhttp://protectmustangs.org/?p=1416

Video of helicopter roundup: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_dhnqCijOk&feature=player_embedded

Freedom of speech in the U.S.A: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech_in_the_United_States

Protect Mustangs website: http://protectmustangs.org/

 

Photo © Cynthia Smalley, all rights reserved.

 

 


California BLM schedules their helicopter hearing on short notice for June 5th

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Bad deja vu

Today we found the BLM press release (below) announcing their helicopter hearing with only 4-5 business days notice–depending on how you count the days.

We have written California BLM requesting they reschedule the public hearing, on using helicopters and other motorized vehicles for roundups and management, to give the public 30 days notice. Sound familiar?

We will keep you updated. We wanted to let you know as soon as we found out.

Link to the California BLM press release dated May 29th:

http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsroom/2012/may/CASO126_aircraftmtg.html

 

Release Date: 05/29/12
Contacts: Erin Curtis , (916) 978-4622 ecurtis@blm.gov
News Release No. CASO-12-6

BLM Sets Hearing on Vehicle, Aircraft use in Wild Horse and Burro Program
The use of aircraft and motor vehicles in wild horse and burro management on public lands will be discussed in a public  hearingTuesday, June 5 from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at the Woodlake Hotel (formerly the Radisson) at 500 Leisure Lane in Sacramento.At the hearing,  participants can provide written comments or make statements about the use of motorized vehicles in managing wild horses and burros by the BLM CaliforniaThe BLM periodically gathers and removes wild horses and burros from public lands to maintain populations in balance with other range users, and to ensure that rangeland forage and water sources are not over-used.  BLM California manages two adoption facilities, in Ridgecrest and Litchfield, and holds adoptions throughout the state.Wild horses and burros are protected on BLM and Forest Service lands under the 1971 Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act, which requires population management and control.  The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976  gave the BLM authority to use aircraft and motor vehicles in t to complete its work, and required   public  hearings  annually regarding their use.

For more information, contact BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program  Manager Amy Dumas at (916) 978-4678.
–BLM–California State Office   California State Office, 2800 Cottage Way, Suite W1834, Sacramento, CA 95825

Get on the BLM Nevada mailing list

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This email was forwarded to us today from another advocate. Even after knowing our email we did not receive it directly.

We want to share it with you so you can get on their mailing list.

 

—–Original Message—–
From: Haspiel-Szlosek, Erica A [mailto:ehaspielszlosek@blm.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2012 08:47 AM
To: My advocate friend
Subject: Wild Horse Interest Mailing List for BLM Nevada

Good morning all –

Most of you have not met me; I am the new Communications Chief for BLM Nevada. One of my many duties is to send information to people who have an interest in BLM issues. I have looked at the Wild Horse and Burro Interest list and see it’s fairly old. If you no longer wish to receive information please let me know. Also, if you know of others who may have an interest, can you please forward this email to them so they can ask to be added to our list?

[BLM social media links]
Erica Haspiel-Szlosek
Communications Chief
BLM Nevada State Office
ehaspielszlosek@blm.gov<mailto:ehaspielszlosek@blm.gov>

Comment period extended but Nevada public hearing a sham

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Yesterday we took your comments to the hearing, requesting BLM reschedule the Carson City helicopter hearing with adequate public notice and comments against helicopter roundups, etc. Photographer and honorary board member, Cat Kindsfather, hand delivered them and spoke on behalf of Protect Mustangs as well as the American public.

Kindsfather brought up the fact that people across the country wanted to participate in the public process but there was not enough notice given.

At the meeting, BLM announced they would extend the comment period. Comments can be received no later than June 12, 2012. Only comments sent to the address, email or fax number identified below will be accepted and “considered”.

Comments may be sent by mail or fax:

BLM Carson City District Office

5665 Morgan Mill Road

Carson City, NV 89701

Attn: WHB Motorized Hearing.

FAX: 775-885-6147.

 

Comments may also be sent by email:

ccfoweb@blm.gov, Attn: WHB Motorized.

 

Comments submitted to BLM must include your address, phone number, email, or other personal identifying information in your comment.

Please be aware your entire comment–including your personal identifying information–may be made publicly available at any time. While you may request we withhold your personal information from public view, we cannot guarantee we will be able to do so.

 

Please copy us on all the comments you send the BLM so we can keep a record of the comments received to watchdog this faulty process.

We will send the Carson City District Office all the comments on your behalf that you have sent us after 7 a.m. May 29, 2012 to ensure your comments are received.

We continue to ask for the Carson City hearing to be rescheduled to allow oral comments and for the public to be given 30 days notice for any other BLM public hearings.

Denying the public their right to be present and comment at a public hearing shows the BLM has no intention of engaging the American public nor do they want to be transparent.

The NBC affiliate, KRNV Reno News 4, attended the public hearing and reported on wild horse advocates say BLM jeopardized public process.

Thank you for sending in your comments. Now tell your friends about what is going on and invite them to send in comments against the use of helicopters and motorized vehicles as well.

Stop the Roundups!

 

Links of interest:

KRNV Reports on wild horse advocates say BLM jeopardized public process. http://www.mynews4.com/news/local/story/Wild-horse-advocates-say-the-BLM-jeopardized/a8kN1TVKZ0WLiaEBaISvDA.cspx

Protect Mustangs news release: Government transparency and public process jeopardized: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=1416

Protect Mustangs letter requesting BLM give the public 30 days notice for helicopter use hearing: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=1409

BLM press release announcing they will extend comments: http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/info/newsroom/2012/may/carson_city__blm_nevada.html

BLM press release on hearing: http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/info/newsroom/2012/may/blm_to_hold_public.html

 

 

Breaking News: Government transparency and public process jeopardized

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Mustang advocates want 30 days notice for public hearings on use of Helicopters at roundups

for immediate release:

RENO (May 28, 2012)—Protect Mustangs has discovered that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) scheduled an important public hearing for 10 a.m. the morning after Memorial Day weekend without adequately notifying the public. The hearing is scheduled for 10-11 a.m., at the BLM Carson City District Office, 5665 Morgan Mill Road, in Carson City, Nevada. The wild horse preservation group is requesting the BLM reschedule the public hearing—regarding the use of helicopters and other motorized vehicles for roundups and management—in order to give the public at least 30 days notice.

“What happened to government transparency and public process?” asks Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs. “With 80% of America’s federally protected indigenous wild horses and burros living on public land in Nevada, the whole country should be given adequate notice to participate in person as well as via email. Most members of the public are against helicopter roundups. Is BLM trying to sneak this by without public input?”

On Saturday, the preservation group’s website alerted the public about the hearing, after they saw it posted in the Mesquite News online.”Through our social media channels the public began to hear about the public hearing that no one knew about,” said Novak. “Even horse advocates in Carson City hadn’t heard about the hearing.”

“I live in Carson City and never heard a thing about a public hearing regarding helicopters and motorized vehicles for roundups and management,” says photographer and wild horse advocate Cat Kindsfather. “People would like to come to the hearing from around the country but they need proper notice.”

“I live in the Carson area and just found out about the Helicopter hearing,” says Craig Downer, author and wildlife biologist. “These hearings are mandated by the law so why aren’t we being informed about them?”

“I live in Reno and only heard about the hearing today when a friend called,” says Terri Farley, author and wild horse and burro advocate. “Mustangs are the people’s horses, but BLM’s stealth meetings make it impossible for us to stand up for their welfare.”

Advocates, as well as members of the public nationwide, would like to attend the hearing but they need 30 days notice to make arrangements.

“I live in Oakland, California and I would like to speak against the use of helicopters and motorized vehicles,” says Kerry Becklund, Outreach Director for Protect Mustangs. “But I need to give my day job notice to take a vacation day.”

“I live in Houston, Texas and work overseas,” says R.T. Fitch, volunteer president of Wild Horse Freedom Federation, “Hearing about an important BLM meeting—only a day before it occurs—continues to stack the deck against the horses and burros as our collective voices cannot possibly be present to speak to the issue.”

“I live in Richmond, Virginia and would like to speak at the public hearing against using helicopters but I need adequate notice to make travel plans,” says wild horse advocate Lisa Friday. “30 days notice is standard. Why doesn’t the BLM notify us properly? Is this against the law?”

“I live in New York City and would like to speak at the meeting against helicopter roundups,” says Hope Smith who loves wild horses. “I want to be part of the public process but I need more notice to get out West.”

“I live on 36 acres at the base of the mountains in Arizona and would like to come to the hearing,” says Michael Blake, Academy Award-winner and author of Dances with Wolves. “Helicopter roundups are nothing but incessant warfare against life on earth . . . for money.”

The group is collecting comments against helicopter roundups to take to Tuesday morning’s hearing. Members of the public may email them to Contact@ProtectMustangs.org

In the letter addressed to The BLM, Novak states, “The requirement for the public hearing was set in place to protect the public’s rights to participate in government and this must not be ignored.”

The BLM press release reads:

Before helicopters or motorized vehicles can be used, a public hearing is required in order to comply with Section 404 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act. The BLM proposes to use a helicopter, fixed wing aircraft and other motorized vehicles to estimate population numbers and obtain seasonal distribution information for wild horse and burro herds throughout Nevada. Also proposed is using a helicopter to assist in gathering excess wild horses and burros on gathers and complexes throughout the state during the coming year. The actual number of areas where gathers will be conducted or inventoried will depend on a number of factors including funding.

Members of the public can fax the BLM head office in Washington DC to request the helicopter hearing be rescheduled with a 30 day notice given to the public. The fax number is: 202-208-5242

Controversial helicopter roundups harass and stress wild horses and burros—stampeding them for miles, often resulting in lameness and sometimes in death.

Besides being concerned about animal cruelty at helicopter roundups, Protect Mustangs believes that helicopters flying in the desert for days or weeks emit pollution that harms the environment and contributes to global warming. The group believes motorized vehicles damage the ecosystem—hurting many forms of wildlife, such as sage grouse, and other endangered species on the range as well.

The group opposes the use of helicopter and motorized vehicles (except in a state of emergency or for an accurate population head count—not an estimate.)

“If wild horses and burros are facing a water or food emergency then bring aid out to them, but roundups, they must stop now,” states Novak. “A drought isn’t an excuse for roundups to zero out indigenous wild horses and remove them from their home on public land forever . . .”

# # #

Media contacts:

Anne Novak, 415-531-8454 Anne@ProtectMustangs.org

Kerry Becklund, 510-502-1913 Kerry@ProtectMustangs.org

Contact Protect Mustangs for interviews, photos or video

Protect Mustangs is a Bay Area-based preservation group whose mission is to educate the public about the American wild horse, protect and research wild horses on the range and help those who have lost their freedom.

Links of interest:

BLM press release on public hearing for helicopters and motorized vehicles: http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/info/newsroom/2012/may/blm_to_hold_public.html

Letter requesting rescheduling helicopter hearing: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=1409

Protect Mustangs alerts public about Tuesday hearing: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=1385

BLM Director’s Office: http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/info/directory/wo100_dir.html

GAO Report: Aircraft Emissions Expected to Grow, but Technological and Operational Improvements and Government Policies Can Help Control Emissions: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-554

Comments against 3 California Roundups: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=1377

Wild Horses: The Stresses of Captivity https://tuesdayshorse.wordpress.com/2010/04/19/wild-horses-the-stresses-of-captivity/

Anne Novak on Twitter: https://twitter.com/theannenovak

Protect Mustangs on YouTube

Protect Mustangs website: http://www.ProtectMustangs.org

“Like” Protect Mustangs on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ProtectMustangs

 

 

 

Letter requesting Nevada BLM give the public 30 days notice for helicopter use hearing

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To:

Amy Leuders

Nevada State Director

Bureau of Land Management

 

 

Dear Ms. Leuders,

 

Despite our requests to be informed about events and press releases, such as the upcoming public hearing scheduled the morning after Memorial Day Weekend in Carson City—we only heard about it Friday evening from an article posted in the Mesquite News online.

Some other members of the public who would like to comment heard about it through us this weekend on several social media channels and via email.

We are concerned about the agency’s lack of transparency evident in your lack of notification for public hearings regarding the use of helicopters and motor vehicles for potential roundups and management of wild horses.

We found your original press release that was dated Friday, May 18th. It only gives the public one business week’s notice. The press release is inadequate notification for the public and from what we see, only the Mesquite News published it online.

We have heard from several people who live in Carson City who knew nothing about this important hearing—let alone those living in New York City.

Since 80% of the federally protected wild horses and burros remain in Nevada, the whole country should be given ample notice to participate in the public hearing.

We kindly request you hold this important public hearing about the use of helicopters and motorized vehicles for roundups and management of wild horses and burros with a standard 30 days notice once you have published it. Please publicize it well so the public will feel you are being transparent. Right now it looks as if you are not.

We ask you to honor the opinions of the public (stakeholders) and not be swayed by lobbying or big business. We are concerned the BLM sees the public hearing as a legal formality in order to be allowed to go forward with helicopter roundups, etc.

The requirement for the public hearing was set in place to protect the public’s wishes and this must not be ignored.

Thank you for your kind assistance.

 

Sincerely,

Anne Novak

 

 

 

Links of interest:

 

Helicopter Use Hearing in Nevada: http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/info/newsroom/2012/may/blm_to_hold_public.html

 

 

Anne Novak

Executive Director

Protect Mustangs

P.O. Box 5661

Berkeley, California 94705

Please attend BLM’s public hearing 5/29 in Carson City ~ Email comments and say “NO” to helicopter roundups

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Roundup helicopter chases fearful wild horses and Old Gold (Photo © Cat Kindsfather, all rights reserved,)

The public hearing regarding using helicopters and motorized vehicles for wild horse and burro roundups as well as management is scheduled for Tuesday, May 29, from 10-11 a.m., at the BLM Carson City District Office, 5665 Morgan Mill Road, in Carson City.

Comment if you can’t make it

With Monday a holiday, we suggest you send your comments, against the use of helicopters and motorized vehicles at roundups, to us at Contact@ProtectMustangs.org and we will get them to the hearing.

Be sure to mention you are against the BLM using helicopter and motorized vehicles (except in emergency situations) because they tally up: who is for helicopters and other motorized vehicles (truck & trailers) and who is against helicopters and other motorized vehicles at roundups as well as for monitoring and management in Nevada for this fiscal year.

Let them know the use of helicopters and other motorized vehicles at roundups is inhumane & cruel, causes extreme stress, lameness and even death–euthanized by BLM–after being stampeded and injured, is against the spirit of the 1971 Free-Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act to stampede them with an aircraft, pollutes and causes global warming, ruins the terrain and crushes native and endangered plants on the range, terrorizes other wildlife causing extreme stress for them also, etc.

Mention that using aircrafts for monitoring and for accurate head counts on the range would be acceptable as long as they don’t harass the wild horses and burros or other wildlife and use algae-based fuel to reduce the environmental impacts.

You can also tell them that trucking in water and food in a drought emergency would be a valid exception to use motorized vehicles with regards to wild horse and burro management.

Thank you for taking the action you can to help save wild horses and burros.

We just found out about the hearing from a BLM press release discovered May 25th online via The Mesquite News http://mesquitecitizen.com/viewnews.php?newsid=1994&id=38. Why didn’t the BLM notify the public in a correct manner? Why didn’t they send us a press release despite our requests for press releases and updates regarding wild horses and burros? Why is this scheduled the morning after a three day holiday weekend?

BLM press release printed in the Mesquite News:

BLM Public Hearing Set on Management of Wild Horses and Burros

Posting Date: 05/21/2012
Press Release

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will conduct a public hearing to discuss the use of motorized vehicles and aircraft in the monitoring and management of wild horses or burros on public lands in Nevada. The hearing is scheduled Tuesday, May 29, from 10-11 a.m., at the BLM Carson City District Office, 5665 Morgan Mill Road, in Carson City, Nev.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive information and public comment on the use of helicopters and fixed wing aircraft to inventory wild horse or burro populations and the use of helicopters to gather and remove excess animals. The hearing will also consider the use of motorized vehicles to transport gathered wild horses or burros as well as to conduct field monitoring activities.

Before helicopters or motorized vehicles can be used, a public hearing is required in order to comply with Section 404 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act. The BLM proposes to use a helicopter, fixed wing aircraft and other motorized vehicles to estimate population numbers and obtain seasonal distribution information for wild horse and burro herds throughout Nevada.

Also proposed is using a helicopter to assist in gathering excess wild horses and burros on gathers and complexes throughout the state during the coming year. The actual number of areas where gathers will be conducted or inventoried will depend on a number of factors including funding.

For more information, contact John Axtell at (775) 885-6000.

original BLM press release: http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/info/newsroom/2012/may/blm_to_hold_public.html

We object to BLM’s proposed California roundups

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——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Cancel Buckhorn, Coppersmith and Carter Roundups
From: <anne@protectmustangs.org>
Date: Thu, May 24, 2012 11:58 pm
To: CBCwildhorses@blm.gov

Dear Sirs,

We respectfully ask you to cancel the three proposed wild horse and burro roundups (Buckhorn, Coppersmith and Carter Reservoir) on the northern California-Nevada border because there is no proof that the indigenous wild horses are ruining the thriving natural ecological balance. There is no exact head count and therefore no “excess” wild horses.

We don’t like the BLM wasting taxpayer dollars on animal cruelty, nor for the government to spend money on environmental assessments for roundups when, according to the PEER report, the livestock is causing range damage.

We believe the government should not remove native wild horses to warehouse each horse or foal at a cost of $1.30 a day ($39 a month) when livestock grazing permittees pay only $1.35 a cow/calf pair per month to graze on public land.

We would like to ask you to bring the mustangs and burros water or feed if they are at risk but leave them ALL on the Herd Management Areas (HMAs).

If there is a range damage issue then take ALL the livestock off and kindly ask the permittees to put them elsewhere.

Removing wild horses puts them at a high-risk of being sold and going to slaughter after only 3 adoption attempts. Also, if they are over 10 years old they can be sold without limitation according to BLM regulations. Selling native wild horses who end up butchered for human consumption in foreign countries is morally wrong and goes against the spirit of the 1971 Free-Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act.

We document wild horses and burros in their HMAs, write about them and enjoy taking photos of them. Our work is shared with the global public. If you roundup the wild horses and burros it will negatively affect our work.

Removing the wild horses and burros will affect the genetic viability of the herds and the normal herd dynamics will be ruined forever.

Skewing the sex ratios is cruel and causes extreme stress on the mares and ruins the natural family dynamics of these indigenous animals.

At the last National Academy of Science public meeting it was proven that mountain lions are hunting a lot of foals and are managing the population as nature intended so drugs such as PZP, ZonaStat-H, SpayVac, GonaCon, and other forms of contraception or sterilization are probably not necessary.

We all know darting isn’t going to work–the roundups will continue in order to give wild horses and burros contraceptives.

How much money has been spent on fertility control research in the past fiscal year? And in the past 40 years how much money was spent on this research?

And how many wild horses and burros are really out there?

Do you have photos and videos to prove too many wild horses and burros are out there causing damage?

How many heads of livestock are using or will use the very same HMAs?

What “multiple use” does BLM serve on the Buckhorn, Coppersmith and Carter Reservoir HMAs? Who is getting permits for these HMA’s? Please provide information about lease sales, energy development, water rights and grazing issues for the three HMA’s.

These animals are being managed to extinction. Cancel the roundups! We don’t have many wild horses and burros left in California.

Please respond to our questions in writing without delay. Thank you for your kind assistance.

Sincerely,

Anne Novak

 

Links of interest:

Indigenous wild horses: http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=562

The PEER Report on Grazing Allotments Failing Rangeland Health Standards: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=1243

AWHPC reports on the final NAS public meeting: http://www.wildhorsepreservation.org/news/2012/05/21/eyewitness-report-national-academy-of-sciences-wild-horse-and-burro-review-commitee-fourth-public-meeting/

6 Wild Horses Sold by U.S. End Up at Slaughterhouse: http://articles.latimes.com/2005/apr/22/nation/na-horses22

BLM Scoping Notice for 3 California-Nevada roundups: http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsroom/2012/04/NC1256_whbscoping.html

Anne Novak

Executive Director

Protect Mustangs

P.O. Box 5661

Berkeley, California 94705

Tel./Text: 415.531.8454

 

Twitter @ProtectMustangs

Protect Mustangs on YouTube

Protect Mustangs in the News

Donate to the outreach fund

 

www.ProtectMustangs.org

 

Protect Mustangs is a Bay Area-based preservation group whose mission is to educate the public about the American wild horse, protect and research wild horses on the range and help those who have lost their freedom.

 


Comments due today to stop 3 northern California mustang roundups

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Freedom Lost & Hell Begins (Photo © Cat Kindsfather, all rights reserved)

Please send comments today to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), who “manages” our wild horses and burros. Email them at CBCwildhorses@blm.gov with “Cancel Buckhorn, Coppersmith and Carter Roundups” in the subject line.

In your comments ask them to cancel the three roundups (Buckhorn, Coppersmith and Carter Reservoir) on the northern California-Nevada border because there is no proof that the indigenous wild horses are ruining the thriving natural ecological balance. There is no  exact head count and therefore no “excess” wild horses.

Let them know you don’t like the BLM wasting taxpayer dollars on animal cruelty, nor for the government to spend money on environmental assessments for roundups when, according to the PEER report, the livestock is causing range damage.

Also mention the government should not remove native wild horses to warehouse them at a cost of $1.30 a day ($39 a month) when livestock grazing permittees pay only $1.35 a cow/calf pair per month to graze on public land.

Remind them that removing wild horses puts them at risk of going to slaughter after only 3 adoption attempts. Also, if they are over 10 years old they can be sold without limitation according to BLM regulations.

If you have seen them and enjoy taking photos of them, tell the BLM that removing the wild horses and burros will affect you negatively, and let them know how it will.

Remind them at the last National Academy of Science public meeting it was proven that mountain lions are hunting a lot of foals and are managing the population as nature intended so the drug PZP and other forms of contraception are probably not necessary. We all know darting isn’t going to work–the roundups will continue in order to give wild horses and burros contraceptives.

And how many are really out there?

These animals are being managed to extinction. Cancel the roundups! We don’t have many wild horses and burros left in California.

Ask them to respond to you in writing with the questions you have about why they would justify a roundup and ask for their scientific proof to back up all their claims.

Do you want to know what “multiple use” BLM serves on the Buckhorn, Coppersmith and Carter Reservoir Herd Management Areas (HMAs)? Who is getting permits for these HMA’s? Do you have questions about lease sales, energy development, water rights and grazing issues for the three HMA’s?

Please don’t copy and paste this because then the BLM won’t count your letter. It’s better if you write your own email–even if it is a one-liner.

Anyone can comment. Comments are due by midnight P.S.T. tonight. Please share this with your friends so they can send in a comment too.

Feel free to cc us on your comments or forward a copy separately to us at Contact@ProtectMustangs.org so we can keep track of comments.

Thank you for taking any action you can to save our wild horses and burros!

 

Below is the BLM Scoping Notice which requires your comment to them:

BLM Extends Scoping Period on Wild Horse Roundup Environmental Assessment
The U. S. Bureau of Land Management is extending the issue scoping period for receiving public comments on issues that should be addressed in an environmental assessment (EA) for a proposed roundup of excess wild horses in northeast California and northwest Nevada.The BLM Surprise Field Office in Cedarville, Calif. is considering roundups for the Buckhorn and Coppersmith herd management areas (HMA) in November 2012 and for the Carter Reservoir HMA in July 2013.Issue “scoping” comments should be sent to Bureau of Land Management, PO Box 460, Cedarville, CA, 96104, or sent by email toCBCwildhorses@blm.gov. While scoping comments will be accepted well into the development process for the EA, they would be most helpful if received by May 24, 2012.The Buckhorn and Coppersmith HMAs are in Lassen County, Calif., and Washoe County, Nev.  The Carter Reservoir HMA is in Modoc County, Calif. and Washoe County.The EA will analyze the environmental effects of gathering excess wild horses and consider the effects of several management alternatives, including not gathering the animals.  The EA will not establish population levels, called appropriate management levels (AML), for these HMAs.  These were established in the Surprise Field Office Resource Management Plan completed in 2008.  The plan is available at http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/surprise/propRMP-FEIS.html.The roundups are being considered to bring the wild herd populations to levels that the rangelands can sustain in balance with other authorized users including wildlife and permitted livestock.The appropriate management level for the Buckhorn HMA is 59-85 wild horses; the BLM estimates the current population at 172.  The AML for the Coopersmith HMA is 50 to 75 wild horses, with the current population estimated at 75.  At Carter Reservoir, the AML is 25-35 wild horses, with the current population estimated at 55.  Additionally, there are an estimated 123 wild horses roaming outside of the HMA near the Carter HMA.The BLM will consider public comments in development of the EA which will be released for public comments this summer.

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BLM Scoping Notice: http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsroom/2012/04/NC1256_whbscoping.html