Protect Mustangs asks CNN to correct glaring error about the indigenous American wild horse

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Wild War Horse (Photo © Cynthia Smalley, all rights reserved.)

We were surprised to see CNN publish the error about American wild horses in  Polish pony that survived the Nazis uniting Europe’s nature reserves. The author states that zoologists claim the American mustang is not a wild horse so we sent them comments and are asking for them to correct their article.  Here are our comments:

RE: Shocking Error Published by CNN

American wild horses, aka mustangs, are an indigenous species. The horse originated in North America.

The author of this article appears to make erroneous claims about American mustangs, “zoologists say that strictly speaking these are really feral domesticated horses.” That is incorrect. Recent science proves mustangs are not only a wildlife species but most importantly indigenous.

Which zoologists are claiming the American mustang is not a wild horse but a “feral” back alley horse? Why didn’t the author cite the names of the alleged zoologists?

Most zoologists are familiar with the work of PhD.s J.F. Kirkpatrick and P.M. Fazio and the revised January 2010 paper Wild Horses as Native North American Wildlife. The Science and Conservation Center, ZooMontana, Billings. 8 pages seen here: http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=562

Their scientific paper states, “Thus, based on a great deal of paleontological data, the origin of E. caballus is thought to be about two million years ago, and it originated in North America.”

Also the paper cites, “The fact that horses were domesticated before they were reintroduced matters little from a biological viewpoint. They are the same species that originated here, and whether or not they were domesticated is quite irrelevant. Domestication altered little biology, and we can see that in the phenomenon called “going wild,” where wild horses revert to ancient behavioral patterns. Feist and McCullough (1976) dubbed this “social conservation” in his paper on behavior patterns and communication in the Pryor Mountain wild horses. The reemergence of primitive behaviors, resembling those of the plains zebra, indicated to him the shallowness of domestication in horses.”

We kindly request CNN correct this error immediately.

Sincerely,

Anne Novak

Executive Director of Protect Mustangs

 

Taking action to inform, protect and help America’s wild horses

http://www.ProtectMustangs.org

CNN Article: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/21/world/europe/poland-pony-nazi/


Wild Mares Giving Birth to Litters?

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According to BLM population estimates, they do

Cross-posted from PPJ Gazette

May 20, 2012 by Debbie Coffey          Copyright 2012  All Rights Reserved.

____________________________________________________________

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) continues at a breakneck pace to leave non-viable herds of wild horses on public lands and while it also considers cutting back on livestock grazing (watch out for drought management plans in your area).

Meanwhile, over and over again, extractive industries and new energy projects seem to go almost unchecked for use of massive amounts of water that adversely impact public lands and risk contamination of aquifers.

Just an aside on the letter below, Melani Mirati was the BLM’s COR (Contracting Officer’s Representative) at the 2012 Calico wild horse roundup and made the decision to allow the contractor (Sun J Livestock) to use a hot shot (electric prod) on a horse that had been stuck in a trailer and had just fallen on the ground.  (video link under SOURCES below).

Open Letter to the BLM:

May 18, 2012

Melanie MiratiBLM Winnemucca Field Office5100 E. Winnemucca Blvd.,Winnemucca NV 89445-2921BLM_NV_WDOJacksonMtnsWildHorseEA@blm.gov

RE: Public comment/Jackson Mountain wild horse gather

Dear Ms. Mirati and BLM Winnemucca Field Office:

In this document, BLM states:

“1.4 Purpose and Need for Action:

The purpose of the Proposed Action is to remove excess wild horses from within and outside the HMA, to manage wild horses at the established AML ranges for the HMA, to reduce the wild horse population growth rate in order to prevent undue or unnecessary degradation of the public lands by protecting rangeland resources from deterioration associated with excess population of wild horses within and outside the HMA boundaries, and to restore a thriving natural ecological balance and multiple use relationship on the public lands.”

My comment: The BLM has NOT proved an excess. It seems that not only are there no photos or videos shown to the public to verify the BLM’s estimation of the number of wild horses on the HMA, in order for Ms. Mirati’s population estimation to be correct, the mares would have to be giving birth to litters.

At the same time your office claims to need to remove wild horses to “prevent undue or unnecessary degradation of the public lands by protecting rangeland resources from deterioration associated with excess population of wild horses…,”on January 2012 your office issued an EA for the Hycroft Mine Expansion Project, which uses 900 million gallons of water a year (did you request 1′ and 5′ water drawdown maps for this EA?). A wild horse only drinks 15 gallons of water a day.

This Hycroft Expansion Project will use an additional 5,895 acres of PUBLIC LAND, with 2,172 acres of “new disturbance.” ON PUBLIC LAND, it seems this one project has 85 acres of roads, 176 acres including an open pit, 451 acres for heap leach pads, and 451 acres for waste rock facilities. Wild horses leave some hoofprints and eat some forage.

Please explain, exactly, how removing the wild horses will “restore a thriving ecological balance.”

Also, please explain how the Hycroft Mine Expansion’s many uses of water and disturbance of public lands, KEEP a “thriving ecological balance” and with 5 years needed for reclamation, how is this not years of “undue degradation” or “deterioration?”

Your district also has the Coeur Rochester Mine Expansion Project.  In August 2010,the EPA sent a letter to Bob Edwards of the BLM, stating that the EPA was concerned about this 7th Amendment to the Plan of Operation (POO) since 1986 and that no Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) were conducted regarding the Plan of Operation OR its amendments. The EPA stated it had concerns about the proposed project’s “potential direct and cumulative impacts on water and air quality.”

24 years and no EIS? It sure seems that “uses” of public lands that make more money get Findings of No Significant Impact (FONSI), which is in violation of FLPMA (Federal Land Policy and Management Act).

Your office also gave a FONSI to Newmont Mining’s Sandman Exploration Project, in the EA, it states this project will cause 500 acres of disturbance, and “none of the drilling products to be used under the Proposed Action contain hazardous substances and all are approved for well drilling and would therefore, not contaminate ground water aquifers or surface waters. Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for common drill additives are included in the Plan.”

Then

“2.1.9 Solid and Hazardous Materials …Hazardous materials utilized within the Project Area would include diesel fuel, gasoline, and lubricating grease.”

Isn’t lubricating grease used on the drill? (If so, shouldn’t lubricating grease be considered a drilling product?). Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is being used for this project, isn’t it?  It seems a Finding of No Significant Impact is often given to uses that have the potential for a LOT of impact.

In conclusion, without any photographs or videos of the wild horses, you cannot prove there is an excess and you only have the legal authority to remove the wild horses from their HMAs (Herd Management Areas) if there is an excess.

____________________________________________________

SOURCES:

https://www.blm.gov/epl-front-office/projects/nepa/30004/36055/37911/Preliminary_EA.pdf

http://www.epa.gov/region9/nepa/letters/coeur-rochester-mine-preliminary-ea.pdf

http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/wfo/blm_information/nepa0/minerals/hycroft.html

http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/wfo/blm_information/nepa0/minerals/sandm

 

Adopt a wild horse today in Santa Rosa

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Adopt a mustang ~ find a friend.

Adopt a mustang ~ find a friend.

47 wild horses were brought to the Santa Rosa adoption event at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. Only 9 were adopted Saturday so there are plenty of nice wild horses to choose from today.

The event goes until 5 p.m. Sunday so you can still make it out to find your wild horse. We suggest taking a pair if you can, because then they can buddy through training and their new life.

The mustangs are from California’s eastern Sierra and across the border in Nevada near Burning Man.

These wild horses make great riding horses for all disciplines. They bond with their people in a unique and deep way so you have a real friend for life.

Here’s the sad part of the story: Most of these horses probably came from Palomino Valley Center (Sparks, Nevada) or Litchfield Holding Facility (Susanville, California). After being at these adoption facilities they acquire one strike when they leave and go to an adoption event. If they are not adopted at the adoption event such as the Santa Rosa event then they will have two strikes against them. If they went to another adoption event before Santa Rosa then, when they leave this event, they would have three strikes and can legally be sold for $25–even the young horses. Kill buyers pick up cheap horses, fatten them up and sell them to  slaughter for a big profit.

Adopt a living legend of the American West and save it from an unknown fate.

Contact us if you need help going through the adoption process or for trainer referrals.

 

 

Terrified wild horses chased and shot with birth control

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Is this what the EPA has approved for our wild horses and burros? Has the EPA approved–under a restricted-use pesticide program–a method to terrorize the young and old in a herd rendering the mares infertile as young as seven years old?

Who gave the government the right to play God and make the choices? Wildlife depends on natural selection for the survival of the fittest.

The questions remain:

Are wild horses and burros ruining the thriving natural ecological balance on the range–or is it the livestock?

We all know the livestock is the culprit–outnumbering wild horses 50 to 1.

How many wild horses are out there? Some Herd Management Areas have as little as 3 horses on them. Where is the scientific proof they are overpopulating?

If you don’t like what you see then take action.

Re-protect the indigenous wild horse.

 

Livestock destroys the range and BLM tries to blame the wild horse

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The PEER report sets the record straight–the livestock is ruining the range.

Geothermal and other extractive industries are also profiting off the Twin Peaks range but BLM avoids mentioning this.

Despite the BLM spin that all the Twin Peaks horses are adopted into good homes, we observed what was going on during our visit. Many wild horses from the Twin Peaks roundup were sold. They fetch a lot of money when a kill-buyer picks them up for cheap ($25) at BLM and flips them to slaughter. Pictured above are some of the American wild horses who were rounded up–lost their families, lost their home on the range and were “sold”.

We oppose the Battle Mountain proposed roundup

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——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Opposing BMD Drought Roundup/Removal
From: <anne@protectmustangs.org>
Date: Wed, May 16, 2012 11:53 pm
To: bmfoweb@blm.gov

RE: Battle Mountain Proposed Roundup in this EA: http://on.doi.gov/JVrrCO

Dear Sirs,

We are all aware now the livestock is causing the damage to the range. The PEER report released May 14th entitled Livestock’s Heavy Hooves Impair One-Third of BLM Rangelands can be found on our website at http://protectmustangs.org/?p=1243

We respectfully ask that you take the livestock off the range due to the emergency conditions since they could go somewhere else and leave the wild horses and burros on the range.

Wild horses and burros will reduce the wildfire risk on the range as well as help heal the land.

We are concerned you consistently deny requests for independent accurate head counts. Your inflated estimates to justify roundups are gross and an insult to the public’s intelligence.

We want solid proof the wild horses–not the livestock–are ruining the thriving natural ecological balance (TNEB). Without that we can only see you in the pocket of the livestock grazing lobby and acting on their behalf which is wrong.

Contrary to what you state in the EA wild horses can self regulate and do not multiply like rabbits. Less than 1% of 15,000 wild horses studied live to the age of 20. Many youngsters die before the age of 2. This is a wildlife species not a zoo exhibit.

When was the last time these horses were treated with the immunocontraceptive PZP? Is it working?

Show us the good science behind your proposal because the BLM Environmental Assessment is just spin to justify another cruel and expensive roundup and removal.

Helicopter roundups are against the Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act protecting these animals from harrassment and harm.

Using a helicopter causes global warming and we oppose it.

Documented helicopter roundups are cruel for the animals–causing injury, heat stress, spontaneous abortions (Calico 2010 for example), extreme stress and many deaths. Your numbers reporting deaths related to helicopter roundups are wrong–they are way too low to justify roundups and receive money from Congress for your broken program. Your reports of “pre-existing conditions” meriting euthanasia are a farce and we ask for transparency. BLM does not count the dead properly, as in the case of Old Gold at the 2011 Calico Roundup located here: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=348

We oppose roundups that would stress, traumatize and injure foals and lack humane care such as the roundup proposed.

We oppose roundups that waste taxpayer dollars and ask you to step up and manage the situation without removing the equids by bringing in food if needed.

We oppose bait and water trapping because removals are a waste of tax dollars and lack humane care this being cruel.

We oppose gate cut gathers/roundups because they are a waste of tax dollars, cruel and lack humane care.

The BLM’s AML numbers are no longer based in good science and need to be revised to reflect TNEB and the fact that the LIVESTOCK are ruining the range as reported in the PEER study above.

Sex ratio adjustments are wrong and not what nature intended. The Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act does not allow this.

Fertility control and experimentation is wrong not what nature intended. The Free Roaming WIld Horse and Burro Act does not allow this.

We request you respond in 48 hours to inform us of the adjuvunct used in your proposed PZP treatment that we are opposing.

We are opposed to using PZP that causes side effects to wild equids. These side effects include but are not limited to open abscesses, lameness, sores than can become infected in the wild causing death, etc.

How effective is PZP if given without a booster?

We are opposed to using PZP because some animals could become sterilized.

We are opposed to branding wild horses and burros as we understand the Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act forbids the branding and harassing of wild equids.

BLM has failed to prove using good science that wild horses and burros are ruining the Thriving Natural Ecological Balance and is wasting taxpayer dollars with proposals such as this.

We are against transporting and selling wild horses.

Since the BLM employees have been caught in the past adopting wild horses and selling them to slaughter we are against removals because the animals are at risk of going to slaughter. http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=1141

We oppose this roundup and removal because it will cause litigation that is wasting more tax dollars. We request BLM to be fiscally responsible.

Keep the wild horses and burros on the range to prevent wasting tax dollars paying to round them up–or trap them–and then to “process” them and then warehousing them in short or long term holding.

If there is not enough water for wild horses and burros then we ask you to truck the water in for the equids which would save a great deal of taxpayer dollars instead of a costly and cruel roundup and removal.

We want to see you be champions and do things right for a change.

Sincerely,

Anne Novak

 

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

 

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.


Livestock’s Heavy Hooves Impair One-Third of BLM Rangelands

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33 Million Acres of BLM Grazing Allotments Fail Basic Rangeland Health Standards

WASHINGTON – May 14 – A new federal assessment of rangelands in the West finds a disturbingly large portion fails to meet range health standards principally due to commercial livestock operations, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).  In the last decade as more land has been assessed, estimates of damaged lands have doubled in the 13-state Western area where the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) conducts major livestock leasing.

The “Rangeland Inventory, Monitoring and Evaluation Report for Fiscal Year 2011” covers BLM allotments in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.  The report totals BLM acreage failing to meet rangeland health standards in measures such as water quality, watershed functionality and wildlife habitat:

  • Almost 40% of BLM allotments surveyed since 1998 have failed to meet the agency’s own required land health standards with impairment of more than 33 million acres, an area exceeding the State of Alabama in size, attributed to livestock grazing;
  • Overall, 30% of BLM’s allotment area surveyed to date suffers from significant livestock-induced damage, suggesting that once the remaining allotments have been surveyed, the total impaired area could well be larger than the entire State of Washington; and
  • While factors such as drought, fire, invasion by non-native plants, and sprawl are important, livestock grazing is identified by BLM experts as the primary cause (nearly 80%) of BLM lands not meeting health standards.

“Livestock’s huge toll inflicted on our public lands is a hidden subsidy which industry is never asked to repay,” stated PEER Advocacy Director Kirsten Stade, noting that the percentage of impairment in lands assessed remains fairly consistent over the past decade.  “The more we learn about actual conditions, the longer is the ecological casualty list.”

Last November, PEER filed a scientific integrity complaint that BLM had directed scientists to exclude livestock grazing as a factor in changing landscapes as part of a $40 million study, the biggest such effort ever undertaken by BLM.  The complaint was referred to a newly appointed Scientific Integrity Officer for BLM but there are no reports of progress in the agency’s self-investigation in the ensuing months.

At the same time, BLM range evaluations, such as this latest one, use ambiguous categories that mask actual conditions, employing vague terms such as “making significant progress” and “appropriate action has been taken to ensure significant progress” that obscure damage estimates and inflate the perception of restoration progress.  For example, in 2001 nearly 60% of BLM lands (94 million acres, an area larger than Montana) consisted of grazing allotments that were supposed to be managed to “improve the current resource condition” – a number that has stayed unchanged for a decade.

“Commercial livestock operations are clearly a major force driving degradation of wild places, jeopardy to wildlife, major loss of water quality and growing desertification throughout the American West,” Stade added, while noting that BLM has historically been dominated by livestock interests.  “The BLM can no longer remain in denial on the declining health of our vast open range.”

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Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) is a national alliance of local state and federal resource professionals. PEER’s environmental work is solely directed by the needs of its members. As a consequence, we have the distinct honor of serving resource professionals who daily cast profiles in courage in cubicles across the country.

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) Links:
Posted from the PEER press release