Federal Plan Will Remove Horses from Nevada Wildlife Refuge

Posted on September 9, 2012 by Protect Mustangs

Cross-posted from The Horse

by: Pat Raia
September 07 2012, Article # 20606

Wild horses and burros will be removed from their ranges in northwestern Nevada under a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) conservation plan for the wildlife refuge on which they currently reside. The plan is slated to become effective after Sept. 24, said Jason D. Holm, assistant regional director of external affairs for the FWS Pacific Region.

Approximately 800 horses and 180 burros currently reside on the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge (SNWR), Holmes said. The refuge is also home to approximately 2,500 pronghorn antelope and 150 bighorn sheep, as well as greater sage grouse, mule deer, and other wildlife species, he said.

The horses and burros will be removed from the refuge under a final Comprehensive Conservation Plan intended to rid the sanctuary of non-native and invasive species, Holm said. Officials would conduct gathers with the goal of removing all the horses and burros within five years, he said.

“Horses and burros are damaging native habitats for refuge wildlife,” Holm said. “Controlling feral animals takes away from wildlife and public use management priorities and efforts, and is costly.”

American Wild Horse Campaign Director Suzanne Roy opposes removal on grounds that horses and burros have resided on the area since the 1800s.

“These are U.S. Cavalry horses and burros used in the California gold rush,” Roy said. “They’ve been there (on SNWR lands) long before the refuge was created in the 1930s.”

Anne Novak, executive director of the wild horse advocacy group Protect Mustangs said the FWS assessment of the equids’ environmental impact is flawed.

“They want to get rid of all the horses without understanding the positive impact they have on the thriving natural ecological balance,” Novak said. “Wild horses heal the land and their grazing prevents wildfires.”

Roy said that wild horse advocates had recommended FWS officials use fertility control to phase out the horse and burro population over a 15-year period. The agency rejected the option, she said. Now she and others are exploring legal options that could block the total removal.

“Right now, we don’t know what we can do, but we’re looking into it,” she said.

Horses and burros removed from the refuge will be available for adoption, Holm said.

Link to the original article: http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=20606

Statement from Protect Mustangs:

“We are against phasing out the population using fertility control or by rounding them up,” explains Novak. “We ask that the wild horses and burros be allowed to stay.”

Nevada State Senator, Mark Manendo, comments to Protect Mustangs on the Sheldon wild horse and burro crisis

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Protect Mustangs

“According to Nevada’s Legislative Counsel Bureau, the wild horses and burros living in the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge appear to be managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service under the authority of the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act and other applicable federal law,” explains Mark Manendo, Nevada State Senator. “As such, the horses and burros are not feral horses or burros (domesticated horses or burros which have become wild) under NRS 569.008, and are therefore not under the jurisdiction of Nevada’s Department of Agriculture pursuant to NRS 569.010. Because there is no state jurisdiction, it would be questionable for the State of Nevada to try to assert any control or management over those horses and burros.”

“if people contact their Congress person and their two US Senators and let them know how you feel on this important issue that would be extremely helpful,” says Manendo.

Science proves wild horses are indigenous so protect their rights to land and water

Posted on September 3, 2012 by Protect Mustangs

Stop the removal of indigenous wild horses from the Sheldon Wildlife Refuge.

Rounding up indigenous wild horses is wrong – especially when they can be sold to the meat buyers at auctions,” said Anne Novak of California-based Protect Mustangs. “These horses are vulnerable to ending up going to slaughter … The Sheldon plan to wipe out wild horses is nuts and goes against the public’s wishes.”

Read the full article here and please comment: http://www.lvrj.com/news/nevada-wildlife-refuge-to-remove-all-wild-horses-168331946.html?ref=946

Sign the petition to ensure wild horses will maintain their rights to water.

Removing wild horses from the definition of wildlife is a political maneuver to deny the wild horses access to water. An argument of the opposition is that wild horses are not wild but feral. However, recent scientific evidence proves that wild horses are indigenous to North America.

As Anne Novak, Executive Director of Protect Mustangs points out, “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.

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.”

So, indeed, wild horses are wild. The current Nevada definition of wildlife states “‘Wildlife’ means any wild mammal, wild bird, fish, reptile, amphibian, mollusk or crustacean found naturally in a wild state, whether indigenous to Nevada or not and whether raised in captivity or not.” No other species is singled out for exclusion, why should wild horses be?

In the 76th legislature, Nevada Assembly Bill 329 attempted to remove wild horses from the definition of wildlife. Even though Nevada voters overwhelmingly sided with the wild horses and the bill did not pass, it appears as though the argument will be pushed again during the 77th legislative session.

Las Vegas news station KTNV Channel 13 reported that the bill “…would have prevented the state engineer from approving water rights for wild horses in Nevada” and “would deny the animals access to water prevent water rights being issued if someone were to establish a wild horse sanctuary to promote eco-tourism”

If you agree that wild horses should remain in Nevada’s definition of wildlife, and that they should never be denied access to water, please sign the petition.

Robin Warren (Wild Mustang Robin), Director of the Youth Campaign for Protect Mustangs, co-authored this petition.

Read Dr. Kirkpatrick’s paper here: http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=562

A sacred moment

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Protect Mustangs

Understanding grazing rights

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Protect Mustangs

Cross-posted from Wikipedia

Grazing rights

Grazing rights is a legal term referring to the right of a user to allow their livestock to feed (graze) in a given area.

Though grazing rights have never been codified in United States law, the concept of such rights descends from the English concept of the commons, a piece of land over which people — often neighboring landowners — could exercise one of a number of traditional rights, including livestock grazing.^[1] Prior to the 19th century, the traditional practice of grazing open rangeland in the United States was rarely disputed due to the sheer amount of unsettled open land. However, as the population of the western United States increased in the mid-to-late 19th century, range wars often erupted over ranchers’ perceived rights to graze their cattle as western rangelands deteriorated with overuse.^[2]

In 1934, the Taylor Grazing Act formally set out the federal government’s powers and policy on grazing federal lands by establishing the Division of Grazing and procedures for issuing permits to graze federal lands for a fixed period of time. The Division of Grazing was renamed the U.S. Grazing Service in 1939, and then merged in 1946 with the General Land Office to become the Bureau of Land Management, which along with the United States Forest Service oversees public lands grazing in 16 western states today.^[3] However, grazing was never established as a legal right in the U.S.,^[4] and the Taylor Grazing Act authorized only the permitted use of lands designated as available for livestock grazing while specifying that grazing permits “convey no right, title, or interest” to such lands.^[5] Although the regulations stipulated by the Taylor Grazing Act apply only to grazing on Bureau of Land Management lands, the Chief of the Forest Service is authorized to permit or suspend grazing on Forest Service administered property, and many Forest Service grazing regulations resemble those of the Taylor Grazing Act.^[6]

References:

^ Merrill, K.R. 2002. Public Lands and Political Meaning: Ranchers, the Government, and the Property Between Them. Berkeley: University of California Press, p. 183.
^ Fleischner, T. L. 2009. Livestock grazing and wildlife conservation in the American West: historical, policy and conservation biology perspectives. Wild Rangelands: Conserving Wildlife While Maintaining Livestock in Semi-Arid Ecosystems (eds J. T. du Toit, R. Kock and J. C. Deutsch). Chidester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, p. 235-265. pdoi: 10.1002/9781444317091.
^http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/grazing.html
^ Donahue D. 2005. Western grazing: the capture of grass, ground, and government. Environmental Law 35:721-806.
^ United States Code of Federal Regulations 4130.2 (c) Retrieved from http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr;sid=65dfe1cec94944c989e83b4eb39cd3ba;rgn=div5;view=text;node=43%3A2.1.1.4.92;idno=43;cc=ecfr#PartTop
^ United States Code of Federal Regulations 36 § 222.1-54.

Link to original Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grazing_rights

Is the wild horse family trapped by fencing in the wildfire?

Posted on August 18, 2012 by Protect Mustangs

Today Grandma Gregg wrote to us with the following news:

Twin Peaks HMA Rush Fire on Rye Patch Road August 18, 2012 (Photo by BLM)

She said her daughter contacted Jeff Fontana, BLM public affairs officer, to tell the BLM the location where the wild horse family, known as Magic’s Band, lives. She expressed her concern they would be trapped in the fire due to the extensive livestock fencing and cross fencing throughout the area.

Here is Magic and his family living in harmony before the fire.

Magic – grey stallion – son and look-alike of the great herd stallion BraveHeart, who was captured with his family in the 2010 roundup.

Hope – Magic’s mare and true love as you can see in the pic

Harley – Hope’s 2 or 3 year old colt

Curley and Shiney, two bay bachelor stallions and great buddies (not pictured)

The BLM official assured Grandma’s family that the horses would be able to get out through the gates because the ranchers and firemen had been instructed to leave them open.

Grandma’s family is very concerned that the wild horse family will not see the open gates in the smoke and concerned they could get stuck in the unsafe cattle guards. Many people are concerned Magic’s family would have been trapped by fencing while the fire rushed through the area.

She shared photos with us showing exactly where Magic and his family (eight horses total) lived before the fire went through the area this week.

Grandma took these photos last year standing in the same place at the top of the fenced “pasture” but looking in different directions. She noticed fences everywhere in every direction–a trap.

View #1

There is no fencing in this photograph – this would be looking the direction (south) that the fire would have come up toward them – fences are behind and right and left – good pic that shows where the fire would have come from -wildfires normally burn fast UP hills so the fire would have back them right up to the fences.

View #2

View #3

Here is observation peak – per the fire maps this is ALL burned now.

View #4

View #5

As of Saturday night Grandma has not heard back from Fontana about the welfare of Magic’s band.

Evacuate California wild horses & burros now!

Posted on August 18, 2012 by Protect Mustangs

The fire has not reached the corrals as of 12:25 p.m. Saturday. Check here for map updates http://www.inciweb.org/incident/3151/

Wildfire! Take down the fencing so wild horses and burros can escape

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Protect Mustangs

Dead wild horse was trapped in unsafe cattle guard (Photo © Craig Downer)

Sent to Jeff Fontana with the California BLM, August 17, 2012 9:43 am, copied to the Director

Dear Jeff,

Will an open gate be adequate for wild horses and burros to pass through in a panic? How long are the gates? What about all the fenced off acreage? How tall are most of the barbed wire fences?

We ask the BLM to take down fencing to ensure wild horses and burros will not be trapped and be able to escape to safety.

How many wild horses and burros are left in the HMA right now?

Please send me a PDF of the BLM’s order to ranchers as well as the order to fire crews to leave the gates open for the wild horses and burros passage to survive during the wildfire.

We would like to be updated regarding sightings of wild horses and burros with specifics on location and headcount.

Besides ranching what other multiple use is present on the Twin Peaks HMA? Will the wildfire be coming close to energy and or mining projects and therefore cause environmental pollution? How will this be mitigated?

Thank you for your kind assistance and your help to ensure wild horses and burros will be able to escape the fire.

Sincerely,
Anne Novak

Anne Novak
Executive Director
Protect Mustangs
P.O. Box 5661
Berkeley, California 94705

Previous email on this issue:

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: RE: Twin Peaks wildfire
From: “Fontana, Joseph J”
Date: Fri, August 17, 2012 8:48 am
To: Anne protectmustangs
Anne,

Sorry for delay. Rush fire has been demanding. It is unprecedented up here in size and extreme behavior.

As for the Mustangs:

As of Friday, Aug. 17, there have been no sightings of injured or deceased mustangs or burros. A group of burros has been seen in an area that had been burned earlier during the fire, and they are safe. Observers on a flight yesterday saw two small groups of healthy wild horses in unburned areas. No other groups have been observed. Resource specialists in the BLM Eagle Lake Field Office feel that prior to the fire the horses and burros most likely moved to higher ground as they left dried up water sources for fresh water sources.

Ranchers have been removing cattle from grazing allotments, and the BLM has directed them to leave gates left open to allow the horses and burros free passage across the range. The BLM has directed fire crews to leave gates open, and shares this message at twice daily briefings with the incident management team.

The BLM shares the concerns of those interested in the well-being and safety of wild horses and burros and is taking actions to ensure the animals are able to move throughout the HMA.

Public lands in the fire area have been closed to protect public safety.

Fire updates and maps are available at www.inciweb.com.

I have added you to the email list for fire updates

From: anne@protectmustangs.org
Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2012 3:55 PM
To: Fontana, Joseph J
Subject: Twin Peaks wildfire

Dear Jeff,

Please send me all the information about the Twin Peaks wildfire and let me know if you are taking fences down so the wild horses and burros can survive by moving out of harm’s way.

Best wishes,
Anne

Anne Novak
Executive Director
Protect Mustangs
P.O. Box 5661
Berkeley, California 94705

Wildfire in California herd management area

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Protect Mustangs

NorCal 2 Type II

Interagency Incident Management Team

Rush Fire

CA-BLM-NOD

Ravendale, California

Fire Information Office:

530-710-8568

Staffed 8:00 am to 6:00 pm

For Immediate Release: August 17, 2012 @ 8:00 am

RUSH FIRE UPDATE

Started: August 12, 2012 at 6:42 pm

Cause: Lightning

Fuels: Fire is burning in sagebrush, juniper, and grass

Estimated Size: 204,359 acres

Containment: 30%

Expected Containment: 8/22/2012

Committed Resources: Approximately 468 people

Structures Threatened: 36 (30 residences; 1 commercial; 5 outbuildings)

Structures Damaged or Destroyed: 1 (barn)

Injuries: 2 (both in fire camp)

Location: The fire is located on Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Northern California District (BLM-CA-NOD,) Eagle Lake Field Office, approximately 15 miles southeast of Ravendale, California. The fire is burning near a major natural gas line and transfer station, and power transmission lines that supply the Reno area.

Summary: The fire pushed south and east over the top of Skedaddle Mountain as well as spreading east of Observation Peak. Firefighters made good progress to secure the northwestern fire edge. Fire crews will continue to construct handline, dozer lines, and complete burnouts operations as conditions permit in an effort to further contain the fire.

Possible thunderstorm activity is in the forecast for the next two-three days. This fire has showed significant growth from thunder cell downdrafts on several occasions.

Voluntary evacuations of structures along eastern side of Highway 395. Structure protection is being implemented by fire crews. Residents along Mail Route/County Road 502 and Garate Road were notified that voluntary evacuations for that area are in effect. The fire is currently within ½ mile of US Route (Highway) 395. The public needs to be aware for the need of possible intermittent closures of Highway 395 due to fire activity and public safety.

Area and Road Closures in Effect: On August 16, the BLM issued a closure order for public lands in the fire area to protect public health and safety. The closed area is bounded by Highway 395 on the west, the Sand Pass Road on the east, and the Wendel Road on the south. The new northern boundary for the public land closure is the Juniper Ridge, Tuledad, Stage Road, Marr Road, and Buckhorn Road extending to Nevada Highway 447 in Washoe County. Routes closed within this closure area include the Ramhorn Springs, Rye Patch Road, Shinn Ranch, Stoney, Deep Cut, Smoke Creek, Skedaddle Ranch, Dry Valley, and Brubeck roads. The Ramhorn Springs Campground also is closed.

Travelers along the Highway 395 corridor, please use caution near the fire crews and equipment working in the fire area. Highway 395 may be closed due to fire activity. Please check for current road conditions with CalTrans at http://www.dot.ca.gov/cgi-bin/roads.cgi or 800-427-7623.

Remarks: Fire officials remind residents and visitors that fire restrictions are in effect for public lands and national forests in northeast California. Campfires are permitted only in posted recreation sites. Chainsaws may not be used after 1:00pm daily.

For additional fire information, go to InciWeb @ http://inciweb.org/incident/3151/ or follow us on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/NorCalTeam2.

Get active & protect mustangs

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Protect Mustangs

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