Tag Archives: Protect mustangs

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.

# # #

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

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/


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.