What has changed?

Posted on October 23, 2013 by Protect Mustangs

BLM wants to decimate trees on the Pine Nut Range in Nevada

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Protect Mustangs

Comments needed against cutting down the trees and spraying pesticides on the grass.

Trees reduce global warming and provide shade for wild horses. Pesticides kill.

Bring back native wild horses to heal the land and reduce wildfires.

BLM Press Release below:

Carson City, Nev. – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Carson City District, Sierra Front Field Office has released the Pine Nut Land Health Project Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for review and comment. The Project area is located in the Pine Nut Mountains in Douglas, Lyon and Carson City Counties, Nev. BLM will accept public comments through Nov. 20, 2013.

The project would be implemented over a 10 to 15 year period to restore ecological balance, diversity and resilience to plant communities and reduce hazardous fuels to protect people, property, infrastructure and resources from severe wildfire. The proposed action is to implement individual or combined vegetation treatments on up to 24,654 acres in strategically located treatment units based on vegetation condition and objectives.

Treatments include: hand thinning and cutting of trees and brush; mechanical grinding, thinning and removal of trees and brush; prescribed fire; and seeding.

A public workshop will be held at the East Fork Fire Station on Nov. 6, 2013, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The format will be an open house with a presentation of the project at 6:45 p.m. The East Fork Fire Station is located at 2249 Fish Springs Road, Gardnerville, Nevada.

Hard copies of the EA and other documents are available at the BLM’s Carson City District Office. For additional information and maps of the Project area go to: http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/carson_city_field/blm_information/nepa.html.

If you have questions, or to submit your comments, contact: Brian Buttazoni, Planning and Environmental Coordinator, 5665 Morgan Mill Rd, Carson City, Nev. 89701 or email at: bbuttazoni@blm.gov. Comments can also be faxed to: 775-885-6147 Attn: Brian Buttazoni.

Before including address, phone number, email-address, or any other personal identifying information in your comments, be advised that your entire comment, including personal identifying information, may be made publicly available at any time. While individuals may request that the BLM withhold personal identifying information from public view, the BLM cannot guarantee it will be able to do so. If you wish us to withhold your personal information you must state this prominently at the beginning of your comment.

-BLM-

Road to fracking or to study wild horses?

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Protect Mustangs

You write the story . . .

Save America’s wild horses from slaughter!

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Protect Mustangs

What will happen when the money runs out to feed and care for America’s wild horses that BLM rounded up for the extractive industry? Clearing them off their legally designated land wipes away a layer of environmental delays so they can go ahead with FRACKING and use tons of water for mining in alleged drought zones, etc.

WRITE your Congressional Rep a hand written letter in your own words and request they intervene to:

1.) Cease using PESTICIDES (“birth control”) on America’s wild horses pushed by lobbyists with conflict of interest!!!

2.) Reverse EPA’s PEST designation when they recently approved a version of PZP to be used as a Restricted-Use PESTICIDE for RETURNED-NATIVE wild horses & burros NOT found safe for domestic horses!!!

3.) The National Academy of Sciences established this summer there is NO EVIDENCE of overpopulation and stated the BLM Roundups increased the birthrate. Fear of EXTINCTION innately makes wild horses reproduce at a faster rate.

4.) Enact an immediate MORATORIUM on all Roundups & Removals for population studies!!! SCIENCE must come first.

5.) Bad BLM policy has put the lives of 50,000 American wild horses AT-RISK of being KILLED or being SOLD to SLAUGHTER as permitted by the 2004 Burns Amendment.

6.) Establish wild horses as a returned-native wildlife species to end all abuses. (Info on Native Wild Horses:http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=562 )

7.) Return all 50,000 wild horses and burros to the Herd Management Areas legally given to them for their primary use in 1971. Native wild horses heal the land and create biodiversity.

When our Congressional Reps come back to work for their constituents your hand-written letter will be waiting for them. One kitchen table letter represents 1,000 opinions. Then if you are able, call and make an appointment to meet with your Representative to request their intervention again in person. Small steps make change! YOU can really help the wild horses & burros!!!

SIGN the Petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/defund-and-stop-the-wild-horse-burro-roundups

Thank you for helping the wild horses & burros!

Get the word out!

(You may use this photo taken by Anne Novak at Palomino Valley Center, near Reno, Nevada while respecting the Copyright and change nothing to it.)

BLM ensures wild horses will have water

Posted on October 12, 2013 by Protect Mustangs

Cross-posted from the Elko Daily Free Press

October 11, 2013 4:45 pm • By DYLAN WOOLF HARRIS

ELKO — Reports that wild horses were without water prompted local Bureau of Land Management to investigate this week.

Contracted water hauler Jackie Wiscombe told the county commission Wednesday that the federal government shutdown had prohibited her from watering wild horses in Ruby Valley and Deer Springs, an area about 15 miles north of Currie.

She said she was concerned the animals were dying of thirst. The road to Deer Springs had been washed out, Wiscombe added, and she was unable to drive to the guzzlers.

Alerted by the news, BLM Elko District Director Jill Silvey said an employee was sent to Deer Springs to check on water and horse conditions.

The BLM employee was able to get to Deer Springs on a road that had some washout but was passable, Silvey said. The employee also reported that the horse guzzler still had water.

The employee didn’t see any horses, but because water was available, she said, the BLM believes the horses to be in good shape.

Silvey was unsure where the communication broke down, but said hauling water to the horses is an essential service and the BLM didn’t intend for Wiscombe to stop watering the two areas.

Wiscombe said she was contacted Thursday night and told that she should have received an email and voice message when the shutdown began, telling her to continue hauling water.

Wiscombe is also unsure how the miscommunication occurred, but couldn’t recall getting an email.

In any event, Wiscombe said she’s glad to be working with the agency again.

“I like working with this BLM office,” she said, “and they really do care about these wild horses.”

Mostly, she’s happy to be watering horses again.

On Friday she hauled water to Ruby Valley where the tubs were “bone dry.”

Wiscombe said she didn’t see any horses but did find fresh horse tracks near the guzzlers.

“I filled them up,” she said. “And I’ll go fill them back up in a few days.”

Commissioner Demar Dahl said Wednesday he could help fix a road if it was impassable.

Wiscombe said she would keep in contact with the commission if the road needed repair.

The Elko District BLM office is closed. Almost all of its employees have been on furlough since Oct. 1, when the federal government shut down.

Link to the Elko Daily Free Press: http://elkodaily.com/news/blm-horses-have-water/article_3abd77c2-32cf-11e3-9b92-0019bb2963f4.html?comment_form=true

Blondie was taken from family and freedom then facing her 3rd-Strike the yearling was at risk of being sold to probable slaughter

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Protect Mustangs

Today she is safe and part of our outreach program because we stepped in to save her life with the help of her anonymous sponsor who has been making this rescue possible. We are 100% volunteer and so grateful to help Blondie and other American wild horses .

Why?

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Protect Mustangs

Why is the Bureau of Land Management branding America’s wild horses that according to the Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act of 1971 are to be protected from harassment, branding and other harmful acts?

Shutdown leaves legendary mustangs without water

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Protect Mustangs

BLM contractor told to stop hauling water to wild horses

Nevada mustang © Carl Mrozek

As seen in the Elko Daily News on October 10, 2013

ELKO — While Washington politicks over a government shutdown, wild horses on the range could be dying of thirst.

Carlin resident Jackie Wiscombe, who for the past two years has contracted with the Bureau of Land Management to haul water to horses, said she’s been told to stop.

“Due to the government shutdown, these animals are in dire consequences of no water available,” she said. “… They are basically dependent on water being hauled to them.”

Wiscombe had watered an area 15 miles north of Currie and another in Ruby Valley about every five days. She was going to continue hauling water to the horses through the end of November, she said.

On Wednesday, she informed the county commission, saying horses could very well be dying.

Commissioners — who commended Wiscombe for bringing the issue to light — were worried about the horses and frustrated by the apparent lack of contingency planning by those in charge.

“What I’m concerned about is who’s responsible for these kind of management decisions?” Commissioner Demar Dahl said, “where you’d make the decision to start watering these horses, and then we say, ‘OK, now because we’re shut down, quit drinking.’”

Dahl wanted to know how many horses are left without water and dying.

“It doesn’t matter whether you love horses or hate horses,” he said. “It’s just egregious to think that you’re going to put them in a position where they depend on you and then walk away.”

Washed out roads complicated the problem, Wiscombe said. One spot hadn’t been watered for about a month because the road was impassable.

“We could go investigate and find out if they are dying. If they are, the county has a water truck, we can go haul water out there,” Dahl said.

The county also has a bulldozer, he added, to level washed out roads.

However, a county water-hauling project would need to be approved as an agenda item, according to County Manager Rob Stokes. If residents decided to haul water with private equipment, though, it wouldn’t be a county issue.

Dahl said he planned to fly an airplane over the two spots Thursday to see if he could tell how many horses were in need of water. Dahl and Commissioner Jeff Williams both own dozers, which they said could fix the road depending on its condition.

Rainstorms provide temporary puddles for the horses to drink, Wiscombe said, but the land won’t hold water for long.

Due to the shutdown, calls to the BLM state office and U.S. Department of Interior went unanswered.

Please comment here.

Elko Daily News article: http://elkodaily.com/news/shutdown-leaves-horses-without-water/article_bbf23580-31f3-11e3-aa90-0019bb2963f4.html

October 1st Protect Mustangs warned the feds would neglect the wild horses in captivity http://protectmustangs.org/?p=5280 . Apparently the BLM is neglecting their life or death care in the field as well.

NEWS Report: Government shutdown and concern of wild horses in holding

Posted on October 3, 2013 by Protect Mustangs

KTVN Channel 2 – Reno Tahoe News Weather, Video –

October 1st Press Release: Government shutdown puts 50,000 captive wild horses at-risk of neglect http://protectmustangs.org/?p=5280

Press Release: Government shutdown puts 50,000 captive wild horses at-risk of neglect

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Protect Mustangs

Truck in the pens (© Anne Novak, All rights reserved)

For immediate release:

Government shutdown puts 50,000 captive wild horses at-risk of neglect

Conservation group call for moratorium on removals for scientific studies

RENO, NV. (October 1, 2013)–The government shutdown jeopardizes 50,000 American wild horses stockpiled in federally funded holding facilities. For example, today some mustangs are caught in limbo from the controversial Sheldon Wildlife Refuge roundup in Nevada orchestrated by the Forest Service. Protect Mustangs has been warning the Department of Interior and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) about the fiscally irresponsibility to remove close to 80% of the native wild horses and burros off the range in order to fast-track the New Energy Frontier at great ecological expense. The BLM’s claims of overpopulation have been debunked by The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report stating there is “no evidence” of overpopulation.

“The public is up in arms wanting to know who will feed and care for the wild horses and burros during the shutdown,” states Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs. “This is a perfect example of why wild horses and burros should be living on the range and why 80% of America’s wild horses and burros should not be kept in federally funded facilities. That said, we don’t endorse the use of fertility control without population studies first. We want good science to govern policy. Tobacco science and guesstimates got the feds and the American taxpayer in this mess in the first place.”

Today some wild horses are stuck in limbo at temporary holding. They were rounded up from the Sheldon Wildlife Refuge and haven’t been given to government contractors who receive $1,000.00 per horse to take them off the feds hands and adopt them out.

“We are concerned the wild horses are suffering in pens without care,” states Kerry Becklund, director of outreach for Protect Mustangs. “We want to have access to monitor captive wild horses to ensure their care. We have volunteers who will help at all the holding facilities as needed during the government shutdown. We’re here to help.”

Protect Mustangs is against the removal of native wild horses from public land especially from a wildlife sanctuary where they belong. Wild horses are not an invasive species nor are they “pests” as the EPA wrongly named them in order to pass a controversial “restricted use pesticide” known as Porcine zona pellucida (PZP) under the name ZonaStat-H, for use on wild horses and burros. PZP is an immunocontraception made from pigs ovaries and did not pass the FDA.

This year the NAS released a report on the Wild Horse and Burro Program wherein they stated there was “no evidence” of overpopulation. Despite the statement by the esteemed scientific Academy, the BLM continues to endorse myths of alleged overpopulation.

The BLM has pumped up their population guesstimates to justify federal spending increases to roundup and warehouse the majority of America’s wild horses and burros who are using less than 3% of public land.

“It’s the Emperor’s New Clothes,” reveals Novak. “Everyone is being fooled there is an overpopulation issue when in fact they are underpopulated on the range today. We are calling for an immediate moratorium on roundups and removals for scientific population studies.”

“With the gluttony of roundups and removals, wild horses reproduce at a higher rate than normal–to prevent extinction,” explains Novak. “We need scientific studies to establish what the normal reproduction rate is, under normal circumstances and discover scientific truths about wild horses and burros. Today there is no scientific proof of BLM’s alleged overpopulation to merit fertility control, roundups or removals.”

The Wild Horse and Burro Program costs have been rising rapidly, from $38.8 million in Fiscal Year 2007 to $74.9 million in Fiscal Year 2012. Now 59 percent of the funding ($43 million) goes to holding costs. Despite a troubled economy, the administration wants to remove additional native wild equids and requested an additional $4 million in the Fiscal Year 2013 budget.

When the wild equids live out on the range it costs virtually nothing to “keep” them on their native habitat. They help reduce the risks of wildfires and reverse desertification. That’s the beauty of native wildlife filling their niche in the ecosystem.

The New Energy Frontier push is the reason for massive roundups on public land since 2009-10, when the former Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, introduced his “Plan”.

In 1971 the Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act designated 339 herd areas on 53.8 million acres. Today only 179 herd areas remain on 31.6 million acres. The herd areas have been zeroed out for oil, gas, livestock and mining interests to capitalize on the land legally allocated to wild horses and burros for primary, but not exclusive, use.

In 1900 there were 2 million wild horses roaming in America. Today less than 17,000 estimated wild horses remain in all 10 western states combined. The BLM’s estimate, over 37,000, is grossly inflated to justify additional removals and hide the true threat of extinction facing America’s wild horses and burros.

“We want to find the win-win–to return all the wild horses and burros to their native range so they can balance out the environmental devastation caused by the New Energy Frontier,” states Novak. “There is a way for this to work out but first we need scientific studies to make sure it’s done right.”

Protect Mustangs is a San Francisco-based conservation group, with an international membership base, devoted to protecting native wild horses. Their mission is to educate the public about the indigenous wild horse, protect and research American wild horses on the range and help those who have lost their freedom.

# # #

Media Contacts:

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

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

Photos, video and interviews available upon request

Links of interest™:

Roundup footage & abuse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF49csCB9qM (Preview)

Wild Free Roaming Horse & Burro Act http://www.wildhorseandburro.blm.gov/92-195.htm

NEPA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Environmental_Policy_Act

Horse slaughter investigation https://soundcloud.com/cbs-radio-news/horse-slaughter-investigation

Washington Post: Independent panel: Wild horse roundups don’t work; use fertility drugs, let nature cull herdshttp://www.washingtonpost.com/national/energy-environment/independent-panel-to-recommend-changes-in-blm-wild-horse-program/2013/06/05/b65ba772-cdb3-11e2-8573-3baeea6a2647_story.html

Information on native wild horses: http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=562