More foals die at taxpayer funded roundup #StopWyRoundup

PM WY  s.noll : Foter : CC BY-NC-SA

Photo: s.noll : Foter : CC BY-NC-SA

The stress and terror of the BLM’s cruel helicopter roundup is taking it’s toll on very young wild horses. Take action against this atrocity and contact your elected officials to request an immediate moratorium to all roundups. These deaths are a red flag. Now 3 native wild horses have died. Get active before more wild horses die in BLM’s roundup.

BLM reports:

One helicopter gathered 23 mares, 29 studs and 12 colts at the Black Rock Trap in the Divide Basin Herd Management Area.

Animals gathered and removed: 64

Removal related animal deaths: 2

Cause: A three-and-a-half month old black filly was found dead in a short-term holding pen. A necropsy was performed but the cause of death is undetermined. Cause: A six-month-old brown colt collapsed in a horse trailer. The necropsy revealed that the colt had scar tissue and nodules on its lungs, indicating that it likely had pneumonia previously. Tissue has been sent for testing with results expected in several weeks.

Protect Mustangs’ investigation creates furor, advocacy group requests #Shade4Mustangs

Video Investigation reveals wild horses are dying in the heat wave!

As a result of public outcry, the Bureau of Land Management is holding a public workshop at the Reno City Council Chamber in Reno, Nev., on Aug. 6 from 5:30 to 9:00 p.m.

Tune in to participate via Webinar if you cannot attend in person. Registration information is here:  http://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/412191850

Links of Interest:

July 20, 2013 CBS San Francisco BLM seeks ways to protect wild horses from heat after pressure from Bay Area advocate http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2013/07/20/blm-seeks-to-protect-wild-horses-from-heat-after-pressure-from-bay-area-advocate/

July 20, 2013 Kansas City Star by Martin Griffith, The Associated Press BLM seeks ideas to protect wild horses from heat http://www.kansascity.com/2013/07/20/4357157/blm-seeks-ideas-on-how-to-protect.html

BLM’s wild horse and burro program looks to community for ideas at workshop: http://thisisreno.com/2013/07/blms-wild-horse-and-burro-program-looks-to-community-for-ideas-at-workshop/

Captive wild horses need relief from heat says HSUS http://horsetalk.co.nz/2013/07/18/captive-wild-horses-need-relief-heat-says-hsus/#axzz2ZcyetMGy

Captive wild horses need shade, advocates say http://horsetalk.co.nz/2013/07/02/captive-wild-horses-need-shade-advocates-say/#axzz2ZcyetMGy

How many foals are dying after roundups?: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=4246

BLM’s email revealing they are not counting the unbranded dead amongst the 37 dead mustangs at the Nevada facility http://protectmustangs.org/?p=4220

NPR: Fertility drug, nature, better than horse roundups  http://newsle.com/article/0/78084688/

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

Wild-horse advocates: Rallies held in 50 states to drum up opposition to roundups, slaughter http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/80561cc4e8a64b43ae909f7d09a0473e/NV–Wild-Horses-Rallies

Animals Angels investigative report: http://www.animalsangels.org/the-issues/horse-slaughter/foia-requests/497-blm-nevada-mortality-records-a-nevada-rendering-animals-angels-foia-request-reveals-discrepancies.html

Palomino Valley Center: http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/prog/wh_b/palomino_valley_national.html

Protect Mustangs’ press releases: http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=12

Protect Mustangs in the news: http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=218

NOTES:

4 horses died during the last heat wave but only 3 deaths (A,C,D) could be related to the heat wave. (see email from BLM below). Strangles is a respiratory illness (Equine Distemper). Horses with repiratory illness have a higher chance of death when enduring a heat wave, because they are already having difficulty breathing and the heat aggrivates that.

BLM’s Debbie Collins responds to Anne Novak’s email:

 

So, I am listing a response to the specific questions you submitted to Jeb below:1.  How many unbranded foals, etc. have died from June 27 to July? Jeb has already provided you a response to this, but at this time no records are kept on unbranded animals that die.3.  For the listed time period, what were the dates of any deaths, how old were the horses and what were their id #s?A. #12620475 – 1yr old Female – Died 6/28/13 from stranglesB. #06619316 – 7yr old Gelding – Died 6/28/13 from Neck/Head injuryC. #10617585 – 3yr old Female – Died 6/30/13 from Unknown*D. #12619358 – 1yr old Female – Died 7/2/13 from Unknown*

 

* PVC’s Vet and staff reported no signs of heat-related symptoms prior to the deaths of #10617585 & #12619358. In addition,  these animals had a continuous supply of water, quality hay, and sprinklers present; therefore, there was no life or death issue present. It is not always possible to make a determination of the cause of death. But, if the BLM has any future deaths at PVC that are not associated with a particular illness or injury, a necropsy will be performed.  

Getting the facts from the BLM

Despite some hurdles, here are the facts on the wild horses who died at Palomino Valley Center during the heat wave from June 27 to July 8th

——– Original Message ——–

Subject: Re: Mortality inquiry since heat wave] – Response to your

request

From: “Collins, Deborah” <@blm.gov>

Date: Wed, July 17, 2013 2:31 pm

To: <@protectmustangs.org>

Dear Anne.

Ok, I contacted our FOIA/Records Administrator and discussed your specific request and this is what was confirmed.  Jeb and I misunderstood an earlier conversation with her about this particular type of request. If available, we can provide you a response to the specific questions below because it does involve a long period of time to research the answers.  However, if you seek any kind of official records/reports that support the answers, you will have to submit a FOIA because you are then getting into Category 2 Records and FOIA issues. Please visit: http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/res/FOIA/records_access.html

So, I am listing a response to the specific questions you submitted to Jeb below:

1.  How many unbranded foals, etc. have died from June 27 to July?

Jeb has already provided you a response to this, but at this time no records are kept on unbranded animals that die.

3.  For the listed time period, what were the dates of any deaths, how old were the horses and what were their id #s?

A. #12620475 – 1yr old Female – Died 6/28/13 from strangles

B. #06619316 – 7yr old Gelding – Died 6/28/13 from Neck/Head injury

C. #10617585 – 3yr old Female – Died 6/30/13 from Unknown*

D. #12619358 – 1yr old Female – Died 7/2/13 from Unknown*

* PVC’s Vet and staff reported no signs of heat-related symptoms prior to the deaths of #10617585 & #12619358. In addition,  these animals had a continuous supply of water, quality hay, and sprinklers present; therefore, there was no life or death issue present. It is not always possible to make a determination of the cause of death. But, if the BLM has any future deaths at PVC that are not associated with a particular illness or injury, a necropsy will be performed.

 

Debbie Collins

BLM National Wild Horse & Burro Program

Marketing and National Information Center

 

 

On Wed, Jul 17, 2013 at 8:22 AM, <@protectmustangs.org> wrote:

Dear Ms Collins,

1.) Can you please explain using citations what are the procedures are for responding to basic inquiries in hopes this will foster transparency?

2.) Are these procedures for advocates, advocate groups and members of the public?

3.) What about journalists? Are they going to be subjected to the same procedures?

 

You stated,

“Due to the federal records procedures, we are unable to give you more specific information when you submit multiple e-mails with varying questions.”

 

4.) Where can the public read about the “federal records procedures”?

5.) This “procedure” appears to create a serious lack of transparency in government. Why is the BLM/DOI choosing to shut down communicaiton with advocates and members of the public?

6.) Who can change the procedures to ensure transparency?

7.) Why can’t a BLM facility manager inform the public easily and without drama answers to simple questions like, “How many are dead who have not been branded and officially counted?”

8.) Does the statement you made on procedure mean the Department of Interior / BLM wants to limit the number of emails from concerned Americans?

9.) How long would the turn around be for a request like the one you suggested  below?

 

Can the BLM provide me with a record containing the following information:

1.  How many wild horses have died at Palomino Valley center since June 27, 2013 ?

2.  How many unbranded foals, etc. have died from June 27 to July?

3.  What were the dates of any deaths for the listed time period?

4.  How old were the horses and what were their id #s?

 

10.) Also how may I get a copy of the entire wild horse and burro 2013 advisory board meeting?

Thank you for your kind assistance.

Sincerely,

Anne Novak

 

Anne Novak

Executive Director

Protect Mustangs

San Francisco Bay Area

 

As seen on the news and in print

Read about native wild horses: http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=562 

 

Protect Mustangs on Facebook

Protect Mustangs on Twitter

Protect Mustangs on YouTube

Protect Mustangs in the News

Donate to help Protect Mustangs

www.ProtectMustangs.org

Protect Mustangs is devoted to protecting native wild horses. Our 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.

——– Original Message ——–

Subject: RE: Mortality inquiry since heat wave]

From: “Collins, Deborah” <@blm.gov>

Date: Tue, July 16, 2013 1:44 pm

To: <@protectmustangs.org>

Dear Anne,

We’ve all recently attended the annual federal records training and consulted our FOIA staff; therefore, we are now aware of a more productive process for you to request your information.  Due to the federal records procedures, we are unable to give you more specific information when you submit multiple e-mails with varying questions.

If your request comes in the form of a request for a record, it should reduce your need for submitting multiple e-mails. This format should also help reduce  our response time to you and possibly reduce the number of FOIA’s you have to request.

So, please resubmit your request in the following format:

Can the BLM provide me with a record containing the following information:

1.  How many wild horses have died at Palomino Valley center since June 27, 2013 ?

2.  How many unbranded foals, etc. have died from June 27 to July?

3.  What were the dates of any deaths for the listed time period?

4.  How old were the horses and what were their id #s?

Also, please send your future requests directly to me or wildhorse@blm.gov.  Heather Emmons will be unavailable after the next couple of weeks and Jeb’s primary responsibility is providing care to the animals. Therefore, our Division Chief would prefer to ensure all requests come to me or wildhorse@blm.gov.

Thank you and I’ll be watching for your official record request. Thank you.

 

Debbie Collins

BLM National Wild Horse & Burro Program

Marketing and National Information Center

 

 

 

On Mon, Jul 15, 2013 at 2:43 PM, Beck, James (Jeb) <@blm.gov> wrote:

———- Forwarded message ———-

From: <@protectmustangs.org>

Date: Mon, Jul 15, 2013 at 12:42 PM

Subject: [FWD: RE: Mortality inquiry since heat wave]

To: “Beck, James (Jeb)” <@blm.gov>

Dear Jeb,

Please respond ASAP with the information requested below and especially the id numbers for the dead horses. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Anne Novak

——– Original Message ——–

Subject: RE: Mortality inquiry since heat wave

From: <@protectmustangs.org>

Date: Mon, July 08, 2013 1:18 pm

To: “Beck, James (Jeb)” <@blm.gov>

 

Dear Jeb,

What were the dates of the deaths you mentioned? How old were the horses and what were their id #s?

How many unbranded foals, etc. have died from June 27 to July?

Thank you for your assistance.

 

Sincerely,

Anne Novak

 

 

Anne Novak

Executive Director

Protect Mustangs

San Francisco Bay Area

 

 

As seen on the news and in print

Read about native wild horses: http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=562 

Protect Mustangs on Facebook

Protect Mustangs on Twitter

Protect Mustangs on YouTube

Protect Mustangs in the News

Donate to help Protect Mustangs

www.ProtectMustangs.org

Protect Mustangs is devoted to protecting native wild horses. Our 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.

Corruption of the 1971 W.H. & B. Act of must end

 

Cross-posted from http://prophoto7journal.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/corruption-of-the-w-h-b-act-of-1971-needs-to-end/

by Photographer and Journalist

john_babe_pond_sideWild Horse and Burro Act of 1971, and the corruption within, is discussed here.  Indeed a noble Congressional situation and passed unanimously at the time.  The spirit was a good-faith gesture, by Law, toward America’s Wild Horse Herds — But something happened, something terrible happened, and it involved corruption from the top down, and terms of “Acceptable Abuse” which changed everything:

Congressional findings and declaration of policy, and states clearly:

“Congress finds and declares that wild free-roaming horses and burros are living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West; that they contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people; and that these horses and burros are fast disappearing from the American scene. It is the policy of Congress that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death; and to accomplish this they are to be considered in the area where presently found, as an integral part of the natural system of the public lands.”

The Breaking Down of the Wild Horse and Burro Act of 1971

The initial “blast” of ingenuity and a caring spirit exists in the very opening of the W.H. & B. Act of 971.  From then onward reality, the harsh mistress, enters into the realm of managing America’s Wild Horse Herds.  This actual spirit of well written “Congressional Declaration” becomes nothing more than deception.  Oddly, not by Congress, who had an honest concern toward America’s Wild Horse Herds, and correcting the blatant mistreatment of them within a protective context.  No, this comes down to the Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Land Management, and corruption combined with government dishonesty.

We have seen an absolute-reality take place, the disappearance over the years of the care and appropriate managing of America’s Wild Horse Herds.  The Reality:  Proper Management has been replaced with what is termed “Acceptable Abuse” which demonstrates beyond a doubt that the W.H.&B.P. Board of Consultants and the Bureau of Land Management are and always have been unqualified and corrupt; this is an absolute and quantitative reality directly related to their mismanagement or corrupt administration of America’s Wild Horse Herds.  The Federal court cases alone demonstrate beyond a doubt this is reality, and at heavy cost to taxpayers, yet ignored and replaced by misinformation and outright lies to the public, cloaked in some type of odd reasoning with hopes the public will accept it!  The Public has not!

The consultants on the board have a narrow margin of backgrounds.  Their history of demonstrating no knowledgeable context of proper management of horses, other than a livestock mentality, becomes quite obvious within their decisions.  This becomes significant, extremely devastating and on the road toward extinction of our wild horses, in their unqualified behavior to manage America’s Wild Horse Herds.

The absolute destruction of our Wild Horse Herds becomes more applicable, and fit to their purpose — all the while at a much higher cost to taxpayers.  The actual No-Roundup / No Abuse management paradigm, basically leaving the wild horses on America’s Public Lands with a manage-to-enhance and safe-guard them, in reality saves taxpayers $Billions of dollars!  But ignored, because in their minds it is only taxpayer money, and to hell with taxpayers!

This leads to erroneous and contemptible management by BLM; whereas, the W.H.& B. Act of 1971 becomes ignored to the point of being null and void.  This leads to another harsh reality, contentiousness rather than preservation; management driven by animosity rather than a standard set for the protection of a vulnerable specifies; and a total waste of taxpayer money, with no proper or legitimate explanation toward expenditure.  The W.H.&B. Act of 1971 simply becomes a deceptive-cloak to hide and obtain money, because in reality there exists no type of proper management or care of America’s Wild Horse Herds what so ever and in accord with the Act.

Vulnerable Species Leads to Extinction

We have learned many things over the years when it comes to extinction of our wildlife.  Apparently, these same learned attributes remain ignored by those same people, who claim to be our nation’s Stewarts of our PublicLands and America’s Wildlife.  Well documented lessons from the past, although ignored currently, still remain the key toward avoiding extinction of a species.

For example yes, there is a difference between a Wild Horse and a domesticated bred horse;  Yes, there is a difference between the many species of wolves, and the domestic dogs of the world; It is this simple to understand.

1.  Slow moving animals are no competition to man-made devises such as helicopters used in the wild horse herd roundups — i.e. no legitimate reasons are ever given to conform to the W.H. & B. Act of 1971 for legitimate roundups — the W.H. & B. Act is ignored in total;

2.  Large animals are vulnerable to over-hunting as well as to government agencies convoluted lies and misinformation, which it has been shown in history, many times, leading to species extinction of many animals;

3.  Altruism, or specifies that have come close to civilization, bonds established in regard to images or friendships, etc., have become detrimental to many species throughout history — i.e. wild horses, wolves, buffalo, Steller’s Sea Cow, the Passenger Pigeon, etc;

4.  Vulnerability due to restricted habitat has been a major cause of wild life extinction throughout history, and is well documented — a lesson here to be not only learned but placed into management paradigms, especially when managing wild horses or wolves;

5.  A related, and certainly obvious situation within this context, is the “Over-Specialization of Habitat”  — and within this discussion cattle and the lies perpetrated by government agencies such as the BLM to enhance our Public Lands with cattle, oil, energy, mining, and other corporate circumstances, etc. . . and to hell with America’s natural ecological habitats and wildlife.

With this categorical explanation, which is well documented and referenced quite well, yet ignored, remains troublesome to the majority of Americans.  The real-truth is any species that suffers from several of these factors can be quickly eliminated.

Conclusively

The fact is that ecological systems are vulnerable to many environmental situations.  Our civilization intruding upon any of these systems becomes detrimental to the over all balance of many other ecological systems.  Our civilization has a history of taking-over lands that once belonged to wildlife and vegetation, and those same elements of nature are now extinct, sadly!

Public Lands and Range Mangers do have access to wildlife that is beneficial to America’s Ecological systems.  It can be attributable to a “language of protection” toward our environment (which includes Wild Horse Herds), if they are qualified to observe these situations.  Most of them are not qualified, so good management is currently non-existent!

Listening and observing what our natural environment has to tell us is of significance, always.  A point of discussion currently that is picking up momentum within the environmental community is the fact of how we identify the difference between a technical report generated by a political agenda — compared to a technical report that positively approaches resolution toward solving a serious environmental or wildlife issue of concern.

Yes, we can use the wild horse herds to let us know of ecological viability within many ecological systems, simply by their presence and health.  Ironically, to many environmentalists, to include terrestrial and wildlife research biologists, government agencies and their consultants ignore this situation.

This is due to government employees lack of qualifications to manage our Public Lands; due to lack of ingenuity and competence to tell the truth; and, due to our present government employees lack of ethics and responsibility in safe-guarding taxpayer money.

When we have proper information, and the public needs this information to rationally confront our government presently, we have the tools to enhance and better America’s over all environment.  If we ignore any of the historical facts, then combine them with arrogant management decisions, we will lose not only wildlife but significant and life giving habitat that keeps us all alive.  Ultimately, the fact is we need better representation and the reality of more and better qualified people to manage our wildlife and environmental situations of this world.

The Wild Horse and Burro Act of 1971 exemplifies this situation to the thousandth degree, and America’s Wild Horse Herds are paying the price — government agency’s bad behavior and bad decision making — when compared to actually following the very premise of what the Act outlines — and the ever present historical value of managing not only a diverse realm of ecological systems, but our wildlife as well.

____________________________

The Wild Horse and Burro Act of 1971 Explained.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_and_Free-Roaming_Horses_and_Burros_Act_of_1971

Burea of Land Management version of the W.H.&B. Act of 1971http://www.wildhorseandburro.blm.gov/92-195.htm

The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 (without BLM reference and perspective)http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Wild+FreeRoaming+Horses+and+Burros+Act+of+1971.-a0141802026

Dry saline land: an investigation using ground-based geophysics, soil survey and spatial methods near Jamestown, South Australia. By R.W. Fitzpatrick, M. Thomas, P.J. Davies and B.G. Williams

Literature Review of Factors Influencing Public Perceptions of Water Reuse. By Murni Po, Juliane D. Kaercher and Blair E. Nancarrow – NOTE: This report has been updated in 2004 – click here for the updated version.

Development of a strategy for monitoring Australia’s natural resources: a discussion paper. By Mac Kirby, Neil McKenzie and Myriam Bormans

Quantifying and managing sources of sediments and nutrients in low-lying canelands. By Christian H. Roth, Fleur Visser, Robert Wasson, John Reghenzani and Ian Prosser

Use of APSIM to simulate water balances of dryland farming systems in south eastern Australia. By K. Verburg and W.J. Bond

Salt Transport in the Bremer Hills, SA. Interpretation of Spatial Datasets for Salt Distribution. Fourth report for NAP South Australian Salt Mapping and Management. Chris Smitt, Jim Cox and Phil Davies

Modelling catchment-scale nutrient generation. By Lachlan T.H. Newham and John J. Drewry

The Floodplain Risk Methodology (FRM): A suite of tools to rapidly assess at the regional scale the impacts of groundwater inflows and benefits of improved inundation on the floodplains of the lower River Murray. By Kate Holland, Ian Jolly, Ian Overton, Matt Miles, Linda Vears and Glen Walker

Ecological Risk Assessment for the Wetlands of the Lower Burdekin. By Bart M. Kellett, Terry Walshe and Keith L. Bristow

Ivanhoe Plain Aquifer Pumping Trial July 2003 – April 2005: Stage 1 OrdRiver Irrigation Area, Kununurra, Western Australia. By Anthony J. Smith, Duncan Palmer, Daniel W. Pollock and Ramsis B. Salama

Modelling periphyton biomass, photosynthesis and respiration in streams. By J. J. Christopher Rutherford and Susan M. Cuddy

Effects of salinity on stream ecosystems: improving models for macroinvertebrates. By J. Christopher Rutherford and Ben J. Kefford

A conceptual model of particulate trapping in riparian buffers. By Lachlan Newham, Kit Rutherford, and Barry Croke

Preliminary Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points Plan (HACCP) – Salisbury Stormwater to Drinking Water Aquifer Storage Transfer and Recovery (ASTR) Project. By Swierc, J., Page, D., Van Leeuwen, J. and Dillon, P.

A Bilingual User’s Guide for the Decision Support Tool for Managing Re-Vegetation and its Impact on Hydrology (ReVegIH) in the Coarse Sandy Hilly Catchments of the Loess Plateau, China.  By Li, L.T., McVicar, T.R., Van Niel, T.G. Zhang, L., Li, R., Yang, Q.K., Zhang, X.P., Mu, X.M., Wen, Z.M., Liu, W.Z., Zhao, Y.A. and Liu, Z.H.

Mapping Perennial Vegetation Suitability and Identifying Priority Areas for Implementing the Re-Vegetation Program in the Coarse SandyHilly Catchments of the Loess Plateau, China. By Tim R. McVicar, ZhongMing Wen, Tom G. Van Niel, LingTao Li, QinKe Yang, Rui Li and Feng Jiao

Managing Change: Australian structural adjustment lessons for water. By J.C. McColl and M.D. Young

Estimates of average hydraulic drivers for sediment and nutrient fluxes in the GBR catchments from SedNet. By F.J. Cook and A. Henderson

Idealised analogue for predicting groundwater response times from sloping aquifers. By Glen R. Walker, Mat Gilfedder, and Warrick R. Dawes

Understanding spatial patterns of discharge in semi-arid regions using a recharge-discharge balance to determine vegetation health. By Rebecca Doble, Glen Walker and Craig Simmons

Modelling the fate of molinate in rice paddies of South Eastern Australia using RICEWQ. By Evan W.Christen, Wendy C. Quayle, Sang-Ok Chung and Ki Jung Park

Pesticide use in the 6th Creek sub-catchment, Mt. Lofty Ranges, S.A. and assessment of risk of off-site movement using Pesticide Impact Rating Index (PIRI). By Danni Oliver and Rai Kookana

Pesticide use in the Ord River Irrigation Area, Western Australia, and Risk Assessment of Off-site Impact using Pesticide Impact Rating Index (PIRI). By Danni Oliver and Rai Kookana

An Automated Remote Digital Image Collection System. By Aaron Hawdon and Rex Keen

Spatially Distributing 21 Years of Monthly Hydrometeorological Data in China: Spatio-Temporal Analysis of FAO-56 Crop Reference Evapotranspiration and Pan Evaporation in the Context of Climate Change. By Tim R. McVicar, LingTao Li, Tom G. Van Niel, Michael F. Hutchinson, XingMin Mu and ZhiHong Liu