Land Grab Roundup will Wipe Out Nevada’s Wild Horses to Make Way for Mining and Liquid Natural Gas Fracking

BLM plans on conducting a wild horse roundup in eastern Nevada
ELY, Nev. – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will begin a wild horse roundup near Ely, Nevada on or about July 8, 2019. The purpose of this roundup is to use taxpayer dollars to appease Cattlemen as well as the mining and Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) fracking industry, etc. There is no evidence of overpopulation it’s just a big fat greedy lie.

Wild horses torn from their family bands and homes on public land, will be made available for adoption or sale as a means of “disposal” through the BLM’s Adoption and Sale Program. In the past, the BLM has sold thousands of wild horses to alleged kill buyers such as their buddy who purchased at least 1,700 native wild horses to “use in the Mexican film industry.”

The BLM is claiming the population of wild horses in the proposed roundup area, known as the Triple B Complex, was estimated at 3,381 as of March 1, 2019 – more than ten times above the target population of 474-889 wild horses. Advocates who crunch numbers such as Marybeth Devlin find this impossible because wild horses don’t have litters.

After years of land degradation from overgrazing cattle and most especially sheep, the BLM and their P.R. division spin lies and fake news once again. They claim, “… By balancing herd size with what the land can support, the BLM aims to protect habitat for other wildlife species such as sage grouse, pronghorn antelope, mule deer, and elk. Removing excess animals would also enable significant progress toward achieving the Standards for Rangeland Health identified by the Northeastern Great Basin Resource Advisory Council (NGBRAC).” Know that the NGBRAC is made up of opportunists who want to cash in on the land, water, resources or government funding for the wild horse “problem”.

Of course, former Secretary of Interior, Ryan Zinke, has joined the board of U.S. Gold Corp., who is involved with mining and exploration of liquid natural gas, etc. Even the Elko Daily reports:

“The rapid transition from the highest levels of the executive branch to the corporate boardroom is raising questions about possible conflicts of interest.

It comes fewer than four months after Zinke left a cabinet position overseeing the country’s oil and gas, coal and other natural resources and those companies that profit off their extraction.”

Read more about Zinke’s alleged conflicts of interest here: https://elkodaily.com/mining/zinke-joins-board-of-elko-based-u-s-gold-corp/article_83ccde9d-edf5-5bde-a9c2-265d69c58a76.html

Keep in mind that Zinke, while in office, allegedly made deals to remove America’s wild horses from public land–to free it up for mining, fracking, water grabs, etc. Just #FollowTheMoney because now it’s so obvious as the public watches it play out.

Now here’s the funny part–the BLM has not proved to the American public or elected officials that there are “excess” wild horses on 1,682,998 acres of public land in what’s known as the Triple B Complex near Ely and Elko. After allegedly being seduced by big dollars, Zinke said there were too many wild horses while in office and therefore it supposedly is so.

Who suffers as a result of all this greed? The innocent wild horses do of course.

Roundups are cruel, period. Injuries and deaths are commonplace. Native wild horses suffer Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after being chased by helicopters, stampeded into traps, then ripped from their families and their native land. Because the BLM views American wild horses are soul-less animals and pests, they don’t care and they lie to claim they do. The BLM strives to hide the cruelty from the public to avoid outrage that travels like wildfire–thanks to the social media.

The Triple B Complex is located in the BLM’s Elko and Ely districts on public lands administered by the Wells and Bristlecone field offices. The roundup may also take place in areas outside the Complex where wild horses have moved in search of food and water after being fenced out of their rightful access to food and water on public land. The BLM claims they will leave 2,581 wild horses in the Complex once the roundup is completed. The truth is the BLM inflates the population estimate to justify removing a high percentage in order to wipe out the majority of wild horses in the resource-rich Complex. The roundup is expected to last approximately 20-25 days at huge expense to the American taxpayer. Are you aware of how much money roundup contractors rake in?

The BLM states that members of the public are welcome to view the daily roundup operations, provided that it does not jeopardize the safety of the animals, staff or observers and that it does not disrupt gather operations. The BLM will escort the public to gather observation sites located on public lands. The BLM anticipates that viewing opportunities will begin on or about July 9, 2019, weather and logistics permitting. Those wanting to view roundup operations are asked to notify Public Affairs Specialist Chris Hanefeld at (775) 289-1800 prior to the desired viewing date to be added to the attendee list and to receive specific instructions on meeting locations and times.

Some high-tech behind the scenes horse advocates, who aren’t asking for donations, believe the BLM’s contractor “pre-gathers” and therefore stampedes wild horses much further than they would let the public know. Of course, the BLM and everyone in on the roundup game won’t tell you the truth.

The BLM is conducting the roundup under the DOI-BLM-NV-E030-2017-0010-EA Antelope and Triple B Complexes Gather Plan Environmental Assessment decision signed on December 21, 2017, when Ryan Zinke was the Secretary of Interior overseeing the BLM. Access the Decision Record and determination of the National Environmental Policy Act adequacy at https://go.usa.gov/xyYxj.

Once the roundup is underway, the BLM will post roundup reports and wild horse death reports as well as additional information on its website at https://go.usa.gov/xy2R7. For technical information, contact Wild Horse and Burro Specialist Ben Noyes at (775) 289-1836 or bnoyes@blm.gov.

Outrage over winter roundup likely to cause deaths

Feds to conduct cruel and costly wild horse helicopter stampede

ELY, Nev. – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is planning a helicopter roundup stampeding native wild horses for miles over harsh icy terrain into traps on or about January 23 despite no concrete evidence of wild horse overpopulation in the Triple B Complex.

The Eastern Nevada complex near Ely and Elko is made up of the Triple B HMA, Maverick-Medicine HMA, and Cherry Springs Wild Horse Territory (USFS). Together these three legal wild horse areas contain 1,682,998 acres.

Instead of protecting or preserving America’s indigenous wild horses using holistic land management methods, the feds intend to chase our icons of freedom with helicopters for miles to round them up, break up their families, probably killing some.

Please sign and share the Petition to Defund the Roundups: https://www.change.org/p/defund-and-stop-the-wild-horse-burro-roundups Members of Congress are watching this petition. If one million people sign the petition then together we will stop the roundups.

The BLM’s roundup for “population control” plans on permanently removing at least 1,000 native wild horses, forcibly drugging approximately 250 indigenous mares with dangerous population control Pesticide PZP-22. Then the feds plan to release those drugged wild mares back into the gigantic Eastern Nevada complex–along with about 250 stallions. At least 1000 native wild horses will lose their homes despite returning some.

Right now all the wild horses in federally funded holding facilities are at risk of being shot or sold to slaughter because of poor management choices, overpopulation, lies and nasty politics.

As if that’s not bad enough, the BLM is planning on adding 1000 more wild horses to their broken captivity system with expensive holding facilities and an adoption program with rotten customer service.

It’s essential for Congress to know exactly how many wild horses and burros are living in the wild and in captivity. We have a petition you can sign and share that demands a head count and an investigation into the BLM’s sketchy program: https://www.change.org/p/u-s-senate-investigate-the-wild-horse-burro-count-in-captivity-and-freedom . Please send your elected officials the petition and take it with you to meetings to be a voice for the voiceless.

(Sadly the only paid lobbyists seem to be pushing Pesticide PZP so elected officials are getting the wrong education.)

Congress should insist the BLM take wild horses out of costly holding facilities to repatriate them into the wild in friendly areas, where neighbors appreciate them, and onto legal but empty Herd Areas to help prevent catastrophic wildfires and heal the land. The BLM must not put more native wild horses in costly holding facilities.

The Bureau of Land Management and the Department of Interior want to find ways to dispose of our national treasures so they can control and make billions of dollars off the public’s land.

Helicopter contractors, earning millions from roundups, will be paid to stampede native wild horses for miles and miles over snow, ice, and dangerous rocky terrain. Stampeding wild horses is cruel, unnatural and terrifying.

Then the wild horses will be shoved, sweating, into trap corrals with a fog of steam emanating from their wet, stressed bodies in freezing temperatures . . . The wild ones’ muscles can seize up after the terrifying stampede causing severe pain, and the wild horses’ upper respiratory systems will suffer.

The expensive helicopter roundup–which is expected to last approximately a month in freezing temperatures–will put native wild horses at risk of upper respiratory diseases such as strangles and equine pneumonia. Some may die.

These deaths won’t be counted as “roundup related” because the wild horses will die painful deaths while suffering in holding facilities. Dead bodies of native wild horses will be scooped up by BLM tractors before public watchdogs can notice.

The Triple B roundup is being conducted by the BLM Ely District Office which is conflicted with extreme energy industry and mining bias. The Bureau gets a kickback from what is extracted on BLM land–whether it’s gold, copper, lithium, oil, natural gas or other resources. The BLM has boasted that they made more than 4 billion dollars last year. Most of that is from the extractive industry polluting the environment on public land. The agency only cares about money.

Less than 2,700 wild horses will remain in the vast Triple B Complex if this cruel roundup starts and it isn’t stopped in the courts.

In 2010, when the BLM managers were shipping wild horses to slaughter through middleman Tom Davis, the vast Herd Management Areas had many more wild horses living in freedom. The Bureau then decided it could lower the allowed numbers through a sleight of hand, by joining all the HMAs into a “complex.” No one challenged the formation of complexes in court, so the BLM went ahead with their plan to reduce the number of wild horses allowed in the area.

The Triple B Complex is made up of 1,682,998 acres. To leave only 2,766 wild horses on that vast amount of acreage translates to 608 acres per wild horse. With 200 acres per wild horse 8,414 wild horses could live on the huge landscape and with 100 acres per wild horse 16,829 wild horses could stay living wild and free at virtually no cost to the American taxpayer.

The public should know how much privately owned domestic livestock, cattle, and sheep would be allowed to graze in the Triple B Complex after native wild horses are rounded up.

Through control of gathering data, BLM scapegoats native wild horses for livestock damage made by one million head of domestic cattle and sheep on public land.

Public Relations campaigns funded through the BLM claim that the purpose of the roundup is to prevent degradation of public lands by an “excess” of wild horses, and to restore a “thriving natural ecological balance” and create “multiple-use relationship’ on public lands, consistent with the provisions of Section 1333(b) of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act (WFRHBA)

Yet the BLM has never proved that there are any “excess” wild horses. The key word in the BLM’s PR phrase is “relationship”. Instead of working with local public land users to create healthy rangelands using wild horses as a resource for holistic land management, the BLM and the locals are ignoring possibilities to take land management out of the dark ages.

The reality is that the agency doesn’t think twice about the ecological damage associated with a helicopter roundup, stampeding wild horses for miles over the terrain and into trap corrals. The BLM ignores that trucks and trailers would be destroying the habitat and the amount of greenhouse gas polluting the environment as a result of a million dollar roundup.

Million dollar roundups fund the BLM’s mess of a Wild Horse Program. They need the “problem” to keep the flow of cash coming in from Congress. The reality is there is no overpopulation and no problem, only out of date land management.

The truth is, the current population for the Triple B Complex is unknown. The BLM’s guess is “approximately 3,842 wild horses” in the Triple B Complex consisting of 1,682,998 acres. As discussed above, more than 16,829 native wild horses could live in the Triple B complex with 100 acres per wild horse. That’s 12,987 more wild horses than the BLM claims are living there now!

The BLM’s management level for all the Herd Management Areas within the targeted Triple B Complex helicopter stampede is ridiculously low–at only 472 to 884 wild horses for 1,682,998 acres. The BLM must revise management levels and be honest about unfair grazing allocation to livestock and stop blaming native wild horses for livestock damage from years beforehand as well as today.

The BLM plans to roundup 1,500 wild horses and remove approximately 1,000 indigenous wild horses forever. The BLM will only release about 250 mares that they will forcibly drug with the dangerous population control pesticide PZP-22 to slow the population growth for 2 years despite the fact that the National Academy of Sciences found there is no evidence of overpopulation. PZP-22 is dangerous.

PZP wreaks havoc with the law of nature, the mustangs’ immune systems, hormones, social behaviors and sense of well-being–and ruins federally protected wild horses’ right to freedom from harassment, branding, and abuse.

All forms of the EPA Restricted Use Pesticide PZP will sterilize wild horses after multiple applications. Only 250 stallions will be returned to the range yet established families (harem bands) will be destroyed.

These wild captives will be subjected to the horrors of the BLM’s processing facilities where families are ripped apart, males are separated from females, and ID numbers are tattooed on their bodies. Some American wild horses will be cruelly abused in population control experiments, and they all will be at risk of death.

The lack of compassion and violation of the federal law protecting wild horses from abuse and harassment opens the BLM up to costly lawsuits and continued waste of tax dollars. It’s time to look at this whole situation differently and come up with holistic management that works!

For the Wild Ones,
Anne Novak

Executive Director
Protect Mustangs
Contact@ProtectMustangs.org

Protect Mustangs is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of native and wild horses. www.ProtectMustangs.org



Note: The roundup is being conducted under the DOI-BLM-NV-E030-2017-0010-EA Antelope and Triple B Complexes Gather Plan Environmental Assessment decision signed on December 21, 2017. The decision record and determination of National Environmental Policy Act adequacy can be accessed at the national NEPA register at www.goo.gl/HQJ73h.

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BLM Hauls Water to Wild Horses in Eastern Nevada

pm-sue-borba-photo-moody-springs-sept-8-2016

Photo by Sue Borba from Facebook

ELY, Nevada – The Bureau of Land Management (BoLM) Ely District is hauling water to wild horses in the Big Sand Spring Valley portion of the Pancake Herd Management Area (HMA), about 60 miles west of Ely, Nev., to supplement spring sources impacted by a drop in the water table from drought, mining and other uses.

According to the BoLM, the District has since Aug. 30, been hauling water to Martilletti Spring, which is estimated to be flowing at a rate of a half-gallon per minute, insufficient to meet the demands of the 75-plus wild horses that depend upon the water.  After receiving a phone call on September 8th from a member of the public reporting three deceased wild horses, the District immediately began hauling water to nearby Moody Spring. Because of the drop in the water table, the spring is flowing at a rate of about one gallon per minute, insufficient to meet the needs of the estimated 200-plus wild horses gathering to drink.

The BoLM claims they continually monitor drought conditions, district wide.  As late as July, water sources in the area were keeping up with usage, in part due to precipitation received in May and June.  Those sources have since dried up, resulting in additional wild horses seeking water at the few remaining springs.

The federal agency in charge of protecting America’s wild horses does not have accurate head counts and estimates there are 1,800-plus wild horses in the Pancake HMA, about 1,000 of them in Big Sand Spring Valley.

Unverified reports have come in that the BoLM is dumping water in a dry pond creating a deplorable mud pond and not providing troughs for fresh water.

Protect Mustangs is a 501c3 nonprofit organization who protects and preserves native and wild horses.




Nellie Diamond (#0484) has 3-Strikes and BoLM is offering her for Sale

It’s not her fault she wasn’t picked! Help Nellie Diamond (#0484) find a safe home.

PM 3-Strike Nellie Diamond 10620484 for Sale

Nellie Diamond (#0484) is on the Internet Adoption and offered for sale $25. She seems to have been deeply hurt by losing her home and her herd after the Bureau of Land Management (BoLM) roundup 3 years ago. No one is taking the time to see beyond her loneliness. Nellie Diamond might do well with a sister mustang from her herd–the Diamonds out of Nevada. Once she is treated with love, patience and respect Nellie will shine like a Diamond too.

Here is the online application: https://www.blm.gov/adoptahorse/howtoadopt.php

Nellie can be shipped out to any of the locations listed below for free and then you need to transport her home from there.

BoLM says:

Sex: Mare Age: 6 Years   Height (in hands): 13.3

Necktag #: 0484   Date Captured: 02/03/13

Freezemark: 10620484   Signalment Key: HF1AAAAAG

Color: Gray   Captured: Diamond (NV)

Notes:

Tag-#0484. 6 year old gray mare rounded up from the Diamond Herd Management Area in Nevada in February of 2013.

This wild horse is currently located in Palomino Valley, NV.  For more information, please contact Jeb Beck at (775) 475-2222 or e-mail: j1beck@blm.gov

This wild horse is available for sale or adoption with bids staring at $25.00. At the conclusion of the bidding, the successful bidder will inform the BoLM if they are purchasing or adopting the animal. If the animal is purchased, not adopted, the successful bidder receives bill of sale to the animal upon completion of payment and final paperwork. If the animal is adopted, the minimum bid must be $125, and the animal is not eligible for title until the one year anniversary.

Pick up options (by appt): Palomino Valley, NV; Delta, UT; Elm Creek, NE; Pauls Valley, OK.

Other pick up options: Ewing, IL (September 3) ; Mequon, WI (September 16); Clemson, SC (September 23); Loxahatchee, FL (September 30); and Murray, KY (October 7).

Adoption confirmation for this wild horse must be finalized, by e-mail to BLM_ES_INET_Adoption@blm.gov, no later than Noon Mountain August 4. After this date, all unclaimed wild horses will be available for in-person walk up adoption/purchase ONLY.

Diamond Complex Herd Management Areas

The Complex involves three HMAs, and areas outside of HMAs: the Diamond HMA is managed by the Battle Mountain District, the Diamond Hills North HMA by the Elko District and the Diamond Hills South (and areas outside of HMA boundaries) by the Ely District. Because the wild horses move around the HMAs across the Diamond Mountain Range, the three Districts work together to manage the Complex, according to BoLM.

PM Diamond Helicopter Roundup

Protect Mustangs is an organization who protects and preserves native and wild horses.




Emergency roundup that’s been planned since 2014 starts Monday

Stop the Roundups!

More wild horses will be removed forever

ELY, Nevada – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Ely District is scheduled on Monday to begin a helicopter roundup to wipe out approximately 100 wild horses from public and private lands adjacent to U.S. Highway 93 and State Route 322 in and outside the Caliente Herd Areas Complex and Eagle Herd Management Area in eastern Nevada. This issue could be resolved with fencing but they would rather spend the taxpayers money for the next 20 years to warehouse wild horses or send them to slaughter after the American taxpayer has fattened them up with hay.

The District will remove up to 50 wild horses from between Pioche and Eagle Valley that have moved outside the Eagle HMA in search of forage during last years drought. Now that the area is getting enough precipitation the BLM could simply push them back onto the HMA to save the taxpayers money. The Arbitrary Management Level (AML) for the Eagle HMA is 100-210 wild horses. The current population is 1,370 wild horses.

The District will remove up to 50 wild horses from Oak Spring Summit west of Caliente that have moved outside the Caliente Complex in search of forage. Why is the Caliente Complex managed for zero wild horses? The current population is 796 wild horses.

The roundup is expected to take four to six days to complete. A veterinarian will be on site during roundup operations, which will be conducted by a contractor.

The native wild horses will be removed forever, transported to the Axtell Contract Off-Range Corrals in Axtell, Utah, where they will be offered for adoption to qualified individuals if the BLM’s customer service improves. Un-adopted wild horses will be at risk of being sold to slaughter middlemen after 3 strikes in BLM’s failed adoption system or placed in long-term pastures where they will be humanely cared for and treated, and retain their “wild” status and protection under the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act until they are over ten years old and then they legally can be sold by the truckload to a slaughterhouse in Canada or Mexico according to the Burn Amendment to dispose of wild horses and burros.
The BLM claims they do not sell or send any wild horses to slaughter. They sell them to the middlemen who then sell wild horses to slaughter. This way the BLM’s hands don’t get dirty.

The Eagle-Caliente Complex Emergency Gather is no emergency as it’s been planned to appease ranchers and county commissioners with greased palms since 2014. The impacts are described and analyzed in the Ely District Public Safety and Nuisance Gather Environmental Assessment available at http://1.usa.gov/23ws5je but almost no maps or data appears there. This is the bulk of the information

Have you wondered why no well funded group is challenging the roundup in court or mediating for alternative holistic management solutions? Is the BLM using fertility control or just removing all the wild horses?

Follow the money . . . Know what resources (renewable energy, tracking mining, etc.) are about to erupt in that area. Keep in mind this is the same BLM office and cast of shady characters who are involved in the Water Canyon GONACON™ EXPERIMENT.

The roundup Hotline has been established at 775-861-6700. A recorded message will provide updated roundup activities. Roundup reports will be posted on the BLM Ely District website at http://on.doi.gov/1lGnDYC.

Please go to the roundup if you can at your own risk, document and now that it’s 2016 be sure to report animal cruelty to the FBI if you see it. But be careful because this part of the country is run by wild horse hating scoundrels pretending to be otherwise.

For more information from a BLM employee, contact:

Ben Noyes, wild horse and burro specialist
BLM Ely District office
702 North Industrial Way
Ely, NV 89301
(775) 289-1800

Pm BLM Spin

 

www.ProtectMustangs.org
Protect Mustangs is a nonprofit organization who protects and preserves native and wild horses.




Official request to end GonaCon™ Experiment and others

The War on Wild Horses

The War on Wild Horses

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Official request to stop experiments on Water Canyon wild
horses and others
From: <X@protectmustangs.org>
Date: Thu, January 28, 2016 6:30 pm
To: nvsoweb@blm.gov, eyfoweb@blm.gov, “Tom Gorey” <TGorey@blm.gov>,
director@blm.gov, mtupper@blm.gov, bnoyes@blm.gov

Dear Sirs,

The public is outraged that the small Water Canyon herd is being harassed and ruined for an experiment with GonaCon™–paid for with tax dollars. American wild horses are an indigenous species aka “returned-native” as well as being a national treasure. The public loves them.

Protections given to America’s free roaming wild horses and burros–according to the law–must be enforced.

The federally protected Water Canyon herd was underpopulated–with less than 60 wild horses of various ages on the herd management area (HMA). The herd is located on the western side of the vast Antelope Complex in northeastern Nevada, north of Ely.

This herd is already threatened with low genetic viability because the population is so small. American wild horses are not overpopulated on public land and are not “pests”. They should never be experimented on with an EPA restricted-use pesticide, or anything else.

PZP, another EPA restricted-use pesticide, was originally proposed by Nevada RAC member Jeanne Nations for a Water Canyon Pilot Program.

Now, according to your website, Ms. Nations is the Project Coordinator (volunteer) of the GonaCon™ Experiment. How did her previous PZP proposal flip into the GonaCon™ Experiment? Was the public allowed to comment on the proposed GonaCon™ Experiment?

Protect Mustangs is against forcibly drugging wild mares with risky pesticides, used for birth control, such as GonaCon™ (sterilant) or PZP (made from slaughterhouse pig ovaries) because they eventually sterilize the mares, ruin natural selection, negatively effect the herd’s immune system, cause abnormal herd behavior, etc.

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) overpopulation claims are fraudulent and any action taken based on fraudulent information is wrongful. There are no “excess” wild horses on public land today. Read more about that here: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=8551 There are too many herd management areas that currently have no wild horses on them.

Commercial livestock often outnumbers wild horses on public land at more than 50 to 1. Native wild horses must no longer be the scapegoat for range damage.

53 Water Canyon wild horses were trapped last fall for this controversial experiment. Public observation was discouraged. 15 mares were harassed and forcibly drugged with GonaCon™. Then 15 mares along with 7 studs were returned to the Water Canyon federal herd management area (HMA).

Evidently one Water Canyon wild horse has already died during the experiment. Please provide information and photos/video documenting the Water Canyon wild horse who died as a result of this experiment. Have any other wild horses died since then? Will you be killing wild horses as part of the GonaCon Experiment?

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has broken up family bands, branded, harassed and permanently removed half of the small herd to forcibly drug and experiment on 15 wild mares with GonaCon™. The BLM has also harassed and endangered wild horses with radio collars who were returned to the range for the experiment. This is outrageous and all paid for with American tax dollars.

Ultimately the BLM plans on spending $11.5 million tax dollars on various experiments on wild horses over the next 5 years. The various experiments are listed here: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=8657

Adoption

The Water Canyon and other wild horses available for adoption are “wanted” but BLM’s adoption publicity, marketing and interface with the public is failing. If adoption rates are falling in the last decade it’s because BLM is removing more wild horses than they can adopt and doing a poor job at customer service with adopters. BLM’s failing adoption program does not justify experiments of any sort on wild horses and burros. Your adoption program needs an overhaul and the first thing you need to do is fix your rotten customer service.

Protect Mustangs and our members are very interested in the Water Canyon wild horses. We have visited the 11 orphans at the Palomino Valley Center (PVC), outside Reno, several times per week since December 18, 2015. Our members are shocked the weanlings and yearlings each have one strike against them after the failed trap-site adoption on December 5th.

We are is committed to ensuring the 11 Water Canyon orphans (#WC11) will not receive a 2nd or 3rd strike. The 3rd strike would strip away their federal protections according to the Burns Amendment of the Free Roaming Wild Horse & Burro Protection Act (1971). Legally this would allow the BLM to euthanize the youngsters or engage in unlimited sales to kill buyers for slaughter.

We have been regularly evaluating the youngsters, documenting their situation, publicizing the need for them to find good homes in pairs–to get them out of the pen at PVC with no shade or shelter while helping adopters navigate the BLM red tape and BLM’s slow adoption communications.

Did you realize the public wants to adopt the Water Canyon wild horses because they know about them now and like them? As of this writing, all but 2 orphans at PVC have been adopted.

According to an August 2015 BLM news release, “The BLM plans to remove 30-40 excess wild horses and offer them to the public for adoption through its Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Program.” Where are all the other Water Canyon wild horses who have been permanently removed from their home? How many have been adopted as of today?

Are the other Water Canyon pregnant mares, studs and colts at the Broken Arrow facility in Fallon, Nevada–which is closed to the public? If so we officially request you immediately open the facility for public observation and to promote adoption.

Members of Protect Mustangs would like to view the Water Canyon wild horses, take photographs and video of the wild horses to promote them for adoption. One of our videos had more than 24,000 views in a few days which sparked a huge interest in adopting the Water Canyon wild horses.

The American public wants to adopt and/or purchase the remaining Water Canyon wild horses removed from public land–including the pregnant mares. Those over 10 can be purchased outright through the BLM’s sale program.

The public is outraged the BLM is experimenting on America’s icons of freedom and symbols pioneering spirit of the West.

Protect Mustangs wants to ensure no other wild horses will be used for any kind of experimentation. America’s wild horses are naturally fertile for the species to survive through natural selection. Using federally protected wild horses as lab animals for population control experiments is cruel and unusual treatment and must stop now.

We officially request you cease the Water Canyon GonaCon™ Experiment and all the other experiments listed here http://protectmustangs.org/?p=8657 now.

Federally protected wild horses and burros are to be protected from harassment according to the law. You can read the Wild and Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_and_Free-Roaming_Horses_and_Burros_Act_of_1971

Sincerely,
Anne Novak

Anne Novak
Executive Director
Protect Mustangs
Tel./Text: 415.531.8454
X@ProtectMustangs.org

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheAnneNovak
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProtectMustangs
In the news: https://newsle.com/AnneNovak

www.ProtectMustangs.org
Protect Mustangs is a nonprofit organization who protects and preserves native and wild horses.




Background:
Water Canyon Wild Horse Growth Suppression Pilot Program

http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/ely_field_office/blm_programs/wild_horses_and_burros/Water_Canyon_Growth_Suppression_Pilot_Program.html

Public observation of gather, etc was discouraged:
http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/ely_field_office/blm_programs/wild_horses_and_burros/Water_Canyon_Growth_Suppression_Pilot_Program/publicviewing.html
12/16/15 Adopt a Water Canyon Foal Press Release
http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/info/newsroom/2015/december/ely__blm_offers_public.html

Release Date: 12/16/15
Contacts: Chris Hanefeld , 775-289-1842 , chanefel@blm.gov
News Release No. ELY 2016-006

BLM Offers Public Unique Opportunity to Adopt Water Canyon Wild Horses

ELY – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is offering the public the opportunity to adopt a foal gathered from the Water Canyon portion of the Antelope Herd Management Area in eastern Nevada. Nine weanlings and two yearlings are being held together at the National Wild Horse and Burro Center at Palomino Valley, north of Reno, Nev.
The horses are available for walk-up adoption from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturdays. All of the horses have received vaccinations and their bloodwork is completed. Brand inspections will be performed and health certificates issued on all adopted horses.
Pictures of the horses are available online on the BLM’s Flickr album “Water Canyon Foals Available for Adoption” at http://bit.ly/1N85QV1. Applications are available for download (.pdf) at http://on.doi.gov/1A0eAfw.
For more information, contact Jeremy Wilhelm, BLM public contact person, at (775) 475-2222.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM’s mission is to manage and conserve the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations under our mandate of multiple-use and sustained yield. In Fiscal Year 2014, the BLM generated $5.2 billion in receipts from public lands.
–BLM–

Ely District Office 702 North Industrial Way Ely, NV 89301

Water Canyon Wild Horse Growth Suppression Pilot Program: https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/projects/nepa/47287/57875/62666/Final_Water_Cyn_Preliminary_EA_508.pdf

USDA-Developed Vaccine for Wild Horses and Burros Gains EPA Registration (Feb 13, 2013): https://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/2013/02/pdf/horse_vaccine_approval.pdf

GonaCon™ the EPA restricted use pesticide information sheet: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/nwrc/registration/content/Speciman%20Labels/speciman%20label56228-41%20GonaCon%20Equine%2001-13.pdf

GonaCon™, PZP and SpayVac® have all previously been used in experiments and should not be used because America’s wild horses are underpopulated–especially the Water Canyon herd. Here is some scientific data. The experiments were called for based on an overpopulation myth: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/nwrc/publications/10pubs/miller103.pdf

Abstract
Context. Contraception is increasingly used as a management technique to reduce fertility in wildlife populations; however, the feasibility of contraceptive formulations has been limited until recently because they have required multiple treatments to achieve prolonged infertility.

Aims. We tested the efficacy and evaluated potential side effects of two contraceptive formulations, a porcine zona pellucida (PZP) formulation, SpayVac® and a gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) formulation GonaCon-B!, in a population of free-roaming feral horses (Equus caballus). Both formulations were developed to provide several years of infertility with one injection.

GonaCon™ experiment is already going on at Theodore Rossevelt National Park so no need for a Water Canyon experiment: http://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/park-s-wild-horses-an-experiment-in-birth-control/article_a13a157e-816a-11e4-a261-ffd6de663204.html




Scandal Unfolds: Rare Water Canyon foals are up for adoption before the Gonacon™ experiment wrecks havoc in the herd

We are updating this page so check back for more information as the scandal unfolds. Updates are being posted towards the bottom.

Save the young victims of the cruel experiment!

Wild foals captured from the Water Canyon portion of the Antelope Herd Management Area in eastern Nevada are up for adoption. They are the victims of a roundup to EXPERIMENT on wild horses with GONACON™. Nine weanlings and two yearlings are being held together at the National Wild Horse and Burro Center at Palomino Valley, north of Reno, Nevada. They need to be saved now and hopefully in pairs because this is so painful for them to have lost their families!

The wild horses are available for walk-up adoption from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturdays. All of the horses have received vaccinations and their bloodwork is completed. Brand inspections will be performed and health certificates issued on all adopted horses.

Applications are available for download (.pdf) at http://on.doi.gov/1A0eAfw.

For more information, contact Jeremy Wilhelm, BLM public contact person, at (775) 475-2222.

The GONACON™ EXPERIMENT is being humane-washed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and their partners. They are perpetrating the overpopulation myth when in truth America’s wild horses are underpopulated. In their experiment they are releasing only a fraction.

Alleged wild horse advocate, Jeannie Nations, is the Project Coordinator (unpaid volunteer) of the experiment. Nations was also proposing PZP experiments as a BLM RAC member in October 2014 as you see here: http://www.blm.gov/style/medialib/blm/nv/resources/racs/ne_rac/meeting_presentations.Par.34609.File.dat/14-10-16-negb-jnations-proposal.pdf

Nations says, “I wanted to mention also, that we did a quick online petition for about 6 days with American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign regarding this same proposal and we had over 19,000 people from all around the country and the world in favor of doing this pilot program.This just goes to show how badly people want a positive change in wild horse management!

Do people realize what they are signing and supporting when they sign petitions put out by the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign? Are they reading the whole document or just reading the first paragraph and clicking quickly to add their name?

Why did the BLM take the Spin Dr.’s push for fertility control and turn it into an EXPERIMENT with GONACON™?  It’s a slippery slope when “advocates” partner up with BLM for fertility control . . . American herds are becoming nonviable and will be wiped out.

GONCACON™ is an immunocontraceptive that Big Pharma calls a “vaccine“. Yet fertility is not a disease so calling it a vaccine doesn’t make sense. It is registered with the EPA as a restricted use pesticide. http://www3.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/registration/fs_PC-116800_01-Sep-09.pdf 

GONACON™ like PZP is an EPA  restricted use pesticide (see photo below). The BLM and their supporters are experimenting on America’s wild horses because the Feds see them as PESTS and want to dispose of them slowly . . . They hope the public won’t realize what’s happening.

Now it’s clear that some alleged “wild horse advocates” pushing fertility control, like PZP and GONACON™, are helping BLM not wild horses.

See who is involved in this experiment and know what exactly they are doing: http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/ely_field_office/blm_programs/wild_horses_and_burros/Water_Canyon_Growth_Suppression_Pilot_Program.html

Update 5:27 pm PST: Why is the BLM’s Project Coordinator (volunteer) of the GONACON™ EXPERIMENT and BLM RAC member now raising money for her alleged Angels Acres Rescue to adopt the “Lucky 11” as she calls them? Yes she is calling the victims of this horrible GONACON™ EXPERIMENT and roundup “Lucky”.

PM Nations Screen Shot 2015-12-17 at 5.27.38 PM

 

Ask yourself if this:

Why didn’t the well funded wild horse preservation groups fight in court to stop the Water Canyon roundup?  

Was this just another opportunity to get more donor data by sending out an online petition but do nothing to stop the roundup?

Is it because they are in with BLM, want more names on their email lists to push for fertility control?

Follow the money . . .

 

PM Water Canyon Foal 2 2015

 

Photos from BLM taken by the experiment’s project coordinator (volunteer) Jeannie Nations in public domain

Elko Daily News reports on the GONACON™ EXPERIMENT: http://elkodaily.com/lifestyles/nature-notes-wild-horse-contraception-research/article_8da74080-34c0-5f7a-8ba9-65578d5254b4.html

November 08, 2015 5:45 am • LARRY HYSLOP
A research project north of Ely will look at maintaining a stable wild horse population using a contraceptive. The goal is to treat mares with Gonacon, a commercial contraceptive, and then watch them over several years to make sure the project mares do not produce foals.

Jeanne Nations is a volunteer project coordinator who lives in the area, frequently visits the horses and knows most by sight. She will handle the on-site adoptions and help Ben Noyes, in charge of the project, and the Wild Horse Specialist in the BLM Ely District Office. Jeanne said if this research is successful, she hopes it could help other areas provide a more humane way to keep wild horse populations under control.

The Northeastern Nevada Resource Advisory Council recently visited the project site, after submitting a letter to the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program supporting Jeanne’s project.

The research site is north of Ely, on a narrow strip of public land 12-15 miles long between U.S. Highway 93 and the Schell Creek Range. A fairly isolated group of 66 wild horses currently live in this part of the Antelope Herd Management Area, which has 803 wild horses with an Appropriate Management Level of 324. The nearest other wild horses to this project area are over the mountains to the east.

Trapping has begun and Ben has gathered 35 horses so far. All the rest of the area horses will be trapped this fall. Ben feels he can capture all the area horses using water and bait trapping but will use other techniques if needed.

While the last few members of the Council were visiting the trap site, seven horses came into the trap to eat hay and drink water, showing they are quite comfortable with the trap.

About 30 horses will be part of the project, with the rest removed from the area. It is hoped on-site adoptions will take most of the removed horses but any remaining will be taken to holding areas. People interested in adoption can email Jeanne at jnphotography@hughes.net.

The project horses kept on the site will consist of 15 stallions and 15 mares, having an assortment of ages. After capture, mares will be treated with Gonacon and freeze branded. DNA samples will be collected from all horses. The problem then is the mares must receive a booster 30 days later, so all mares and some of the stallions will be kept in holding pens.
After the 30 days, the horses will be released back into their home range. Ben feels the horses should have no problem re-habituating to their open range after a month of daily hay and abundant water.

Ben and Jeanne will keep an eye on the mares and watch them for pregnancies. The mares will need to be gathered again in two years to receive another booster.

There is a good chance the project mares are now pregnant and will produce foals the first year. However, these treatments should keep the mares from becoming pregnant again during the length of the project. After the project ends, it is hoped the mares will then become pregnant. Other horses may cross the mountains to join this group but they will not throw off the research since only the branded mares will be watched.

Links of interest:

Read Jack Ferm’s The BLM wild horse roundup continues: follow the money for a good overview of the situation: http://suindependent.com/blm-wild-horse-roundup-continues/

and his piece Why is the BLM killing wild horses? http://suindependent.com/blm-killing-wild-horses/

 

Protect Mustangs is an organization who protects and preserves native and wild horses.




#TAKEACTION Comments are needed to save wild horses and due by Monday June 15th

PM BLM Nevada Roundup

The BLM’s HORRIBLE project goal is to maintain a population of only native 25-30 wild horses within the Water Canyon portion of the Antelope HMA. The current estimated population is only 66 wild horses.

Under the proposal, the BLM would capture the horses through bait and water trapping or by helicopter roundup, and treat and release only 25-30 wild horses back into the project area. Mares selected for release would be treated with PZP-22, a time-release pesticide for birth control (made from slaughterhouse pig ovaries) with an expected efficacy of about two years, despite the fact that it sterilizes after multiple use. The mares would be re-treated every 20-24 months and monitored to determine treatment effectiveness.

Despite the current low population, BLM trumps up allegations of “excess wild horses” to justify a waste of tax dollars and permanently remove traumatized herd members by offering them to the public through a trap site adoption.

You can read the proposal documents here: https://www.blm.gov/epl-front-office/eplanning/planAndProjectSite.do?methodName=dispatchToPatternPage&currentPageId=61903

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Ely District, Schell Field Office is soliciting public comment on the Water Canyon Wild Horse Growth Suppression Pilot Program Preliminary Environmental Assessment (EA). The Preliminary EA (DOI-BLM-NV-L020-2015-0014) was made available for review and comment on Friday, May 15, 2015. The 30-day comment period concludes Monday, June 15, 2015.

Comments will be accepted for 30 days until June 15, 2015. Interested individuals should address all written comments to the BLM Ely District Office, HC 33 Box 33500, Ely, NV 89301, Attn: Paul E. Podborny, Schell Field Manager, or fax them to Podborny at (775) 289-1910. Comments may also be submitted electronically at blm_nv_water_canyon@blm.gov or comment throught the NEPA Register. Email comments sent to any other email address will not be considered.

Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment – including your personal identifying information – may be made publicly available at any time.

The EA analyzes a proposal to conduct a pilot project to gather, and treat and release, as well as remove excess wild horses from inside the Water Canyon area, located within the Antelope Herd Management Area (HMA), about 60 miles north of Ely, Nevada.

BLM Ely, Nevada, district to roundup native wild horses

Visit Nevada?

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Ely District is scheduled in early November to begin rounding up and removing approximately 120 alleged excess wild horses from in and around the Triple B and Silver King herd management areas (HMAs) in eastern Nevada.

Details will be posted on the district website as they become available. The roundups are allegedly necessary to prevent further damage to private property and provide for public and animal safety.

The district will remove about 70 alleged excess wild horses from the Triple B HMA, located about 30 miles northwest of Ely, that are allegedly damaging private property, and allegedly harassing and breeding domestic stock resulting in landowner complaints. Appropriate Management Level (AML) for the Triple B HMA is 215-250 wild horses. The current population is 1,311 wild horses.

The district will remove up to 50 excess wild horses from in and around the Silver King HMA. The horses to be gathered are located about 120 miles south of Ely. They are an alleged safety concern on U.S. Highway 93 and are damaging private property, resulting in property owner complaints. The AML for the Silver King HMA is 60-128 wild horses. The current population is 452 wild horses.

The BLM claims attempts to keep wild horses away from private property and the highway, including trapping and relocating animals to other portions of the HMAs, have been unsuccessful.

The BLM will utilize the services of roundup contractor Cattoor Livestock Roundup, Inc., of Nephi, Utah, which uses a helicopter to locate and stampede wild horses toward a set of corrals to be trapped and who has already been paid millions of tax dollars, year after year. The pilot is assisted by a ground crew and a domesticated horse, known as a Judas horse who is trained to lead wild horses into the corral.

Wild horses removed from the range will be transported to the National Wild Horse and Burro Center at Palomino Valley, in Reno, Nevada, where they will be offered for adoption to qualified individuals. Wild horses for which BLM is unable to adopt out will be placed in long-term pastures where they will be allegedly humanely cared for and retain their “wild” status and protection under the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act.

A Wild Horse Gather Information Line has been established at 775/861-6700. A recorded message will provide information on daily gather activities and schedules. The BLM will also post daily gather information on its website.

Public lands within the HMAs will be open to the public during gather operations, subject to necessary safety restrictions, and the BLM will make every effort to allow for public viewing opportunities. The BLM has established protocols for visitors to ensure the safety of the wild horses, the public, and BLM and contract staff. The protocols are available at http://on.doi.gov/1lGnDYC under “Observation Opportunities.”

Roundups in and outside the Triple B HMA were analyzed in the Triple B, Maverick-Medicine, and Antelope Valley HMA Gather Plan and Environmental Assessment (EA), signed in May 2011 and available at http://on.doi.gov/1tgdHc6. Gather activities in and around the Silver King HMA were analyzed in the Ely District Public Safety and Nuisance Gather EA signed in August 2014 and available at http://on.doi.gov/1lx856K.

For more information, contact Chris Hanefeld, BLM Ely District public affairs specialist, at 775/289-1842 or chanefel@blm.gov.