URGENT: Petition to stop violent wild horses roundups and stop sending them to slaughter!

Posted on January 11, 2016 by Protect Mustangs

Wild horses are a native species who must be saved!

Loopholes allow the BLM to sell thousands of wild horses to slaughter middlemen known as kill buyers to dispose of alleged “excess and unadoptable” American wild horses and this must stop now! Slaughter is cruel and inhumane.

This is what cruel roundups look like:

Roundups are the first step towards slaughter.

Craig Downer published the peer reviewed paper titled The Horse and Burro as Positively Contributing Returned Natives in North America.

According to a press release from National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released June 5, 2013, “The U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) current practice of removing free-ranging horses from public lands promotes a high population growth rate, and maintaining them in long-term holding facilities is both economically unsustainable and incongruent with public expectations, says a new report by the National Research Council.”

The NAS report states there is “no evidence” of overpopulation. Only tobacco science and spin backs up BLM’s population claim to justify roundups and fertility control/sterilizations. . .

PZP is an EPA approved RESTRICTED-USE PESTICIDE that sterilizes wild horses after multiple use so it’s risky for long-term herd survival. See information here: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/pending/fs_PC-176603_01-Jan-12.pdf

Giving PZP to wild mares also results in foals being born late in the fall or winter and dying because they are too little to make it through a harsh winter.

Fertility control research trials are big business. Left unchallenged, wild horses and burros will continue to be lab rats for human fertility control research. This exploitation must stop!

We request an immediate halt to roundups for scientific population studies and studies on holistic management before it’s too late.

Wild horses are a returned-native species in America. Rounding up federally protected wild horses and burros has been documented as cruel. Warehousing them for decades is fiscally irresponsible. Sending wild horses to slaughter by selling them to middlemen is cruel and inhumane. Clearing wild horses and burros off public land–for industrialization, fracking, grazing and the water grab–goes against the 1971 Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act put in place to protect the living legends of the American West. They must never go to slaughter.

We request you defund and stop the roundups immediately as well as reverse the Burns Amendment to stop unlimited sales of wild horses to slaughter.

There is no accurate census and the BLM figures do not add up. We request population studies for each herd management area (HMA) and each herd area (HA) because we are gravely concerned there are less than 18,000 wild horses and burros in the 10 western states combined. More roundups, fertility control/sterilizations and sales to slaughter will wipe them out because the majority are no longer genetically viable herds.

Wild horses are underpopulated despite spin from the forces that want to perform heinous sterilizations in the field. Humane fertility control could be looked at as an option only after scientific population studies have been conducted for each herd management area. The EPA approved restricted-use pesticides known as PZP and Gonacon have risks as do other drugs . . . Right now fertility control is premature, will destroy natural selection and could cause harm because wild horses are underpopulated in the West.

Field observers have noticed a worrisome decline in wild horse and burro populations since the BLM’s rampant roundups from 2009 to this day.

Kindly allow returned-native wild horses and burros to reverse desertification, reduce the fuel for wildfires and create biodiversity on public land, live with their families and inspire us with their spirit.

Right now America’s wild horses and burros are being managed to extinction. They need your help to stop the roundups and slaughter today.

Go to the petition on Change.org here and email it to your friends and family: https://www.change.org/p/defund-and-stop-the-wild-horse-amp-burro-roundups

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

Posted on December 17, 2015 by Protect Mustangs

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”.

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 . . .

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.

Anonymous tip says wild horses are being slaughtered by the thousands

Posted on October 16, 2015 by Protect Mustangs

We are sharing this anonymous tip in hopes legal action or rescue will follow to save the thousands of horses who are still alive.

#TakeAction to demand horse slaughter stop now!

Email Secretary Sally Jewell ( Secretary_jewell@ios.doi.gov ). The Secretary of Interior oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs. You can also write her a letter. Here is her address:

The Honorable Sally Jewell Secretary of the Interior

U.S. Department of the Interior

1849 C Street,

NW Washington,

DC 20240E

Please Contact your Congressional Rep (
http://www.contactingthecongress.org/search.html ) to request they intervene on your behalf to stop the slaughter.

Join the movement to Protect Mustangs by liking the Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/ProtectMustangs Check the page daily and invite your friends to join the movement to protect mustangs!

We are working for the wild horses on Twitter too so Join up at www.Twitter.com/ProtectMustangs You can also join our Founder and Executive Director, Anne Novak, on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/theAnneNovak There is a lot we can do together to Protect Mustangs!

Please share this video so people will learn what is going on. Then they can demand change and legal action to stop the slaughter of thousands of wild horses!

Go to www.ProtectMustangs.org for more information on wild horses.

Our non-profit mission is to protect and preserve America’s native and wild horses. www.ProtectMustangs.org

BLM Wants Input on Proposed Red Desert Wild Horse Roundup

Posted on October 3, 2015 by Protect Mustangs

BLM Press Release:

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Rawlins and Lander field offices announce that a preliminary environmental assessment (EA) analyzing a proposed wild horse gather in the Red Desert Wild Horse Herd Management Area (HMA) Complex is now available for review.
The Red Desert Complex, which includes the Antelope Hills, Crooks Mountain, Green Mountain, Lost Creek and Stewart Creek HMAs, is located in Sweetwater, Carbon, Fremont and Natrona counties west and south of Wyoming Highway 287.
 The proposed operation would include gathering wild horses, treating all mares to be released with the PZP-22 (porcine zona pellucida) fertility control vaccine, and removing horses to bring the population of the complex within its appropriate management level. All horses that have moved outside the HMAs would also be removed. The proposed gather may take place late this year or in 2016.
The preliminary EA analyzes three alternatives and is available by visiting the BLM website at: www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/info/NEPA/documents/rfo/red-desert.html.
 The 30 day comment period runs from September 8 through October 8, 2015.

Comments may be emailed to: RedDesertComplex_HMA_WY@blm.gov (please include “Red Desert Gather EA Comments” in the subject line). Comments may also be mailed or delivered to either field office:
Benjamin Smith, Wild Horse & Burro Specialist BLM Rawlins Field Office 1300 N. 3rd Street Rawlins, WY 82301
Jeremie Artery, Interim Wild Horse & Burro Specialist BLM Lander Field Office 1335 Main Street Lander, WY 82520
For more information, visit www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/info/NEPA/documents/rfo/red-desert.html, or contact Benjamin Smith at 307-328-4200 or Jeremie Artery at 307-332-8400.
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 2013, the BLM generated $4.7 billion in receipts from public lands.
–BLM–
Rawlins and Lander Field Offices 1300 N. Third/PO Box 2407 Rawlins, WY 82301 1335 Main Street Lander, WY 82520

Outrage over feds hauling Cold Creek wild horses to private facility in Utah

Posted on September 14, 2015 by Protect Mustangs

Mounting concern they will end up unadopted and go to slaughter

For immediate release:

LAS VEGAS, NV. (September 14, 2015)—Protect Mustangs, Mark Boone Junior and members of the public are outraged that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) moved the captive Cold Creek wild horses out of Nevada to a remote private holding facility in Axtell, Utah—with limited public accessibility and allegedly owned by a BLM employee. Earlier near Las Vegas, the BLM shot and killed more than 28 wild horses who were not well enough to make the long haul to Utah when the haulers were scheduled to pick them up. The skinny roundup survivors were exhibiting complications of re-feeding syndrome and severely dehydrated. Protect Mustangs has filed a complaint requesting the the Inspector General investigate matters leading up to, during and after the Cold Creek roundup.

“It’s outrageous for the BLM to move the Cold Creek wild horses out of Nevada to a private facility—in the boondocks of Utah—without public accessibility 6 days a week,” says Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs. “We need to be able to watchdog the mustangs and help them get adopted.”

Novak is a horsewoman who has a good track record of helping American wild horses get adopted from coast to coast. She uses Facebook and works with her vast network of supporters at Protect Mustangs to find good homes for wild horses.

“Why are the feds taking the cherished Cold Creek wild horses away from the public’s eyes especially after killing 28?” asks Novak. “It’s time for the BLM to stop violating the public’s trust. There is plenty of room at Palomino Valley Wild Horse and Burro Center outside of Reno, Nevada. It’s an accessible location for potential adopters to visit and fall in love with a Cold Creek mustang. They need to be there.”

Palomino Valley Wild Horse and Burro Center near Reno currently has 941 wild horses. Their holding capacity is 1850. They are located 27 miles away from the Reno International Airport and 4 hours by car from San Francisco. The Utah facility is 780 miles from San Francisco.

Some horse advocates and environmental researchers believe the Cold Creek wild horses are showing signs of impaired immunity because they were given PZP, the pesticide for birth control several years ago. Does BLM wants to hide the long term side-effects of PZP from the public? Is this why they whisked them off to a private facility in Utah or is there another reason?

Utah congressman Chris Stewart is pushing legislation to give individual states and Indian Tribes control of federally protected wild horses and aggressively manage them as they wish. His Wild Horse Oversight Act is proposed in Congress. http://stewart.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-chris-stewart-introduces-bill-giving-states-the-ability-to-manage

“Utah is notorious for being a pro-slaughter state and we must ensure the Cold Creek wild horses are safe forever,” states Novak. “Horse slaughter for human consumption is inhumane and barbaric. Just because horse meat sells on the foreign market doesn’t mean that the United States of America should allow our icons of freedom to be eaten abroad.”

After 3 failed attempts at adoption—live or internet—the BLM can legally sell wild horses by the truckload to middlemen who claim they won’t sell wild horses to slaughter. . . According to the Burns Amendment of the free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act, the BLM can also get rid of all wild horses over the age of 10 the same way.

“We won’t sit by and watch America’s wild horses fall through the cracks,” says Hollywood actor Mark Boone Junior a member of Protect Mustangs. “I spent a lot of time in Vegas and I’m mad as hell 28 Cold Creek wild horses were killed by the feds. The herd was managed poorly because BLM isn’t doing their job.”

# # #

Media Contacts:

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

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

Links of interest™:

Nevada: Federal Inquiry Is Sought After Starving Horses Are Euthanized (New York Times): http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/10/us/nevada-federal-inquiry-is-sought-after-starving-horses-are-euthanized.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0

Horse advocates want review; 28 Nevada mustangs euthanized (Associated Press article went viral) http://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/18109922-113/horse-advocates-want-review-28-nevada-mustangs-euthanized

Horse Advocates Call For Investigation After BLM Euthanizes 28 Emaciated Mustangs http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/09/09/horse-advocates-call-for-investigation-after-blm-euthanizes-28-emaciated-mustangs/#.VfD_tm8dYN8.facebook

Horse advocates seek probe of mustang killings: http://www.kezi.com/news/Horse_Advocates_Seek_Probe_of_Mustang_Killings.html

PZP proposal for research on Cold Creek wild horses (2013): http://nyecounty.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=3&clip_id=576&meta_id=31471

Federal horse, burro adoption event designed to help manage population (Washington Post August 2014): https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/federal-horse-burro-adoption-event-designed-to-help-manage-population/2015/08/14/cdc3f3f6-4205-11e5-846d-02792f854297_story.html

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

Chris Stewart WHOA bill: http://stewart.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-chris-stewart-introduces-bill-giving-states-the-ability-to-manage

Mark Boone Junior on IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0095478/

Protect Mustangs on the web: www.ProtectMustangs.org

Protect Mustangs on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProtectMustangs

Anne Novak on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheAnneNovak

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

Complaint to the Office of the Inspector General regarding BLM killing 28 wild horses near Las Vegas

Posted on September 9, 2015 by Protect Mustangs

To the Office of the Inspector General at the United States Department of Interior

Dear Sirs,

We officially request a full investigation into the management of wild horses and land use planning 6 years before the roundup, the roundup itself, feeding, veterinary care and killing of the 28 Cold Creek wild horses who had become skinny.

Why didn’t the BLM help these federally protected wild horses get the forage they needed earlier?
Why didn’t the BLM move the native wild horses up to areas with more forage?
What happened to their forage?
What about the livestock grazing permits? (see attached)
What organizations were pushing for BLM to use PZP, a controversial EPA restricted use pesticide for “birth control”–made from slaughterhouse pig ovaries–that sterilizes after multiple use? http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/pending/fs_PC-176603_01-Jan-12.pdf
Are the wild horses getting pushed out and killed as part of the New Energy Frontier–to put massive solar farms on fragile desert land and therefore impacting wildlife? https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/projects/lup/2900/49868/54310/LV-RMP_Poster_Renewable_Energy.pdf
Why aren’t the Cold Creek wild horses getting their fair share of the land that is for their principal but not exclusive use according to the 1971 Free Roaming Wild Horse & Burro Protection Act?
Why is the agency appointed “appropriate management level” (AML) for wild horses so low when a genetically viable herd needs more members?
Why is the BLM limiting access to the public to bare witness to this cruel roundup?
Was euthanasia chosen for convenience and the bottom line, pure and simple?
Did they look at the feed and labor involved vs adoptability and take the cheap and easy way out?

Rescues and members of the public would have helped bring the Cold Creek wild horses back to health if manpower was an issue. Adoption would have been simple once they healed because people know about them and cherish them.

Tourists from around the world, visiting Las Vegas, love the wild horses of the American West.

The BLM continues to roundup more beloved Cold Creek wild horses and we pray they will not kill any more but nurse them back to health.

The public is outraged.

We thank you for investigating into the wrongdoings surrounding the management, roundup and killing of 28 Cold Creek wild horses, provide transparency and shine the light of truth.

Sincerely,
Anne Novak

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

Reprint: National Treasures Saved From Slaughterhouse

Posted on July 23, 2015 by Protect Mustangs

Milestone: Protect Mustangs rescues 14 young wild horses from slaughterhouse after BLM roundup

Roundup results in death of 23 American wild horses

SAN FRANCISCO, Ca. (Protect Mustangs)—Against all odds, Mark Boone Junior (Batman Begins & Sons of Anarchy) with Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs, saved 14 young free-roaming wild horses from slaughter thanks to donations from Alicia Goetz, the Schnurmacher family and others. This unprecedented rescue seems to be the first time American wild horses have been purchased back from a slaughterhouse following a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) roundup. In March, the herd of 41 wild horses was rounded up by the BLM, using taxpayer funds, handed over to the the Wyoming Livestock Board and sold at auction to a Canadian slaughterhouse for human consumption abroad. The BLM claims everything they did was legal.

“If it’s legal then the law needs to change,” states Novak. “Americans love wild horses. They want to make sure they’re protected. Congress knows that and it’s time they represent the public who elected them into office—not interests who want to dispose of them.”

In 2004, former Montana Senator, Conrad Burns, added the Burns amendment to the Appropriations Act of 2005 without any public or Congressional discussion. The Burns amendment overruled many protections in the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971. From that time forward, “unlimited sales” to slaughter has been legal.

Due to public outcry against selling wild horses for slaughter, the BLM uses middle men who sell the mustangs to the slaughterhouse. This time the scapegoat was the Wyoming Livestock Board, other times it’s men like Tom Davis. The 1,700 wild horses he purchased from the feds have never been accounted for. Advocates believe they went to slaughter in Mexico.

Public outcry over Tom Davis prompted BLM to revise their policy to avoid another fiasco in the future. A change in policy is not a change in law. It’s still legal for the BLM to allow slaughter and exportation of horse meat.

Out of the 41 wild horses rounded up on March 18th and 19th near Greybull, Wyoming, 37 were quickly sold to the slaughterhouse. 4 foals were saved by the co-owner of the auction house and later transferred to advocates. Protect Mustangs jumped in later on April 2nd to save the other 37 wild horses from being slaughtered. Chances were slim they would find any alive.

Boone and Novak quickly learned that a group of 23 mares and stallions had already perished. The duo managed to prevent the last 14 orphaned wild youngsters from going to slaughter. The survivors are called the WY14. These wild horses range from 8 months to 2 years old.

“It’s a miracle we were able to get them out,” says Boone. “I can’t believe the EPA, in 2012, designated our wild horses as pests—especially when the horse originated in America.”

“American free-roaming wild horses are a returned-native species who contribute to the thriving natural ecological balance,” explains Novak. “They have value on the range because they reduce the risk of wildfires, reverse desertification and with climate change that’s really important.”

For generations, free-roaming wild horses lived in family bands north of Greybull and close to a former herd area called Dry Creek/Foster Gulch that was zeroed out in 1987 to make room for extractive uses such as bentonite mining.

In 1971 there were 339 wild herds in the West, but now there are only 179 left in all 10 western states combined.

Today the Bighorn Basin is preparing for another extractive boom but this time it’s about fracking for oil and gas with right-of-way corridors to service those fields. Is this why the small herd of 41 wild horses was suddenly ripped off public land?

The feds maintain the 41 wild horses were not wild even though they lived wild and free for generations.

Curiously reports have surfaced that a bucking string made up of wild mustangs was turned out by their original owner more than 40 years ago. If it could be proven these wild horses were on public land in 1971, they would be protected under the Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act. The BLM claims the horses have been there for only 40 years not 43.

“It’s horrible for tourism that the State of Wyoming would allow this sort of thing,” states Boone. “The beauty of the Bighorn Basin is like no other place on earth but it won’t be the same now that these wild horses are gone.”

“We are grateful we saved the WY14.” says Novak. “Now we need financial help to bring them to California and start their new lives.”

Go to www.ProtectMustangs.org to help the WY14 with your donation.

Reprinted from Horseback Magazine

Comments needed against BLM Colorado’s plans to stampede and remove native wild horses

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Protect Mustangs

Take Back the Power (© Protect Mustangs with Photo © Cynthia Smalley)

MEEKER, Colo. — The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) White River Field Office is seeking public comments on a proposal to gather alleged excess native wild horses in northwest Colorado. The BLM claims they want to sustain healthy public lands and wild horse populations yet their management levels are too low. Wild horses should have principal but not exclusive use of the land. The BLM’s multiple use manifesto is unfairly pushing wild horses off their native land.

The BLM is proposing to use a helicopter to locate and stampede wild horses toward a set of corrals as well as using water and bait trapping. The roundups could begin as early as September 2015. Up to 167 wild horses could be removed.

The White River Field Office manages the Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Area to maintain a healthy wild horse herd in balance with other resources and uses such as mining, drilling and livestock grazing. This area currently has an estimated 377 wild horses, but the appropriate management level for that area is too low at only 135 and 235 wild horses. The adjacent West Douglas Herd Area is not managed for wild horses but currently has an estimated population of 365 wild horses. Cruel roundups could occur in either area as well as areas within the White River Field Office outside these boundaries.

The BLM planning documents, evaluating the proposed roundup and removal operations, are available at the White River Field Office at 220 E Market Street and online at www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/wrfo.html.

It’s important to send in public comments regarding the BLM’s proposed roundup and removal plans favoring other users by May 5. Written comments can be mailed to the White River Field Office, 220 E. Market Street, Meeker, CO 81641 or submitted via email to mkindall@blm.gov. General questions can be directed to Melissa Kindall at 970/878-3842.

Before including your address, phone number, email address or any other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment, including personal identifying information, could be made publicly available at any time. While individuals can request the BLM to withhold personal identifying information from public view, the BLM cannot guarantee it will be able to do so.

Links of interest™

West Douglas Herd Area Preliminary EA http://on.doi.gov/1Fy6cDy

West Douglas unsigned FONSI http://on.doi.gov/1IGsMdm

BLM claims no significant impact on Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Area (FONSI) http://on.doi.gov/1Cb1DLT

Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Area (Determination of NEPA Adequacy) http://on.doi.gov/1DgcbgH

BLM Colorado White River Office http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/wrfo.html

BREAKING NEWS: Advocates win — BLM Cancels Roundup Following Protect Mustangs’ and FOA’s Court Victory

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Protect Mustangs

Pine Nut Wild Horses ©Anne Novak for Protect Mustangs

For immediate release

BREAKING NEWS: Advocates win — BLM Cancels Roundup Following Protect Mustangs’ and FOA’s Court Victory

Nevada’s beloved Pine Nut Herd from ‘The Misfits’ escapes horrible helicopter stampede

RENO, NV. (March 25, 2015)—After U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks’ Feb. 11 decision to grant Protect Mustangs’ and Friends of Animals’ (FoA) a motion for a preliminary injunction to stop the proposed roundup of more than 300 wild horses on the 98,000 acre Nevada Pine Nut Herd Management Area (HMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced today it has officially canceled the roundup. The famous herd from ‘The Misfits’ continues to live in freedom thanks to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and justice in federal court.

“The BLM is attacking wild horses, painting them as pests that are destroying the environment while the real culprits act with impunity in their own best interest,” states actor Mark Boone Junior (Sons of Anarchy, Batman Begins).

“We are so grateful truth and justice has been upheld for America’s wild horses,” states Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs based 4 hours away in San Francisco. “We have been studying the wild horses in the Pine Nuts for several years. They are an inspiration to fight for wild horse freedom throughout the West.”

“The BLM’s outdated 2010 environmental assessment did not stand up in court because it did not take into account the current situation on the range,” explains Tami Hottes Protect Mustangs board member. “We are working on increasing the Appropriate Management Level for native wild horses to ensure their survival.”

Before the proposed 2015 roundup was stopped, BLM wanted to permanently remove 200 wild horses and forcibly drug with PZP the few remaining mares to be released. Protect Mustangs and FOA filed a case in the District Court of Nevada, arguing that BLM violated its duties under NEPA by dusting off their stale 2010 Environmental Assessment. U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks agreed to the preliminary injunction. On Feb. 11 Hicks decided that the plaintiffs showed they were likely to succeed on their legal claims and granted Protect Mustangs’ and FoA’s request to postpone the roundup.

“This gives us a fighting chance to restore the herd’s population to what it was when I was a boy,” says Craig Downer director of ecology and conservation for Protect Mustangs. “Habitat restoration is essential for native wild horses to survive drought and environmental changes in these times.”

“Forced drugging with PZP, an EPA restricted use pesticide that sterilizes after multiple use, is something we will not tolerate on the federally protected Pine Nut herd,” states Novak. “Americans will champion the herd’s freedom and will prevent special interest groups from using them as pharmaceutical lab rats for drug research on the range.”

“Underpopulation on the Pine Nut HMA is a serious problem for the herd’s long term survival because of the public land grab and environmental degradation due to multiple use policies,” explains Novak. “Since BLM tried to round them up in the beginning of 2015 we have become vigilant and are often in the field gathering evidence to keep the native herd safe, as well as building our legal department to fight for the voiceless in court.”

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

Links of interest:

EPA Pesticide Fact Sheet for PZP: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/pending/fs_PC-176603_01-Jan-12.pdf

Bureau Of Land Management Halts Horse Contraception Program (Associated Press) http://kjzz.org/content/118651/bureau-land-management-halts-horse-contraception-program

US agency abandoning Nevada mustang roundup for now http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/mar/25/blm-abandoning-nevada-mustang-roundup-at-least/

Agency abandons at least for now roundup that US judge earlier blocked (Associated Press) http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/story/47f8f5d9e87d4a408461657fd926bea7/NV–Wild-Horses-Lawsuit-Contraception-Rift/

Protect Mustangs’ legal fund http://www.gofundme.com/qarve8

Facebook Forum on PZP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ForumPZPWildHorsesBurros

February 11th Court order granting preliminary injunction: PM Pine Nut Order Granting Preliminary Inj.

US judge “troubled” by mustang roundup planned in Nevada http://www.idahostatesman.com/2015/02/09/3636398_us-judge-troubled-by-latest-mustang.html?rh=1

Lawsuit targets Nevada wild horse roundup (USA TODAY)http://usat.ly/1yNrjLy

Latest suit to block Nevada mustang roundups targets drugs http://www.idahostatesman.com/2015/02/01/3622737_latest-suit-to-block-nevada-mustang.html?rh=1

Jan. 26th Press release: Protect Mustangs & Friends of Animals file lawsuit to stop Pine Nut Mountains roundup: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=7806

Wild-horse activists kicked out of federal meeting in Nevada, (Associated Press) went viral: http://bit.ly/1zHGrjY

Activists split on US agency”s plans to treat 250 mares with fertility-control drug in Nevada: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/28/activists-rip-blms-plans-to-remove-750-more-mustan/

Genetic viability in Pine Nut herd at risk http://protectmustangs.org/?p=7917

Mark Boone Junior http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0095478/

Protect Mustangs on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProtectMustangs

ProtectMustangs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProtectMustangs

Anne Novak on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheAnneNovak

A brief history of wild horses in the news: http://bit.ly/1LsjGEz

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

Secretary Jewell speaks about connecting young adults to public land at University of California at Berkeley March 26th

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Protect Mustangs

Is anyone going early with signs to protest the abuses to our public lands?

Secretary Sally Jewell Photo by BLM

BERKELEY, CA – On Thursday, March 26, 2015, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell will discuss the future of the National Park Service and the importance of connecting young adults to America’s public lands as part of the University of California at Berkeley’s annual Horace M. Albright Lecture in Conservation. Albright was a key supporter of the creation of the National Park System and the second director of the National Park Service.

President of the University of California Janet Napolitano and historian Douglas Brinkley will join Jewell in a panel discussion on “America’s Two Best Ideas: Public Education & Public Lands.”

This event is part of UC Berkeley’s initiative—America’s Best Idea: The Next 100 Years—a partnership with the National Park Service and National Geographic Society to support national parks and protected lands for future generations.

The discussion will be webcast live and archived for future viewing.

Who: Sally Jewell, Secretary of the Interior
Janet Napolitano, President of the University of California
Douglas Brinkley, Historian

What: Panel Discussion on “America’s Two Best Ideas: Public Education & Public Lands”

When: Thursday, March 26, 2015, at 7:00 p.m. PDT

Where: Wheeler Hall, UC Berkeley Campus 2222 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA 94720

Media: Credentialed members of the media must RSVP by 12:00 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, March 25 to Ann Guy at (510) 301-2646

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