BLM Final Rule Resource Management Planning

PM Diamond Helicopter Roundup

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 238 (Monday, December 12, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 89580-89671]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-28724]
[[Page 89579]]
Vol. 81
Monday,
No. 238
December 12, 2016
Part II
Department of the Interior
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Bureau of Land Management
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43 CFR Part 1600
Resource Management Planning; Final Rule
 
Federal Register / Vol. 81 , No. 238 / Monday, December 12, 2016 / 
Rules and Regulations
 
[[Page 89580]]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
 
Bureau of Land Management
 
43 CFR Part 1600
 
[Docket ID: BLM-2016-0002; LLWO210000.17X.L16100000.PN0000]
RIN 1004-AE39

Resource Management Planning
 
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
 
ACTION: Final Rule
 
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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is amending its 
regulations that establish the procedures used to prepare, revise, or 
amend land use plans pursuant to the Federal Land Policy and Management 
Act (FLPMA). The final rule affirms the important role of other Federal 
agencies, State and local governments, Indian tribes, and the public 
during the planning process and enhances opportunities for public 
involvement and transparency during the preparation of resource 
management plans. The final rule will enable the BLM to more readily 
address resource issues at a variety of scales, such as wildfire, 
wildlife habitat, appropriate development, or the demand for renewable 
and non-renewable energy sources, and to respond more effectively to 
change. The final rule emphasizes the role of using high quality 
information, including the best available scientific information, in 
the planning process; and the importance of evaluating the resource, 
environmental, ecological, social, and economic conditions at the onset 
of planning. Finally, the final rule makes revisions to clarify 
existing text and to improve the readability of the planning 
regulations.
 
DATES:  This final rule is effective on January 11, 2017.
 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Leah Baker, Division Chief for 
Decision Support, Planning and NEPA, at 202-912-7282, for information 
relating to the BLM's national planning program or the substance of 
this proposed rule. For information on procedural matters or the 
rulemaking process, you may contact Charles Yudson, Management Analyst 
for the Office of Regulatory Affairs, at 202-912-7437. Persons who use 
a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal 
Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339, to contact these individuals. You will 
receive a reply during normal business hours.

 

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




Huge fracking project in Wyoming affects wild horses and needs comments

 

The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Continental Divide-Creston (CD-C) Natural Gas Development Project is now available for a 30-day public availability period.

Project Background
BP American Production Co. and approximately 20 other companies propose to develop up to 8,950 additional natural gas wells within a 1.1 million acre project area. Development would occur over the next 15 years with about 47,200 acres of new disturbance. An estimated 12.02 trillion cubic feet of natural gas worth $45.6 billion would be produced and 167.3 million barrels of condensate would generate revenues of $6.4 billion over the 30-40 year life of the project. More than 4,000 wells have been developed in the project area since the 1950s with approximately 49,218 acres of surface disturbance, including nearly 8,500 acres of long-term disturbance.

NEPA Status: The DEIS was released for public comment on Dec. 7, 2012, and ended on March 6, 2013. Approximately 8,700 DEIS comments were received.

The FEIS is available online at:
Copies are also available for review at the following locations:
BLM Wyoming State Office
5353 Yellowstone Rd., Cheyenne, Wyoming
BLM High Desert District Office, 280 Hwy 191 N, Rock Springs, Wyoming
BLM Rawlins Field Office, 1300 N 3rd St., Rawlins, Wyoming.
The FEIS is available for public review for 30 days after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  publishes its Notice of Availability (NOA) in the Federal Register. The EPA will publish its NOA on Friday, April 15, 2016.
Any comments received on the FEIS will be reviewed and may be addressed in the Record of Decision. Comments can be sent to:
Bureau of Land Management
Attn: Jennifer Fleuret
Rawlins Field Office
P.O. Box 2407
1300 N Third St
Rawlins, Wyoming 82301-2407
Fax: 307-328-4224
Before including your address, phone number, email 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. While you can ask the BLM in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Thank you for your interest in this project. If you have questions or need additional information, please contact Jennifer Fleuret at (307) 775-6329.

Marybeth Devlin comments on the Sulphur Wild Horse roundup plan

Email: blm_ut_sulphur@blm.gov

Copies: jwhitloc@blm.gov, tchristense@blm.gov, eburghar@blm.gov
January 19, 2016
Cedar City Field Office
176 E DL Sargent Drive
Cedar City, UT 84721
Project Name: Sulphur Wild Horse Gather Plan

Document: Environmental Assessment — Preliminary

NEPA ID: DOI-UT-C010-2015-0011-EA
This letter responds to your request for substantive comments and new information that BLM-Cedar City should consider regarding the subject Plan. I submit mine as an interested party in behalf of the wild horses of the Sulphur Herd Management Area (HMA).

I support the use of radio collars to track the horses and the construction of a fence along Highway 21 for the safety of both horses and humans. However, I urge you to cancel the roundup-and-removals, discontinue PZP treatments, correct the fraudulent population-estimates, and take other specified corrective actions.

I suggest the addition of another alternative: Increase the AML, collar the horses, fence the Highway but remove interior fences, conserve apex predators, and install guzzlers throughout the HMA.

As for the proposed alternative, if BLM has confidence in the WinEquus population-growth modeling, then please note that the “removals only” alternative yields a median-trial average herd-size that is nearly 24% lower than the proposed alternative — 318 versus 417. As for PZP injections, they should be abandoned because they are dangerous to the mares, to the foals (born and unborn), and to the staff and volunteers that handle the pesticide.

For ease of reference, here are the links to the documents at issue:

News Release — 2015 EA

http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/info/newsroom/2015/December/EAsulphurwildhorsegather.html

News Release — 2015 Public-Safety Removals

http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/info/newsroom/2015/february/public_safety_concerns.html

Sulphur Gather Environmental Assessment — Preliminary

http://www.blm.gov/style/medialib/blm/ut/natural_resources/wild_horses_and_burros/general.Par.73121.File.dat/Preliminary%20Sulphur%20Gather%202015%20EA_12_18_15.pdf
REASONS CITED FOR GATHER-REMOVE-CONTRACEPT PLAN
Overpopulation, Forage Limitations

BLM lists overpopulation and forage / water limitations as the need for the proposed action. The “overpopulation” in this case merely means “over AML”. And because the AML is arbitrary and unscientific, it is meaningless. Range-conditions function as natural feedback to wild horses, allowing them to self-regulate their numbers. That is how Nature works. BLM is meddling unnecessarily. The intervention that is needed would be to offset the impact of livestock-grazing — eliminating interior fences that block wild-horse movement and installation of trick-tanks (guzzlers) to capture and store precipitation.
The Proposed Action

BLM-Cedar City plans to conduct two-to-four helicopter-style roundups-and-removal operations over the next 10 years to bring the herd’s alleged overpopulation down to the low-bound of the arbitrary management level (AML) — 165 horses on 265,675 acres — and maintain it there. BLM claims there are “excess” horses but the EA does not reveal the number. Instead, the EA goes on and on about the historical numbers and removals. Not even a “ballpark” figure is listed for how many horses BLM would remove initially, some sources have mentioned “over 500.”

BLM further plans to forcibly inject all of those few mares it plans to allow back into the HMA with PZP-22, the long-acting version of the pesticide. PZP is known to sterilize after as few as three injections in mares, or after just one shot in fillies that have not yet reached puberty. And the EA states that BLM plans to administer PZP treatments to yearling fillies.

http://dataspace.princeton.edu/jspui/handle/88435/dsp01vt150j42p
Baseless and Biased Assumptions

A review of BLM’s data — its assumptions, claims, population-estimates, gather-data, and PZP-inoculations — for the Sulphur herd disclosed

Grossly-exaggerated estimates,
Failure to adjust for PZP’s contraceptive impact,
Failure to factor in wild-horse deaths on the range from natural causes,
Ignorance of the new study that found the effective birth-rate averages 10 percent,
Ignorance of the new data showing “hands-off” management results in 5-to-8 percent growth,
Failure to include studies — both old and new — that reveal PZP’s damaging impacts, and
FRAUDULENT POPULATION ESTIMATES
Birth Rate versus Herd-Growth Rate

Before we examine BLM’s reported herd-growth rates of this HMA, it is important to understand the difference between the birth rate and the herd-growth rate. The birth-rate is not the same as — and should not be equated to — the population growth-rate. BLM claims an average birth rate in wild-horse herds of about 20% a year. But herd-growth is unlikely to reach 20 percent a year. Here’s why: Horses die.

An independent study reviewed BLM roundup-records for a representative sample of four herd management areas and a robust sample-size of 5,859 wild horses (Gregg, LeBlanc, and Johnston, 2014). While the researchers found an overall birth rate of just under 20 percent, they also found that half of foals perish in their first year of life. Thus, the effective foal-to-yearling survival rate is just 10 percent. Cedar City’s claim that 95% of the Sulphur foals survive is not credible. It is just self-serving for administrative convenience in equating the birth rate to the growth rate. That wrong assumption has been disproved. Moreover, I note that the 2013 inventory counted 25 foals born out of season. That anomaly was likely due to the PZP treatments, which research by Ransom et al. (2013) disclosed.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23383018

However, CCFO failed to include that study as a reference; and although it did cite another Ransom et al. study (2010), it was not included in the EA’s “References” section either.

Births outside the normal parturition-pulse put the survival of both the mares and foals at risk.
Adult Wild-Horse Mortality Rate Must Be Factored

But it is not only foals that die. Adult wild horses also perish. They succumb to illness, injury, and predation. Indeed, the EA claims that 8 horses were found dead in 2015. The adult death rate must be taken into consideration. Adult mortality is at least as high as the 5% a year for horses that die in short-term holding, where they are fed, watered, and provided care.

Given the 50% foal mortality-rate, and the 5%-or-higher average annual death rate of adult wild horses on the range, herd growth could not increase 20% a year, and a herd-population could not double in 4 years — refuting yet another BLM myth. But BLM ignores mortality — foal and adult — in its population-estimates, which exaggerates the numbers it posts.
The Herd-Growth Rate Must Necessarily Be Lower Than the Birth Rate

In light of the high foal-mortality rate and the expected adult wild-horse mortality rate, the herd-growth rate must always be lower than the average 20% birth rate. However, herd-growth rates many times higher than 20% — which would necessarily mean birth rates substantially higher still — are routinely found in BLM’s population data, including the year-to-year figures for Sulphur HMA and other HMAs under Cedar City Field Office’s jurisdiction. Stealthily inserting bogus birth-rates into the data, wrongly conflating birth-rates with population growth-rates, and failing to factor in mortality-rates — that is one of the ways BLM creates the false impression of a population-explosion.
Stochastic Events Also Reduce Herd Growth

BLM also fails to consider another factor limiting herd growth — stochastic events — which are random catastrophes such as wildfires or contagious diseases or pesticide treatments that suddenly wipe out mass-numbers of herd-members. Stochastic events can result in no-growth or even negative growth.

There was such an event recently in Kazakhstan, where 120,000 endangered Saiga antelope — half the world’s population — died off suddenly and inexplicably.

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-saiga-antelope-die-off-20150531-story.html

Imagine if such a catastrophe were to befall the Sulphur herd. Note that the Saiga deaths involved antelope-mothers and their calves. What if Sulphur’s few fertile mares and their foals perished all of a sudden, leaving mainly stallions and sterile old mares? BLM must proactively manage the herd per IUCN International Union for the Conservation of Nature guidelines, if only in case of stochastic events.
Maximum AML Set Below Minimum Viable Population

But “cooking the books” is not the only way BLM falsifies the population-picture. Another ruse BLM employs is restricting maximum herd-size below minimum-viable population (MVP) size. Then, whenever a herd is made to appear — via fictitious figures — to exceed the arbitrary management level, BLM screams “excess!” and declares an immediate need for mass-removals and sterilizations. It should be noted that more than 70 percent of the herds are “managed” below MVP, including Sulphur. What is the MVP? According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature: 2500, a number which could easily be accommodated by the 265,675 acres of the Sulphur HMA.
Phony Population-Estimates

According to BLM’s 2013 population-estimate, the Sulphur herd was reported to have had 384 members. The corresponding estimate for 2014 showed 718 horses.

http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/whbprogram/herd_management/Data.html

Let’s do the math.

718 in 2014
– 384 in 2013
——-
334 — an 87-percent increase (334 ÷ 384 = 87%).

This is improbable. Even if 87% were only the birth rate, it would be 335% higher than the 20% birth rate that BLM claims as average and which the independent study by Gregg et al. confirmed. Surely, herd growth — births minus deaths — could not be that high.

BLM attributes the impossibly-high estimate to “improved inventory methods.” But as has been pointed out to BLM previously, the “mark-resight” method, conducted by helicopter, appears to overcount the population. Indeed, as the report by the specialty-contractor who conducted the Red Desert Complex (Wyoming) census emphasized, there are assumptions and caveats that must be considered when evaluating the numbers, including the potential for having double-counted due to “horse activity (moving).” The method itself exaggerates the numbers.

http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/info/NEPA/documents/rfo/red-desert.html
Population and Gather Reports — The Data

Discrepancies were evident per a review of the …

HMA and HA Statistics reports for the Sulphur herd from 2008-2015,
Completed Gathers reports from 2009-2014, and the
Population-figure referenced in CCFO’s News-Release for 2015’s public-safety gather,
Sulphur HMA — Utah — Herd Population Changes — 2008 to 2016

The following chart merges the yearly population-estimates with the gather and contraceptive data to reveal how the numbers were calculated and where errors were made initially, which caused them to compound. The beginning-of-the-year figure for 2015 — the pre-gather estimate — was per the BLM’s pre-safety-gather News Release.

Max Beginning
Year AML Estimate R-up Done Foal-Crop and Other Figures, Estimates
2008 250 435 + 87 BLM estimated foal-crop @ 20%.
Falsely equated it to the herd-growth rate.
November 522 Pre-gather estimate = 435+87
362 Rounded up
333 Removed
29 Released
160 Assumed to have evaded capture
1 Tacked on
——
190 Post-gather estimate = 29+160+1
2009 190 + 40 BLM estimated foal-crop @ 21%
Falsely equated it to the herd-growth rate.
230 End-of-year estimate = 190+40
2010 230 + 67 BLM estimated foal-crop @ 29%
Falsely equated it to the herd-growth rate.
December 297 Pre-gather estimate = 230+67
250 Planned to gather
90 Rounded up — 36% of plan
30 Removed
38 Mares vaccinated with PZP
22 Other horses also released
207 Assumed: evaded capture
—–
267 Post-gather estimate = 38+22+207

2011 267 + 53 BLM estimated foal-crop @ 20%
Falsely equated it to the herd-growth rate.
PZP would not have affected mares
—– already pregnant when inoculated.
320 End-of-year estimate = 267+53
2012 320 + 64 BLM estimated foal-crop @ 20%
Falsely equated it to the herd-growth rate.
But that birth-rate estimate was wrong.
PZP was at maximum effect and
—– would have reduced the foal-crop.
384 End-of-year estimate = 320+64

2013 384 +334 BLM estimated foal-crop @ 87%
Falsely equated it to the herd-growth rate.
Not only implausible generally, but
PZP was still exerting contraceptive
—– effect, would have reduced foal-crop.
718 End-of-year estimate = 384+334
2014 718 +144 BLM estimated foal-crop @ 20%
thus compounding earlier errors.
Falsely equated it to the herd-growth rate.
August 36 Rounded up — “outside”
30 Removed
6 Released
826 Assumed: Still present in HMA
– 2 Subtracted
—–
830 End-of-year estimate = 718+144-30-2
2015 830 Public health and safety excuse used
to justify removing 100 wild horses
without an EA.
February – 101 Number removed — plus 2 horses
said to be “domestic.”
The subject EA states: “Currently there are
approximately 200 head of wild horses that
are within 6 miles of Highway 21. These
horses are continually on the highway in search
of space, forage and water.” EA pdf-page 28
My comments: So, 200 took the place of the
100? Implausible. Wild horses roam. It’s their
nature. That’s why a safety-fence is needed.
—–
729 Adjusted population estimate
2015a 729 146 If BLM estimates foal-crop @ 20%
and falsely equates it to the herd-growth rate.
– 8 Deaths
—–
867 End-of-year estimate = 729+146-8
2016 867 173 If BLM estimates foal-crop @ 20%
and falsely equates it to the herd-growth rate.
—–
1040 Possible pre-gather estimate = 867+173
The discrepancies identified herein cast doubt on the validity of the population-estimates. These errors must be reconciled before any decisions regarding removal-actions are considered.
Not the First Time Population-Estimates Were Found to Be Flawed

In May 2014, I submitted comments regarding the environmental assessment for Bible Spring Complex, which is also under BLM-Cedar City’s jurisdiction. For the three HMAs and the one HA that compose the Complex, major discrepancies were disclosed — one-year growth-rate-estimates of …

125 %
131 %
153 %
157 %
249 %

Thus, the errors uncovered with regard to BLM’s population-estimates for the Sulphur HMA are not isolated instances. Together with those revealed for the Bible Spring Complex, these disparities point to a systemic problem.

Recommendations: BLM needs to correct its mathematical errors and acknowledge those mistakes to the public. Elected officials, local permittees, and ordinary taxpayers need to know that the population-estimates previously announced for the Sulphur HMA were wrong. BLM must take responsibility and inform the public that it portrayed an incorrect picture — an exaggerated picture — of the herd’s population.

Recommendations: Stop the inflammatory rhetoric. For example, the EA warns, ominously: “If horse populations were allowed to continue to double or triple throughout the HMA, wild horses would utilize all of the available AUM’s allocated for other resources.” EA pdf-page 27 Scare tactics have no place in a legitimate EA. Stop the nonsense.
Societal Impact of Inflated Population-Data

The population-estimates for the Sulphur HMA are flawed, exaggerated. The political fallout of this error has been to keep the public — particularly local elected officials and permittees — in an uproar over a false “overpopulation” that BLM’s faulty figures portray.

BLM needs to correct these errors and, more importantly, acknowledge them to the public. You must stop this phony-story-gone-viral of a wild-horse population-explosion in Utah.
County Commissions Pass Resolutions, but Commissioner Goes to Jail

The EA cited the resolutions that local county commissions have reportedly passed, demanding that BLM reduce the herd to AML. However, one of the ringleader-commissioners, Phil Lyman, was recently sentenced to jail after having been convicted of conspiring to operate off-road vehicles on public lands closed to off-road vehicles, and operation of off-road vehicles on public lands closed to off-road vehicles. He and a co-conspirator must pay their share of $96,000 in damage caused and serve 3 years probation.

Federal prosecutor Jared Bennett asked the judge to sentence Lyman to a “limited but reasonable” prison term to promote respect for the law and to deter others from committing the crime. Lyman knew the ride was illegal and he used his political office to recruit others to participate, he said.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865643995/Judge-sentences-San-Juan-Commissioner-Phil-Lyman-to-10-days-jail-3-years-of-probation.html?pg=all
Bogus Data Inflames Local Ranchers and Costs Wild Horses Their Freedom

The EA states that there have been requests over the past two years from land owners adjacent to the Sulphur HMA for removal of wild horses. These requests most surely came from renegade ranchers, such as LaVoy Finicum of Arizona who, inspired by Cliven Bundy, has gone public with his refusal to recognize BLM’s authority, to pay his grazing fees, and to comply with season-of-use. In Nevada, in addition to Cliven Bundy, Kevin Borba and Dan Filippini blatantly defied BLM’s authority; yet they too were pacified with concessions. BLM enables and rewards such bad behavior by caving in to it. There are likely permittees in Utah emulating Bundy, Borba, Filippini, and Finicum.

http://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2015/11/01/mgk-finicum-blm-dispute-bundy/#.VjeBkW7ko1c

The EA’s proposed removals of wild horses and pesticide-treatments on the few allowed to remain appear designed to placate the seditious elected officials and their rogue-rancher constituents, who are making a play for taking over the Federal lands in Utah. However, the wild horses must not lose their freedom merely so that BLM can kowtow to rebellious elements in the human population. If you “come clean” and admit your errors, it will tend to deflate the “head-of-steam” that the officials and ranchers are building due to the false appearance created by fictitious figures on herd-growth.
Bundy Brothera and Finicum Lead Armed Takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge

Ammon and Ryan Bundy, along with LaVoy Finicum are the “spokesmen” who have commandeered the Malheur Wildlife Refuge. Armed for battle, they continue, as of this writing, to occupy. Using Federal vehicles and machinery, they tore down a fence built to keep trespass-livestock out. They come and go as they please, even soliciting snacks and coffee creamer (French Vanilla) from supporters. The situation is out of control. BLM and FBI appear to be kowtowing to the rebels.

Here are excerpts from a news report:

The militants occupying the Refuge asked Harney County ranchers to tear up their leases with the Bureau of Land Management and stop paying the federal government to graze cattle on public land.

“I’ve done it. Cliven Bundy’s done it,” said LaVoy Finicum, an Arizona rancher and the militants’ defacto spokesman. “Now is the day. Now is the time. Are you going to wait for tomorrow? For next week? Next month? Next year? When? When will you stand up if not now?”

Finicum invited the ranchers to cancel their leases with the BLM at a ceremony before the media at the refuge on Saturday. He said two ranchers, one from New Mexico and another from Harney County, are scheduled to void their contracts publicly.

Ryan Bundy went on to emphasize his view that breaking away from the federal government means ranchers wouldn’t have to follow federal laws, like the Endangered Species Act.

LaVoy and the Bundys also acknowledged their proposition is risky. They said any rancher who joined them would get protection from the armed militants ….

http://www.opb.org/news/article/ammon-bundy-oregon-grazing-blm-finicum-crane/
QUESTIONABLE CAWP, FALSE REASSURANCES
CAWP Condones Abuse

The Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program (CAWP) for rounding up wild horses has farcical features. For example, hitting, kicking, striking, and beating a wild horse “in an abusive manner” is prohibited. The guidelines do not define at what point such mistreatment would be deemed “abusive” and, at any rate, there are no consequences identified for violating the prohibition.

Another example: The roundup–helicopter–the CAWP okays the use of helicopters — is not allowed to hit a wild horse. (There is plenty of video-footage showing that such ramming occurs.) If the helicopter hits a wild horse, what to do? The CAWP says: Document it! Again, there are no penalties for such abuse.

Yet another example: The helicopter-pilot must not drive wild horses to the point of exhaustion. The attending veterinarian–if there is one (the CAWP requires one be present but the EA says there “may” be one)–must “check for signs of exhaustion.” And …? And, nothing. Just check. No penalties.

One more example: The CAWP allows electric prods to be used on the horses “no more than three times during a procedure … except in extreme cases with approval ….” Who’s counting? Who is able to supervise properly in the chaotic conditions of a wild-horse roundup? Hotshots are abusive and should never be used. Ever.
BLM Lies about Impact of Abusive Roundup

The EA’s standard wording disinforms the reader that virtually all negative impacts of roundups disappear within hours to several days of when wild horses are released back into the HMA. That is false. Please refer to the report linked below. I recommend BLM add it to the “References” section after studying it and reforming your methods accordingly.

http://thecloudfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/bruce-nock-report-final.pdf
BLM Fails to Address Results of Helicopter Hearing

The EA states:

As required by regulation [43 CFR 4740.1(b)], a public hearing was held in Price, Utah on December 8, 2015 and will be held in subsequent years to discuss the use of helicopters and motorized vehicles in the management of Utah BLM’s wild horses and burros. … Comments received from the Preliminary Environmental Assessment (EA) and at those public meetings will be considered and, if applicable, will be addressed in management actions, NEPA documents, and decision documents using the most current direction from the National Wild Horse and Burro Program. EA pdf-page 44

I submitted detailed, substantive comments for the hearing. By now, BLM should have acted upon them and made reforms.
BLM Lies about Foal Weaning

In more standard wording, the EA states: “Nearly all foals that would be gathered would be over four months of age and some would be ready for weaning from their mothers. In private industry, domestic horses are normally weaned between four and six months of age.” EA pdf-page 37

Please note that in “private industry,” foals receive special feed and supplements, and they would be sheltered from the elements. In the wild, foals nurse for many months longer than in domestic settings, where the profit-motive leads breeders to wean early — a traumatic event for both foals and their dams.
Increased Foaling Rates?

BLM claims to need to reduce the wild-horse population. Yet the EA states: “Achieving the AML and improving the overall health and fitness of wild horses could also increase foaling and foaling survival rates over the current conditions.” EA pdf-page 36 This is an example of BLM’s eagerness to justify the unjustifiable. But in so doing, BLM belies its own contentions.
BLM Lies about Population Growth

In looking for every reason not to adopt any alternative but the proposed one, BLM insists repeatedly that unless mass-removals and PZP treatments are conducted, “… wild horse populations may increase at a faster rate and exceed the high end of the AML ….” EA pdf-page 38 However, that contradicts the WinEquus population-projections, which show a higher median-trial population for the proposed action.
BLM Lies about PZP Safety

The EA claims PZP injections would not affect unborn foals. That is false.

Sacco et al. reported that, per radioimmunoassay, PZP antibodies are transferred from mother to young via the placenta and milk. The transferred antibodies cross-react with and bind to the zonae pellucidae of female offspring, as demonstrated by immunofluorescent techniques. These findings were disclosed in 1981. Yet, PZP is regularly administered to pregnant and lactating mares, who transfer the destructive antibodies to their fetus, via the placenta, and to their foal, via mother’s milk.

If mares are injected with PZP while pregnant or nursing, these fillies will already have PZP antibodies cross-reacted with and bound to their zonae. Therefore, when such fillies are injected as yearlings, it will be their second treatment, or potentially even their third. In fact, they could already have been sterilized in utero or while nursing.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7328557
BLM Lies about Gender Ratio

The EA warns that gender-ratios could become lopsided if the proposed action were not taken: “Near normal populations exhibit a 1:1 sex ratio. Population shifts favoring males could occur as males are better adapted to compete for resources during changing environmental conditions.” EA pdf-page 41

But BLM also advises that, for the WinEquus population-modeling trials, one of the assumptions employed was: “Sex ratio at birth: 58% males.” EA pdf-page 90 Further, I note that following the 2008 gather, 12 females and 17 males were returned to the range, giving males a 59:41 percent advantage to the males. Finally, bachelor-stallions are more successful in escaping from helicopter-roundups. They have no mares and foals to protect. So, the roundup-method itself creates a post-gather herd skewed to more males than females.
BLM Uses Obsolete Range Assessment Technique

The EA states that the “Key Forage” method was used to evaluate range-conditions. The full title of that approach is the “Key Forage Plant” (KFP) method. However, KFP is obsolete, having been replaced by the Landscape Appearance method as far back as 1996. Moreover, per Technical Reference 1734-7, Ecological Site Inventory, such qualitative assessments “may result in reduced accuracy, limiting use of the data.” If for only this reason, I cannot rely on the EA’s representations regarding conditions in the Sulphur HMA.
BLM Lies about Year-Round Wild-Horse Presence

The EA states that wild horses do more damage because they are present year-round as opposed to livestock, which supposedly are not. However, inspection of the Active-Use chart EA pdf-page 20 reveals that nearly 49% of the livestock allotments are used year-round, and 67% are used 8-to-12 months. Further, actual-use is whatever the permit-holders self-report. Going back to the rogue ranchers in open rebellion against BLM, it is likely that real use is much higher than “actual.”
BLM Hauls Water but Fails to Install Guzzlers

BLM states that water is the limiting factor for wild-horse populations, and claims to have hauled 160,000 galllons of water into the HMA last summer for the wild horses. EA pdf-page 20 What this points to is the need for guzzlers — trick-tanks — to capture and store whatever precipitation there is.
BLM Falsely Blames Wild Horses for Damage to Riparian Areas

In its zeal to condemn the wild horses, BLM lumps wild horses in with livestock as responsible for damage to riparian areas. Yet, the EA also notes that it “is not the nature of wild horses to rest exceedingly at water sources.” EA pdf-page 53 Stop the false accusations. Your bias is showing.
BLM Plans to Use Barbed Wire for Safety Fence

Horses and barbed wire do not mix. Yet, the EA states that barbed wire will be used for the fence along Highway 21. That is not good enough. You need to use appropriate materials that pose less risk of injuring the horses.

Here are some links to information on the various types of fences and their price-ranges. Note: I have no connection whatsoever with any of these groups.

http://horseandrider.com/article/field-guide-to-horse-fences-13317

http://www.progressivecattle.com/topics/facilities-equipment/4793-building-fence-a-yearly-job-on-every-ranch

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/livestock/html/b1-75.html

http://www.rammfence.com/fence/coated-wire-fence/coated-wire-fence-rolls/high-impact-raceline-coated-wire.html
BLM Notes Interior Fences Block Wild Horses

The EA admits, without further explanation: “Construction of fences within Sulphur HMA boundaries could inhibit the free-roaming nature of wild horses.” EA pdf-page 42 It is time to remove interior fences, not to install more. This matter needs to be resolved.
Finally, Some Truth-Telling

It was refreshing to encounter at least some truthfulness in the EA:

At the turn of the century, large herds of livestock grazed on unreserved public domain in uncontrolled open range. Eventually, the range was stocked beyond its capacity, causing changes in plant, soil and water relationships. Some speculate that the changes were permanent and irreversible, turning plant communities from grass and herbaceous species to brush and trees. EA pdf-page 43

BLM needs to stick to the facts and cease blaming wild horses for what livestock already did.
——————————————-

Please consider these substantive comments and new information — new to BLM — and make the necessary course-corrections and reforms.
Sincerely,

Marybeth Devlin





ALERT: A new Fort McDermitt roundup proposed

Fallon auction

Dear Friends of Wild Horses & Burros,

I want to give you a heads up that another brutal Fort McDermitt roundup is being planned for late summer or early fall 2015 in Nevada. Due to our successful 2013 lawsuit, the United States Forest Service is seeking public comment due March 23, 2015, in accordance with the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), on the proposal to remove unauthorized tribal horses. Please send in your comments.

Here is their announcement: http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/htnf/news-events/?cid=STELPRD3830223 Here is the the public scoping notice for detailed information: http://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=44432 The link to make your comments online is here: https://cara.ecosystem-management.org/Public//CommentInput?Project=44432 Remember comments are due by March 23rd.

How will the Nevada brand inspectors identify unbranded federally protected wild horses who have migrated off the neighboring Little Owyhee herd management area? This is of great concern to the public at large.

Despite many wild horses being rescued in the mad scramble of 2013 too many truckloads went to slaughter. Horse advocates won’t tolerate the kill-buyer parking lot rip-offs any more. Those Facebook ransom pages won’t be supported this time around either. It’s time for the community to come together with advance planning.

We’d like to work with the tribe to ensure the Fort McDermitt horses don’t end up getting slaughtered for human consumption abroad. It would be a tragedy for these nice horses to end up eaten in foreign countries when they can make nice riding ponies and therapy horses. Those who wouldn’t be a good match for working with people could be distributed to Eco-sanctuaries. People around the world want to experience the Old West and native wild horses hold that allure.

The Forest Service is ignoring the ecological benefits of free-roaming horses on public land. Wild horses reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires and help reverse desertification. Despite new methods of holistic land management, the feds continue to scapegoat wild horses for range and riparian damage caused mostly by cows and sheep.

We stopped the ongoing brutal roundups at Fort McDermitt from Sept 2013 until now based on the feds’ NEPA violation. Protect Mustangs and Citizens Against Equine Slaughter sued over the agreement that called for years of cruel roundups. At least now we have advance notice of the proposed roundup. Please contact us via email if you want to help. Our email is Contact@ProtectMustangs.org

Though the USFS didn’t participate in the Fort McDermitt roundup, the USFS-McDermitt agreement was left on the table. Our lawsuit was about their failure to conduct NEPA. Protect Mustangs and Citizens Against Equine Slaughter got the illegal agreement scrubbed out on Sept. 3, 2013, after the roundup cases filed by other groups had been lost/dismissed in mid-August. To ensure transparency of future roundups we requested the United States Forest Service conduct NEPA and give notice if they should roundup Fort McDermitt wild horses again. Now they are doing it.

We did not sue the Fallon Auction Yard. That issue is discussed in the pro-slaughter biased article in RANGE magazine here: http://www.rangemagazine.com/features/spring-14/range-sp14-horse_hoarders.pdf

In accordance with our settlement agreement, Protect Mustangs received notification of another Fort McDermitt roundup and we are sharing the news with you so you can take action.

Here are some links to source information:

2013: Two different Fort McDermitt lawsuits for two different issues: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=5242

September 30,2013 Horsetalk, New Zealand Roundup agreement canned following legal challenge http://horsetalk.co.nz/2013/09/30/roundup-agreement-canned-following-legal-challenge/#axzz2gPxqlhX1

September 28, 2013 CBS San Francisco Wild Horse Advocates’ Legal Victory Halts Roundups in NorCal Forest http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2013/09/28/wild-horse-advocates-legal-victory-halts-roundups-in-norcal-forest/#.UkhzyrcAdyU.twitter

Press Release: Legal win creates public transparency and halts 2-year roundup contract (September 26, 2013): http://protectmustangs.org/?p=5185

Protect Mustangs & Citizens Against Equine Slaughter Win Transparency for Public for Forest Service Roundups with Tribes (September 17, 2013)
Termination of roundup agreement (September 3, 2013): http://protectmustangs.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/PM-Protect-Mustangs-CAES-McDermitt-Participating-Agreement-Termination-September-3-2013.pdf

August 24, 2013 Horseback Magazine Dances with Wolves author Michael Blake joins lawsuit to stop ongoing wild horse roundups: http://horsebackmagazine.com/hb/archives/24124

Breaking News: Michael Blake joins lawsuit to stop ongoing wild horse roundups (August 24, 2013): http://protectmustangs.org/?p=5060

Citizens Against Equine Slaughter and Protect Mustangs file preliminary injunction (August 24, 2013): PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION AND MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT
Horses saved and horses lost at Native American horse auction (August 17, 2013): http://protectmustangs.org/?p=5023

Information about Fallon Livestock Auction (August 17, 2013): http://protectmustangs.org/?p=4999

Temporary Restraining Order Granted (August 16, 2013): http://protectmustangs.org/?p=4990

Judge blocks Nevada auction of unbranded horses in second opinion http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/judge-blocks-nevada-auction-unbranded-horses-second-opinion

Viral article: August 16, 2013 The Associated Press US judge refuses to block NV tribe’s mustang sale http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_23879138/us-judge-refuses-block-nv-tribes-mustang-sale

Press Release: Lawsuit filed to save wild horses from alleged slaughter (August 16, 2013): http://protectmustangs.org/?p=5001

Official request to terminate roundup agreement, request DNA testing, separate unbranded wild horses, etc. (August 15, 2013): http://protectmustangs.org/?p=4969

It’s time to join forces to save the Fort McDermitt free-roaming horses from going to slaughter. Last time we had no advance notice. Today we do. Let’s make the most of it–for the horses!

Many blessings,
Anne

Anne Novak
Executive Director
www.ProtectMustangs.org
Anne@ProtectMustangs.org

 

Public comment due March 20th for proposed Red Desert wild horse roundup

 

(Wyoming) – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Rawlins and Lander Field offices are accepting public comments prior to preparing an Environmental Assessment (EA) on a proposed wild horse gather in the Red Desert Herd Management (HMA) and surrounding area to be placed on the national schedule.

The Red Desert Complex includes the following HMAs and corresponding Appropriate Management Level (AML) ranges: Lost Creek HMA 60-82, Stewart Creek HMA 125-175, Antelope Hills HMA 60-82, Crooks Mountain HMA 65-85, and Green Mountain HMA 170-300. The proposed operation would include gathering wild horses, treating all mares to be released with PZP-22 (Porcline Zona Pellucida) fertility control vaccine, and removing horses which have moved outside the HMAs. Mares will be treated with the fertility control to slow reproduction rates, maintain population size within the AML, and to extend the time period between gather operations. Population surveys conducted in August 2013 reveal a number of wild horses have moved outside the HMAs. Those horses, as well as the foals, would be gathered and removed from the range.

Written substantive comments will be most useful if received by March 20 via fax, mail, email:RedDesertComplex_HMA_wy@blm.gov (please include “Red Desert Complex Scoping Comments” in the subject line), or hand delivery during regular business hours (7:45 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.) to:

Benjamin Smith, Wild Horse & Burro Specialist Trent Staheli, Rangeland Management Specialist

BLM Rawlins Field Office (Acting Wild Horse & Burro Specialist)

P.O. Box 2407 BLM Lander Field Office

Rawlins, Wyoming 82301 1335 Main Street

Fax: (307) 328-4224 Lander, Wyoming 82520

Fax: (307) 332-8444

For more information, visit: http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/info/NEPA/documents/rfo/red-desert.html.

–BLM

PZP advocates put wild horses at risk of sterilization after roundup

Stop the Roundups!

Protect Mustangs calls for a freeze on roundups for scientific reevaluation

Tonopah, NV (October 31, 2014)–The Battle Mountain District, Tonopah Field Office is rounding up about 120 wild horses from within the Reveille Allotment and Herd Management Area (HMA) located approximately 50 miles east of Tonopah, NV to remove alleged excess wild horses on 600,000 acres of public land.

“The BLM is wiping out America’s wild horses and taxpayers are paying for the abuse,” states Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs. “We need to stop the roundups and protect our native wild horses.”

The roundup will stampede native wild horse families by helicopter over a fragile ecosystem and possible sage grouse habitat in the Great Basin Desert. Often wild horses are injured and die in roundups. The treacherous roundup is paid for with tax dollars, and began October 30, 2014. Most herds need to be rounded up before given PZP.

After the roundup, approximately 70 wild horses will be permanently removed, 60 wild horses will be sent to holding facilities in Ridgecrest, California and about 10 horses will be offered for adoption after the roundup in Tonopah, NV on November 8. The remaining 50 wild horses will be released back into the HMA for a post roundup population of 98 wild horses, putting the survivors at risk. The minimum number for genetic variability is 150 wild horses.

Often the BLM returns wild horses with conformation defects to the range, instead of placing them in adoptive homes or long-term holding where they will not breed. Apparently the agency doesn’t realize that by returning wild horses with defects they will ruin the breeding pool. The BLM claims mares selected to maintain herd characteristics will be released back to the HMA. The public must watchdog the agency to ensure wild horses with defects are pulled from the breeding pool and rehomed. Euthanizing them is not an option supported by the American public.

The informed public is outraged over an EPA approved restricted use pesticide called PZP, made from pigs ovaries, to be used on native wild horses. PZP advocates campaign rigorously to treat mares with the Porcine Zona Pellucidae (PZP-22) in order to temporarily sterilize mares. PZP advocates hail the use of PZP in spite of the fact that wild horses are underpopulated on millions of acres of public land.

Experimental research on ovary damage in mares given the immunocontraceptive PZP is used to hone the drug for eventual human use. This could be where the “follow the money” piece fits in. Wild horse advocates are furious America’s herds are being used as lab rats. Science has proven the drug sterilizes wild horses after multiple use. PZP advocates are pushing for BLM to manage wild horses “in the wild” using these risky drugs.

The devastation of wild horses in the Reveille Allotment appears to be subject to a 1987 District Court Order and two orders issued by the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) in 2001 and 2002, requiring BLM conduct an annual inventory of wild horses in the Reveille Allotment and initiate a roundup to remove alleged excess native horses from the Allotment when the inventory shows that population numbers exceed the out of date Appropriate Management Level (AML) of 138 horses.

Current AML does not represent healthy herd populations and lacks scientific merit. AML must be updated to ensure healthy herds remain on public land. The herd census must never fall below 150 wild horses to maintain genetic variability.

The current estimated population, based on previous inventory flights is 168 wild horses, according to BLM. This is the low end of the genetic viability scale. The orders need to be challenged based on scientific reevaluation of wild horses benefiting the ecosystem as a native species, livestock causing range damage and the minimum number of wild horses needed for genetic variability.

“We must ensure native wild horses can survive upcoming environmental changes,” states Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs. “The minimum population for a genetically variable herd is 150. Why are PZP advocates and the BLM allowing wild horse herds to fall below safe numbers?”

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 advocates lobbied NAS to have fertility control recommended even though the herds are underpopulated.

Roundup activities within the Reveille HMA were analyzed in the 2010 Reveille HMA Wild Horse Gather Plan and Environmental Assessment (EA) and the 2014 Reveille Wild Horse Gather Determination of NEPA Adequacy (DNA). The EA, DNA, and Decision Record can be accessed on the Reveille Wild Horse Gather website: http://on.doi.gov/10qLBlh.

Members of the public are encouraged to witness the helicopter stampede and document America’s icons losing their freedom to spread awareness that cruel roundups must stop. Observation protocols and visitor information are available at http://on.doi.gov/1xAMeTp. The BLM will post updates, photos and other information about the roundup on the Reveille website and on the hotline at 775-861-6700 throughout the course of the roundup.

The BLM is wiping out wild horses for the extractive industry and New Energy Frontier in the West. The agency 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 focuses on their mandate of multiple-use and sustained yield. In Fiscal Year 2013, the BLM generated $4.7 billion in receipts from public lands.

BLM’s roundups disturb the thriving natural ecological balance by disturbing habitat dynamics. This crime against nature causes abnormally high birthrate and puts native wild horses at risk of inbreeding.

“We are calling for an immediate freeze on roundups and removals for scientific reevaluation,” states Novak. “Right now native wild horses are at risk of being ruined by bad policy.”

Protect Mustangs is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of native and wild horses. The group is against using PZP in the wild. Today most wild herds are threatened with low numbers and a lack of genetic variability. Using PZP in a sanctuary setting where acreage is limited is a different situation. Wild horses must not be managed in the wild as if they were a zoo exhibit.

# # #

Links of interest™:

Info on PZP sterilizing mares: The Effects of Porcine Zona Pellucida Immunocontraception on Health and Behavior of Feral Horses (Equus caballus), Princeton http://dataspace.princeton.edu/jspui/handle/88435/dsp01vt150j42p

Princeton study on the pros and cons of adoption and immunocontraception: http://www.equinewelfarealliance.org/uploads/IEC.Rubenstein.pdf Not sure about EWA’s position on PZP now they might have embraced it like some others have.

Jamie Jackson’s piece on PZP: http://protectmustangs.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/PM-Jamie-Jackson-Using_Science_to_Improve_the_BLM_Wild_Horse_and_Burro_Program.pdf

Management of Wild Horses with Porcinezona Pellucida Pellucide: History, Consequences and Future Strategies, Cassandra M.V. Nuñez, Princeton: http://bit.ly/1rJywKl

Restricted use pesticide info: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/pending/fs_PC-176603_01-de info: Jan-12.pdf

Injection-Site Reactions in Wild Horses (Equus caballus) Receiving an Immunocontraceptive Vaccine, By James E. Roelle and Jason I. Ransom, http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2009/5038/

Pilot project to treat wild horses in Fish Springs communityhttp://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/info/newsroom/2014/april/blm_approves_pilot.html

and http://www.wildhorsepreservation.org/media/pzp-pilot-project-treat-wild-horses-fish-springs-community

BLM Nevada Advisory Council Endorses Fertility Control Plan (Oct. 20, 2014) http://www.returntofreedom.org/blm-nevada-advisory-council-endorses-fertility-control-plan-october20-2014/

BLM partners with The Cloud Foundation in the Pryorshttp://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/mt/main_story.Par.31432.File.dat/TopStoryHorse.pdf

Why end natural selection in the Pryors? http://protectmustangs.org/?p=4941

Are wild horses at risk of being sterilized due to an advocacy campaign? http://protectmustangs.org/?p=6356

Ecologist Craig Downer speaks out against using PZP in the Pryorshttp://protectmustangs.org/?p=4178

Horse contraceptive study raises concerns  Horsetalk, NZ: http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/news/2010/10/220.shtml#ixzz3Hti8ioCv

Appeal to stop the wild horse wipe outhttp://protectmustangs.org/?p=6527

The Horse and Burro as Positively Contributing Returned Natives in North America by Craig Downer PhD candidate: http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/journal/paperinfo.aspx?journalid=118&doi=10.11648/j.ajls.20140201.12

Wild Horse Conspiracy by Craig Downer:  www.amazon.com/dp/1461068983

Conformation defectshttp://www.thehorse.com/articles/10115/conformation-in-horses

Genetic viabilityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_viability

Genetic variabilityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_variability

J. Kirkpatrick team get $100K for wild horse fertility control drug PZPhttp://tuesdayshorse.wordpress.com/2012/04/17/jay-kirkpatrick-team-get-100k-for-wild-horse-fertility-control-drug-pzp/

Making PZP at The Science and Conservation Centerhttp://www.sccpzp.org

Native wild horseshttp://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=562

Petition for shelter and shade for captive wild horses and burroshttp://www.change.org/p/bring-emergency-shelter-and-shade-to-captive-wild-horses-and-burros

Petition for 10 year moratorium on wild horse roundups for recovery and studieshttps://www.change.org/p/sally-jewell-urgent-grant-a-10-year-moratorium-on-wild-horse-roundups-for-recovery-and-studies

Petition to defund and stop the wild horse roundupshttp://www.change.org/p/defund-and-stop-the-wild-horse-burro-roundups

Join the Walking Billboard Campaign to STOP THE ROUNDUPS in Nevadahttps://www.booster.com/protect-mustangs-nevada

Sample of viral news clippings: https://newsle.com/AnneNovak

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

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

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProtectMustangs

www.ProtectMustangs.org

BLM Resource Advisory Council Meeting to be Broadcast on Web

Cows in Nevada (Photo © Anne Novak)

Cows in Nevada (Photo © Anne Novak)

From a BLM press release:

Reno, Nev.— The joint meeting of the Nevada Bureau of Land Management’s three Resource Advisory Councils (RACs) will be broadcast over the web on February 6 and 7 at http://www.blm.gov/live/.

The meeting is being held at the High Desert Inn, 3015 Idaho Street, Elko, NV. A public comment period is scheduled for Feb. 6 from 4 to 4:30 p.m. Written comments can also be submitted to RAC Coordinator Chris Rose at crose@blm.gov or by mail at: RAC Comments, Attn: Chris Rose, 1340 Financial Blvd., Reno, NV 89502.

The agenda and additional information will be posted at http://on.doi.gov/1bkJm1g. Individuals who plan to attend and need further information about the meeting or need special assistance such as sign language interpretation or other reasonable accommodations may also contact Chris Rose.

The Sierra Front-Northwestern Great Basin RAC, the Northeastern Great Basin RAC, and the Mojave-Southern Great Basin RAC each have 15-members that represent a variety of public land interests. The Nevada RACs advise the Secretary of the Interior, through the BLM Nevada State Director, on a variety of planning and management issues associated with public land management in Nevada.

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—
RAC 2014 tri rac agenda

Legal win creates public transparency and halts 2-year roundup contract

Photo James Marvin Phelps / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

Photo James Marvin Phelps / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

For immediate release

Legal victory stops illegal USFS Gather Agreement that was sending horses into alleged kill buyers hands

RENO, NV. (September 26, 2013)–Protect Mustangs, the California nonprofit, dedicated to protecting native wild horses and Citizens Against Equine Slaughter (CAES), the Oregon nonprofit, won their lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the United States Forest Service (USFS). The groups fought for public transparency and to halt the government’s two-year roundup agreement.

The United States Forest Service and the Fort McDermitt Tribe signed a Gather Agreement on May 30, 2013, which directed taxpayer dollars and federal personnel to illegally roundup unbranded, wild, free-roaming horses on Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest lands and tribal lands until May 31, 2015.

However, as a direct result of the complaint and injunction filed by Protect Mustangs and CAES, the USDA Forest Service terminated the Gather Agreement on September 3, 2013.

The groups specifically requested the court order “the USFS and the BLM to withdraw the Notice and 2013 Horse Gather Agreement until such time as the agency demonstrates to this Court that it has adequately complied with the law.” Instead of litigating the legality of the Gather Agreement, the USFS did exactly what the two groups requested and terminated the Agreement.

“The McDermitt nightmare was the first of what could have been two solid years of heinous roundups authorized by the USFS Gather Agreement,” says Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs. “We are grateful the lawsuit resulted in the Forest Service terminating the agreement because so many horses were ending up in kill-buyers hands. Many were saved by equine welfare groups but sadly a lot of horses ended up allegedly slaughtered.”

“It’s unfortunate the first McDermitt roundup wasn’t stopped before horses were sold at auction, but we’re glad we got rid of the underlying Agreement that made the McDermitt roundups possible and authorized an undisclosed number of similar roundups until May of 2015,” explains Dr.Lester Castro Friedlander, DVM, president of Citizens Against Equine Slaughter.

Academy Award-winner and member of Protect Mustangs, Michael Blake (Dances with Wolves), stated in his declaration that he received “great inspiration watching wild horses roaming free in Nevada”. He believes if they are rounded up, removed, killed or slaughtered he would suffer harm by loosing that inspiration. Blake is pleased the two year roundup agreement was terminated.

Protect Mustangs is a nonprofit organization devoted to protecting native wild horses. Their mission is to educate the public about the indigenous wild horse, protect and research American wild horses on the range and help those who have lost their freedom.

Citizens Against Equine Slaughter is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection of America’s wild and domestic horses.

Protect Mustangs and Citizens Against Equine Slaughter were represented in this case by Jones Law Firm of Reno, Nevada and Beckett Law Office of Ashland, Oregon.

# # #

Media Contacts:

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

Jordan Beckett, 541-510-0333. jordan@roguevalleylawyer.com

Photos, interviews and video available upon request

Links of interest™:
PM Protect Mustangs CAES Win 30 Day Notice Forest Service & Ft. McDermitt USDA 17 Sept 2013
 
PM Protect Mustangs CAES McDermitt Participating Agreement Termination September 3 2013
Academy Award-winner, Michael Blake, joins lawsuit to stop ongoing wild horse roundups (August 24, 2013): http://protectmustangs.org/?p=5060
Lawsuit filed to save wild horses from alleged slaughter (August 16, 2013): http://protectmustangs.org/?p=5001
 
U.S. Judge refuses to block NV tribe’s mustang sale, The Associated
Beckett Law Office, P.C. http://www.roguevalleylawyer.com/
Wild Free Roaming Horse & Burro Act http://www.wildhorseandburro.blm.gov/92-195.htm
Link to this press release: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=5185

BREAKING NEWS: Michael Blake joins lawsuit to stop ongoing wild horse roundups

 

Michael Blake with Twelve

Michael Blake with Twelve

For immediate release

Protect Mustangs and Citizens Against Equine Slaughter file preliminary injunction Friday.

RENO, NV.  (August 24, 2013) — Academy Award Winner Michael Blake, author of Dances With Wolves, and member of Protect Mustangs, joins Citizens Against Equine Slaughter and Protect Mustangs versus The United States Forest Service, a department of the United States Department of Agriculture; Jeff Ulrich, Santa Rosa District Ranger; The United States Bureau of Land Management, a department of the United States Department of the Interior, to stop alleged illegal and continuous roundups of federally protected wild horses and burros through the duration of the agreement ending on May 31, 2015. Attorneys, Jordan Beckett, of Ashland, Oregon and Charles A. Jones, of Reno, filed a preliminary injunction friday to safeguard federally protected wild horses in the vast Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.

Blake states in his declaration he has received great inspiration, for decades, watching wild horses roaming free in Nevada. He believes that if they are rounded up, removed, killed or slaughtered, he would suffer harm by the loss of his inspiration.

Michael Blake writes in his book Twelve, The King:

“But he and hundreds of thousand like him are gone now from this beautiful land, and for that reason alone I could not stop as I traveled over four hundred miles of Nevada roads. Something evil is still afoot in this land, and it has left its imprint everywhere. In all those miles of open, free country, the mark of evil is present in what is absent. The wild horses are missing from the land.”

Blake is a long time admirer of the american wild horse. His book and acclaimed screenplay Dances with Wolves prominently features horses in the American West.

In the early ’90s he commissioned the first independent aerial survey of wild horses. They found the population on the range was much lower than the BLM’s overpopulation claim.

This summer the National Academy of Sciences announced there is no evidence to support the BLM’s rampant chant alleging overpopulation. Protect Mustangs has called for a moratorium on all roundups in order to conduct scientific population studies before using widespread fertility control. The conservation group is concerned wild horses are being managed to extinction by the BLM–the agency put in change of allegedly protecting America’s iconic wild horses.

“We filed in court to end this nightmare,” explains Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs. “We believe federally protected wild horses are at risk of going to slaughter as a result of the flawed roundups. We want this to stop now.”

“We are very thankful people have come together to save wild horses from auction but we never want to see this happen again,” says Dr.Lester Castro Friedlander, DVM, president of Citizens Against Equine Slaughter.

Esteemed wildlife biologist and author, Craig Downer, a member of Protect Mustangs, filed a compelling declaration filled with details from decades of studying the area.

“Most of the legal wild equid herds throughout the West have dangerously low populations and the ratios of wild equids to livestock/big game animals are ridiculously low,” explains Downer.  “For example, in the Spring Mountain Complex of wild horse and burro herd areas, the Las Vegas BLM District and Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest plans to allow only one wild equid per seven thousand-plus legal acres. Here big game and to a lesser extent livestock outnumber and out-consume the wild equids many times over . . . . And here most of the Spring Mountain public waters have been fenced off so that wild horses cannot access them, but game animals, such as trophy bighorn sheep, can.”

Protect Mustangs and Citizens Against Equine Slaughter are challenging the entirety of the USFS decision authorizing an undisclosed number of roundups and an undisclosed number of horses to be removed from the range over the next two years. They filed their original complaint on Friday, August 16, 2013.

“While the first roundup has already been conducted, without further legal action these unbranded, wild horses will be continuously rounded up and removed from the range, impounded, and auctioned off to the highest bidder until May 2015,” explains Jordan Beckett, attorney for Plaintiffs. “The public’s unbranded wild horses are under the jurisdiction of the USFS and the BLM. They need to be managed in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act and the Wild and Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act.”

Protect Mustangs is a California-based non-profit organization devoted to protecting native wild horses. Their mission is to educate the public about the indigenous wild horses, protect and research American wild horses on the range and help those who have lost their freedom.

Citizens Against Equine Slaughter is an Oregon-based non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of America’s wild and domestic horses.

# # #

Media Contacts:

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

Photos, interviews and  video (Preview)  available upon request

Links of interest™:

Preliminary Injunction filed Friday: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=5056

Read the complaint here: PM Complaint CAES Protect mustangs v USFS BLM

Sign the petition to Defund the Roundups: http://www.change.org/petitions/defund-and-stop-the-wild-horse-burro-roundups

 

Last week’s press release with links of interest:

 

For immediate release

Alleged violations put iconic wild horses at risk of disappearing

Coalition against slaughter and for the protection of mustangs files lawsuit

RENO, NV. (August 16, 2013)–Protect Mustangs, the California-based conservation group, dedicated to protecting native wild horses and Citizens Against Equine Slaughter(CAES), the Oregon nonprofit, have filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management and the USDA Forest Service asking for an injunction on their intent to impound unauthorized livestock in conjunction with the Fort McDermitt Tribal Council on and in the vicinity of the Humboltd-Toiyabe National Forest. The coalition hopes to prevent wild horses from loosing their protections and going to probable slaughter.

“This may be the first time that protected mustangs are being auctioned off for alleged slaughter en masse and publicly with the tacit approval & cooperation of federal officials,” explains Anne Novak, executive director for Protect Mustangs.

Right now hundreds of wild horses are being fattened up at a Fallon, Nevada auction yard for the sale because the Forest Service allegedly rounded up wild free roaming horses in violation of the 1971 Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act and in violation ofNational Environmental Protection Act (NEPA).

“Horse slaughter is cruel and inhumane and we need to stop it,” says Dr. Lester Friedlander, DVM and president of Citizens Against Equine Slaughter. “This stealth roundup is a heinous act toward our icons of liberty.”

“The U.S. Forest Service needs to comply with the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act as well as NEPA before rounding up hundreds of potentially wild horses–especially when the BLM’s nearby Owyhee gather plan doesn’t authorize this action,” states Jordan Beckett, attorney for Plaintiffs Citizens Against Equine Slaughter and Protect Mustangs.

The Judge has not ruled on the complaint filed by Protect Mustangs and Citizens against Equine Slaughter as of this moment.

Protect Mustangs is devoted to protecting native wild horses. Their mission is to educate the public about the indigenous wild horse, protect and research American wild horses on the range and help those who have lost their freedom.

Citizens Against Equine Slaughter is a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of America’s wild and domestic horses.

# # #

Media Contacts:

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

Patience O’Dowd, 505-610-7644, patience_odowd@yahoo.com

Photos, interviews and  video (Preview)  available upon request

Links of interest:

Read the complaint here: PM Complaint CAES Protect mustangs v USFS BLM

U.S. Judge refuses to block NV tribe’s mustang sale, The Associated Press,http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/08/15/3565447/us-judge-in-nv-asked-to-block.html

Protect Mustangs www.ProtectMustangs.org

Citizens Against Equine Slaughterhttp://www.noequineslaughter.org/

Beckett Law Office, P.C. http://www.roguevalleylawyer.com/

Jones Law Firm http://cjoneslawfirm.com/

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

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

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

 

PLAINTIFFS’ PRAYER FOR RELIEF

Plaintiffs respectfully request that this Court:

1. Declare that the USFS and the BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act, the Wild and Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, and their implementing regulation in implementing the Fort McDermitt Horse Gather;

2. Order the USFS and the BLM to withdraw the Notice and 2013 Horse Gather Agreement until such time as the agency demonstrates to this Court that it has adequately complied with the law, including but not limited to putting the 2013 Agreement through notice and comment procedures, ordering DNA testing to determine the origin of captured wild horses, ordering the BLM and USFS to comply with the law to determine ownership of the wild horses, and ordering the BLM and USFS return to public lands or the HMAs all seized or removed wild, free-roaming, and unbranded horses being held at Fallon Livestock Auction;

3. Enjoin the USFS, the BLM, and their agents from proceeding with the Fort McDermitt Horse Gather, or any portion thereof, unless and until the violations of federal law set forth herein have been corrected to the satisfaction of this court;

We need #Help4Horses going to alleged slaughter auction Saturday August 17th in Nevada

Protect native wild horses! © Protect Mustangs.org

Protect native wild horses! © Protect Mustangs.org

Dear Friends,

This may be the first time that protected mustangs are being auctioned off for slaughter en masse and publicly with the tacit approval & cooperation of federal officials.

Today Protect Mustangs filed a lawsuit with Citizens Against Equine Slaughter and are seeking an order immediately halting the actions of the USFS that authorized the roundup of potentially hundreds of wild horses. We named the USDA Forest Service and the BLM in the complaint. Our case focuses on violations of WFRH&B Act and NEPA. It’s not over.

Disposing of native wild horses by sending them to an alleged slaughter auction is wrong, Wild horses are an integral part of the ecosystem and belong to the American people. They don’t belong on a dinner plate in a foreign country.

471 horses are going up for sale tomorrow. 150 mare and foal pairs will be sold at the alleged slaughter auction. This is horrible. We need a miracle at this point.

We have only tonight and early Saturday morning to find a way to save these horses. All the horses need to be saved from the slaughter buyers.

If any rescues, ranches or horse people can come to Fallon, Nevada (about one hour east from Reno) Saturday with their trailers to rescue wild horses and reservation horses from probable slaughter and if they need information please have them contact Protect Mustangs by calling 415-531-8454 or Citizens Against Equine Slaughter at 570-637-3000. Coggins and health certificates are needed to enter some states from Nevada.

Many blessings,

Anne