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

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

Save the young victims of the cruel experiment!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Ask yourself if this:

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

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

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

Follow the money . . .

 

PM Water Canyon Foal 2 2015

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Links of interest:

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

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

 

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




Bison activist charged and released

Photo © Deby Dixon

 

Comfrey Jacobs Arrested After Blocking Bison Trap Road for Over Two Hours

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK: When livestock trailers arrived to Yellowstone’s Stephens Creek bison trap this morning, they found the access road closed.

Twenty-year old Comfrey Jacobs risked his physical well-being and personal freedom by blocking the access road to Yellowstone National Park’s Stephens Creek bison trap. His goal was to prevent more of America’s last wild, migratory bison — the most important bison populations in the world — from being shipped to slaughter.

Members of Buffalo Field Campaign were present to document and lend support. Video footage and photos are available upon request.

Comfrey’s action stalled transport to slaughter operations for more than two hours. Baffled for some time, Park Service employees eventually brought out a front-end loader and moved Comfrey and his blockade off of the road. The stalled livestock trailers then entered the road and headed to the trap to load wild bison for transport to slaughter. Comfrey was still locked into his concrete-filled 55-gallon barrel when three trailers, now full of America’s last wild buffalo, left.

Around 10am, a welder released Mr. Jacobs and he was then arrested and taken into custody by the Park Service. Mr. Jacobs was taken to Yellowstone’s jail in Mammoth and later released. He has been charged with disorderly conduct, breaking the Stephens Creek closure, and interfering with a government operation.

Comfrey told Buffalo Field Campaign, “I have no regrets. I accept all the consequences of my actions and hope it raises awareness on this issue.”

While Comfrey’s action may not have stopped buffalo from going to slaughter today, he was able to demonstrate strong public opposition to it, and has drawn an incredible amount of attention to the issue.

This is the first time a citizen has exercised civil disobedience at Yellowstone’s Stephens Creek bison trap.

Since February 7, approximately 450 wild buffalo have been captured in Yellowstone National Park’s Stephens Creek bison trap, located in the Gardiner Basin. Most of the buffalo have been and will be shipped to slaughter, while some are going to government research facilities. Nearly 320 bison have been shipped to slaughter and 250 more have been killed by hunters.

Yellowstone National Park initiates a 7-mile public access closure surrounding their Stephens Creek bison trap while highly controversial bison management activities are underway. Yellowstone National Park has also been uncharacteristically secretive this year: Superintendent Dan Wenk is the first Yellowstone superintendent to prevent his staff from disclosing information to the public. After Buffalo Field Campaign patrols saw the livestock trailers leave the Park, they called Yellowstone’s public information officer, who said no information would be provided until Monday.

“I have been calling Yellowstone officials on a daily basis, multiple times a day and I’m getting very frustrated with this dishonorable lack of transparency,” said a BFC spokesperson Stephany Seay. “Yellowstone officials have told us they know exactly the information we are looking for, but are unwisely choosing to make the public and the media wait.”

Wild bison are currently managed under the highly controversial state, federal and tribal Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP), which is heavily influenced by Montana’s livestock industry. American citizens and others world-wide have have largely opposed all the actions carried out under the IBMP, but concerns for the buffalo have been ignored. Under the IBMP, more than 4,650 wild bison have been senselessly killed or otherwise eliminated from these last wild populations.

The wild bison of Yellowstone are the most significant bison populations in the world, the direct descendants to the tens of millions that once thundered across North America. Wild, migratory bison are ecologically extinct throughout their historic range with fewer than 4,200 existing in and around Yellowstone. They the only bison to hold their identity as a wildlife species. North America’s largest land mammal, wild bison are a keystone species critical to the health and integrity of grasslands and prairie ecosystems.

The zero-tolerance bison politics of Montana’s livestock industry are driving the policies that are pushing these significant herds back to the brink of extinction. This is also the first year that IBMP-affiliated tribes have signed slaughter agreements with Yellowstone, and are shipping bison to tribal slaughter facilities.

“We need to attack Montana’s intolerance and the IBMP, not the buffalo,” said BFC co-founder Mike Mease.

Yellowstone and its IBMP partners have set an arbitrary population target of 3,000-3,500 bison, yet a Yellowstone bison carrying capacity study has determined that the Park can sustain upwards of 6,200 wild bison. Additionally, there are tens of thousands of acres of public lands surrounding Yellowstone that could sustain thousands more.

“I believe year-round habitat in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and Montana is the solution for wild bison population management, not genetically damaging and limiting the herds through slaughter or constant harassment and abuse through hazing operations,” Jacobs said.

“Comfrey Jacobs is a hero to a whole lot of people,” said BFC’s Executive Director Dan Brister. “He has given hope and inspiration to thousand of people who are upset by the slaughter of America’s last wild buffalo.”

More information: http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/

Contacts:
Stephany Seay, Buffalo Field Campaign, 406-646-0070 or 0071
Mike Mease, Buffalo Field Campaign, 406-640-0109

 

Photo © Deby Dixon

Photo © Deby Dixon

Citizen blocks road to Yellowstone bison trap

Foter / Public Domain Mark 1.0

Foter / Public Domain Mark 1.0

 

Citizen Sacrifices Self to Draw Attention to, and Stop Wild Bison Slaughter

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, GARDINER BASIN, MT:  This morning, Comfrey Jacobs, a twenty-year old citizen concerned for wild bison, placed life, limb and freedom on the line by blocking the access road to Yellowstone National Park’s Stephens Creek bison trap in hopes of preventing more of America’s last wild, migratory bison — the most important bison populations in the world — from being shipped to slaughter.

To date, approximately 450 wild buffalo have been captured in Yellowstone National Park’s Stephens Creek bison trap, located in the Gardiner Basin.  Most of the buffalo have been and will be shipped to slaughter, while some are going to government research facilities.  To date, more than 200 bison have been shipped to slaughter and 250 more have been killed by hunters.

Mr. Jacobs spent a number of week’s in the Gardiner Basin, where bison capture and slaughter operations and intense hunting have been taking place.

“During my time in Gardiner,” said Jacobs, “I was feeling helpless as I watched wild buffalo lured and trapped, fed hay like livestock, tortured with sorting and testing, and eventually crammed into livestock trailers headed for slaughter facilities, while simultaneously bison were being hunted just outside the Park boundary.”

Jacobs blocked the road to prevent livestock trailers from accessing the trap before more wild bison could be loaded onto trailers destined for slaughter facilities.  He handcuffed himself to a hunter orange 55-gallon barrel filled with concrete, and wire-mesh webbing spanning the entrance to the roadway, which is closed to public access.

“My goal is to stop these trailers from getting to the trap so they cannot load more bison and transport them to slaughter,” Jacobs said.  “My intent is to not unduly cause these buffalo any more stress or harm than they are currently being subjected to in the trap, and to ultimately get Yellowstone to set them free.”

This is the first time a citizen has exercised civil disobedience at Yellowstone’s Stephens Creek bison trap.  Yellowstone National Park initiates a 7-mile public access closure surrounding their Stephens Creek bison trap while highly controversial bison management activities are underway.

Jacobs state that, “Yellowstone National Park’s public access closure around the Stephens Creek facility is an obscene and blatantly unconstitutional limitation of public oversight and accountability of our government agencies during bison management actions.”

Mr. Jacobs, Buffalo Field Campaign, other organizations and media outlets have requested numerous times that Yellowstone conduct media tours of the facility, but these requests have been ignored.  Thousands of people have written and called Yellowstone urging them to cease capture and slaughter operations.  Yellowstone National Park has also been extremely secretive:  Superintendent Dan Wenk is the first Yellowstone superintendent to prevent his staff from disclosing information to the public.  Yellowstone has not issued a single press release during this year’s capture and slaughter operations, and they are refusing to tell the public how many wild bison they have captured so far, and are only giving delayed information on the number, age and sex of bison that have already been transported to slaughter.

Jacobs said he is aware of the repercussions of his actions, bur felt strongly that he needed to draw attention to what Yellowstone National Park is doing so that they are held accountable for their direct participation in bison mismanagement, which has lead to the decimation of America’s last wild bison populations.

“I have taken these drastic actions because I feel it is my civil duty as an American citizen to protect this national treasure,” Jacobs said.  “The National Park Service has neglected their duty as stewards, to respect public interests and preserve and protect the entirety of the Yellowstone ecosystem.  I’m giving up some of my freedoms in hopes of re-establishing a free-roaming heard of bufflo in their traditional habitat.”

Comfrey Jacobs’s blockade included banners with the messages “Hunters for Bison Habitat,” and “Road Closed.”  Jacobs also included a list of demands for Yellowstone National Park:
1.  The immediate halt to all current and future capture and slaughter management actions and the release of all currently captive buffalo.
2.  Yellowstone National Park’s withdrawal from the Interagency Bison Management Plan, due to its ineffectiveness in maintaining a wild, free-roaming bison population and not meeting the public’s, or the buffalo’s best interests.
3.  So long as the Stephens Creek facility continues to be used to capture, torture and ship wild bison to slaughter and research facilities, there needs to be public oversight and media access at all times, to keep the Park Service accountable for its actions.

Wild bison are currently managed under the highly controversial state, federal and tribal Interagency Bison Management Plan, which is heavily influenced by Montana’s livestock industry.  The IBMP allows for hazing (chasing) of bison out for their native Montana, a lengthy late-season harvest, and capture for slaughter and research.  American citizens and others world-wide have have largely opposed all the actions carried out under the IBMP.  IBMP-affiliated tribal partners, including the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes (CSKT), the InterTribal Buffalo Council (ITBC), and the Nez Perce tribe have signed slaughter agreements with Yellowstone.  The CKST and ITBC have been actively shipping wild bison from Yellowstone to tribal slaughter facilities.  USDA-Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service is taking wild bison from Yellowstone’s trap to research facilities to use them in experiments with the chemical pesticide birth control GonaCon.  Under the IBMP, more than 4,650 wild bison have been senselessly killed or otherwise eliminated from these last wild populations.

The wild bison of Yellowstone are the most significant bison populations in the world, the last continuously wild bison to exist in their native habitat since prehistoric times.  They are the direct descendants to the tens of millions that once thundered across North America.  Currently, wild, migratory bison are ecologically extinct throughout their historic range with fewer than 4,200 existing in and around Yellowstone and, temporarily, in Montana.  They are free of cattle genes and the only bison to hold their identity as a wildlife species.  North America’s largest land mammal, wild bison are a keystone species critical to the health and integrity of grasslands and prairie ecosystems.

The zero-tolerance bison politics of Montana’s livestock industry are driving the policies that are pushing these significant herds back to the brink of extinction.

Yellowstone and its IBMP partners have set an arbitrary population target of 3,000-3,500 bison, yet a Yellowstone bison carrying capacity study has determined that the Park can sustain upwards of 6,200 wild bison.  Additionally, there are tens of thousands of acres of public lands surrounding Yellowstone that could sustain thousands more.

“I belive year-round habitat in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and Montana is the solution for wild bison population management, not genetically damaging and limiting the herds through slaughter or constant harassment and abuse through hazing operations,” Jacobs said.

“We would like to thank Comfrey Jacobs for taking an action that our organization cannot,”  said Stephany Seay, a spokesperson for Buffalo Field Campaign.  “We have always strongly opposed the slaughter and abuse of wild buffalo and applaud non-violent civil disobedience when other means of public participation have been exhausted and ignored.  BFC shares Mr. Jacobs’ goals for wild, migratory buffalo populations that are respected and valued as native wildlife and free to roam and flourish beyond Yellowstone’s borders, in Montana, and beyond.  We hope his courageous actions inspire other patriotic Americans to stand up tor this iconic and important National Treasure.”

Video and still footage available upon request.

Buffalo Field Campaign is a non-profit public interest organization founded in 1997 to stop the slaughter of Yellowstone’s wild bison, protect the natural habitat of wild free-roaming bison and other native wildlife, and to work with people of all Nations to honor the sacredness of wild bison.  BFC has its headquarters in West Yellowstone, Montana, and is supported by volunteers and participants around the world who value America’s native wildlife and the ecosystems upon which they depend.

For more information visit Buffalo Field Campaign on the web http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org

Contacts:
Stephany Seay, Buffalo Field Campaign, 406-646-0071
Mike Mease, Buffalo Field Campaign, 406-640-0109

 

Wild horses at risk ~ Get the word out!

Wild horses exist in thriving natural ecological balance on public land ~ removals are a sham. Taxpayers are funding their management to extinction while the Bureau of Land management fails to provide the American public with an accurate head count. Inflated estimates do not justify mistreatment of our living legends of the West.

Permission given to use this photo/flyer/poster to raise awareness. Contact us if you want a jpeg.