Is the Concocted Wild Horse Crisis based on Fraud?

 

Photo by BLM in public domain

Read Marybeth Devlin’s opposition to the proposed Antelope and Triple B Roundup

Via email: blm_nv_eldowellshorsegathers@blm.gov

August 21, 2017

BLM Elko District Office
3900 Idaho Street
Elko, NV 89801

Attn: Marc Jackson, Wells Field Manager

 

Project: Antelope / Triple B Complexes

Document: Environmental Assessment ( EA )

Action: 2017 Gather Plan EA — Comments to

NEPA ID: DOI-BLM-NV-E030-2017-0010-EA

 

This letter responds to your request for substantive comments and informed analysis that BLM Elko and Ely District Offices should consider regarding the subject EA. I submit my remarks as an interested party in behalf of the wild horses of the Antelope and Triple B Complexes. BLM alleges that the herds’ respective populations exceed the arbitrary management levels (AMLs).

For ease of reference, here are the respective links to the Project Summary Webpage, where the EA and other documents are posted, and to the map of Nevada’s HMAs.

https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/eplanning/planAndProjectSite.do?methodName=renderDefaultPlanOrProjectSite&projectId=84367&dctmId=0b0003e880df2fff

Please note that, in my comments, where text has been emphasized, either through bold and/or italics, the emphasis was added by me. Also, “page-number” means “screen-page” in the EA’s online version.

 

BACKGROUND

 

The Alternatives

BLM proffers four options in the EA, with Alternative A identified as BLM’s proposed action. Although not assigned a letter, the “No Action” Alternative is listed first in the EA, and it is the correct choice.

Alternative A — Cull to low-AML; PZP or GonaCon to mares; skew genders; geld 50% of studs.
Alternative B — Cull to low-AML; PZP or GonaCon to mares; skew genders.
Alternative C — Cull to low-AML.

For both Alternatives A, B, and C, the cull would drastically reduce the component herds per falsely-estimated population-levels. Page 18 of the EA states that 6,737 wild horses would be removed immediately, with the rest of the “excess” to be culled over a period of up to 10 years.

As if the cull were not bad enough, BLM would inject all released mares with pesticides — identified as either PZP-22 or GonaCon™ or “newly developed formulations.” The genders would be skewed 60:40 to favor stallions, but 50% of stallions would be gelded.

A careful review of the facts shows that the right option is the No Action Alternative. All proposed actions are contraindicated because fraud was the basis for the finding of “overpopulation.” BLM must not be rewarded for unethical, criminal behavior.

 

Wild Horses Roam — Their Presence Is Fleeting, Their Numbers Are Fluid

Just because a survey supposedly counts a particular number of wild horses in one of the Complexes on a certain day does not mean the same number are still there. Those horses may have been merely passing through per their normal free-roaming nature. They may have left the area the day after the census was conducted. Wild horses are constantly on the move. Roaming is “how they roll.” Visitor-horses are not permanent residents, but they likely get counted as such — and counted multiple times — in a census that does not take horse-movement into consideration. I refer you to my comments regarding the survey-method are why it is unsuitable for taking inventory of wild horses.

 

Not Reproduction, but Migration

BLM assumes that the Complex herds allegedly exceed the AMLs due to reproduction, and that, therefore, culling, sterilizing, and gelding must be conducted in order to save the “thriving natural ecological balance” from imminent destruction. But the EA fails to consider migration to and from nearby HMAs — such as Diamond, Diamond Hills North, Diamond Hills South, Fish Creek, Pancake, and Whistler Mountain.

 

Over-AML ≠ Over-Populated

BLM announces its intent to reduce the Complexes wild-horse herds because their numbers are — allegedly — over AML — that is, over the arbitrary management level (AML) for each herd. However, as is discussed elsewhere in my letter, the AMLs are invalid because they do not meet the minimum-viable population (MVP) as determined by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature for wild equids.

 

PRINCIPAL USE WITHIN MULTIPLE-USE APPROACH

 

Wild-Horse Habitat Must Be Managed Principally for Wild Horses

HAs and HMAs are wild-horse habitat-zones. Wild horses must enjoy principal use of their range. This requirement is stated plainly in the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, which stipulates that their land is to be “devoted principally but not necessarily exclusively to their welfare ….” Thus, HAs and HMAs do not necessarily have to be managed exclusively for wild horses. However, HAs and HMAs must be managed principally for the welfare of our Federal horses.

On pages 32 and 34 of the EA, BLM disingenuously conflates “principal use” with “single use,” and claims to quote from a Senate Conference Report that single use was not intended. Who said it was? We are talking about principal use, not single use. Indeed, the WFRHBA was forward-looking for its time, anticipating the multiple-use concept while providing for principal use for wild-horses in their habitats.

Moreover, multiple-use does not mean every-conceivable-use. Incompatible uses should be excluded. Some examples of incompatible uses appear obvious — mining and off-road vehicles. HMAs should be designated “no surface occupancy” (NSO) areas — to preserve aesthetic and recreational values and to avoid disturbing the horses’ natural behavior. HMAs should also be declared “off-limits” to off-highway-vehicles (OHVs) — to protect the peace-and-quiet of the range and the cleanliness of the ambient air.

The Complexes are not being managed according to the Law because the wild horses are not allotted principal use of their habitat. The wild horses have been displaced by encroaching livestock.

This inversion must be righted, and BLM must employ the right mechanisms to do so. First, BLM needs to rescind this EA. Then, it must amend the Land-Use Plans (LUPs), Resource Management Plans (RMPs), Final Multiple-Use Decisions (FMUDs), and Herd Management Area Plans (HMAPs) to conform with the Law regarding principal use.

 

Disproportionate Allocation of Forage — Must Be Corrected

Of the 129,370 animal unit months (AUMs) — grazing slots — available in the Antelope Complex …

124,246 — AUMs — 96% — have been allotted to livestock

5,124 — AUMs — 4% — have been allotted to wild horses

Of the 93,070 animal unit months (AUMs) — grazing slots — available in the Triple B Complex …

87,406 — AUMs — 94% — have been allotted to livestock

5,664 — AUMs — 6% — have been allotted to wild horses

Question: What is wrong with that allocation? Answer: The allocation is inverted. By Law, wild horses must receive the majority of the grazing slots — the AUMs — within their HMAs in accordance with the legal requirement that they have principal use of their dedicated habitat.

 

Wild-Horses — Sparsely Populated, Widely Dispersed

The low-AML — 427 — restricts the wild-horse population-density in the 1,324,745 acres that constitute the Antelope Complex to …

1 wild horse per 3,102 acres — or about — 1 wild horse per 5 square miles.

The low-AML — 472 — restricts the wild-horse population-density in the 1,682,998 acres that constitute Triple B Complex to …

1 wild horse per 3,566 acres — or about — 1 wild horse per 5½ square miles.

Imagine if livestock were held to the same stocking-density. The sparse and widely-dispersed population imposed by the AML evidences bias. It also evidences violation of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act.

To grasp the enormity of the unfairness, we can see that, by converting the livestock AUMs to wild-horse equivalents, BLM allows …

Antelope Complex:

1 cow+calf pair per 128 acres — or about — 5 cow+calf pairs per 1 square mile

Triple B Complex:

1 cow+calf pair per 231 acres — or about — 3 cow+calf pairs per 1 square mile

 

Authorized v. Actual Livestock Use

BLM argues that actual livestock use is much lower than authorized or permitted use. Pages 58 through 62 feature charts that show the alleged 10-year average AUM uses by livestock in each Complex. It is curious that instead of providing recent use-figures that BLM went to the trouble of computing a 10-year average for each of the many allotments involved. What were you trying to hide?

BLM’s AUM-use charts for livestock showed 32.7% for the Antelope Complex and 46.7% for Triple B Complex. Lets assume for sake of argument that those figures are true. Then, obviously, the permittees don’t need all those authorized AUMs, and it is entirely appropriate to reassign them to whom they belong: wild horses.

But there’s more to this “use” issue. “Actual use” really means “billed use” — how many AUMs BLM billed permittees for having used. But because actual use is whatever the permit-holders self-report on Form 4130-5, and because BLM essentially takes the permit-holders’ at their word and bills accordingly … eventually … after-the-fact … maybe … or maybe not — see Bundy, Cliven — the actual-use number is unverified and likely under-reported.

 

Actual Grazing Use Report — Form 4130-5

As alluded to above, permittees are required to submit an annual report of how many livestock they put out on their respective allotments and for how long. Form 4130-5 “Actual Grazing Use Report” is used for this purpose. It’s a one-page document that BLM estimates to take 15 minutes to complete “… including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form.”

https://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/uploads/Services_National-Operations-Center_Eforms_Rangeland-Resources_4130-005.pdf

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-08-22/html/2014-20049.htm

Form 4130-5 is the basis on which BLM bills the permit-holders. It is also the basis for the claim of reduced-use. Thus, grazing-use is a self-reporting, self-certifying system that is rarely verified. The ease with which permittees could game the system is obvious. Consequently, the veracity of the AUM-usage reported on Form 4130-5 is suspect.

 

Voluntary Non-Use of AUMs Reflects Price-Declines for Beef

BLM and its permit-holders protest that a lot of the livestock AUMs are in voluntary non-use. They complain loudly, blaming the seeming excess of wild horses — an illusion caused by BLM’s phony figures — for reducing their AUM-usage.

However, if permittees are not using 100% of their AUMs, it is likely because the market for their product is weak. Here is an excerpt from the most recent Cattle Report issued by Ag Center:

Cattle Futures. Price declines continued in the cattle futures market. Early week sales of cattle at lower prices discouraged any long buyers from entering the market. August, expected by some to rise to last week’s cash price, instead rolled over and continues to lead the cash market down.

http://www.agcenter.com/newcattlereport.aspx

 

Beef-Cattle Now Weigh More, So Fewer Needed — The AUM Needs to Be Reformed

In an August 2015 article titled “Cattle Weights Continue to Increase at Impressive Rates,” AgWatch Network reported:

The federally inspected steer dressed weight for the week of 8/15/15 was 900 pounds, according to USDA. This was 25 pounds heavier than a year ago, and well on track to set a new record in 2015 above the 906 pounds seen in October of 2014.

Looking back at steer dressed weights, on an annual average basis, weights increased by 0.5% per year since 1960 (they were 656 pounds in 1960). Using that percentage increase (0.5%) works through 2013, but does not capture the increased growth rate seen in 2014 and what is estimated for 2015. Looking back, 2014 experienced a 1% growth in steer dressed weights year-over-year, and 2015 is on track to be 2% higher than 2014’s.

The article goes on to predict that, because of the increase in cattle-weight, a decrease in cattle-numbers will likely ensue. It states: ” … if these weights continue to increase at a faster pace, the industry may not restock back to the previous inventory peak levels.”

The AUM was originally predicated on 1,000 pounds of live weight. However, the above article discusses the dressed weight — which is dead weight, excluding certain parts. Per Wikipedia …

Dressed weight (also known as dead weight or carcass weight) refers to the weight of an animal after being partially butchered, removing all the internal organs and oftentimes the head as well as inedible (or less desirable) portions of the tail and legs.

The new and increasing average dead weight is fast-approaching what used to be the average live weight.

The AUM for a wild horse presumes a mustang is the equivalent of a 1,000-pound saddle horse. But mustangs tend to be smaller and lighter, weighing 700 to 900 pounds. Moreover, in contrast to cattle, wild horses are “easy-keepers” that thrive on poor-quality forage.

BLM needs to revisit and reform how it assesses forage-usage for cattle versus wild horses. Cattle need an AUM surcharge; wild horses need an AUM discount that reflects less-than-one AUM per horse, giving BLM the flexibility to place more wild horses on the range.

 

Sheep Production Continues Long Decline in the US

Not just cattle but sheep and even goats (as well as some domesticated horses) graze in the Complexes allotments. On pages 60 and 62 of the EA, BLM blames drought and “competition” with wild horses for forage causing a drop in actual-use livestock AUMs, which also include sheep. But BLM’s representation is not in accordance with the facts. Sheep-production has been in decline across the United States for decades, with herd-levels down 90% from their peak in the 1940s. [See article by Runyon in Harvest Public Media] The decline is reportedly due to a combination of factors not caused by wild horses.

Changing consumer-demand
Availability of synthetic fabrics
Competition from foreign imports
Competition from beef, chicken, pork
Scarce feed supplies for fattening
Harsh weather and drought
Price-volatility

 

Facilitation and Commensalism — Equids Enhance the Ecosystem

Some species thought to compete actually facilitate one another’s well-being. They interact positively and reduce physical stress. For instance, commensals are animals that eat “at the same table” but without competing.

BLM sees “competition” where there is really commensalism. For instance, in the EA, BLM implied that having fewer wild horses would reduce competition over not just forage but over water too. BLM alleges that wild horses drive off other creatures from watering holes. While that may happen, any such displacement lasts just minutes. Wild horses drink and leave. There is no ongoing blockade. Wild horses also expand water seeps, which is another benefit they provide.

Moreover, wild horses actually create little water-catchments. Sue McDonnell, PhD, a certified applied animal behaviorist and the founding head of the equine behavior program at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine, explains how:

“A very interesting phenomenon in horses is the “creation” of dust bowls at the rolling sites. Repeated rolling in the same spot serves to eliminate the vegetation and erodes the surface, forming a shallow bowl. With time the bowl has a very compacted base lined with fine powdery soil. The bowl also becomes “oiled” with body residues. The drier and hotter it gets in summer, the more rolling occurs, and the deeper and more compact and oiled the bowl becomes. When it rains, these dust bowls gather water and become temporary watering sites.”

Thus, wild horses contribute to, rather than compete for, the availability of water. They enhance the ecosystem.

 

Rangeland Health Monitored Using Method Considered Less Accurate

Per the EA, rangeland disturbance response groups (DRGs) were evaluated per the Key Forage Plant (KFP) Method. However, KFP is obsolete, having been replaced by a new method — Landscape Appearance (LA) Method in 1996. Both the KFP and LA methods are qualitative assessments known as “ocular estimates.” In other words, you “eyeball” the area to judge its appearance; hence “ocular.”

Technical Reference (TR) 1734-7, Ecological Site Inventory, notes that such ocular estimates — qualitative assessments — “may result in reduced accuracy, limiting use of the data.” It is apparent that BLM chose an easy method that could be manipulated to blame the wild horses for any and every range condition not meeting standard, even though a century of overgrazing by livestock was the real culprit.

 

Rangeland Health Monitoring Proceeded As If Only Wild Horses Impacted the Range

BLM did not evaluate the impacts of the many other species present in the Complexes — species many times more numerous and others that are known to consume a greater percentage of rangeland forage. Instead, BLM proceeded as if only livestock and/or wild horses used the rangeland’s resources, listing them as “primary” users. However, wild horses were the scapegoats. The rangeland monitoring was merely a “hatchet job” — a maliciously destructive critique — on the wild horses in order to make it seem as though culling, contracepting, and gelding the herd were justified when, in reality, such actions are contraindicated.

 

Lagomorphs

Although BLM alleges “competition” between mustangs and livestock over forage, one of the dominant herbivores on the range are lagomorphs — jackrabbits, hares, and cottontails. According to Appendix VII “Species List” to the EA, all-three species are found in the project area. However, BLM has neither determined nor factored in their impact on the range.

A recent study in Utah found that jackrabbits were consuming 34% of the forage on local grazing-allotments. Evidently, the creatures reproducing like rabbits were rabbits. Ranchers immediately called for an end to shooting coyotes, which prey on rabbits.

http://www.sltrib.com/news/2080640-155/usu-study-jackrabbits-are-a-bigger?fullpage=1

http://www.hcn.org/articles/bison-cows-rabbits-utah-ranching-henry-mountains

Instead of scapegoating wild horses for forage likely eaten by a different species, BLM needs to conduct a Ecological Site Inventory to determine actual use — including trespass use. The Inventory must pro-rate actual use by each animal-species present, including rodents and insects, and even including creatures such as lagomorphs.

 

Locusts

In normal times, locusts — grasshoppers and crickets — consume 20-to-25% of the forage in areas where they are present. However, in times of outbreaks, they can eat nearly all of the green biomass.

Grasshoppers thrive on the warming Wyoming range

Below is the link to the most recent USDA map, showing areas where there is grasshopper-and-cricket infestation. Nevada — including parts of the Complexes — appears to have been affected. As the map reflects, the creatures devouring the forage like locusts probably are locusts.

http://www.sidney.ars.usda.gov/grasshopper/Extras/2016GHwMC.htm

An Ecological Site Inventory would reveal the extent of forage-consumption by insects — such as locusts — in the project area. Again, you may be surprised to learn who is eating what and how much.

I note the omission of insects from Appendix VII’s Species List.

 

BIRTH RATE AND GROWTH RATE ARE DIFFERENT

 

Birth Rate ≠ Growth Rate

Before we examine BLM’s reported herd-growth rates for these HMAs, 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. The birth rate will necessarily be higher than the herd-growth rate. Here’s why: Horses die.

 

Foal Mortality Rate = 50%

An independent study (Gregg, LeBlanc, and Johnston, 2014) reviewed BLM roundup-records of four representative herd management areas with a robust sample-size of 5,859 wild horses. While the researchers found an overall birth rate of just under 20 percent, they also found that half of foals perish before their first birthday. Thus, the 20% foaling rate is merely a temporary “blip” in the data. The effective foal-to-yearling survival rate is just 10%. By failing to adjust the population-estimates per expected foal mortality, BLM inflates the figures.

 

Other-than-Foal Mortality Rate = At Least 5%

Even when fed, watered, vaccinated, wormed, and protected, horses still die. BLM advises that about 5% of wild horses in short-term holding — and 8% of those in long-term holding — perish on a yearly basis. Adult horses in the wild also succumb to illness, injury, or predation. So, it is a reasonable and conservative estimate that at least 5% of wild horses other-than-foals perish annually out on the range. The actual number is probably much higher. By failing to factor in adult-wild-horse mortality, BLM further exaggerates the population-estimates.

 

Stochastic Events — Also Reduce Herd Growth

BLM 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 subject herds. Note that the Saiga deaths involved antelope-mothers and their calves. What if these HMAs’ mares and their foals perished all of a sudden, leaving mainly stallions, geldings, and sterile elderly mares? BLM must proactively manage the herds per IUCN guidelines, if only in case of stochastic events.

 

Normative Annual Herd-Growth = At Most, 5%

The surviving-foal rate (10%) minus the adult-mortality rate (5%) equals a normal herd-growth rate of 5%. If BLM wanted a handy — and valid — way of estimating herd-growth, using 5% per year would work. Please note: At that rate, it would take 14 years for a herd to double.

 

Maximum AML Set Below Minimum Viable Population

Approximately 83 percent of wild-horse herds are “managed” below MVP, including the subject Complexes of HMAs. What is the correct MVP for wild horses? According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature: 2500, a number which could easily be accommodated by the acreage composing each HMA in the Complexes. However, the high-AMLs — even the combined Complexes’ high-AMLs — are set below MVP.

 

FRAUDULENT POPULATION DATA

 

Lies, More LIes, and Statistics

BLM has posted herd-growth rates that far exceed the normative rate of 5%. Here are charts showing the excessive growth rates, which are not credible. They appear to be falsified birth rates used as growth rates. Mortality was evidently ignored.

 

Antelope Complex Herds

Name of HMA: Antelope

Year Population Percent Compared to
Change 5% Norm

2013  344
2014  413  20%  4 times the norm
2015  669  62%  12 times the norm
2016  861  29%  6 times the norm
2017  1,271  48%  9 times the norm per official stats
2017ea 1,033  20%  4 times the norm per the EA
2017a  1,239  20%  4 times the norm against the EA figure

 

Name of HMA: Antelope Valley

Year Population Percent Compared to
Change 5% Norm

2013  662
2014  792  20%  4 times the norm
2015  1,013  28%  5 times the norm
2016  1,100  9%  2 times the norm
2017  1,320  20%  4 times the norm
2017a  1,584  20%  4 times the norm
2017b  1,488   96 removed in May

 

Name of HMA: Goshute

Year Population Percent Compared to
Change 5% Norm

2013  198
2014  523  164%  33 times the norm
2015  668  28%  5 times the norm
2016  904  35%  7 times the norm
2017  1,015  12%  2 times the norm
2017a  1,218  20%  4 times the norm

 

Name of HMA: Spruce-Pequop

Year Population Percent Compared to
Change 5% Norm

2013  380
2014  493  30%  6 times the norm
2015  789  60%  12 times the norm
2016  1,021  29%  6 times the norm
2017  1,170  15%  3 times the norm
2017a  1,404  20%  4 times the norm

 

Triple B Complex Herds

Name of HMA: Maverick-Medicine

Year Population Percent Compared to
Change 5% Norm

2013  586
2014  763  30%  6 times the norm
2015  910  19%  4 times the norm
2016  1,155  27%  5 times the norm
2017  1,309  13%  2 times the norm
2017a  1,571  20%  4 times the norm

 

Name of HMA: Triple B

Year Population Percent Compared to
Change 5% Norm

2013  498
2014  1,107  122% 24 times the norm
2015  1,460  32% 6 times the norm
2016  1,600  10% 2 times the norm
2017  1,702  6% 1 times the norm per official stats
2017ea  1,770  11% 2 times the norm per the EA
2017a  2,124  20% 4 times the norm against the EA figure

BLM’s population-growth figures are deemed invalid. Even if the “data” represented only the birth rates, they would, in many instances be higher than the normal birth rate.

Multiple over-counts, along with normal roaming behavior, migratory flux among HMAs, and erroneous assumptions, are likely factors to blame. Nevertheless, BLM knows the numbers have to be false. Therefore, by posting false and misleading information, and by proposing to manage per that false and misleading information, BLM is perpetuating a fraud.

In light of these fictitious figures, the No Action Alternative — is and must be the correct choice.

 

Unethical Manipulation

BLM staffers cannot claim ignorance. You are college-educated professionals with degrees in science and range management. You are well-aware that wild-horse herds cannot increase at exponential rates. Yet, you willfully continue to cite them, thereby inciting local ranchers and their elected officials. Worse yet, BLM proposes to conduct drastic culls based on those fraudulent figures.

 

Is There a Mandate to Practice Scientific Integrity?

Yes. The Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Code of Scientific and Scholarly Conduct applies to all staff members as well as to contractors, partners, permittees, and volunteers. The Code states:

Scholarly information considered in Departmental decision making must be robust, of the highest quality, and the result of as rigorous scientific and scholarly processes as can be achieved. Most importantly, it must be trustworthy.

 

Fraud Is a Crime

BLM’s wild-horse population figures are without merit. They are false and misleading. Making false and misleading representations = fraud, which violates Title 18 USC 1001 of the Federal criminal code.

 

Fraudulent Data Emboldens Scofflaws, Costs Wild Horses Their Freedom

In many allotments throughout the West, permit-holders have refused to recognize BLM’s rules regarding season-of-use. Conditions are egregious in Nevada, where the notorious Cliven Bundy and sons, and permittees Kevin Borba and Dan Filippini, blatantly defied BLM’s authority. Yet, they were pacified with non-enforcement and concessions. BLM enables and rewards such bad behavior by caving in to it. Meanwhile, poor LaVoy Finnicum lost his life because, per precedent BLM stand-downs, he concluded that BLM and FBI would not enforce the law.

BLM Leadership Coddles Hostile and Law Breaking Nevada Ranchers like Cliven Bundy

There are likely other permittees in Nevada emulating Bundy, Borba, and Filippini. Wild horses must not lose their freedom merely so that BLM can placate greedy and rebellious elements in the human population. If you “come clean” and admit your errors, it will tend to deflate the “head-of-steam” that elected officials and ranchers are building due to the false appearance created by fictitious herd-growth figures.

No doubt, the local cattlemen are up in arms over BLM’s seeming tolerance for what has been portrayed — via fraudulent figures — as a huge overpopulation. BLM is, in part, to blame for inciting the the permittees with false and misleading information. However, the ranchers are also, in part, to blame. Certainly, being professional stockmen, they knows full well that horses are slow to reproduce. But they apparently go along with the farce because it advances their self-interest.

 

Societal Impact of Inflated Population-Data

The population-figures for the subject HMAs are flawed, exaggerated. The political fallout of this error has been to keep the public — particularly state and 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.

 

HELICOPTERS — INAPPROPRIATE FOR COUNTING WILD HORSES

 

But the Inventory Counted That Many Horses

When a count produces results that disagree with the known reproductive limitations of a species, the count must be deemed invalid. We know mares have a long gestation, and that they produce one foal per year. The normal annual herd-growth rate is 5% — not 122% or 164% — which are among the rates that your official data reported for herds in the Complexes. A 20% growth rate would be 4 times the norm.

 

Helicopter Inventories Produce Gross Over-Counts

BLM likes to attribute impossibly-high estimates to “improved inventory methods.” But as has been pointed out to BLM previously, the “mark-resight” and the “simultaneous double-count” methods, conducted by helicopter, overcount the population. Indeed, as the report by the specialty-contractor who conducted the census of the Red Desert Complex (in Wyoming) 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.

I note that the EA also mentioned that assumptions had been used, but contended that an under-count was likely. That assumption is incorrect and opposite to the facts. When more horses are “seen” than could possibly exist, the method is faulty and likely fraudulent. Finally, I note the absence of photographs taken from a Go-Pro camera mounted on the aircraft.

 

Both the Roundup-Contractor and BLM Are Looking to “Make Their Numbers”

A glance at the map of the HMAs in question reveals that they are contiguous, and public lands are interspersed with private lands. How easy it would be for a profit-motivated helicopter-pilot to “poach” wild horses from strictly public lands by driving them into target-areas. What would stop the helicopter-pilot from capturing wild horses that never set hoof outside outside their rightful HMA?

The helicopter-pilot is looking to “make his numbers” but so is BLM. Thus, BLM has a conflict of interest in needing the contractor to remove any 6,737 horses that he can find. The wild horses are fungible — one is as good as another — to make the pilot his money and to enable BLM to spend the budget. Consequently, wild horses would lose their freedom for the private profit of the helicopter-contractor and for the administrative, job-justifying convenience of BLM. Unacceptable.

 

Dealing with Roving Equids

Horses will roam. It is their nature. It is management’s duty to keep them from places they should not be. Prevention is key. However, removing horses that have wandered outside their HMAs just creates a vacuum for other horses to fill. Thus, removing them is an ineffective population-control strategy. The elimination of mustangs from an open, accessible habitat results in repeated colonization by more mustangs. The process begins almost immediately, as horses roam into the area and see that it is attractive and vacant. Thus, removal is not a true solution — it just perpetuates the situation and leads to the elimination of more mustangs than necessary. Moreover, the wanderers may be only temporary visitors or refugees, not permanent residents. Worse yet, they may have been driven into the checkerboard by the helicopter.

Recommendations: In legitimate instances of straying, BLM should first encourage the wild horses to return to their proper place, then address those factors that caused the animals to leave home. Would palatable plantings draw the wild horses to the areas BLM wants them to use? What about siting mineral licks deep inside the HMAs, away from the outskirts? Have guzzlers been installed to provide water sources deep within the boundaries? Aversive conditioning could also be employed to shoo the wild horses into the solid-block public lands. Certainly, positive reinforcement coupled with aversive conditioning would be an effective and cost-effective solution. BLM should specify preventive and reactive measures in this regard as part of its management approach. Return outsiders to the HMAs, reward that return (hay, mineral-licks, guzzlers), and encourage their “retreat” from “outside” areas (aversive techniques).

 

HELICOPTERS — DANGEROUS TO HUMANS, HORSES,
AND THE ENVIRONMENT

 

The risks to humans, horses, and the environment posed by the use of helicopters to count and capture wild horses were fully discussed in comments I submitted to BLM-Nevada on Tuesday, June 27, 2017, when the Motorized Equipment Statewide Hearing was held. Therefore, I will not repeat them here but am linking them to these comments by reference.

 

POPULATION-CONTROL BY NATURE

 

Predators Prey on Ponies

Nature provides its own population-control for wild horses — by means of large predators. There can be no “thriving natural ecological balance” without apex predators. Mountain lions, bears, wolves, and coyotes effectively control wild-horse populations. Predators promote survival of the fittest, as Nature intends. Therefore, the best approach is for BLM to concentrate on conserving native predators to permit natural control of the wild-horse population on the range.

 

Mountain Lions Are Especially-Effective Population-Control Agents for Wild Horses

Many studies have established that mountain lions prey on wild horses more frequently than previously believed. Canadian biologists found that cougars tended to kill younger animals, especially when preying on feral horses. Nearly all of the cougars’ predation-events (86%) involved animals less than 2 years old.

http://sci-northern.ab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/CougarKillRateandPreyComposition.pdf

In an interview with the Billings Gazette, the above study’s lead researcher, Kyle Knopf, described observing a cougar that brought down a feral horse in less than 30 yards from where it attacked.

http://billingsgazette.com/lifestyles/recreation/article_d9cf046b-2c47-539f-a267-972e72e570b6.html

Other research confirms that mountain lions are quite capable, all by themselves, of keeping wild horse populations in check.

The Montgomery Pass Wild Horse Territory, on the California/Nevada border, has had its ppopulation managed by cougars alone. An eleven-year study by Turner and Morrison (2001) concluded that the growth of this herd was limited by cougar predation. In fact, the population actually decreased over the course of the research.

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3672527?uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=21101018535373

The Nevada Wild Horse Range (current designation) averaged negative population growth due to cougar predation from 1989 to 1998 (Greger and Romney, 1999).

https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5053f9e6e4b097cd4fcf8fd3

Per The Cloud Foundation, the Pryor Mountain herd averaged no population growth over a four-year period due to predation by mountain lions. Only when those lions were killed — so that BLM could continue practicing management of the herd with PZP — did the wild-horse population begin to grow.

 

Healthy Predators, Healthy Ecosystems

Minimum feasible management means letting natural selection do its job. Mountain lions, wolves, bears, and coyotes should be allowed to carry out their role of population-control agents. Predators will cull the weak, and a thriving natural ecological balance will ensue. Conservation Researcher Dr. Corey Bradshaw emphasizes “… just how important predators are for healthy ecosystems. Long story short – if your predators are not doing well, chances are the rest of the ecosystem is performing poorly.”

Due to pressure from livestock and hunting interests that mistakenly view predators as pests, it has been the Federal government’s practice to exterminate native predators outright or to allow them to be hunted on a massive scale. That policy is wrong. Predators function to keep the ecosystem in balance. Without them, prey species decline, as do the forage-production species on which the prey-animals feed. Dr. Bradshaw warns: “Without predators, our feeble attempts to conserve ecosystems are doomed to fail.” Here’s the link to his timely article:

Essential predators

 

Predator Protection

HMAs should be safe-havens for predators, which will serve as wild-horse population-control agents.

There can be no true “thriving natural ecological balance” without predators. Therefore, BLM should ensure the protection of native predators, instituting a prohibition on hunting them. Conservation measures will work to enable the right number of predators to establish themselves. Large carnivores will keep the wild-horse population in check. Such an approach would keep the herd-population in equilibrium with minimal human-interference, just as the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act envisioned. Predators are the “no-cost” option.

Recommendations: Puma-protection, bear-introduction, wolf-reintroduction, and coyote-protection programs should be implemented. BLM should collaborate with Nevada Department of Wildlife to prohibit hunting of predators in the HMAs. Concerned livestock operators and residents of the surrounding area can be advised to use guardian-dogs to protect their animals. There are several specialty-breeds that have been developed just for this purpose, and they are reportedly effective. Protecting one’s herd is just part of the cost of doing business. The timely article linked below provides information on livestock-guardian-dogs.

https://www.hcn.org/articles/searching-for-the-best-dog-to-save-livestock-and-wildlife

 

PZP — BLM PROPOSES TO DEPLOY IT AGAINST WILD MARES

 

PZP — The Pesticide

Porcine zona pellucida — PZP aka ZonaStat-H or Native PZP — is an EPA-registered pesticide derived from the ovaries of slaughtered pigs. PZP is approved for use on wild horses “in areas where they have become a nuisance ….”

Some persons argue that, because PZP does not kill the mare, it is not really a “pesticide.” Actually, PZP does kill. As will be documented herein, PZP’s use is associated with stillborn foals. PZP is further correlated with stolen foals and out-of-season foals, who perish as neonates. In the long term, PZP tends to weaken a herd immunologically, which could swiftly lead to its extinction. So, yes, PZP is a real pesticide.

 

PZP — an Anti-Vaccine

While touted as a “vaccine,” PZP is actually a perversion of what a true vaccine is supposed to be. Instead of preventing disease, PZP causes disease — auto-immune disease. Thus, PZP could be viewed as an anti-vaccine.

 

PZP’s Mode of Action as Stated in the Pesticide Registration Is a Disproved Hypothesis

HSUS, the registrant of PZP advised the Environmental Protection Agency that, based on information from the pesticide’s researcher-manufacturer, PZP works by generating antibodies that “block sperm attachment.” This representation of PZP as a sort of chemical condom was not fact but merely an untested hypothesis, postulated three decades ago. The old hypothesis was disproved by subsequent research. PZP’s manufacturer knew, or should have known, this. The manufacturer should also have been informed and up-to-date regarding the side effects and unintended consequences of PZP. Yet, the manufacturer continued to cite the disproved hypothesis and to deny that PZP has any adverse effects. [25 and 36] HSUS is remiss in not investigating PZP beyond the manufacturer’s claims before touting it as the solution to the non-existent wild-horse overpopulation “problem.” BLM is irresponsible in ignoring research that has disclosed PZP’s risks.

 

PZP’s True Mode-of-Action

So how does PZP really work? PZP tricks the immune system into waging immunological war on the ovaries. In a meta-analysis of ZP-type contraceptives, Kaur & Prabha (2014) reported that the infertility brought on by such products is ” … a consequence of ovarian dystrophy rather than inhibition of sperm-oocyte interaction.” Thus, PZP’s antibodies “work” not by blocking sperm attachment but by destroying the ovaries. Kaur & Prabha further disclosed that ” … histological examination of ovaries of immunized animals revealed the presence of atretic follicles with degenerating oocytes.” [Atretic follicles are ovarian follicles in an undeveloped state due to immaturity, poor nutrition or systemic disease; manifested by prolonged anestrus.]

Kaur & Prabha’s review concluded that PZP’s antibodies induce ovarian dystrophy, destruction of oocytes in all growing follicles, and depletion of resting follicles. The manufacturer of PZP as well as BoLM should have been aware of these and other findings about the pesticide. Yet they ignored or disregarded any information that was contrary to their personally-preferred but obsolete and false description of PZP’s mode-of-action.

Kaur & Prabha warned that “… long term studies showed that immunization with zona antigens might induce immunological attack on many eggs in the ovary which might lead to premature ovarian failure.”

Included as a reference to the EA? No.

 

Study Shows PZP Elicits Ovarian Pathologies

One of the references cited in the EA was a study by Curtis et al. (2001) on the comparative effects of GnRH and PZP on white-tailed deer. However, Curtis, along with most of the same colleagues issued a newer study (2007) on PZP alone.

Curtis, Richmond, Miller, and Quimby (2007) disclosed that 75% of PZP-treated white-tailed deer — and 50% of re-treated deer — suffered eosinophilic oophoritis (inflammation of the ovaries).

Further, the re-treated deer that did not develop oophoritis instead developed a different problem — significantly fewer normal secondary follicles than control females.

The study-authors concluded that PZP “elicited ovarian pathologies in deer similar to those observed in other species.”

Included as a reference to the EA? No.

 

PZP Manufacturer’s Own Research Found Markedly Depressed Estrogen Secretion

In a telling study, Kirkpatrick, Liu, Turner, Naugle, and Keiper (1992a), the lead author and manufacturer of Native PZP, along with colleagues, reported that ” … three consecutive years of PZP treatment may interfere with normal ovarian function as shown by markedly depressed oestrogen secretion.” So, despite all the hype about PZP being non-hormonal, the manufacturer knew that ZonaStat-H has an adverse hormonal effect, causing significantly-lowered estrogen. Thus, PZP is an endocrine disruptor. [39] The plummeting estrogen-levels may also reflect the ovarian dystrophy and oophoritis now known to be caused by PZP. Despite personally discovering negative hormonal impacts 24 years ago, PZP’s manufacturer continued to cite misinformation regarding the product’s mode-of-action and hid its endocrine-disruptor side-effects.

Included as a reference to the EA? Cannot tell. A 1992 study is listed twice, but not 1992a.

 

PZP Causes Ovarian Cysts

In their 2010 meta-analysis, Gray & Cameron cited a number of studies that found ” … alterations to ovarian function, oophoritis, and cyst formation with PZP treatment (Mahi-Brown et al.1988, Sehgal et al. 1989, Rhim et al. 1992, Stoops et al. 2006, Curtis et al. 2007).” These findings support those of Kaur & Prabha while introducing yet another adverse effect: ovarian cysts. Gray & Cameron’s review also noted that increased irritability, aggression, and masculine behavior had been observed in females following PZP-treatment.

Included as a reference to the EA? No.

 

PZP → Endocrine Disruptor → Elevated Testosterone → Masculinizing Effects

Recall that PZP has endocrine-disrupting effects that result in lowered estrogen. Per the observed masculine behavior of treated mares, PZP seems to have a testosterone-elevating effect too. A deficit of estrogen alone would not necessarily manifest in the masculinization of treated females, but an excess of testosterone would. So, it appears that PZP disrupts at least two hormones: estrogen — by substantially lowering it — and testosterone — by substantially elevating it. Adverse effect: Abnormal behavior.

 

PZP → Ovarian Cysts → Elevated Testosterone → Masculinizing Effects

As discussed above, PZP correlates with abnormal masculine behavior on the part of treated females, a side-effect likely due to elevated testosterone. But in addition to the endocrine-disruption caused by PZP, there could be a second way for testosterone levels to become elevated. Recall that PZP causes ovarian cysts. An Internet search on “ovarian cysts and testosterone” yielded results for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in women. Interestingly, one of the symptoms of PCOS is high testosterone levels. The connection between ovarian cysts and elevated testosterone suggests that the ovarian cysts caused by PZP could — either alone or in combination with PZP’s endocrine-disruptor effects — lead to high testosterone levels in treated females, as evidenced by their masculinized behavior.

 

PZP Causes Additional Adverse Effects

Gray & Cameron’s review also disclosed that, when PZP was administered to the females of a herd, males lost body condition while the oft-claimed improvement in female body condition did not hold up. Further, mares remained sexually active beyond the normal breeding season and had more estrus events.

 

PZP Selects for Weak Immune Function

Gray & Cameron’s analysis raised the possibility of PZP selecting for immuno-compromised individuals. Here’s why. Because PZP stimulates the immune system, it ironically works “best” — sterilizes faster — in mares that have strong immune-function. Such mares respond to the anti-vaccine and produce quantities of PZP antibodies that destroy their ovaries. But, conversely, PZP may not work at all in mares whose immune-function is weak or depressed. Those mares fail to respond to PZP. They keep getting pregnant and producing foals who, like their dam, suffer from weak immune-function. So, the PZP pesticide works against the very horses that Nature has best equipped for survival-against-disease while favoring and selecting for the immuno-compromised. Thus, a herd being treated with PZP is undergoing selective breeding for weak immunity, which puts the population at risk for disease — and ultimately, for extinction.

 

PZP Confers Dubious “Benefit” of Increased Longevity

Gray & Cameron also cited a study that found that “… PZP treated feral horse mares lived longer, resulting in a new age class (>25 years) not present before treatment ….” Exceptionally-long life is an ironic effect of PZP treatments. PZP’s manufacturer actually boasted about it, as if the anomaly were a good thing. However, Gray & Cameron questioned the supposed benefit of mares living much longer than their normal life expectancy. Indeed, such mares take up scarce slots within size-restricted populations. The ultra-elderly mares continue to consume resources for many years, but they no longer contribute to the gene-pool. It is detrimental to a population’s genetic viability to carry significant numbers of sterile herd-members way-beyond their normal life-span.

 

Research on Wildlife Contraceptives Revealed Stillbirths and Auto-Immune Oophoritis from PZP

There was an even earlier, definitive meta-analysis on wildlife contraceptives. Nettles (1997) reviewed 75 studies available at that time on the subject. Among his findings regarding PZP-use across different species, including horses, were:

Stillbirths;
Altered ovarian structure and cyclicity;
Interference with normal ovarian function;
Permanent ovarian damage; and
Some cases of irreversible sterility due to auto-immune oophoritis, which suggested that PZP can be selective against a certain genotype in a population.

Many of these findings were confirmed by Kaur & Prabha as well as by Gray & Cameron. The focus now turns to certain of these key findings: Stillbirths, and auto-immune oophoritis. However, in discussing the correlation between stillborn foals and PZP-use, a related abnormality will be addressed: Stolen foals — abducted by barren mares treated with PZP.

Included as a reference to the EA? No.

 

Foals May Be Their Dam’s and/or Sire’s Only Offspring

In view of the fact that PZP eventually — if not immediately — causes sterility, any foal could be genetically rare and precious. In many cases, a foal may be the only offspring of a certain mare or stallion. By using PZP on the Sand Wash Basin mares en masse, BLM could endanger the herd’s genetic diversity.

 

Autoimmune Ovarian Disease — Known to Cause Premature Ovarian Failure — Induced by PZP

Tung, Agersborg, Bagavant, Garza, and Wei (2002) found that autoimmune oophoritis (ovarian inflammation) could be induced by injecting test-animals with ZP3 peptide. The researchers noted that autoimmune ovarian disease is a known cause of human premature ovarian failure. Here again, is causation of autoimmune disease by a ZP-type product. Humans and horses are both mammals. It is logical to conclude that ovarian failure also occurs in horses. This study confirms other research cited herein.

Included as a reference to the EA? No.

 

Autoimmune Oophoritis and Risk of Other Autoimmune Diseases

Varras, Anastasiadis, Panelos, Balassi, Demou, & Akrivis (2013) disclosed that, in humans, autoimmune oophoritis carries the risk of the patient developing other autoimmune diseases. The correlation between autoimmune oophoritis and subsequent other autoimmune disorders weighs against injecting the mares with PZP.

 

Prolonged Breeding Season, Unusually-late Parturition Dates with PZP

Nettles’ (1997) previously-mentioned meta-analysis on PZP disclosed additional adverse effects:

A prolonged breeding season and
Unusually-late parturition dates. (Parturition is the formal term for “giving birth.”)

These findings have recently been confirmed, as is discussed below.

 

Parturition-Season Extends to Nearly Year-Round When a Herd Is Treated with PZP

A longitudinal study by Ransom, Hobbs, and Bruemmer (2013) of three herds currently being managed by PZP — Little Book Cliffs (Colorado), McCullough Peaks (Wyoming), and Pryor Mountain (Montana) — found a prolonged parturition-season — it lasted 341 days. Ransom et al.’s finding of a nearly year-round birthing season supports the earlier finding by Nettles (1997). Thus, during its period of potential reversibility, PZP’s effects wear off unpredictably. Out-of-season births put the life of both the mare and the foal in jeopardy. Nature designed the equine birthing-season to occur in Spring, not year-round, and certainly not in the dead of Winter.

Included as a reference to the EA? Yes, but EA is dismissive of its findings.

 

Prolonged Delay in Recovery of Fertility

The same longitudinal study by Ransom et al. found that, after suspension of PZP, there was a delay lasting 411.3 days (1.13 years) per each year-of-treatment before mares recovered their fertility. What this means is that it takes that long, on average, for the ovaries to heal, to clear out all those cysts, and to regain some degree of normal hormonal function.

The question is: How is the delay in recovery-of-fertility addressed by BLM management practices? Answer: BLM ignores it. For instance, BLM currently administers PZP to Pryor Mountain’s fillies and mares starting at age 1½ — whom BLM artfully described in the Environmental Assessment as fillies “becoming two year olds” — through age four. Thus, these fillies and mares receive intentional treatments for four consecutive years before being allowed the privilege of reproductive potentiality. Per Ransom et al.’s study, the Pryor Mountain fillies and mares would be expected to need 1,645.2 days (4.51 years) to regain reproductive capacity. But BLM gives the Pryor Mountain mares only 5 years off PZP before they are put back on it again — for the rest of their life. Thus, these fillies and mares might have just a 6-month window — at best — in which to conceive. Due to the unpredictable timing of PZP’s wearing off, for some mares that window of fertility will close before they get a chance to produce a foal. Those mares’ genetic contribution will be zero.

As if the above scenario were not bad enough, PZP’s manufacturer conceded that it could take up to 8 years to recover fertility after just 3 consecutive PZP treatments.

 

Ransom Advises Proceeding with Caution regarding PZP

The Ransom et al. study warned:

Humans are increasingly attempting to manage the planet’s wildlife and habitats with new tools that are often not fully understood. The transient nature of the immunocontraceptive PZP can manifest into extraordinary persistence of infertility with repeated vaccinations, and ultimately can alter birth phenology in horses. This persistence may be of benefit for managing overabundant wildlife, but also suggests caution for use in small refugia or breeding facilities maintained for repatriation of rare species.

Because BLM keeps virtually all of the herds — including those of the Antelope and Triple B Complexes — at levels below minimum-viable population (MVP) per the IUCN, these herds qualify as “small refugia.”

 

Ransom’s Exclusion of Seven Mares Evidences PZP’s Non-Effect on Immunocompromised Mares

In the “Data Collection” methodology section of the Ransom et al. report, the authors advised:

We omitted data for one female from the Little Book Cliffs and six females from McCullough Peaks because they produced offspring in every treatment year and thus were never effectively contracepted.

This fact is important because it evidences PZP’s lack-of-efficacy on immunocompromised fillies and mares.

To review: Because PZP activates the immune system, mares with naturally-low or depressed immune function do not “respond” to the treatment. It’s as if they had been injected with saline — their immune system is so weak that it does not react to the PZP by producing antibodies. The good news is such mares’ ovaries are saved from PZP’s destructive effects. The bad news is that these mares continue to become pregnant year after year, producing foals that will also tend to inherit low immune-function. Over time, the herd will become populated with more such low-immune horses because those with strong immunity get sterilized. Thus, PZP selects for horses with low immune function, which is bad for a herd in the long term. Even a routine infection could spread quickly and wipe out a population of horses or burros with weak immune-function. If the goal is to preserve a herd, the use of PZP constitutes a worst management-practice.

 

Three PZP Injections Can Trigger Sterility in Mares, or Just One Shot in Fillies Before Puberty

Disturbingly, another recent study on PZP (Knight & Rubenstein, 2014) found that ” … three or more consecutive years of treatment or administration of the first dose before sexual maturity may have triggered infertility in some mares.

These findings are particularly troubling. They suggest that, actually, only two consecutive PZP-treatments may be reversible. Except, that is, in the case of fillies who have not yet reached puberty — they could be sterilized by just one injection. For instance, the Pryor Mountain fillies’ PZP treatments begin when they are just 1½ years old. They may not have reached puberty when they are initially treated. And as we shall see later in this report, that first shot of PZP may not be their first shot of PZP.

Included as a reference to the EA? No.

 

Researchers Again Express Concerns about the Abnormal Life-Spans of Sterilized Mares

Returning to the subject Knight & Rubenstein study, the researchers warned:

Inducing sterility, while relieving the mares from the energetic costs of lactation and reducing the stress from harem switching, may have unintended consequences on population dynamics by increasing longevity and eliminating the mares’ ability to contribute genetically.

Knight & Rubenstein’s concerns support those of Gray & Cameron, who also questioned the supposed benefit of sterile mares’ extended life-spans. The abnormal numbers of aged, sterile mares count for census-purposes; but their presence disadvantages the younger horses, who become targeted for removal in order for BoLM to achieve arbitrary management levels. Further, such mares no longer belong to the viable gene-pool.

 

PZP’s Destructive Antibodies Are Transmitted via the Placenta and Mother’s Milk

It gets worse. Sacco, Subramanian, Yurewicz (1981) 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 — 35 years ago. PZP’s manufacturer must have known about this dangerous effect, and certainly BLM should have investigated on its own whether there was any risk to the unborn or the nursing foal. Yet, the manufacturer continued to insist that there was no danger to the foal, whether born or unborn. Indeed, the EA recites the manufacturer’s claim in that regard. And in fact, BLM regularly administers PZP to lactating mares, who transfer the destructive antibodies to their foal via mother’s milk.

Fillies whose dams were injected with PZP while nursing will already have PZP antibodies cross-reacted with and bound to their zonae. Therefore, when those same fillies are injected later, it will be their second treatment, or potentially even their third. In fact, they could already have been sterilized while nursing, the treatment having been received prior to puberty, about which Knight & Rubenstein warned.

Likewise, if the Antelope and Triple B mares were to be injected while nursing, their filly-foals would have PZP antibodies inflaming their little ovaries. Subsequent injections could easily sterilize them in one shot, especially if given prior to puberty.

Included as a reference to the EA? Yes, but findings discounted.

 

PZP Continues the Use of Roundups and Removals

If the promise of PZP were true — if PZP really did eliminate the need to roundup and remove “excess” wild horses from the range — gathers and removals would have ended long ago in the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, where PZP has been in use for approximately two decades. Yet removals are scheduled there with regularity every 3 years, the latest one in 2015.

But evidently every 3 years, in BLM’s mind, wasn’t often-enough. BLM announced plans to conduct removals every year in the Pryor Mountains despite recently-intensified PZP-treatments. Friends of Animals, a renowned animal-advocacy organization that opposes PZP, sued to prevent BLM from initiating the accelerated schedule of gathers. Friends of Animals prevailed, and the annual removals were blocked. The Court directed BLM to fulfill its commitments to reevaluate the Pryor Mountain AML. [25 and 32]

As the EA proposes, the Antelope and Triple B Complexes’ herd would be rounded up in order to inject / re-inject the mares. Roundups are stressful on wild horses and costly to taxpayers. The better and no-cost population-control method is predation by mountain lions, bears, coyotes, and perhaps even reintroduced wolves.

Risks to Humans Who Administer PZP Injections

For BLM staff, contractors, and volunteers who inject wild horses with PZP, EPA’s Pesticide Fact Sheet advises that Personal Protective Equipment requirements include long sleeved shirt and long pants, gloves and shoes plus socks to mitigate occupational exposure. EPA specifically warns that pregnant women must not be involved in handling or injecting ZonaStat-H, and that all women should be aware that accidental self-injection may cause infertility.

However, EPA’s Fact Sheet, the manufacturer’s training, and BLM’s operating procedures fail to inform …

Pregnant women of the reason why it is so important that they strictly avoid PZP — because PZP’s antibodies cross the placenta and cross-react with and bind to an unborn female child’s own little zonae pellucidae. The baby-girl could be “anti-vaccinated” with PZP and even sterilized before birth;

EPA’s Fact Sheet, the manufacturer’s training, and BLM’s operating procedures fail to inform …

Lactating women to avoid PZP and why — because PZP’s destructive antibodies would be passed along to a nursing female child via mother’s milk. The baby-girl could be “anti-vaccinated” with PZP and possibly sterilized simply from nursing.

EPA’s Fact Sheet, the manufacturer’s training, and BLM’s operating procedures fail to inform …

All women of the reason why to avoid PZP — due to the risk of ovarian dystrophy, oophoritis, ovarian cysts, depressed estrogen and elevated testosterone-levels — in addition to infertility and, potentially, sterility — from unintentional self-injection.

EPA’s Fact Sheet, the manufacturer’s training, and BLM’s operating procedures further fail to emphasize the magnitude of the risk — the PZP-in-question is a dose meant for a horse.

 

Mandate to Practice Scientific Integrity

Let us return to the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Code of Scientific and Scholarly Conduct, which applies to all staff members as well as to contractors, partners, permittees, and volunteers. The Code states:

Scholarly information considered in Departmental decision making must be robust, of the highest quality, and the result of as rigorous scientific and scholarly processes as can be achieved. Most importantly, it must be trustworthy.

In the EA, BoLM has omitted independent scientific findings about PZP’s adverse effects and unintended consequences. Instead, BLM continues to rely almost exclusively on the manufacturer’s claims regarding PZP’s safety for use on horses or burros and for handling by humans. BLM is thus non-compliant with the Policy and malfeasant in its responsibilities to protect staff, contractors, volunteers, and the wild horses.

 

PZP Manufacturer Violated the DOI Code of Scientific and Scholarly Conduct

The manufacturer of PZP — a partner to BLM, but since deceased — misrepresented the pesticide as safe for use on animals by humans. The manufacturer knew or should have known that the former hypothesis regarding PZP’s mode-of-action had been disproved, and that PZP has dangerous side effects, safety-issues, and unintended consequences. Yet he hid and denied that information and failed to warn about PZP’s adverse effects. The manufacturer cited his own research as if it were definitive, and aggressively criticized wild-horse-and-burro advocacy groups that oppose PZP, such as Friends of Animals and Protect Mustangs, and independent researchers whose findings did not fully support his claims. Indeed, he submitted an Op-ed to The Salt Lake Tribune wherein he accused Friends of Animals and Protect Mustangs of citing “dubious and distorted” data about PZP. He belittled the research of fellow scientists whose studies on PZP yielded results somewhat different from his own. His accusations were so unreasonable that the scientists felt it necessary to submit an Op-ed in response to defend the integrity and validity of their work. The manufacturer also disparaged members of the public — one of whom was appointed to the Pennsylvania Game Commission — that expressed concerns about PZP. He dismissively accused them of “an attempt to mislead,” of “hyperbole,” of “knowingly manipulating information,” of “attempts to frighten people,” and of indulging in an “anti-intellectual approach to debates.” [35] By these actions, the manufacturer violated the DOI Code of Scientific and Scholarly Conduct.

 

PZP Manufacturer Misled Trainees into Believing that PZP Was Safe

BoLM and HSUS staff and volunteers receive their training from PZP’s manufacturer in how to handle and administer the pesticide. BoLM and HSUS are remiss in delegating the training to the manufacturer without verifying the adequacy of the instruction and the truthfulness of it. Two comments recorded recently in the media suggest that PZP’s manufacturer misled not just the public-at-large but those who received training therefrom in how to administer PZP.

Recall that the manufacturer claimed PZP is “so safe it is boring.” Independent research shows otherwise — that PZP is a powerful hormone disruptor that could sterilize a female with just one injection. If trainees believe that PZP is boringly safe, they will be less likely to protect themselves adequately from this dangerous pesticide. Indeed, many of the trainees are women and, therefore, particularly at risk. It is worrisome that the volunteers may be conducting their darting under the impression that it is perfectly safe. As evidence that such is the case, in a photograph that accompanied a recent article on PZP, a volunteer-darter is shown not wearing the required protective garb.

Another PZP supporter, who self-identified at the time as a recent completer of the PZP-darting training program conducted by the manufacturer, said in a comment posted to a news article:

I just received my FDA certification to handle and administer Native PZP. Would you be so kind to provide a link to the study you keep referencing? To my knowledge, and those teaching the Native PZP certification class, there are no side effects of the PZP produced by Dr. Kirkpatrick and his team, which is Native PZP.”

Key words: “no side effects.” It is disturbing that a person who was, no doubt, motivated by a desire to help the wild horses and burros has been disinformed regarding PZP’s safety-hazards to humans as well as to horses and burros.

Likewise, wild-horse-and-burro advocates are lulled into complacency, trusting that PZP is harmless. Of course, that is not true.

 

PZP — Conclusions about

PZP is appropriately categorized as a pesticide by the EPA. PZP “works” by tricking the immune system into attacking and destroying the ovaries. PZP has many adverse effects as well as unintended consequences. PZP presents safety-hazards to humans who handle it. PZP is a dangerous pesticide whose use is antithetical to the spirit and intent of the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act.

 

GONACON™ — BLM CONSIDERS DEPLOYING IT AGAINST THE HERDS

 

Gonacon™ — Yet Another Immuno-Pesticide

GonaCon™ is an EPA-registered, immuno-contraceptive pesticide. Its classification is “restricted-use” due to “non-target injection hazard.” EPA warns that “pregnant women should not be involved in handling or injecting GonaCon and that all women should be aware that accidental self-injection may cause infertility.” Children are not allowed in areas where the product is used. Please keep in mind that the GonaCon™ dose-in-question is meant for a horse.

 

GonaCon™ — Mechanism of Action

GonaCon™ causes an auto-immune disorder. Behaving like a perverted vaccine, GonaCon™ tricks the immune system into producing antibodies that destroy a female’s gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). Without GnRH, a female does not produce sex hormones, does not come into estrus, and is thus infertile. Behaviorally, courtship-rituals cease. Thus, GonaCon™ is a hormone-disruptor.

 

Gonacon™ — Link to PZP

Wild-horse-and-burro advocates who oppose the other immuno-contraceptive — PZP — will be disturbed to learn the following from the USDA-APHIS “Questions and Answers” sheet regarding GonaCon™:

After evaluating GonaCon™, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) … approved the slaughter of pigs vaccinated with GonaCon™. Similar injectable hormone-altering products are used routinely in livestock applications.

Good grief. So, the slaughterhouse pig ovaries used to manufacture PZP may very well come from animals who were previously injected with GonaCon™ to destroy their GnRH hormone — without which the ovaries cannot produce estrogen. Those poor pigs may also have been “routinely” injected with other similar “hormone-altering products.” Then our wild horses and burros are injected with PZP, which itself causes a marked drop in estrogen after just three treatments. Surely, these hormonal atrocities constitute animal abuse.

 

Gonacon™ — Causes Long-Term Infertility

GonaCon™ is long-acting. The treatment-protocol, consisting of two injections administered 30 to 60 days apart, can cause infertility for as long as four-to-five years without the need for booster shots. However, mares would still need to be rounded up and held captive for those 30 to 60 days to administer the injections properly. If all females in a small herd were treated per the multi-year plan, it could result in an unintended consequence — a huge gap in the herd’s age-structure, because very few if any foals would have been born during that period.

 

Gonacon™ — Adverse Side-Effects, Chance of Sterilization

Although the pesticide’s effectiveness was expected to diminish over time, a 3-year study of GonaCon-treated elk revealed that the percentage of infertile females actually increased each year, finally reaching 100%. It was also noted that every one of the treated elk suffered an abscess at the injection-site. [1]

Because GonaCon™ stimulates the immune-system, it will elicit the greatest reaction — the greatest output of destructive antibodies — if a mare is blessed with healthy immune-function. Such a mare will react strongly and be contracepted quickly. But she could just as easily be sterilized. In fact, GonaCon’s™ “application instructions” warn of the chance of sterilization.

On the other hand, GonaCon™ may not work at all if a mare suffers from weak immune-function. That mare’s immune system will fail to react to GonaCon™, and she will get pregnant in spite of it. Thus, over time, there is the risk of another unintended consequence ؅— selection for immuno-compromised horses.

Jenny Powers, a National Park Service wildlife veterinarian and one of three lead scientists who participated in the elk research referenced above commented:

“Some things are meant to be wild,” Powers says. “At some point, do we not want to treat them like domestic animals and be handling them? I think it’s important to point out that this is no silver bullet so that we don’t have to kill wild animals. Any time we’re manipulative with wild animals, we’re messing with natural selection.

 

GELDING — BLM WANTS TO STERILIZE HALF OF THE STALLIONS

 

Geldings Are Not Normal in Nature

Surgical sterilization would effect a permanent change in character for a wild horse. That is not natural or normal. But BLM is itching to geld, even though the EA admits that the study it cites — by Garrott and Siniff — says “not effective” unless 85% of the males are castrated, and even then, within 2 years, a new crop of males is born.

 

Gelding Would Severely Impact Genetic Diversity

No problem, BLM says. The agency would solve that by trucking in new stallions, mares, or both. Don’t be ridiculous. Herds are, by Law, to be self-sustaining, free from BLM-meddling.

 

CONCLUSIONS

 

1. BLM must make the right decision by choosing the No Action Alternative.

2. BLM must post scientific, truthful data regarding wild horses’ herd-growth rates.

3. BLM must take responsibility to provide water-sources — guzzlers — for the herds.

4. BLM needs to conduct Ecological Site Inventories to determine actual use by species.

5. BLM must conserve predators in the HMAs for a thriving, natural, ecological balance.

 

———————————————-

Sincerely,

Marybeth Devlin

———————————————-

 

REFERENCES

 

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McDonnell, Sue. (No date) “Rolling Along. Why Do Horses Roll?” Havemeyer Equine Behavior Lab, Penn Vet / New Bolton Center, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved from http://research.vet.upenn.edu/HavemeyerEquineBehaviorLabHomePage/HavemeyerEquineBehaviorClinic/FrequentlyAskedBehaviorQuestions/WhydoHorsesRoll/tabid/2988/Default.aspx

McGrath, Matt. (2011, September 1) “Deer ‘pill’ curbs aggressive mating.” BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-14744811

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Nettles, Victor F. (1997) Potential consequences and problems with wildlife contraceptives. Reproduction, Fertility and Development 9(1) 137 – 144. Accessed full pdf text via purchase of a copy from Csiro Publishing. Retrieved from http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/R96054.htm

Nuñez, Cassandra, Jim Adelman and Dan Rubenstein. (2015, July 3). Op-ed: Wild horse contraception not without unintended consequences. The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved from http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/2653298-155/op-ed-wild-horse-contraception-not-without

PCOS Foundation. (2015) What Causes PCOS? Retrieved from http://www.pcosfoundation.org/what-is-pcos

PNC, Inc. (Pity Not Cruelty). PZP FAQs. (2006) “Frequently Asked Questions on Immunocontraception.” (Special thanks to Jay Kirkpatrick and Rick Naugle for additions and corrections). Retrieved from http://www.pzpinfo.org/pzp_faqs.html

Prettyman, Brett. (2015, January 26) “Jackrabbits are a bigger problem for cattle than bison in Utah’s Henry Mountains, USU study says.” The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved from http://www.sltrib.com/news/2080640-155/usu-study-jackrabbits-are-a-bigger?fullpage=1

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Ranglack, Dustin H., Durham, Susan, du Toit, Johan T. (April 2015) Competition on the range: science vs. perception in a bison–cattle conflict in the western USA. Journal of Applied Ecology. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.12386/full

Ransom JI, Hobbs NT, Bruemmer J (2013) Contraception Can Lead to Trophic Asynchrony between Birth Pulse and Resources. PLoS ONE 8(1): e54972. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054972. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23383018

Runyon, Luke. (2013, October 8) The long, slow decline of the U.S. sheep industry. Harvest Public Media. Retrieved from http://harvestpublicmedia.org/article/long-slow-decline-us-sheep-industry

Sacco AG, Subramanian MG, Yurewicz EC. (1981) Passage of zona antibodies via placenta and milk following active immunization of female mice with porcine zonae pellucidae. J Reprod Immunol. 1981 Dec;3(6):313-22. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7328557

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Tung K, Agersborg S, Bagavant H, Garza K, Wei K. (2002) Autoimmune ovarian disease induced by immunization with zona pellucida (ZP3) peptide. Curr Protoc Immunol. 2002 Aug;Chapter 15:Unit 15.17. doi:10.1002/0471142735.im1517s49. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gove/pubmed/18432873

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



Urgent Hay drive for WILD HORSES (WY14) rescued from the slaughterhouse

© Protect Mustangs

Help bring hay to wild horses 

URGENT: They have forecasted MORE SNOW Sunday! We can’t buy a big load of hay until the WY14’s goal is met here: https://www.gofundme.com/WY14WinterHay It’s getting close to the halfway mark. Please help with a donation to FEED the Dry Creek WY14 this Winter. Your donations are tax-deductible and will make a direct impact on the lives of the youngsters rescued back from the slaughterhouse.

Thank you for being part of the WY14 Rescue Mission.! Protect Mustangs is 100% volunteer so every dollar counts and they all add up to help the youngsters eat and stay warm in the snow.

If you would like to make a donation by www.PayPal.com please send it to Contact@ProtectMustangs.org

Or send a check by mail to:
Protect Mustangs
PO Box 5661
Berkeley, CA. 94705

Thank you for your hay donation to feed them so they can stay warm in the freezing winter nights.

The WY14 love you and know you are helping them. They send their heartfelt gratitude and blessings.

Remember sharing is caring.

With love,
Anne

Anne Novak
Volunteer Executive Director
www.ProtectMustangs.org

Are wild horses at risk of being sterilized due to an advocacy campaign?

© Anne Novak, all rights reserved.

© Anne Novak, all rights reserved.

The public needs to stop panicking and read everything they are asking their senators and representatives to do on their behalf

Is something in that form letter you received that you don’t agree with? Do you want wild horses sterilized using EPA approved restricted use pesticides? These pesticides are not safe for domestic horses so why are they being pushed for use on wild horses? Are you giving up the fight for their freedom to live in natural family bands?

Why is an advocacy group encouraging their supporters to write members of Congress–via click and send form letter–asking them to sign on to the pledge to sterilize wild horses (already in non-viable herds) when BLM overpopulation claim is false?

We found their pitch citing a quote from the National Academy of Sciences report in their form letter being circulated around the Internet. It reads:

“. . . Considering all the current options, [porcine zona pellucida (PZP) vaccines and GonaCon™ vaccine for females and chemical vasectomy for males] either alone or in combination, offer the most acceptable alternative to removing animals for managing population numbers . . .”

Even worse is the pledge they are requesting members of Congress sign and return the advocacy group’s office.

Senators and representatives will take that to mean you want “[porcine zona pellucida (PZP) vaccines and GonaCon™ vaccine for females and chemical vasectomy for males] either alone or in combination”. Is that what you want?

Or do you want a 10-year moratorium (suspension) on roundups for scientific research to investigate what’s the best way to manage the underpopulated herds of wild horses left in the West?

Why is this group pushing an elected official “pledge” to use “available fertility control” without scientific studies on population, migration, and holistic land management? What is going on here? Who is funding this scare-tactic-based campaign to sterilize America’s wild horses?

Why isn’t the group mentioning to Congress that the National Academy of Sciences report also said there is “no evidence” of overpopulation–why omit this?

Why hasn’t the group done any independent aerial or in-the-field research on population? Is it because it would not support the BLM’s faulty overpopulation claim?

See for yourself how many wild horses are left in the 800,000 acre Twin Peaks area during a recent aerial survey: http://vimeo.com/81195843  Read the scientific report exposing an underpopulation crisis on public land: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=6278

The group appears to know wild horses are not overpopulated. Recently they were quoted in an Associated Press article debunking the BLM’s overpopulation claim in comparison with livestock on public land.

Why then are they attempting to lead the public into blindly supporting a plan lacking good science–a plan calling for permanent and temporary sterility actions against indigenous wild horses?

Is the group eluding to a false risk of all wild horses going to slaughter if they aren’t sterilized?

Why create all the panic so people will quickly click, sign and share the pledge with their senators and congressmen asking them to “take the pledge” for sterilization, etc.? Is the public reading what they are signing on to?

Why is the group pushing for “fertility control”–using sterilizants passed by the EPA as “restricted use pest control”. Wild horses are a native species. How can restricted use pesticides be used on native species? Read more here: http://www.thedesertinde.com/Articles-2012/EPA-Calls-Wild-Horses-Pests–0511.html

Many other valid concerns about PZP were brought up in this 2010 article as well: http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/news/2010/10/220.shtml#axzz2tlL9dGaX More articles will be posted soon.

Are American wild horses becoming lab rats for immunocontraceptives for other species including humans? Read the reference section at the bottom this research paper: http://randc.ovinfo.com/e200501/yuanmm.pdf

How can man (BLM and others) decide which wild horses to sterilize on the range and who to breed? That would be the end of survival of the fittest and the beginning of domestication of the wild horse and burro.

Is the group’s paradigm flawed because it focuses on the individual wild horse and neglects to view the herd as most important–as the lifeblood?

Sanctuaries might need to sterilize wild horses because they have limited space but policy for native wild horses living in the wild should not be modeled after a sanctuary model–unless it is based on reserve design.

America’s native wild horses and burros are wild animals who benefit the ecosystem and fill their niche, reduce wildfire fuel, and help reverse desertification. They are not back alley cats that should be spayed and neutered because of an overpopulation problem. No offense to cats : )

The alleged overpopulation problem for wild horses and burros is a farce.

Now the question is–What do we do to save the wild horses from those who are pushing for risky temporary and permanent sterilization using EPA approved “restricted use pesticides” on non-viable herds?

1.) Sign and share widely the petition for a moratorium on roundups for scientific research. Good science will find real solutions to protect wild horses and burros on the range.

2.) Send an email to your senators and your representatives if you don’t want America’s wild horses to be sterilized. Let them know you didn’t read the fine print of the form letter you signed if that is the truth.

3.) Meet with your senator’s aides and your representative to request they intervene in the wipe-out of America’s wild horses and burros by granting a 10-year moratorium on roundups for scientific research on population, migration, reserve design, holistic land management, etc.

Remember don’t let anyone scare you into believing wild horses are going to be slaughtered if they aren’t sterilized. Fight the good fight for our symbols of freedom and our national living treasures–America’s wild horses and burros.

Links of interest:

Contact your senators and representatives: http://www.contactingthecongress.org/

Petition for a Moratorium on Roundups: http://www.change.org/petitions/sally-jewell-urgent-grant-a-10-year-moratorium-on-wild-horse-roundups-for-scientific-research

The Horse and Burro as Positively Contributing Returned Natives in North America, American Journal of Life Sciences by Craig C. Downer http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/journal/paperinfo.aspx?journalid=118&doi=10.11648/j.ajls.20140201.12

American wild horses are indigenous: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=3842 and http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=562

January 26, 2014  Washington Post (Viral) U.S. looking for ideas to help manage wild-horse overpopulation  http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/us-looking-for-ideas-to-help-manage-wild-horse-overpopulation/2014/01/26/8cae7c96-84f2-11e3-9dd4-e7278db80d86_story.html

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

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

The International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros (ISPMB) study of wild herds shows that functional social structures contribute to low herd growth compared to BLM managed herds: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=6057

Public outraged over the EPA approving pesticides for NATIVE wild horses http://protectmustangs.org/?p=3866

GASLAND 2, a film by Josh Fox, the plight of wild horses is featured, http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/

Wild Horses and Renegades, a film by James Anaquad Kleinert, http://theamericanwildhorse.com/

EPA calls wild horses pests, Desert Independent http://www.thedesertinde.com/Articles-2012/EPA-Calls-Wild-Horses-Pests–0511.html

Protect Mustangs’ letter requesting EPA repair error classifying iconic American wild horses “pests” http://protectmustangs.org/?p=1191

EPA Pesticide Information for ZonaStat-H http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/pending/fs_PC-176603_01-Jan-12.pdf

AVMA Reports: Vaccine could reduce wild horse overpopulation http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/apr12/120415k.asp

Wildlife fertility vaccine approved by EPA http://www.sccpzp.org/blog/locally-produced-wildlife-contraceptive-vaccine-approved-by-epa/

Oxford Journal on PZP for Humans and more http://humrep.oxfordjournals.org/content/20/12/3271.long
PZP research for humans http://randc.ovinfo.com/e200501/yuanmm.pdf

Wild horse predators: http://sg.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080302002619AADTWzh

Princeton reports: Wildlife and cows can be partners, not enemies, in search for food. http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S32/93/41K10/index.xml?section=featured

 

The star studded documentary by James Anaquad Kleinert requests a moratorium on roundups . . .

 

 

“It’s time to pick the torch back up and continue the fight. Never give up. We the people must take back the power for the voiceless wild ones we love!” ~Anne Novak, Executive Director of Protect Mustangs

 

 

 

Write a letter to stop the roundups

Director of Protect Mustangs’ Youth Campaign, Robin Warren (age 11) meets a young adopted wild horse. (Photo © Cynthia Smalley, all rights reserved.)

Take Action to change history

Write a hand written letter to your senators and representative asking them to stop funding cruel helicopter roundups. Let them know you want viable herds on the range and for the BLM to stop skewing the male-female ratios, allow predators to manage the herds as nature intended so risky fertility control drugs aren’t needed.

You can find your elected officials’ contact information here: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

Your letters will make a big impact. Politicians realize one hand written letter voices the opinion of one thousand people.

Send us a copy of your hand written letters so we can take them with us to Washington. Please mail them to: Protect Mustangs, P.O. Box 5661, Berkeley, Ca. 94705

Thank you for doing what you can do to help the wild horses and burros!

Report from Robin: BLM helicopter use public hearing in California

Mustang flag with stars by Robin Warren, Youth Campaign Director for Protect Mustangs. (© Protect Mustangs, media permission granted.)

BLM Helicopter Hearing, July 10th, 2012 at 6:30 at the Woodlake Hotel in Sacramento, CA

I got there just on time after we drove in a couple circles and got lost. Luckily another horse advocate gave us directions to which room it was in because it was hard to find. My mom signed us both in and then we got our seats in the front row. Everyone was talking and laughing except the BLM employees.

The BLM employee who was running the meeting was kind of mean – she would distract you while you were speaking so it was harder to say what you wanted to say. She said everyone had only 3 minutes to speak because there were so many people and she wanted to give everyone a turn.  They way that it was distracting was because she had the warning times on paper and she would wave as each speakers time ran out. There 4 signs: 1 minutes, 30 seconds, 15 seconds, and STOP. When the speakers saw it sometimes they lost their train of thought but then others would volunteer to give up their time so each speaker could say everything they wanted to say.

Cat Kindsfather gave me her time because she didn’t want me interrupted. I zoned out the timekeeper so I could say everything I wanted to. I knew it would be around 3 minutes so I wasn’t really worried but I guess I did get into extra time because I heard someone say “Stop doing that to her! She can have my time!”

Cat took lots of pictures.

When I got up to speak everyone clapped and was very encouraging. Then I read my comments. Near the end everyone clapped but I had one more thing to say. I wanted to tell the BLM how many signatures I had gotten since the last time I presented signatures. I said “In January I presented 1,200 signatures and now I have 1,000 more. And I want to get – no I did get –  10 more today! I won’t stop until they listen and stop hurting the mustangs. Please stop the helicopter roundups!”

The other speakers were really great. I learned some things. The author, Terri Farley, told me that her Phantom Stallion series have sold 2 million copies so I am speaking for maybe more children than I realize.

I was sad most of the time about what the speakers were saying. Simone Netherlands described a roundup that I heard about my first year of the petition but hearing about it again was upsetting. Two foals had to be put down after their hooves fell off from being chased by the helicopter. They suffered for days before they were put down.

The mood was elevated. Everyone in the room except for the 4 BLM employees (2 administrators and 2 armed guards) was on our side. They want the roundups stopped. But one speaker, toward the end was discouraging because she reminded us that we probably won’t get heard. That we shouldn’t be happy. That we’ve all already said NO to the roundups and that the BLM will not listen!

But I think we will be heard. I think it was a great meeting of supporters and that it will spark a bigger movement.

I was surprised to find out that many people don’t know what is happening to the horses. I want to tell the world. I didn’t know either until I read the book “Mustang – Wild Spirit of the West” by Marguerite Henry. It is written for a younger audience so it is a quick read for any adult who want to be educated about wild horses. We need to spread the word so we can save the horses!

Sincerely,

Robin Warren (Wild Mustang Robin)

Youth Campaign Director for Protect Mustangs

Mustang Robin hands Amy Dumas (BLM) the growing petition against helicopter roundups at the California BLM public hearing on helicopters in Sacramento July 10, 2012

Terri Farley, award-winning author and Robin Warren, Protect Mustangs’ Youth Campaign Director, at the BLM public hearing on helicopter use for roundups and management in Sacramento July 10, 2012. (Photo © Cat Kindsfather, permission for media use)

© Protect Mustangs


Report from Robin: Rally to Stop the Monster Helicopters

Robin Warren, Youth Campaign Director for Protect Mustangs with her mother Denise Delucia at the Sacramento Rally to Stop the Roundups. (Photo © Cat Kindsfather, all rights reserved.)

Robin Warren, Youth Campaign Director for Protect Mustangs, speaks at Sacramento Stop the Roundups Rally. (Photo © Irma Novak)

Robin Warren, Youth Campaign Director for Protect Mustangs, speaking at Courthouse Rally July 10, 2012 (Photo © Lea Harney Dudum, all rights reserved.)

Stop the Roundups Rally, July 10, 2012, at 2 p.m. Federal Courthouse, 501 I Street, Sacramento, Ca.

We got there a half hour early to meet with two other horse advocates: Debby Coffey and Garnet Pasquel. They were very nice. Garnet gave me a button and they both signed my petition. We had brought signs from Las Vegas for American Wild Horse Advocates since Garnet flew and we were driving. Everyone liked the signs we brought.

After we had refreshments we went across the street to set up. A lot of people came to help and a lot of people brought signs. People really liked mine that said “Helicopters are Monsters”. The spectators also liked the one that said “Honk for Horses” because they kept honking. News reporters came and took pictures and video. – people from the TV and the newspaper.  One reporter asked me some questions.  They said they were only going to take a few pictures but once they saw all the people who came they stayed a while longer and took many more pictures.

It was about 45 minutes before the master of ceremonies, Jetara True-Love, started introducing the speakers. Many great speakers spoke before me. My favorite was Craig Downer who spoke first because he had a lot of information. But it is not right for me to choose a favorite because I enjoyed every speaker.

I am so grateful that wild horse hero, Anne Novak, chose me to be the Director of the Youth Campaign for Protect Mustangs. There could be no greater honor. I am so happy that this happened because I thought I would always be in the background but now I am in the front with all the rest of the horse heroes. Another member on the Board of Directors of Protect Mustangs is photographer Cat Kindfather and she is also a hero of mine. Both Anne and Cat are so encouraging to me. I’m really looking forward to letting other kids know about the wild horses & burros so they can help too.

I felt like I was in Hollywood because I got to meet so many horse celebrities – my heroes. I got to close the rally with my speech. The microphone stopped working but everyone got close to hear me. When I was done, everyone was cheering for me.

The rally ended but not many people left right away. We all wanted to stay and talk. Many of us stayed together after the rally until the hearing, exchanging information, and encouraging each other.  Even though it was hot and a little longer than I expected I had the time of my life.  And, as everyone noted, the a few hours in the heat is nothing compared to what our wild horses are put through. I will never forget this day. I hope we made a difference for the horses. I hope everyone keeps rallying everywhere until the horses are once again free!

Sincerely,

Robin Warren

Youth Campaign Director for Protect Mustangs

© Protect Mustangs, Contact us for permission to reprint

Stop the Roundups Rally in Sacramento July 10th at 2 pm outside the Federal Courthouse

Come to the rally to show that you care about the wild horses and burros in America.

Terri Farley speaks at the Rally to Stop the Roundups (Photo © Anne Novak.)

The Sacramento Stop the Roundups Rally and Press Conference is at 2 p.m. July 10th on the sidewalk outside the Federal Courthouse across from the Amtrak station. ( 501 ” I ” Street at the 5th Street intersection in Sacramento, CA 95814)

Here is a list of speakers:

Carla Bowers, National Wild Horse Advocate

Tina Brodrick, Owner of Sonny Boys Tours

Craig Downer, Wildlife Biologist and acclaimed Wild Horse and Burro Expert

Terri Farley, Award winning writer and beloved author of The Phantom Stallion series

Cat Kindsfather, Award winning wild horse photographer

Marilyn Kroplick, MD, Board President for In Defense of Animals

Simone Netherlands, President of Respect for Horses

Anne Novak, Executive Director of Protect Mustangs

Jetara Séhart, Executive Director of Native Wild Horse Protection & Marin Mustangs

Robin Warren  (Wild Mustang Robin), Director of The Youth Campaign for Protect Mustangs

Bring homemade signs and your friends. It will be hot so bring a rain umbrella for shade and plenty of water. Protect Mustangs encourages members of the public to carpool or take Amtrak to save on fuel and reduce pollution. Oil and gas extraction–on public land–is one of the main reasons wild horses are being wiped off their home on the range.  Be part of the solution and take the train if you can.

The voiceless wild horses and burros need your help after the rally too. Give oral or written comment against helicopter roundups and attend the 6:30 pm BLM Wild Horse & Burro Helicopter/Vehicle Use Public Hearing for roundups and management. The meeting runs from 6:30-8:30 PM at the Woodlake Hotel (formerly the Radisson near Arden Fair Mall) 500 Leisure Lane in Sacramento.

“Like” and check for updates on our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/ProtectMustangs

Join the dynamic conversation on Facebook about helicopter roundups: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=387209591338066&set=a.240625045996522.58710.233633560029004&type=1&theater

Driving directions from the rally to the meeting:

Driving directions to 500 Leisure Ln, Sacramento, CA 95815
501 I St
Sacramento, CA 95814
1. Head north on 5th St toward H St
194 ft
2. 5th St turns right and becomes H St
0.8 mi
3. Turn left onto CA-160 N/16th St

Continue to follow CA-160 N
2.3 mi
4. Take exit 47A for Leisure Ln towardCanterbury Rd
0.1 mi
5. Keep left at the fork, follow signs forLeisure
79 ft
6. Turn left onto Leisure Ln

Destination will be on the right
354 ft
500 Leisure Ln
Sacramento, CA 95815

Special thanks to Jetara Séhart, Executive Director of Native Wild Horse Protection & Marin Mustangs for her help to put together this event.

If you have any questions or would like to speak at the rally feel free to send us an email at Contact@ProtectMustangs.org