Comments against the Wyoming checkerboard roundup and removal

Via email:  blm_wy_checkerboard_hmas@blm.gov

    September 9, 2016

BLM Rock Springs Field Office

280 Highway 191 North

Rock Springs, WY 82901

Attn: Wild Horse and Burro Specialist

Subject: Checkerboard EA Comments

Project: Roundup-and-Removal — Announced

Document: Environmental Assessment ( EA )

NEPA ID: DOI-BLM-WY-D040-2016-0135-EA

This letter responds to your request for substantive comments and informed analysis that BoLM Rock Springs Field Office (RSFO) should consider regarding the subject EA.  I submit my comments as an interested party in behalf of the wild horses of the Adobe Town (AT), Great Divide Basin (GDB), and Salt Wells Creek (SWC) Herd Management Areas (HMAs) who are deemed to have roamed into the “checkerboard lands” — those where Federal and private property sections alternate in a checkerboard-like pattern — in numbers that exceed the arbitrary levels established by the Consent Decree.  Please note that in all instances where text has been emphasized, either through bold and/or italics, the emphasis was added by me.

For ease of reference, here are the links to the Dear Reader letter and to the Webpage where the EA is posted:

https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/projects/nepa/59563/78510/89493/Dear_Reader_Letter_Public_Review_Checckerboard_EA_8-11-16.pdf

http://bit.ly/2bj4PzJ

Background

BoLM unwisely and unethically committed itself to reducing wild-horse numbers at harshly-low levels in the Checkerboard sections of three HMAs at issue.  Per the Consent Decree, once it was determined — or projected — that more than 100 wild horses were present (or might be) at some point in time in GDB, and/or that more than a combined total of 200 wild horses were (or might be) present at some point in time in AT and SWC, then RSFO would have them all removed.

Here are the number of horses that, BLM alleges that, per April 2016 surveys, were present in the checkerboard area of the following herd management areas (HMAs):

  25 Adobe Town

272 Great Divide Basin

187 Salt Wells Creek

——————————————

484 Total

RSFO proposes to remove not just the 484, but an additional 16, for an even 500.  RSFO acknowledges that it would not be removing “excess” wild horses.  RSFO further admits that the proposed removals would drop the population below the low-bound of the established arbitrary management level (AML).

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

Just because RSFO’s survey allegedly counted 484 wild horses in the Checkerboard does not mean that 484 are still there or were there the day after the census was conducted.  Wild horses are constantly on the move.  Just because they visit an area on certain days does not make them permanent residents.

Public Lands Commandeered by Private Interests

The Checkerboard area encompasses 2,427,220 acres, or 3,793 square miles.  Public lands total 1,695,517 acres — 2,649 square miles — and privately-held lands total 731,703 acres –1,143 square miles.  Thus, public lands constitute 70%, and private lands comprise 30%, of the Checkerboard.

Per the EA, the Rock Springs Grazing Association (RSGA) owns or “controls” the “majority” of the 30% of the privately-held Checkerboard area.  The EA does not reveal how significant that majority is, but it would have to be 51% or more, by definition, to be a majority.  If it were a “great” majority, then surely that point would have been made.  Thus, the conservative inference would be around 51%.  But to make the computations easier, and to give the benefit to the doubt, 60% will be used.

So, 60% x 30% = 18%.  What results is a minor percentage of private-profiteers calling the shots for how public lands are managed.  Unacceptable.

Wild-Horse Population-Density — Even If All 484 Were Only on Private Land

Let’s assume for the moment that 484 wild horses have established permanent residence in the 731,703 acres — 1,143 square miles — of privately-held checkerboard land.  The resultant population-density would be:

1 wild horse per 1,512 acres = 1 wild horse per 2.4 square miles.

Public Corruption — Appearance of

According to the Website of the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, the Rock Springs Field Manager has stated publicly:

For all intents and purposes, we consider all of the checkerboard private.”

If this direct quotation is accurate, then the Field Manager appears to be encouraging the private takeover of public lands.  No wonder the Bundy brothers and company felt emboldened by such BoLM “dog whistles” to seize control of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge.  Announcements like that suggest public corruption — abuse of public office to benefit private interests.

FRAUDULENT POPULATION ESTIMATES

Birth Rate versus Herd-Growth Rate

Before we examine BLM’s reported herd-growth rates of 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.  BLM claims an average birth rate of about 20% a year in wild-horse herds.  But the herd growth rate is unlikely to be that high.  Here’s why: Horses and burros die.

An independent study (Gregg, LeBlanc, and Johnston, 2014) reviewed BLM roundup-records for a representative sample of four herd management areas and 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 in their first year of life.  Thus, the effective foal-to-yearling survival rate is just 10 percent.  It is wrong for RSFO to use 20% as the growth rates.  It may be administratively convenient to equate the birth rate to the growth rate, but it is not valid.   

Adult Wild-Horse-and-Burro Mortality Rates Must Be Factored

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

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

The Herd-Growth Rate Must Necessarily Be Lower Than the Birth Rate

In light of the high foal-mortality rate and the expected adult wild-horse mortality rate, the herd-growth rate must always be lower than the birth rate.  When BLM reports alleged herd-growth rates many times higher than 20% (horses) — that would necessarily mean birth rates substantially higher still.  Such implausible rates are routinely found in BLM’s population data, including the year-to-year figures for the subject HMAs.  Stealthily inserting bogus birth-rates into the data, wrongly conflating birth-rates with population growth-rates, and failing to factor in mortality-rates — those are just some of the ways BLM creates the false impression of a population-explosion.

Stochastic Events Also Reduce Herd Growth

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

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

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

Imagine if such a catastrophe were to befall the 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 and sterile elderly mares?  BLM must proactively manage the herds per IUCN guidelines, if only in case of stochastic events.

Maximum AML Set Below Minimum Viable Population

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

Fraudulent Population Figures

BLM-RSFO’s data reports that the herds-in-question grew at biologically-impossible reproduction-rates.  Further, BLM-RSFO asserts that 484 of these imaginary horses were spotted in the checkerboard, thereby triggering their removal.

Name of HMA Population Population Percent

National OfcNational OfcIncrease

March 2015 March 2016

Adobe Town      602     1,030     71.0%

Great Divide Basin      199       670   236.7%

Salt Wells Creek      117       728   522.2%

BLM’s population-growth figures are fraudulent.  They are biologically impossible.  Even if the “data” represented only the birth rates, they would be as much as 100 times the normal birth rate.  Moreover, the bogus birth rates have been conflated with herd-growth rates.  The mortality rates were not factored.  Consider how such errors will compound and magnify over time.

In light of these fictitious figures, no action is the appropriate alternative.  BoLM-RSFO should be subjected to a forensic audit to determine who is behind the phony data.  Those staffers must be held accountable.

But 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.”

BLM-RSFO’s wild-horse population estimates are without merit.

Societal Impact of Inflated Population-Data

The population-estimates 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.

Fraudulent Data Emboldens Scofflaw Ranchers, Costs Wild Horses Their Freedom

In many allotments throughout the West, permit-holders have refused to recognize BLM’s rules regarding season-of-use.  The notorious Cliven Bundy 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.

There are likely permittees in Wyoming emulating Bundy, Borba, and Filippini.  Certainly RSGA has no respect for the Act that was meant to protect America’s mustangs.  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.    

Voluntary Non-Use of AUMs Reflects Lowered Demand for Beef

BLM and its permit-holders protest that a lot of the livestock AUMs are in non-use, sometimes mandatorily, other times voluntarily.  They complain loudly, pointing to the seeming excess of wild horses — an illusion caused by BLM’s phony figures.

Bloomberg News published an article recently concerning the state of the beef market.  In the US, consumer-demand for beef is down to levels not seen in 40 years.  The US cattle-herd population is at a 60-year low and is expected to drop further.  The article explored why this situation exists.

Bloomberg noted that beef is a premium product, with a significantly higher price-point.  US consumers are turning to lower-cost meats, such as pork and chicken.  Further, the strength of the dollar makes US beef exports less competitive in the global marketplace.  Thus, it does not make economic sense for a rancher to produce more beef, given current conditions.  So, reduced demand and lowered cattle-population are important reasons why AUM-usage is down.  It has nothing to do with wild horses.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-04/beef-isn-t-for-dinner-anymore-as-americans-devour-cheaper-pork

Authorized v. Actual Livestock Use

BLM also argues that actual livestock use is lower than authorized or permitted use.  But because actual use is whatever the permit-holders 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 grossly 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 “Annual 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.”

http://www.blm.gov/style/medialib/blm/noc/business/eforms.Par.2064.File.dat/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 reports is suspect.

USDA Reports Beef-Cattle Now Weigh More — AUM Calculations Need to Be Reformed

The same Bloomberg article noted that the average weight of a beef-cattle animal has increased to 1,385 pounds, up 32 pounds from just the previous year.  Please note that the AUM was originally set per a weight of 1,000 pounds.  But, in the meantime, what the industry refers to as “genetics” — technologically-advanced selective breeding — has increased average weight by 38½ percent, with better-than two percent of that increase coming in the past year alone.  BLM needs to charge more AUMs for cattle — as well as charge more per AUM — in accordance with true market-rates.

On the other hand, the AUM for a horse presumes a 1,000-pound saddle horse.  But mustangs tend to be smaller and lighter, weighing 700 to 800 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 the less-than-one AUM per horse, giving BLM the flexibility to place more wild horses on the range.

HELICOPTERS — Inappropriate for Counting Wild Horses

Aerial 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 Red Desert Complex (also in Wyoming) census emphasized, there are assumptions and caveats that must be considered when evaluating the numbers, including the potential for having double-counted due to “horse activity (moving).”  The method itself exaggerates the numbers.  See pdf-pages 84-87 at the link below.

http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/info/NEPA/documents/rfo/red-desert.html

I note that the 2015 Checkerboard Census Report also mentioned that assumptions had been used but contended that an under-count was likely.  That assumption is not only incorrect but opposite to the facts.  When more horses are “seen” than could possibly exist, the method is faulty and likely fraudulent, given the “cooperation” of RGSA.  Finally, I note the absence of photographs.

Both the Roundup-Contractor and BoLM 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 the target-area.  What would stop the helicopter-pilot from capturing wild horses that never set hoof outside outside their rightful HMA?

In its response to this topic, which was raised during scoping, BoLM said that it would monitor the helicopter’s flight-path to keep this from happening.  But BoLM’s purpose in conducting equid cleansing is to please the permittees.  BoLM has committed to removing 500 wild horses to comply with the Consent Decree, and the roundup-contractor expects to earn the amount that corresponds to 500 captured wild horses.  The helicopter-pilot is looking to “make his numbers” but so is BoLM.  Thus, BoLM has a conflict of interest in needing the contractor to remove any 500 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 BoLM to fulfill its agreement with the arbitrary Consent Decree.  Consequently, wild horses would lose their freedom for the private profit of RSGA and the helicopter-contractor, and for the administrative convenience of BoLM.  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 into the checkerboard area 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.  RSFO acknowledges as much in the EA, but still pursues the removal-without-return alternative.

Recommendations:  In legitimate instances of straying, RSFO 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 RSFO wants them to use?  What about siting mineral licks deep inside the HMAs, away from the Checkerboard?  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.  RSFO should specify preventive and reactive measures in this regard as part of its management approach.  Return outsiders to the solid-block public-lands areas of the HMAs, reward that return (hay, mineral-licks, guzzlers), and encourage their “retreat” from the Checkerboard (aversive techniques).

HELICOPTERS — Dangerous to Humans

Scheduled Airliners — Safe; Helicopters — Crash-Prone

As cited in my scoping comments but reiterated here out of concern for staff-wellbeing, the American public considers travel-by-air to be safe, even routine.  Crashes are rare, and fatalities, few.  Thus, it is easy to assume that all flight is safe, which is not the case.

Helicopters are notorious for crashing.  Please compare and contrast Wyoming’s aviation crash-records of scheduled air carriers versus helicopters during the 10-year period from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2015 — per the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB):

Scheduled Air Carriers (“Part 121”)

    1  — Accidents (minor events excluded)

    0  — Accidents that resulted in fatalities

Helicopters

  13  — Accidents (minor events excluded)

    1  — Accident that resulted in a fatality

    1  — Number of persons that died in that accident

In Wyoming, for the period in question, there has been 1 accident involving a scheduled air carrier.  Nobody died.  Helicopters, in contrast, have had 13 accidents — 13 times more — including 1 that involved a fatality.  At the link below, you can replicate the searches to verify these data.

http://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/index.aspx

Helicopter Census Method Puts BLM Personnel at Risk

BLM’s environmental assessments often allude to the use of “multiple experienced observers” (presumedly BLM staffers) to count and photograph wild horses — or what they think are wild horses — while being flown in grid patterns over the range.

Given the crash-proneness of helicopters, BoLM could face a tragedy — with the loss of key personnel, friends, and colleagues in an accident.  Counting wild horses does not justify this risky method.

HELICOPTERS — Dangerous to Horses

Inhumane Roundup Method

BoLM’s use of helicopters to round up the wild horses is inhumane.  The horses are terrified by the thunderous, high-intensity noise as they are pursued by the low-flying helicopter.  They are blasted with sand, dirt, and gravel from the rotor wash.  Panicked by the chaos, they stampede, injure themselves, and become separated from their babies and bandmates.  Mares miscarry.  Foals become orphans.  Many horses die from stress, even more have to be euthanized.  Helicopter-style roundups are abusive, especially to foals, older horses, and pregnant mares.  This is unacceptable.

Recommendations:  Helicopter-style roundups must be abolished.  Roundups in extreme temperatures — either the summer heat or the winter cold — must end.  Stampeding horses for countless miles — causing them to lather with sweat and then bringing them to an abrupt halt — must be prohibited.  Forcing the horses to run long distances over rough terrain, thereby wrecking the delicate hooves of the newborns and resulting in lameness and even death — must never happen again.

BoLM should institute the kind approach to gathering wild horses.  Roundups should be done slowly, quietly, and gently using the bait-and-water trapping approach.  This method also tends to preserve family unity, which is essential to wild-horse social structure.

Abusive Behavior by Helicopter Pilots during Gathers

As has been documented on video, helicopter-pilots conducting roundups become frustrated by horses’ lack of cooperation.  Impatient to get the animals moving faster, the pilots ram the horses with the aircrafts’ landing skids, in some cases even flipping the creatures into a somersault.  There is video documentation of such abuses, and a court found that they had indeed occurred.  Worse yet, much of the abuse goes undetected because the roundup-pilot generally flies solo.

There has also been documentation of contractor-wranglers whipping horses in the face, kicking them in the head, dragging them by the neck with ropes, using electric prods on them.

No Horse Left Behind

Helicopter-contractors are incentivized to leave no horse ungathered.  In addition to the flat fee-for-service, they earn a per-horse-fee.  Thus, they have reason to go after every last horse in order to “make their numbers.”  Indeed, during the November 2012 Wassuk (NV) HMA roundup, we saw how determined the contractors were to get their per-horse payment.  We also observed how the attending USDA veterinarian and the BoLM officials present did nothing to stop the abuse.  What’s more, this cruelty took place in plain view of observers holding video cameras.  Imagine what went on out of sight and off camera.

HELICOPTERS — Dangerous to the Environment

Possibility of a Post-Crash Fire’s Leading to a Wildfire

The crash of a roundup-helicopter could result in a fuel-spill.  Especially in these times of drought, when there is an abundance of dry brush, a wildfire could be sparked.  Thus, even the environment is at risk from the use of helicopters to round up wild horses.  It bears repeating that, because herd management areas are typically in remote locations, it would be difficult to put out a post-crash fire and keep it from getting out of control.

CONCLUSIONS

1.  RSFO should repudiate the arbitrary and corrupt Consent Decree.

2.  RSFO’s Field Manager should stop making seditious announcements, leading rogue ranchers to believe that public lands are private and emboldening them to break the law, putting public safety at risk.

3.  RSFO should select either Alternative A — No Action, or Alternative C — Removal-and-Return.

———————————————-

Sincerely,

Marybeth Devlin

6880 SW 27th ST

Miami, FL 33155-2916

marybethdevlin@bellsouth.net

305  665-1727

———————————————-

References:

§ 1334. Private maintenance; numerical approximation; strays on private lands; removal; destruction by agents THE WILD FREE-ROAMING HORSES AND BURROS ACT OF 1971 (PUBLIC LAW 92-195) Retrieved from

18 U.S. Code § 2383 – Rebellion or insurrection.  Cornell University Law School.  Retrieved from https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2383

18 U.S. Code § 2384 – Seditious conspiracy.  Cornell University Law School.  Retrieved from https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2384

American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign.  (2016, August-September)  BLM Wyoming Wild Horse Wipeout Continues – Action Needed Today!  Retrieved from http://act.wildhorsepreservation.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=23543

Public corruption.  Definition.  Cornell University Law School.  Retrieved from https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/public_corruption

Romboy, Dennis.  (2015, December 18)  “Judge sentences San Juan Commissioner Phil Lyman to 10 days in jail, 3 years of probation.”  Deseret News.  Deseret Digital Media.  Retrieved from http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865643995/Judge-sentences-San-Juan-Commissioner-Phil-Lyman-to-10-days-jail-3-years-of-probation.html?pg=all

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




BREAKING NEWS: Call for Wyoming boycott and protests against roundups to frack the land for oil and gas

Protect Mustangs.org (Photo © Cat Kindsfather)

Protect Mustangs.org (Photo © Cat Kindsfather)

 

for immediate release

BREAKING NEWS: Call for Wyoming boycott and protests against roundups to frack the land for oil and gas

Native wild horses are facing destruction in the face of climate change with no evidence of overpopulation to justify BLM roundups

Rock Springs, WY. (September 21, 2014)–-The public is outraged more indigenous wild horses are being rounded up and permanently removed from public land for the water and fracking land grab. Protect Mustangs is calling for protests to stand up for American wild horses and for a tourism boycott targeted at Wyoming who promotes “Roam Free” in their marketing yet ignores wild horses in their state. More than 800 Divide Basin, Adobe Town and Salt Wells wild horses are being rounded up from the public-private land known as the “Checkerboard” in southwest Wyoming. The Rock Springs Grazing Association (RSGA) took the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to court to push the roundup through. Wild horses are terrified by choppers, their families ripped apart, forced into inhumane captivity, be at-risk for going to slaughter and forever lose their freedom to roam and contribute to the ecosystem. Several wild horses have already died brutal deaths in the roundup–some victims were only a few months old.

“Fracking for oil and gas is polluting the environment and wiping out America’s wild horses,” states Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs. “The BLM must leave at least 150 wild horses in each herd to maintain genetic variability so they can adapt to the effects of climate change. It’s time for clean energy that can coexist with wildlife.”

BLM describes one large fracking project, Continental Divide-Creston, in saying, “The project is located on 1.1 million acres in the checkerboard pattern of mixed land ownership comprised of 59 percent federal, 37 percent private and 4 percent state-owned land. The eastern boundary of the project is approximately 25 miles west of Rawlins, Wyo. with the western boundary approximately 50 miles east of the city of Rock Springs.”

Field reports allege the BLM has inflated the population guesstimates to justify removals requested by the RSGA.

There is no evidence of overpopulation according to the National Academy of Sciences’ 2013 report.

On the other hand, internationally acclaimed wildlife biologist Craig Downer points out “much evidence exists for horse presence in the Americas, especially North America, during the post- Pleistocene and pre-Columbian period at dates scattered through the period beginning ca. 10,000 YBP and reaching very near to 1492 A.D. [Craig C. Downer, The Horse and Burro as Positively Contributing Returned Natives in North America, American Journal of Life Sciences. Vol. 2, No. 1, 2014, pp. 5-23. doi: 10.11648/j.ajls.20140201.12]

“Native wild horses are a vanishing natural resource,” states Novak. “People need to stand up for what’s right. Innocent foals are dying in this roundup and that’s wrong.”

Protect Mustangs is calling for an immediate moratorium on roundups and removals for scientific population studies and holistic management. Advocates want to see genetically viable herds on public land but the BLM prefers to cater to the extractive industry who wants number so low wild horses will die off.

“Tourists come to Wyoming to observe wild horse families in their native habitat, so why are they going to decimate these herds?” asks Novak. “The tag line at the Wyoming tourism office is ‘Roam Free‘ but they are taking away native wild horses’ freedom forever. The public is angry and wants to boycott Wyoming tourism.”

The Great Divide Basin, Adobe Town and Salt Wells Creek herd management areas (HMAs) total approximately 2,427,220 acres with approximately 1,2427,220 acres in the Checkerboard. The roundup held up in court recently due to the Rock Springs Grazing Association (RSGA) Consent Decree ordered by the U.S. District Court on April 3, 2013, to remove all wild horses from private lands within the checkerboard portion of the complex in 2013. The RSGA appears to be heavily involved with energy development.

Members of the public are encouraged to watch GASLAND 2, contact their elected officials, peacefully protest the roundup and join America’s growing anti-fracking movement to stop the devastation of native wild horse habitat.

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

# # #

Media Contacts:

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

Tami Hottes, 618-790-4339, Tami@ProtectMustangs.org

Photos, interviews and video available upon request

Links of interest™:

American Journal of Life Sciences: The Horse and Burro as Positively Contributing Returned Natives in North America http://bit.ly/1rV9tpr

Wild Free Roaming Horse & Burro Act http://1.usa.gov/1utVtmL

More foals die in Wyoming’s Checkerboard roundup: http://bit.ly/1wEU6Ua

NEPA: http://bit.ly/1B0e9Nd

GASLAND 2: http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/

BLM Oil & Gas leases: http://on.doi.gov/1sS8l3Z

National Academy of Sciences report on Wild Horses and Burros: http://bit.ly/1sT6agA

Protect Mustangs Calls for Fund for Wyoming Wild Horses (Horseback Magazine) http://bit.ly/1ylmS0s

Continental Divide-Creston: http://on.doi.gov/1uc04gX

Continental Divide-Creston expansion http://bit.ly/1pnSNmt

Defund the Roundups Petition: http://chn.ge/1sAAQHa

Petition for a 10 year moratorium on roundups for recovery and studies: http://chn.ge/1rdhXZ2

Don’t Frack Wild Horse Land Petition: http://chn.ge/1rdDzEV

Petition for shade and shelter for captive wild horses & burros: http://chn.ge/1DriOvN

PZP (birth control) sterilizes temp to perm and is a pesticide: http://bit.ly/1mzsP4Z

Link to BLM Wyoming Wild Horse and Burro Program: http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/programs/Wild_Horses.html

Wyoming Tourism Office: http://www.wyomingtourism.org

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

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

 

BLM roundup in Wyoming

 

 

 

 

Thank you for your comments they will be posted soon.

Help us get to Wyoming to watchdog the roundup

HELP us get to the Wyoming Checkerboard Roundup to WATCHDOG the situation and take action to prevent animal cruelty. Please donate via www.PayPal.com to Contact@ProtectMustangs.org or by mail to Protect Mustangs, P.O. Box 5661, Berkeley, Ca. 94705 Mark “Watchdog WY” on your donation. Frequent flyer miles will help too. We also need a used mac laptop and camera for journey. Thank you so much!

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Background: http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/court-sides-with-wyoming-in-wild-horse-roundup/article_7c23d57a-3059-597a-b3c0-3249958dc98f.html

Follow https://www.facebook.com/ProtectMustangs for info and go to https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wild-Horses-In-Wyoming-Need-Help/587758424612113 to HELP the WY wild horses who will lose their freedom, their families and their place in the world in this heinous BLM roundup.

Tweet this: #StopWyRoundup Now! Get 2 WY. Meet w/ your Rep. Write letters. Protest. Get creative against #AnimalCruelty www.ProtectMustangs.org

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Former BLM manager declares Wyoming roundup appears to be in violation of the law

LEGAL DECLARATION filed by former BLM Rock Springs and Rawlins area manager, Lloyd Eisenhauer:

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTFOR THE DISTRICT OF WYOMING

Rock Springs Grazing Association, Case No. 2:11-cv-00263-NDF Plaintiff, v. Ken Salazar, et al.,Defendants,

DECLARATION OF LLOYD EISENHAUER

I, Lloyd Eisenhauer, declare as follows:

1. I live in Cheyenne, Wyoming. I am a former Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) official with extensive experience in the Rawlins and Rock Springs Districts in Wyoming and intimate familiarity with the public lands under BLM management in those areas.

I have reviewed the consent decree proposed by BLM and the Rock Springs Grazing Association (“RSGA”) in this case and provide this declaration based on my longstanding knowledge of, and management of, wild horses and livestock grazing in the Rock Springs and Rawlins Districts.

2. I grew up in Pine Bluffs, Wyoming with a livestock and farming background, served in the Marines for four years, and then owned a livestock business from 1952-1958. I enrolled in college in 1958, studying range management. From 1960-1961, BLM hired me to assist with collecting field data for vegetation assessments and carrying capacity surveys related to livestock and wild horses. These surveys were conducted in the Lander, Kemmerer, and Rawlins Districts. When I graduated in 1962, BLM hired me full-time to serve in the Rawlins District in Wyoming, where most of my work focused on grazing management involving sheep, cattle, and wild horses. From 1968-1972, I was Area Manager of the Baggs-Great Divide Resource Area in the Rawlins District. In 1971, the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act was enacted, and in the spring of 1972, on behalf of BLM, I conducted the first aerial survey of wild horses in Wyoming, recording the number of horses and designating the Herd Management Areas (“HMAs”) for the Rawlins District. After a stint as an Area Manager with BLM’s Albuquerque, New Mexico office, in 1975 I took over as the Chief of Planning and Environmental Analysis in BLM’s Rock Springs District for three years. I was the lead on all planning and environmental assessments. During that time, I also served as the Acting Area Manager of the Salt Wells Resource Area, which is located in the Rock Springs District. In 1979, BLM transferred me to its Denver Service Center to serve as the Team Leader in creating the agency’s automated process for data collection. I received an excellence of service awardfrom the Secretary of the Interior commending me for my work as a Team Leader. In 1982, I became the Head of Automation in BLM’s Cheyenne office, where I managed and implemented the data collection and processing of various systems related to BLM programs. I retired from BLM in 1986, and have stayed very involved in the issue of wild horse and livestock management on BLM lands in Wyoming, and have written articles about the issue in local and other newspaper outlets. I have won various journalistic awards, including a Presidential award, for my coverage of conservation districts in Wyoming. Along with a partner, I operated a tour business (called Backcountry Tours) for six years, taking various groups into wild places in Wyoming – without a doubt wild horses were the most popular thing to see on a tour, in large part due to their cultural and historical value. I also served six years on the governor’s non-point source water quality task force.

3. Based on my longstanding knowledge of wild horse and livestock management in the Rawlins and Rock Springs Districts, and in the Wyoming Checkerboard in particular, I am very concerned about BLM’s agreement with RSGA, embodied in the proposed Consent Decree they have filed in this case, under which BLM would remove all wild horses located on RSGA’s private lands on the Wyoming Checkerboard. The Checkerboard is governed by an exchange of use agreement between the federal government and private parties such as RSGA. However, due to state laws, property lines, and intermingled lands, it is impossible to fence the lands of the Wyoming Checkerboard, which means that both the wild horses and the livestock that graze there roam freely between public and private lands on the Checkerboard without any physical barriers. For this reason, it is illogical for BLM to commit to removing wild horses that are on the “private” lands RSGA owns or leases because those same horses are likely to be on public BLM lands (for example, the Salt Wells, Adobe Town, Great Divide, and White Mountains HMAs) earlier in that same day or later that same evening. Essentially, in contrast to other areas of the country where wild horses still exist, on the Wyoming Checkerborad there is no way to distinguish between horses on “private” lands and those on public lands, and therefore it would be unprecedented, and indeed impossible for BLM to contend that it is removing all horses on RSGA’s “private” lands at any given time of the year, month, or day, considering that those horses would only be on the strictly “private” lands very temporarily and intermittently on any particular day .

5. Another major concern with BLM’s agreement to remove all horses from the private lands of the Wyoming Checkerboard is that BLM is undermining the laws that apply to the Checkerboard, and wild horse management in general, which I implemented during my time as a BLM official. Traditionally, BLM officials (myself included) have understood that, pursuant to the Wild Horse Act, wild horses have a right to use BLM lands, so long as their population numbers do not cause unacceptable damage to vegetation or other resources. In stark contrast, however, livestock (sheep and cattle) have no similar right to use BLM lands; rather, livestock owners may be granted the privilege of using BLM lands for livestock grazing pursuant to a grazing permit that is granted by BLM under the Taylor Grazing Act, but that privilege can be revoked, modified, or amended by BLM for various reasons, including for damage to vegetation or other resources caused by livestock, or due to sparse forage available to sustain livestock after wild horses are accounted for. BLM’s tentative agreement here does the opposite and instead prioritizes livestock over wild horses, by proposing to remove hundreds of wild horses from the Wyoming Checkerboard without reducing livestock numbers – which, in my view, is contrary to the laws governing BLM’s actions as those mandates were explained to me and administered during the decades that I was a BLM official.

6. While I do not agree with every management action taken by BLM over the years in the Rock Springs District, I can attest – based on my longstanding employment with BLM and my active monitoring of the agency’s activities during retirement – that BLM has generally proven capable of removing wild horses in the Rock Springs District, including by responding to emergency situations when needed and removing horses when necessary due to resource damage.

7. Considering that wild horses exhibit different foraging patterns and movement patterns than sheep and cattle, and also than big game such as antelope and elk, no sound biological basis exists for permanently removing wild horses from the Wyoming Checkerboard at this time. In particular, wild horses tend to hang out in the uplands at a greater distance from water sources until they come to briefly drink water every day or two, whereas livestock congregate near water sources and riparian habitat causing concentrated damage to vegetation and soil. For this reason, the impacts of wild horses are far less noticeable on the Checkerboard than impacts from livestock.

8. In addition, because livestock tend to eat somewhat different forage than wild horses (horses tend to eat coarser vegetation such as Canadian wild rye and other bunch grasses, whereas cattle and sheep mostly eat softer grasses), there is no justification to remove wild horses on the basis that insufficient forage exists to support the current population of wild horses.

Also, because cattle and sheep have no front teeth on the front part of their upper jaws, they tend to pull and tear grasses or other forage out by the root causing some long-term damage to vegetation, whereas wild horses, which have front teeth on both their front upper and lower jaws, act more like a lawnmower and just clip the grass or forage (leaving the root uninjured), allowing the vegetation to quickly grow back. These differences are extremely significant because if there were a need to reduce the use of these BLM lands by animals to preserve these public lands, it might be cattle and sheep – not wild horses – that should be reduced to gain the most benefit for the lands, and which is why BLM, during my time as an agency official, focused on reducing livestock grazing.

9. BLM’s agreement with RSGA states that RSGA’s conservation plan limited livestock grazing, primarily by sheep, to the winter months to provide sufficient winter forage.This is a good example of “multiple use” management, since wild horses and sheep have very little competition for the forage they consume and the seasons during which they use parts of the Checkerboard. During winter, sheep use the high deserts and horses utilize the uplands and breaks (i.e., different locations) for forage and protection. During the summer, when sheep are not present, wild horses use various landscapes on the Checkerboard. This multiple use should continue for the benefit of the livestock, the wild horses, and the public and private lands involved.

10. I am also very concerned about BLM’s agreement with RSGA to permanently zero out the Salt Wells HMA and the Divide Basin HMA, leaving no wild horses in those areas that have long contained wild horses. I have been to fifteen of the sixteen HMAs in Wyoming, and to my knowledge none has ever been zeroed out by BLM. It is my view, based on everything I know about these areas and the way these public lands are used by wild horses and livestock, that BLM has no biological or ecological basis for zeroing out a herd of wild horses in an HMA that existed at the time the wild horse statute was passed in 1971, as is the case with both the Salt Wells and Divide Basin HMAs. And, again, because the wild horses have a statutory right to be there, whereas livestock only have a privilege that can be revoked at any time by BLM, there also is no authority or precedent, to my knowledge, for the agency to zero out these two longstanding wild horse herds simply to appease private livestock grazers.

11. The zeroing out of wild horses in the Salt Wells and Divide Basin HMAs is also concerning because it would mean that, in those two longstanding HMAs, there would no longer be the “multiple use” of these public lands as required by both the Wild Horse Act and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act. Currently, while there are other uses of this public land, such as by wildlife, hunters, and recreational users, the two primary uses in those HMAs are by wild horses and livestock. If BLM proceeds with its agreement with RSGA to zero out wild horses in those HMAs, the only major use remaining would be livestock use, meaning that there would be no multiple use of those BLM lands. Not only will that potentially undermine the laws that BLM officials must implement here, but it has practical adverse effects on the resources – multiple use is very beneficial for the environment, and particularly for sensitive vegetation, because different users (e.g., livestock, wild horses) use the lands and vegetation in different ways. When that is eliminated, the resources are subjected to an unnatural use of the lands which can cause severe long-term damage to the vegetation. As a result, zeroing out these herds would likely be devastating for the vegetation in these two HMAs, because livestock would be by far the predominant use in this area.

12. Turning the White Mountain HMA into a non-reproducing herd, as the agreement between BLM and RSGA proposes to do, is also a farce, and violates the meaning of a wild and free-roaming animal. This is essentially a slow-motion zeroing out of this HMA, and is inconsistent with any wild horse management approach I am familiar with that BLM has implemented on public lands.

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is trueand correct.

Lloyd Eisenhauer

Comments against Wyoming’s Checkerboard roundup

Wyoming wild horses (Photo ©Rachel Anne Reeves all rights reserved)

Wyoming wild horses (Photo ©Rachel Anne Reeves all rights reserved)

Send your original comments in today!

——– Original Message ——–

Subject: Wild Horse Scoping Comment

From: <@protectmustangs.org>

Date: Fri, September 27, 2013 11:53 am

To: BLM_WY_RockSpringsRMP@blm.gov

 

Dear Sirs,

We request you do not roundup, remove, kill, give birth control or sterilize wild horses in Wyoming’s Checkerboard area.

We call for a moratorium on roundups in the Checkerboard and elsewhere for immediate scientific population studies lasting 10 years.

Fertility control (birth control, sterilization, etc.) must not be used before 10-year population studies.

We request an investigation into conflict of interest governing discussions and decisions for removals of the Checkerboard wild horses in Wyoming.

Federal law cannot be violated under a consent decree.

American wild horses are legally allowed to roam on the 2.3 million acres under the Free Roaming Wild Horse & Burro Act of 1971. It’s important to uphold the law.

Non-reproducing herds are not protected wild horses according to the 1971 Act as they would be harassed in order to be sterilized. Also their social structure and their natural behaviors would ruined if sterilized.

The wild horses mentioned are a national living treasure and historically significant. They benefit the ecosystem as well.

We request you:

  • Do not remove horses from or zero out the Divide Basin herd and do not kill or sterilize.
  • Do not remove horses from or zero out the Salt Wells herd and do not kill or sterilize.
  • Do not remove horses from or reduce the AML (number of wild horses) for the Adobe Town herd and do not kill or sterilize.
  • Do not remove horses from or reduce the horses at White Mountain and do not kill or sterilize.
  • Do not remove horses from or reduce the horses at Little Colorado and do not kill or sterilize.

Members of our organization have visited the herds for research, inspiration, photographic and other artistic projects and plan to do so in the future. We request you do not interfere in their work by removing wild horses.

Rounding up and removing any wild horses in the Checkerboard area or performing killings or sterilizations in the field will increase global warming due to increased motorized vehicle usage on the range as well as damage the fragile ecosystem.

Tourists, researchers and students don’t want to hear about a bunch of killed horses nor do they want to see a bunch of sterilized horses out on the Checkerboard. Sterilized horses loose their natural behaviors. The essence of their social structure–the family band–would be destroyed.

Removing American wild horse to frack the land is wrong.

Have you seen GASLAND 2? It talks about why beloved American wild horses are being removed in Wyoming! Millions of people have seen the new film on HBO and around the world. Now everyone realizes you are willing to remove the wild horses to facilitate fracking and other energy/mining interests on the Checkerboard area because of the money you receive from the extractive industry.

We look forward to hearing from you regarding our request for an immediate 10-year moratorium on roundups, trapping and removals for population studies.

The wild horses in question belong to the American people. The Bureau of Land Management has been put in charge to protect them. Please do your job.

Thank you for your kind assistance.

Sincerely,

Anne Novak

 

Anne Novak

Executive Director

Protect Mustangs.org

San Francisco Bay Area

9/23 National Call-In Day to Stop BLM from Wiping Out Checkerboard Wild Horses in Wyoming

 

Share and TAKE ACTION today for Wyoming’s wild horses!

It’s MUSTANG MONDAY™! Contact Congress here: http://www.contactingthecongress.org/

National CALL-IN day is Monday, September 23rd! CALL and Ask your Congressional Representative and 2 Senators to STOP the WIPE OUT!

Wyoming’s wild horses must not end up in the SLAUGHTER Pipeline!!!

They deserve their land and their freedom! Send your comments in to BLM! Info here: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=5084 Canned comments don’t count! Please write your own and remember there is “No Evidence” of overpopulation according to the National Academy of Sciences. Request a Moratorium on Roundups for Population Studies!

The Wyoming travesty was mentioned in GASLAND 2. See the movie (http://www.gaslandthemovie.com) and share it with your friends.

SAVE Wyoming’s wild horses! They belong to all Americans because they are under federal control.

And WILD HORSE WEDNESDAY™ Let’s live chat the Secretary of the Interior and ASK for a MORATORIUM on Roundups for population studies because we need SCIENCE before any action! http://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDOI/bulletins/8be168#.UjydSFTKRBM.twitter

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

 

Watch and Share GASLAND 2 http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/