Request a 10 year moratorium on wild horse roundups for science

 

Tibetan prayer flag depicting Windhorse

Tibetan prayer flag depicting the Windhorse

Dear Friends of American wild horses,

In 2009 while I was working with Ginger at the Cloud Foundation, Cheryl Crow asked Obama to stop the roundups. Crow even went to the White House with Ginger’s Cloud DVD and a pitch to stop the roundups. She also spoke with Sec. Salazar on the phone. There was tons of national and international media buzz about Sheryl Crow asking to ‘Stop the Roundups’. Sadly it didn’t work to stop any roundups 🙁

Let’s join together and all ask for a 10 year moratorium on roundups for scientific studies (population, migration, etc.) I believe the National Academy of Sciences said more scientific studies were needed.

How can any member of Congress avoid looking like a sell-out and fool if there isn’t any scientific research proving there is an overpopulation of wild horses–compared to livestock–to justify mega-millions spent on roundups and warehousing?

Let’s push for Congress to use science to govern policy. Can we all get behind science and a 10 year moratorium on roundups? Then, we could have a chance to save America’s wild horses and burros.

The Internet is in our favor to spread the truth to voters. Just let the Senators’ and Representatives’ opponents know what they have been doing . . . 2014 is an election year!

Elections for the United States Senate will be held on November 4, 2014, with 33 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate being contested in regular elections whose winners will serve six-year terms from January 3, 2015 to January 3, 2021. Additionally, special elections may be held to fill vacancies that occur during the 113th United States Congress.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_elections,_2014

The 2014 United States House of Representatives elections will be held on November 4, 2014. Elections will be held for all 435 seats, representing the 50 U.S. states. Elections will also be held for the non-voting delegates from the District of Columbia and four of the five U.S. territories.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections,_2014

All my best wishes,
Anne

Anne Novak
Executive Director of Protect Mustangs
www.ProtectMustangs.org

Email the team at Protect Mustangs: Contact at ProtectMustangs.org

 

Round table for wild horses and burros

Native Wild Horses (Photo © Cynthia Smalley, all rights reserved.)

Introducing the Wild Horse and Burro Council
We are co-creating The Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Council to champion American wild horses and burros’ welfare and rights. If you would like to join the democratic council please contact us at Contact@ProtectMustangs.org. At this time we are accepting one representative from each wild horse and burro group as well as 5 independent advocates.

Letter requesting EPA repair error classifying iconic American wild horses as ‘pests’

Native Wild Horses (Photo © Cynthia Smalley)

Daniel T. Heggem

Acting Division Director

Environmental Protection Agency

heggem.daniel@epa.gov

 

 

Dear Mr. Heggem,

We respectfully request that the EPA apologize for classifying America’s legendary wild horses as ‘pests’, acknowledge the classification error and cancel approval of ZonaStat-H and any other pesticides for indigenous wild horses or American burros.

America’s wild horses and burros are an asset to the environment and humankind. Science proves they create biodiversity and heal the land—reversing damage and desertification.

The American public is uplifted knowing wild horses are roaming freely in the West. People come from around the world to catch a glimpse of wild horses because they are beloved icons of the American spirit and freedom.

Public land grazing allotment holders might call free roaming wild horses a nuisance but they have an obvious conflict of interest because they want all the grazing and water rights for their livestock, etc. They would like to eliminate the rights of the free roaming wild horses and burros. We hope the EPA will not buy into their game.

There is no scientific proof wild horses are overpopulating—only inflated estimates by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) who must invent high numbers so Congress will give them millions of taxpayer dollars to fund their broken Wild Horse and Burro Program.

Indigenous wild horses do not reproduce like rabbits—many die before the age of two. Life on the range can be hard and most wild horses do not reach the age of 17. As a wildlife species, this is normal. Left alone they will self-regulate as an integral piece of the ecosystem.

Wild horses have natural predators such as mountain lions, bears and coyotes to name a few. BLM goes to great lengths to downplay the existence of predators to foster their overpopulation estimate-based myths.

We expect the EPA to be based on science not myth.

Are you aware of the two Princeton studies proving equids heal the land for cattle to thrive?

The first study, “Facilitation Between Bovids and Equids on an African Savanna,” was published in Evolutionary Ecology Research in August 2011, and supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the Keller Family Trust and Wageningen University, the Netherlands.

The second study, “African Wild Ungulates Compete With or Facilitate Cattle Depending on Season,” was published in Science on Sept. 23, 2011, and supported by grants from the National Geographic Society, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the International Foundation for Science.

Besides the environmental hazards of using ZonaStat-H, we are concerned the iconic herds will risk ovary damage and permanent sterilization from multiple use or overdosing with PZP.

We ask that all ZonaStat-H use be put on hold immediately until your “pest” classification error has been corrected and for the EPA pesticide/drug approval be retracted.

Please reply to us via email or fax immediately with your response. Thank you.

 

Sincerely,

Anne Novak

Executive Director for Protect Mustangs

 

encl:

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

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

NB: Faxed to numerous senators and representatives

CC: Lisa P. Jackson

 

 

Anne Novak

Executive Director

Protect Mustangs

P.O. Box 5661

Berkeley, California 94705

 

Twitter @ProtectMustangs

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www.ProtectMustangs.org

 

Protect Mustangs is a Bay Area-based preservation group whose mission is to educate the public about the American wild horse, protect and research wild horses on the range and help those who have lost their freedom.


Holiday Wish

Holiday Wish to Protect America's Horses (Photo © Irma Novak, all rights reserved.)

Our Holiday wish is to protect all of America’s horses–wild and domestic. Please sign and share the petition to ban horse slaughter in the U.S.A.

http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-usa-horse-slaughter

Thank you for taking action in compassion. Have a blessed holiday season.