As an artist the subject that inspires me the most is the horse. I love horses, they are
one of the earth’s most beautiful creatures. So when I found out that 30,000
wild horses have been removed from the wild and put into holding pens by the
BLM (Bureau of Land Management) I was completely irate!
These horses may very soon find themselves being hauled off to
slaughter in Canada and Mexico because the BLM is considering adopt a horse
program with fees waived! The last time I checked there was only about 33,000
wild horses in the wild to begin with. Now 30,000 of them are in holding pens?
This is disgusting!
The wild horse is an American icon! The reason so many horses
are being removed has more to do with greed than it does with land management
and controlling the destruction of habitat.
Cattle farmers would love to see ALL wild horses completely gone
so that they can exploit every last bit of the public lands, all at tax payers
expense!! If the BLM really wanted
wise use of the lands, release every darn wild horse back to where they came
from and boot the greed cattle raisers off the public lands back onto their own
private properties.
Horses are not the
ones destroying the public lands and habitat. The cattle are. There are more 3
million cattle roaming around allowed to eat everything in their path. Horses
do not do that, they are a lot more picky and the grass seeds travel through
their bellies only to reseed the lands.
The information below tells you who to contact. The deadline is June 25th
and 27th. They obviously not much time was given for comments. But
deadlines won’t stop my letters and e-mails.
June 19th, 2008
In a time when climate change and urban sprawl
are having a demonstrable
impact on the planet, it is clearer than ever that
the choices we make can
have devastating consequences on wildlife and habitat.
Right now, choices
are being made that could threaten the freedom, genetic viability and the
survival of thousands of wild horses.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
and the US Fish and
Wildlife Service (FWS) are both in the process of
accepting comments from the
public on wild horse management plans.
Please
use your voice to help these agencies make the right
choices for America's
remaining wild horses.
BLM Fee-Waiver Program Could
Result in the Slaughter of Thousands of Wild Horses Due to their ongoing and
aggressive wild horse round ups, the BLM now has
more than 30,000 wild horses
in federal holding facilities (more horses than
remain in the wild).
In an effort
to deal with the financial and logistical problem that was
created by
ill-advised round ups, BLM is considering building a quick-fix
directly into
its
"adopt-a-horse" program: a fee waiver along with
immediate titling of adopted horses. In other words, BLM is considering giving
away
America's wild horses AND removing the mechanism that was put in place to
protect them from slaughter. This, in BLM's own words, would "open up the
Canadian market."
Canada is a horse slaughter hub, with a marked increase in the
number of
American horses being shipped over Canadian borders since the
closure of the US horse slaughter plants. "Adopters" would be able
to immediately sell
their freshly-adopted horses to slaughter, turning a
handsome profit on a
government "freebie" (while we, as tax-payers,
keep picking up the hefty tab
for round-ups!).
This is exactly
what happened in 1984, after massive
round-ups had landed 40,000 horses in
holding corrals: a fee-waiver program
resulted in an estimated 20,000 wild
horses ending at slaughter.
The BLM's National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory
Board will meet Monday,
June 30 in Reno, from 8 am to 5 pm at the Silver
Legacy Resort Casino, 407
North Virginia Street. This proposal will certainly
be discussed at the
meeting. Please voice your objections to a fee-waiver
program and to
"instant titling" for adopted wild horses by:
*
Contacting your U.S. Representative and two U.S. Senators to protest this
irresponsible management of America's wild horse herds. You can find your
Members of Congress by visiting www.congress.org.
* Submitting comments to the Advisory Board by Wednesday June
25th. Please
email you comments to: Ramona_DeLorme@blm.gov.
Include the identifier "WH&B"
in the subject-line and your name
and address in the body of the message.
New Private Grazing Plan on Public Lands Will Fence Wild Horses
Out of Their
Natural Migratory Routes (Is there a website to site here? So
people can
read the EA?)
BLM is proposing a new grazing system on Wyoming
public lands for a private
livestock allotment known as Green Mountain. The
new plan has critical
implications for three wild horse Herd Management Areas
(HMAs). BLM itself
admits that miles of new fences would cause an increase in
wild horse
mortality by "severely limiting" known migratory routes
and critical access
to summer/winter habitat, thereby trapping horses in
winter to die in the
snow.
BLM's records show that fencing in the same area caused 60 to 80
horses to die over a single winter in the mid-80s. BLM also admits that the
new fencing would result in a severe loss of genetic diversity by
segregating
herds that are currently able to cross-breed.
Citing drought, BLM has already
removed so many wild horses from the three
affected HMAs that population
levels are now below what BLM itself deems to
be an "appropriate
management level."
BLM acknowledges
that wild horse losses caused by the new fencing would be detrimental to
ecotourism
opportunities in the area, "causing a visitor loss by as much
as 90%." Yet,
BLM continues to support heavy livestock grazing in that
same area, citing
concern for the economic welfare of local ranchers.
The new grazing system would benefit 16 private livestock operators
who pay
$1.35 per month per cow/calf pair grazing on our public lands (about
one-tenth of private grazing rates!), while American taxpayers continue to
pick up the real costs.
Please voice your support for Alternative 3, the only option
that will
reduce livestock grazing, not add any new fences, will protect wild
horse/wildlife habitat, and supports the creation of a wild horse-viewing
loop.
Comments must be received by Friday, June 27, 4:30 pm MST.
Make sure to
include your name and address as well as a reference to the Green Mountain
Allotment, EA# WY050-EA07-153.
Lander Field Office
P.O. Box589, Lander, WY 82520
Fax:
307.332.8444 Phone: 307.332.8400
Email: Lander_wymail@blm.gov
Fish
and Wildlife Drafting Management
Plan to Decide Fate of Wild Horses on
the Sheldon
Refuge
Managers at the Sheldon Refuge are in the process of preparing a
Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) for the Sheldon National Wildlife
Refuge (NWR) in Nevada. The CCP will be completed and go into effect in 2010
and will dictate future management considerations, including that of the
horses and burros at Sheldon NWR.
This half million acre refuge is home to
some 800 wild horses. Fish and
Wildlife Service has a mandate to manage
"native" plant and wildlife
species. Under current classifications,
the wild horse is considered an
"exotic" species. However, while it
may take years or even decades for
Government red tape to catch up with science,
new evidence now proves that
the modern horse did in fact evolve on the North
American continent - making
the horse a "reintroduced native wildlife
species". However, until horses
are re-classified, Sheldon officials
intend to call for the removal of most
if not all of the horses from the
refuge.
Please submit your comments to them for consideration as they are
deciding
upon the future of these wild horses. You can use the following
points in
drafting your comments:
* Wild horses are part of our living
history, and icons of the west. We want
to see viable herds remain in the
wild.
* Wild horses are an integral part of the natural eco-system, and have
co-existed alongside other wildlife species for hundreds of years on the
Sheldon refuge.
* Please consider exploring population management alternatives
such as
immuno-contraception, which is more cost effective and allows the
horses to
remain in the wild without fear of uncontrolled reproduction.
*
Until the CCP is complete, please refrain from any further round ups.
* If and when round ups do occur, please use the most humane
methods
available - such as round ups conducted on horse back (not by
helicopter)
during appropriate times of year (when mares are not pregnant or
with new
foals and heat is less severe).
Comments are due by Monday, June
30th and can be emailed (preferred)to
SheldonCCP@fws.gov
or mailed to:
Paul Steblein, Project Leader
Sheldon Hart-Mountain Complex
National Wildlife Refuge
P.O. Box111
Lakeview, OR 97630
On behalf of the horses, thank you!
Jill Anderson
Director of
Development & Communications
Return to Freedom, American Wild Horse
Sanctuary
Ph: (805) 737-9246 Fax: (805) 800-0868
