FREEDOM
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Wild Horse roundup, NV
When Oct 1 – 14 2009 Where NV Caliante complex HMA (map)Description NV BLM Caliante complex HMA roundup dates 10/1/09-10/14/09 # Planned Gathered 278 Horses # Planned Gathered 278 Horses
Wild horse roundup UT
WhenOct 1 – 4 2009 WhereUT Onaqui HMA (map)DescriptionUT Onaqui HMA roundup dates 10/1/09-10/4/09 # Planned Gathered 200 Horses # Planned Removed 150 Horses
WhereSand’s Basin and Four Mile herds (map)
DescriptionGathers are planned in Idaho starting Oct 6-13th. The herds concerned are the Sand’s Basin and Four Mile herds. They will be removing approximately 206 horses. Once they have done that they will be returning only horses to meet with the AMLs. Sand’s Basin only allows for 37-60 and Four Mile allows 33-64. As we all know this is not nearly enough for genetic viability. No public attended the meting on the use of helicopters, so this is the method being used. They have limited the appeals to 30 days after the decision which is dated 9-11-2009, meaning any appeals must be filed no later than Oct. 11th. The decision can be viewed at http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/id/nepa/owyhee_fo/four_mile_and_sands.Par.87893.File.dat/ID-130-2009-EA-3686_Four-Mile_Sands_Basin_Gather_DR.pdf — Idaho gather is scheduled for Oct 6-13 on both herds to remove 206 horses. They will be returning to AMLs of Sand’s Basin of 37-60 and Four Mile 33-64.
NM BLM Bordo 6/1/10 6/10/10 147 147 Horses
NV BLM Owyhee 7/1/10 7/18/10 620 520 Horses
OR BLM Stinking Water 7/1/10 7/6/10 100 60 Horses
OR BLM Cold Springs 7/11/10 7/16/10 156 81 Horses
NV BLM Moria 7/20/10 7/22/10 72 72 Horses
UT BLM Winter Ridge HA 7/18/10 7/24/10 200 200 Horses
UT BLM Hill Creek HA 7/25/10 7/31/10 250 250 Horses
NV BLM Lahontan 8/1/10 9/30/10 68 58 Horses
NM FS Jicarilla 200 200 Horses
CO BLM
Piceance/East Douglas
HMA 8/6/10 8/16/10 280 240 Horses
CA FS Devils Garden 8/18/10 8/24/10 200 200 Horses
UT BLM Frisco 9/1/10 9/3/10 100 70 Horses
UT BLM Conger 9/4/10 9/8/10 110 80 Horses
CA BLM Twin Peaks 8/3/10 9/14/10 156 135 Burros
CA BLM Twin Peaks 8/3/10 9/14/10 1000 649 Horses
CA BLM Buckhorn 8/3/10 9/14/10 596 536 Horses
NV BLM Antelope 8/20/10 9/20/10 932 746 Horses
NV BLM Rock Creek 9/22/10 9/30/10 527 427 Horses
OR FS Murders Creek 9/22/10 9/28/10 100 100 Horses
Winter 8387 6972
Summer 6131 5071
Total 14,518 12,043
Removed
When BLM began the environmental planning process for this roundup, the agency received over 7,000 public comments opposing the Proposed Action. In an effort to avoid being “bombarded” with “frivolous” emails from the citizens who pay their salaries, officials in the BLM’s Rock Springs and Rawlins field offices have decided to prohibit email comments on the Environmental Assessment for this capture plan. But don’t let the BLM dissuade you from participating in our government!
| New Pass/Ravenswood | 12/6/10 – 1/19/11 | 405 | 100 | Battle Mountain District Office, NV |
| Rocky Hills | 12/6/10-1/19/11 | 132 | 33 | Battle Mountain District Office, NV |
| Sulphur | 12/8/10 – 12/16/10 | 200 | 30 | Cedar City Field Office, UT |
| Bald Mountain | 12/19/10 – 1/19/11 | 120 | 34 | Battle Mountain District Office, NV |
| Callaghan | 12/27/10 – 1/19/11 | 211 | 54 | Battle Mountain District Office, NV |
| Bordo | 1/1/11- 1/4/11 | 107 | 50 | Socorro Field Office, NM |
| Chokecherry | 1/1/11- 1/25/11 | 50 | 50 | Ely District Office, NV |
| Mt. Elinor | 1/1/11- 1/25/11 | 70 | 70 | Ely District Office, NV |
| Eagle | 1/1/11- 1/25/11 | 700 | 614 | Ely District Office, NV |
| Rocky Hills | 1/6/11- 1/11/11 | 132 | 33 | Battle Mountain District Office, NV |
| Antelope complex | 1/20/11- 2/28/11 | 1792 | 1659 | Ely/ElkoDistrict Office, NV |
| Augusta Mountain | 1/26/11- 1/31/11 | 242 | 36 | Winnemucca District Office, NV |
| Clan Alpine | 2/1/11- 2/19/11 | 700 | 105 | Carson City District Office, NV |
Press Release
Please send on to all media outlets- full press release in downloadable form available here
Return America’s Wild Horses to Their Rightful Ranges
A Response to Secretary Salazar’s Plan for America’s Wild Horses and Burros
On October 7, 2009, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced a new initiative for the Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse and Burro program. The Secretary announced that this is a “national solution to restore the health of America’s wild horse herds and the rangelands that support them by creating a cost-efficient, sustainable management program that includes the possible creation of wild horse preserves on the productive grasslands of the Midwest and East.”[1]
The Cloud Foundation is encouraged that the Interior Department realizes that there are problems with the management of wild horses on public lands by the Bureau of Land Management and is considering ways to improve the Wild Horse and Burro Program.
However, the Cloud Foundation questions the need to develop seven new preserves in the mid-west and east (at an estimated initial cost of $96 million) when there are 19.4 million acres of designated wild horse and burro of rangelands that have been taken away from them since 1971. In just the past few weeks, 12 herds (620 horses) were zeroed out on an additional 1.4 million acres in Eastern Nevada. “It would seem that the best use of taxpayer dollars and the most humane plan for the nearly 32,000 wild horses in government holding[2] would be to return them to their native lands” says Ginger Kathrens, Volunteer Executive Director of the Cloud Foundation. “These millions of acres were identified for use by wild horses and burros and these lands are already owned by the American public”.
Rather than spending over thirty million dollars this fiscal year (October 1, 2009- September 30, 2010) to remove a record number (over 12,000 wild horses and burros) from the range, only legitimate emergency roundups and removals should be conducted. “The BLM continues to lead the public to believe that exploding populations of wild horses are causing degradation of the range and they must be removed before they all starve. This is without merit because wild horses and burros make up only a fraction of animals grazing the range, far greater damage is caused by the privately-owned cattle who outnumber the horses more than 100 to 1,” states Arizona advocate Julianne French.
The intent of Congress’ 1971 Free-Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act was not for wild horses to be corralled and penned. The clear intent was that the wild horses and burros be allowed to live on western rangelands designated primarily for their survival in self-sustaining populations. The BLM is not following the law in the management of America’s wild horses and burros.
Initial Recommended Steps for the Management of America’s Wild Horses & Burros
1) Cease all roundups until independent analysis can be made of each herd management area. Move forward only with emergency removals if deemed necessary by independent as well as BLM specialists.
2) Return wild horses and burros in good health to the 20.8 million acres of public land designated primarily for their use in 1971 that has since been taken away from them. As per the ROAM Act (§1579): “ensure that, to the extent practicable, the acreage available for wild and free-roaming horses and burros shall never be less than the acreage where wild and free-roaming horses and burros were found in 1971.”
3) Reanalyze appropriate management levels (AMLs) for herd management areas (HMAs). Currently only about 25% of wild horse and burro herds are genetically viable.[3] AMLs should not be reduced due to the private use of public lands for livestock grazing. Currently AML “is based on consideration of wildlife, permitted livestock, and wild horses and burros in the area.”[4] It is not cost-effective to remove wild horses from an HMA at a cost of $2600- over $3000 per individual removed in order to allow a cow/calf pair to graze for a payment of $1.36/month. Cattle, who originated in southeast Asia, damage the land to a far greater degree than wild horses, who are of North American origin.
4) Congress should follow-up with hearings on the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program as recommended by the Government Accounting Office (2008 report).
Photos and more information available from:
The Cloud Foundation
719-633-3842
info@thecloudfoundation.org
Download the Press release and send on to your local media and national media sources – available online from the Cloud Foundation here
——————————————————————————–
[1] Department of Interior press release, 10/7/2009.
[2] Nearly 32,000 wild horses are in holding as of 10/7/2009 according to BLM records. No independent inventory has been conducted and the truth of this number cannot be verified.
[3] Genetically viable defined here as a population of horses 1 year and older that is at or above 150-200 individuals with a Ne (genetic effective number) of 50 or more. This is the bare minimum for genetic viability of wild horse and burro population. More information here.
[4] According to Nevada BLM site, accessed 10/8/2009
Our mailing address is:
The Cloud Foundation 107 South 7th St Colorado Springs, CO 80905
Our telephone:
719-633-3842
THE BLM ROUNDED UP THE LAST 6 BURROS IN MOJAVE DESERT; today there are NO known Burros in the Mojave desert’
even though Deserts are KNOWN homelands of American Burros…aw
I know Anna, there won’t be any wild horses in Nevada. They are almost gone. I am going to post the capture schedule for this year. Thank you for your comment. We have to keep at them before every single wild horse and burro are captured, living in long term holding or slaughtered.
I am outraged at the governments cruel mismanagement of these and other beautiful wildlife. I am outraged that my tax dollars are being used for such cruelty. I am outraged that tax money is being so absurdly misused when it could be spent many times more efficiently. Obama needs to step up to the plate and govern as he promised–using the science–and his humanity!!!!