BLM Seeks Applicants for Wild Horse & Burro Advisory Board

http://www.blm.gov/or/news/files/Final_Advisory_Board_PR.pdf

Exemptions to FOIA Laws

As some of you may know, a couple of years ago,..I did a FOIA request to the BLM to find out the whereabouts of over 600 wild horses removed from the Seaman, Whiteriver and Caliente ranges in Nevada in 2009. By way of response they provided me with over 500 pages of documents some stemming from 2007 of which I did not request, all confusing and incomplete, and none of which were of the type of documents or info I requested, though they did release contractors contracts but blacked out THE PRICING INFO which makes it impossible to tell just how many horses were gathered because they dont go by the number of HEAD of horses but by the AMOUNT OF MONEY paid to the contractors for each horse gathered. In other words, on paper, they dont count horses but DOLLAR AMOUNTS. Soooooo, not being happy at all with the defendants assessment that the amount paid to the contractor per each horse removed  is protected from disclosure.......and their failure to satisfactorily respond to my FOIA request , I am going to respond challenging them on that;

http://www.midland-mi.org/government/council/policies/foiaEXCEPT.htm

Cloud Foundation Sues to Save Nevada's Wild Horses (and burros)

All - Let's pack the house to support our NV WH&B, the plaintiffs in this case & the legal team. Please post far & wide & forward to your media contacts.
-------------------------------------------------------------

For immediate release


Lawsuit filed to protect free-roaming American wild horses in Nevada


Despite thriving natural ecological balance--scorched earth policy runs roundups



RENO, NV (July 1, 2011) – In honor of the American spirit, independence, and freedom this 4th of July, the Cloud Foundation and individual wild horse advocates filed a lawsuit on Wednesday to stop the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) roundup of wild horses on the Triple B, Maverick Medicine and Antelope Valley Herd Management Areas (HMA), located on public land in eastern Nevada. The BLM has failed to show that these wild horses are a threat to the thriving natural ecological balance (TNEB) of this area or even that they are responsible for the few areas on this range which may be exhibiting some impacts from use. Despite the fact that these HMAs were specifically established for the protection of wild horse herds, the BLM is using the land mostly for other uses. There is nothing which justifies the BLM's decision to remove 80% of the wild horses (more than 1,700 stallions, mares and foals) currently residing on this 1.7 million acre range.



"The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act does not allow the BLM to employ this intensive management action--removing these majestic symbols of the West from the range and depriving them of their freedom--without determining that such an action is absolutely necessary to maintain the thriving natural ecological balance of the range." states attorney for Plaintiffs, Rachel Fazio. "The BLM hasn't made this determination, so they do not have the legal authority to proceed with this roundup."



The wild horses of the Triple B, Maverick Medicine and Antelope Valley HMAs are free-roaming on the remote high desert mountains and valleys of east central and northeast Nevada--north of Ely, south of Elko on the Utah border. They have been characterized as a diverse, colorful, intermingling herd with some possessing old mustang origins. Many wild horses descend from an old Shoshone Indian herd known for pintos and paints, as well as a number of medicine hats, horses sacred to Native Americans.



"Wild horses and burros would be subjected to irreparable harm by chasing them with helicopters, branding and sterilizing them among other cruel acts including the potential for deaths," states Anne Novak, spokesperson for The Cloud Foundation. "We must stop this abuse now and legal action is the way to do it."



The Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief was filed in the United States District Court in Nevada on June 29, 2011. Plaintiffs include The Cloud Foundation, Craig Downer and Lorna Moffat. Rachel Fazio and Julie Cavanaugh-Bill are the attorneys for the plaintiffs suing: the United States Bureau of Land Management; Ken Salazar, Secretary of Interior; Robert Abbey, Director of the BLM and Gary Medlyn and Bryan Fuell, the two BLM field managers that approved the roundup.

The roundup was originally scheduled to begin on July 7, 2011, but in response to filing this lawsuit, the BLM has delayed the start of the round-up until July 16, 2011 to allow the Nevada District Court to take a preliminary look at the case.

A hearing on preliminary injunction will be held in the federal courthouse, located at 400 S. Virgina Street in downtown Reno, Nevada, on July 14, 2011 at 10:00 a.m..

"Americans across the country and citizens throughout the world look to the American wild horse as an historical icon of freedom," states Ginger Kathrens, Executive Director of The Cloud Foundation. "We simply cannot stand by while the very agency charged with their protection harasses, captures and removes thousands of free-roaming wild horses from the western range and ships them to the midwest to live out their lives in captivity--wild and free no-more."


Media Contacts:
Anne Novak

Anne@TheCloudFoundation.org


Tel: 415-531-8454





Lauryn Wachs

Lauryn@TheCloudFoundation.org


Tel: 617-894-6939





Links of Interest:

Read the full Complaint filed: http://bit.ly/iZ8yS3

Congressional Appeal to Stop the Roundups: http://bit.ly/g7bVMs

CNN Report on deadly roundups: http://bit.ly/m7PFX5

Latest BLM Roundup Schedule for 2011: http://bit.ly/iHNvU9

Interviews and media available on request.

http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/

Old But Interesting News (OBI) - "Classifying Fed. Public Land Grazing Permits

Publication restricted to suscribers to The Journal of Rangeland Management; 55 (1) Jan. 2002;
http://www.jstor.org/pss/4003256

Read where 85% of all public lands is utilized for private grazing, and there are 29,925 permittees. Would be interesting to be able to read the whole report,..but access is limited ......as you will see when you open the link

Big Win for Colorado Public Lands Ranchers as Congress Defunds Wilderness Plan

http://www.bcdemocratonline.com/lifestyle/x1274363729/CCA-PLC-commend-Congress-for-rejecting-administration-s-plan

Ranchers v. Wild Horses (and Burros) - An Old Case in FAVOR of the Equines

Setting forth the FACT that unbranded equines roaming our public lands are WILD animals same as the grizzley bears in our National Parks system; http://asci.uvm.edu/equine/law/cases/wild/hodel.htmand
and also increasing burden of proof on ranchers who claim the wild equines are destroying their private lands or livlihoods.....

This is an excellent case in support of the WH&B's. It states that the ranchers cannot succeed on this type of a "private property taking" claim unless they can prove a deprivation of the "economically viable use" of their property........in other words, they must show actual damage (costs) incurred to them or their businesses due SOLEY to the WH&Bs....it is not enough to merely claim the WH&Bs are "interfering" with their private property use. Also, another VERY important finding in this case (and something that the BLM has NEVER wanted to admit) is that Congress (and the courts, according to this case) consider the unbranded equines roaming our public lands,....to be WILD animals "same as the grizzly bears that roam our National Parklands." (See Allaed, 444 US @ 66, 100 S. Ct.@ 327) Of course, this being a 1984 case,...will need to be updated (Shepardized) to make sure these findings havent been over-turned.

Nevadas Animal Cruelty Bill Moves Forward

But will it pertain to wild horses (and burros) and require those kept in confinement be provided with adequate shelter? Oh, thats right, that provision is already on the books in Nevadas current laws; Animal Cruelty Bill Moves Forward
...for all the good that it does.

Nationally Syndicated Cartoonist Nails BLM Equine Vets

Click to Enlarge

Gary Larson Rules!

Update: Ely FOIA Lawsuit: BLM Releases Previously Withheld Documents

Click to enlarge doc, click again to make even larger

As some of you may know, I have been battling the Nevada BLM since late 2009 trying to find out what happened to 630 wild horses removed from the Seaman, White River, Golden Gate and Caliente Herds. I did a Freedom of Info request and they ...sent me over 700 "made up" documents that are impossible to decipher and didnt tell me anything. They also claimed that the gather contracts were exempt from disclosure do to "concerns" about "pricing" and the contractors rights.....lol. Of course I challanged that determination and lo and behold I won!!! The BLM released the contractors documents to me just last week.....but what have I really "won" cause these documents also dont tell me nothin. The contract reads not for "so many horses" but only lists that the payment will be for "so much a head" and OF COURSE the total pricing info is blacked out,...so it is impossible to tell HOW MANY head without knowing the total amount paid to them! Of course I am going to dispute the withholding of the pricing info on just those grounds. *Please note: Although I only asked for 2009 records, as you can see by this doc, they provided me with docs from 2006 on. Am posting this one just as an example for they all are more or less the same. ..

See also; https://ideasec.nbc.gov/j2ee/awarddocs.jsp;jsessionid=BF3FE70B4E1261D2C871AAD103DBB7D2?objId=1151942&serverId=LM142201

Donkey, Pony Pals Need New Homes / NY

Johnsonville: An animal lover in eastern New York needs to re-home several rescued animals due to failing health. Paco is a 4-year-old standard size spotted donkey who is very gentle and loving. His pal Li’l Lightning is a 12-year-old pinto mini-horse. Both are intact stallions. They need to be adopted together in a home with no other equines. Six rabbits are also in need of good homes. They include four black and white rexes and two black lop-eared rabbits. For photos or more information, please contact Christine. See them here; http://www.youtube.com/user/MuleKist#p/u/8/3PEH-nd9EEg Contact: Christine Phone: 518-753-7791 E-mail: mulekist@gmail.com

Pinnacle West Capital Corp. Plans New Transmission Lines on Public Lands

APS plans new transmission line NW of Phoenix

PHOENIX

Arizona Public Service Co., a subsidiary of Pinnacle West Capital Corp., has filed an application to construct an above-ground electric transmission line on public lands between the cities of Buckeye and Peoria.

The federal Bureau of Land Management has started the public scoping period for an environmental impact statement to determine whether APS should be granted a right of way to construct, operate and maintain the proposed power system northwest of Phoenix.

The BLM will hear public comment on the proposal through May 26 and there are public meetings scheduled next month on the matter in Phoenix, Peoria and Wittman.

The 38-mile APS project would connect its Sun Valley Substation near Buckeye with the Morgan Substation near Peoria. It would cross about 10 1/2 miles of federal public lands in two separate locations.

Wild Horses a "Danger to Themselves,"....Officials Say.

http://www.daily-times.com/ci_17811924

More Wild Horses Killed in Oregon

http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/e9459a74eb1c46568b76b2a99dd61126/OR--Wild-Horses-Killed/

BLM Reviews Comments on Multi-State Powerlines

http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/BLM-reviews-comments-on-proposed-power-line-1329017.php

New HAARP Facility in Fallon, Nv. ?

What is HAARP? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnRPZOUVhJ4 Whats that near Fallon, Nevada? http://stevebeckow.com/2011/03/weathercontrol-installation-nevada/ HAARP Website; http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/

Action Alert / To Stop the Funding

RELAY THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVES ON BEHALF OF AMERICA’S WILD HORSES. SUBJECT: DOI/BLM Wild Horse & Burro Program – Stop Funding & Stop Roundups/Removals though FY11 & FY12 Appropriations I am an American taxpayer & a citizen who wants our iconic wild horses & burros to be properly protected & preserved for generations to come on their legal Western homelands. This is not happening with the current mismanagement of the Program by the BLM. They are using the sole strategy of cruel roundups, removals & warehousing of WH&B at huge taxpayer expense when more cost-effective, on-the-range management strategies could be utilized. They are managing America’s Western heritage to extinction & must be stopped until the whole Program is completely reformed. As your constituent, I request you to categorically support appropriations language right now that: - rejects the additional $12M funding for the Program in the FY11 CR & FY12 Budget & maintains the FY10 level of $64M both years. - suspends roundups/removals in all but verifiable emergency situations while the NAS conducts a scientific review of the Program. - prohibits the use of any funds to euthanize healthy WH&B directly or indirectly for slaughter. - funds public/private partnerships & allows conversion of livestock grazing allotments to WH&B use. - funds an independent, state-of-the-art census of WH&B on the range & in holding to obtain an accurate population baseline. - requires truly reformed, humane WH&B handling protocols. Thank you for your immediate attention. I would appreciate a response from you on whether or not you will support this request in the committee negotiation stage and/or when it comes up for vote on the floor in the near future. (Your Name and Address) Alert Courtesy of Carla Bowers. PH

Cattle-Damaged Wildlife Habitat at Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge

The Value of Public Lands Grazing Permits

Jarbidge Grazing: The Subsidized Destruction of Our American West

Premiere: A Nation Betrayed

WFLF Humanion Films

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Los Angeles, CA

March 21, 2011

Premiere of Independent Documentary Film about Horses Attracts Mounting Attention
“A Nation Betrayed, Saving America’s Horses” is an Official Selection of the 2011 Los Angeles Women’s International Film Festival and will premiere on Sunday March 27th.
Michael Blake (Dances With Wolves), Randal Kleiser (Grease), Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas), Linda Gray (Dallas), Ken Wahl (Wiseguy), The Barbi Twins, and Jennifer Lee Pryor are all involved and have confirmed their appearances for this event, as has Mexican matinee idol Jorge Rivero.
What: Premiere screening of “Saving America’s Horses” at the Los Angeles Women’s International Film Festival

When: Sunday March 27, 2011, 12:45 p.m. – seating begins at 12:30 p.m. Media line to follow screening.

Where: Laemmle's Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90046
Reception to follow: Attending ticket holders will be invited to stay for a special reception. Food for the reception will be provided by The Veggie Grill, with wine supplied by Du Vin.

The film is a compelling compilation of expert testimony, undercover footage and true life stories shot against the dramatic backdrops of America’s beautiful countryside. “A Nation Betrayed” depicts a country divided and inspires great hope for the protection of all horses and burros from cruelty. Directed and produced by Katia Louise, this feature length documentary examines the arguments made by both the proponents and opponents of horse slaughter as related to both domestic and wild equines. The film also explores environmental issues and the lethal health risks associated with the consumption of America’s horses by people.

"In Defense of Animals (IDA), applauds the selection of “Saving America’s Horses – A Nation Betrayed” by the Los Angeles Women’s International Film Festival." - IDA

See the powerful OFFICIAL TRAILER for SAVING AMERICA’S HORSES A NATION BETRAYED on the official film Website, at IMDB and at YouTube.
Presented by IMA Studios and Humanion Films. Saving America’s Horses is a Project under Wild for Life Foundation (WFLF), a CA 501 (c)(3) nonprofit corporation.
Press Contact: Mario James
mario@humanionfilms.com
admin@savingamericashorses.org

Links:
Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/159041
Film Website: http://www.savingamericashorses.org/home.html
Film Festival: Los Angeles Women’s International Film Festival
Theatre: http://www.laemmle.com/viewtheatre.php?thid=2