The Real Reason Behind Nevadas Wild Horse Herd Removals

Salazar, Reid announce public lands initiative in Vegas

By Mary Manning / Las Vegas Sun

Mon, Jun 29, 2009 (1:18 p.m.)

Sun, wind and geothermal energy development are on a fast track for development on public lands in the West, including Nevada, federal officials announced today.

Federal agencies will work with western leaders to designate tracts of public lands in the western states to develop utility-scale solar energy generators, wind farms and geothermal sources, said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Speeding reviews and identifying prime zones for such renewable energy development are part of the plans, Salazar and Reid said.

For example, Nevada has 40 applications for solar energy development, enough to generate 19,000 megawatts of electricity, second only to California with 72 applications and a potential 48,000 megawatts.

Under one initiative, 24 tracts of Bureau of Land Management sites in six western states will be known as Solar Energy Study Areas, fully evaluated for their environmental and resource suitability for large scale solar energy production.

Companies that propose projects on a grander scale in areas already approved for such solar development would be eligible for priority processing, the secretary and senator said.

In addition, Nevada will host a new Interior Department renewable energy coordination office, the first of four. The others will be in Arizona, California and Wyoming.

In total, the BLM has received about 470 renewable energy project applications. Those include 158 active solar applications covering 1.8 million acres, enough generation to produce 94,000 megawatts to power 29 million homes. That's 29 percent of the nation's household electrical consumption.

The BLM will begin site-specific environmental reviews for two major projects in Nevada -- the NextLight Silver State South array at 267 megawatts and the NextLight Silver State North with 140 megawatts.

Maps of the Solar Energy Study Areas in Nevada, Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah will be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday.
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Bloggers Note: My Comment

So here is the REAL reason behind Nevadas Wild Horse Herd Removal!

For shame on us for letting this happen. We should all be decending on Washignton with our pitchforks and our torches DEMANDING we give back the 20 or so million acres that our gov't took from Americas Wild Horses. Have we become a Nation of Spineless Jellyfish floating along in a sea of "everything is A-OK" with us? Everything IS NOT OK and the sooner we realize that, the sooner some real action can be taken.

Wake up Americas,....our country does not belong to us anymore, it all about BIG corporations and special interest. If you are "A-OK" with this, you do not belong in this country. Get Active or Get OUT!



Join "The New American Revolutionaries;" http://www.freewebs.com/recruitnrevolt

"When Tyranny Comes to America, it will be draped in a Flag and Carrying a Cross"

J. Sinclair



Click on title above to see original article and place for comments; http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jun/29/salazar-reid-announce-public-lands-initiative-vega/

BLM to Eliminate 11 Wild Horse Herds in Nevada

I can hear Leo Heil turning over in his grave!

Fwd: 11 wild horse herds planned for elimination by BLM's Ely Distr
Posted by: "KarenMayfield@U2audio.com" karenmayfield@u2audio.com sagebrush_mustang
Sat Jun 27, 2009 10:22 pm (PDT)

Promoting Wild Horses & U2 The Other Living Legends
www.wildmustangcoalition.org
www.twitter.com/karenmayfield


--- Begin forwarded message:

From: Craig Downer
To: Wy_Mustangs@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Wy_Mustangs] 11 wild horse herds planned for
elimination by BLM's Ely District, Nevada. Protest by July 6th,
2009 [1 Attachment]
Date: Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:16:56 -0700 (PDT)

[Attachment(s) from Craig Downer included below]


June 27, 2009



John F. Ruhs, District Manager

Ely District Office, Bureau of Land Management

HC33 Box 33500, Ely, NV 89301-9408

Re: 8560(NVL0000) May 29, 2009. Notice of Proposed Action:
‘Elimination of all wild horses from 11 Herd
Areas’. Attn. also: Ruth Thompson, wh & b spec. T.
775-289-1826 (Seaman & White River HAs). Ruth_thompson@blm.gov
; Ben Noyes, wh & b spec. T.
775-289-1836. (Caliente wild horse HAs Complex)
Benjamin_noyes@blm.gov



Dear Mr. Ruhs:

I have received your letter of May 29th announcing the zeroing
out of 11 wild horse herd areas (HAs) in your district. I have
reviewed your justification for this drastic action and find it
to be deceptive and untrue. You and your team, as public
servants, are supposed to fairly represent diverse public
interests on public lands, not just livestock, big game, mining
and other extractive activities. What you are proposing and your
justification for such constitute an abandonment of duty. You
intentionally target wild horses for elimination in order to
clear the way for other more politically pushy interests.



I have noted that in the Seaman and White River HAs, according to
the figures you have provided, there are 475,100 legal acres and
a presently censused population of 350 remaining wild horses.
Don’t you realize that this works out to the enormous area
of 1,357.43 legal acres per remaining wild horse! This is hardly
the “overpopulation” you claim! Rather
“under population” more accurately describes this
small remnant within this vast region. Your claim is arbitrary
and designed to secure the land and its resources for other
interests, e.g. livestock, big game, oil and gas leases, etc.
Your final terse statements purporting to justify the wholesale
elimination of the two herds slant to lay the blame on the horses
for environmental damage while ignoring livestock present, past
history and other factors. For example, you make no mention of
the role that unwisely located fences -- including those that
deprive horses of access to water -- are playing in unnaturally
constricting the movements of the horses, contrary to the true
intention of the Wild Horse Act within their legal HAs! -- In
short, I simply do not believe you here; and your track record
demonstrates an extreme prejudice against wild horses in the
wild.



Your injustice toward the wild horses in the nine legal herd
areas of the Caliente Wild Horse Complex (Meadow Valley Mountain,
Blue Nose Peak, Delamar Mountain, Clover Mountains, Clove Creek,
Applewhite, Mormon Mountain, Little Mountain and Miller

Flat HAs) is even more egregious! I’m sure you realize
that with only 270 wild horses in this vast legal wild horse
domain summing to 911,892 acres, there are 3,377.38 legal acres
for every remaining wild horse! It is extremely hard to believe
that this small number of wild horses are overpopulated in such a
vast area, yet this is what you are asking. Also, it is
remarkable that you overlook the substantial role that wild
horses play in reducing fire hazard by consuming large quantities
of dry flammable vegetation over the vast areas where they roam
(home range). Yet you tersely list “drought conditions,
fire and nuisance animals” as your sole justifications for
removing all of the wild horses from this vast complex of legal
herd areas. You are not telling the whole story here –
not anywhere near! How many allotment drift fences interfere
with wild horse movements that naturally moderate grazing
pressure throughout these HAs and are themselves contrary to the
Wild Horse Act? And for that matter, how many livestock graze in
these legal wild horse HAs, where by law the wild horses are
supposed to be given priority, i.e. “principal”
status (since overall their legal HAs represent only a small
fraction of the public lands). This would truly be
“multiple use,” not the over-magnification of wild
horse presence/impact in which over the years BLM/USFS, has
repeatedly engaged!



I am keenly disillusioned with your decision to eliminate all
wild horses from these vast and legal HAs in my home state of
Nevada. How can you preserve the true spirit of the West without
wild horses in the wild? Seems you are bent on killing this
spirit rather than preserving or, better yet, restoring it, as
you should be doing.



Summing all of the 11 wild horse HAs planned for zeroing out
yields 1,386,992 acres; and summing all of the presently
remaining wild horses in these 11 herd areas yields 620 wild
horses. This signifies 2,237.08 legal acres per remaining wild
horse. Yet you still mean to tell me that in these vast areas
wild horses are overpopulated and destroying the ecosystem?! I
find this extremely hard to believe, especially given my
knowledge of wild horse behavior and ecology as well as public
lands politics (See Western Turf Wars by Mike Hudak, 2008, Biome
Books). It is farcical that such a vast region cannot support a
modest population of 620 wild horses. I believe the root cause
for their planned elimination is the hostile attitude toward them
by certain humans, especially vested interests blinded by their
possessions and the uncaring or uncourageous public officials
that go along with them!



A couple years ago, I protested this outrageous plan and am again
vigorously protesting this travesty. This is directed at the
wild horses, a restored native species in North America with so
much that is truly positive to contribute to the Western
ecosystem and ambiance; and it is also directed at the
substantial majority of Nevadan and citizens throughout America
who enthusiastically support wild horses in the wild and have
repeatedly expressed their strong desire to see them fairly
treated and represented upon the public lands – no more
nor less than what the Wild Horse Act requires. This is your job
as public servants; and I strongly request the cancellation of
your decision to zero out these 11 remnant herds. They represent
many generations of natural selection to their specific
eco-regions, a benign process that establishes harmony with the
many sympatric species of plants and animals they, in fact, live
with, and not against. Clearly it is we people who need to
change, not the wild horses. These powerful and beautiful
animals are returning to the land of their evolutionary origin
and to that ecological way of life and fitting that is their
inheritance from millions of years upon this Earth, and herein
upon the North American continent.



Sincerely,



Craig C. Downer, Wildlife Ecologist

Author: Wild Horses: Living Symbols of Freedom

P.O. Box 456, Minden, NV 89423. ccdowner@aol.com


P.S. I have personally visited several of the herds you are
planning to zero out – especially memorable was the
Delamar herd amid the Joshua trees – and it would be a
tragic personal loss were you to follow through on these
ill-conceived plans to eliminate the horses from this
life-nurturing place of freedom and biodiversity.

Back to top

BLM Under New Management

Oh boy. The Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States (IPAM, slightly less powerful than OPEC) praised President Obama’s choice of Bob Abbey to head the federal Bureau of Land Management. Bob Abbey (no relation to Edward) ran the Nevada Bureau of Land Management for the last eight years alongside his work as a private consultant. Public service and private consulting; I’m sure there’s no room for corruption there. Nevada, isn’t that where the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste site is? Seems like a reasonable use of public lands. In Abbey’s defense he does call for shared access to BLM lands, and not just treating them like gas and oil production sites. Hmm, letting Americans access their land? Novel idea.

By
Rocky Thompson

Click on title above to leave comment;
http://thegoat.backcountry.com/2009/06/16/the-bureau-of-land-management-is-under-new-management/

Desert Toyota Golf Tourney Helps Wild Horses

The event will be held at Angel Park Golf Club's Palm course at 1 p.m. The $300 registration fee covers four players and all proceeds go to the Return to Freedom Sanctuary, located in Lompoc, Calif.


"We're trying to bring awareness to Northern Nevada's wild horses," said Kalei Dudoit, general manager of Desert Toyota, whose wife, Rhonda, is a co-founder of Freedom for Wild Horses.

Return to Freedom is a nonprofit organization that seeks to preserve the freedom, diversity and habitat of America's wild horses through sanctuary, education and conservation.

To sign up for the golf outing, visit Desert Toyota at 6300 W. Sahara Ave. or e-mail Rhonda Dudoit at Rhonda@ FreedomForWildHorses.com.


Click on title above for full article;
http://www.lvrj.com/drive/47913077.html

Word from Madeleine and T. Boone Pickens

Dear Friends,

Many of you know that Boone and I have made a commitment for the safety and welfare of all animals. One of our top priorities over the last few years has been to end what Boone so aptly labeled, "America's Dirty Little Secret" when he testified before the US Congress several years ago in support of legislation banning horse slaughter for human consumption.

Boone and I are inviting you to share an evening with us and Congressman Dan Burton from Indiana to show your support for the horses on Monday, June 29th at the Del Mar Country Club in Rancho Santa Fe, CA. Also attending will be Wayne Pacelle, Chief Executive Officer of the Humane Society of the United States, and Chris Hyde, Deputy Legislative Director of the Animal Welfare Institute. Congressman Burton has stepped up to help lead this cause which is so important to us and the majority of Americans. Earlier this year Congressman Burton, along with House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) introduced the bill known as the Conyers-Burton Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act, which will ban the slaughter of American horses and prevent their export to Mexico, Canada or Asia for the same purpose.

We are moving towards our ultimate goal, but your help and that of Congressional leaders such as Dan Burton is desperately needed. In 2007, Texas and Illinois acted to stop horse slaughter within their boarders, shuttering the last remaining foreign-owned horse slaughter plants in the U.S. However, the U.S. Congress has failed to act to stop the export of live horses to Canada and Mexico for slaughter, which is still occurring. More than 95,000 horses were sent across U.S. borders to slaughter in Canada or Mexico in 2008. The foreign-owned plants simply set up their slaughterhouses across the borders and continue to buy our horses from their middlemen known as "killer-buyers." The treatment of these horses is too horrible to explain. We have come close to passing a ban in Congress and support is strong. Since 2006, the House and Senate have voted on bills banning horse slaughter five times. Sadly, the legislation has not passed both chambers at the same time. We must do everything we can to ensure compassionate and dedicated legislators like Dan Burton to remain in office so they can fight on behalf of our horses and the American people. We hope you can join us for this important event to show your support for legislative champions such as Congressman Dan Burton.

With gratitude,

Madeleine and T. Boone Pickens

BLM / USDAs' Secret Plan to Kill Our Wild Horses

From Cloud Foundation:

PRESS RELEASE
June 11, 2009- for immediate release


Documents Reveal BLM Secret Plan to Destroy Wild Horses

Documents obtained from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) via the Freedom of Information Act by a Phoenix-based non-profit, The Conquistador Program, reveal shocking and detailed plans to destroy healthy wild horses in government holding facilities as well as those still remaining in the wild on public lands.

BLM employees as well as a USDA veterinarian held weekly "Implementation Team" meetings beginning in July of 2008 in which they discussed and developed strategies aimed at ridding BLM of thousands of mustangs. In October they completed a 68 page document entitled "Alternative Management Options". Tactics included in this document are reminiscent of those used to wipe out Native American tribes in the 1800s.

The BLM team created scenarios for killing mustangs using barbiturates, gun shots, or captive bolts. Bodies would be disposed of through rendering, burial or incineration. They discussed killing 1200-2000 wild horses per year. The document states that "the general public would be prohibited from viewing euthanasia." Additionally, the Team felt that "increased support from public relations and management staff would also be needed to insulate those doing the actual work from the public, media and Congressional scrutiny/criticism."

"Minutes from these meetings as well as the Draft Plan reveal what amounts to `the final solution' for the American mustang," states Ginger Kathrens, filmmaker and Volunteer Executive Director of The Cloud Foundation. "Despite a huge outcry from the American public last year regarding BLM plans to kill wild horses in holding, the agency is still pressing forward with a plan to destroy our American mustangs both on and off the range."

Division Chief of the Wild Horse and Burro Program Don Glenn told The Cloud Foundation that "no decision has been made to move forward on a large scale with this plan, yet."

BLM meeting minutes speak for themselves. "Security at facilities and at gathers would need to be increased to combat eco-terrorism. Having the people that are willing to put down healthy horses at gather sites could be a problem. Having vets putting down healthy horses at preparation facility[ies] could also be a problem." Meeting minutes reveal the psychological toll that employees would pay—"have counseling for employees and contractors that have to euthanize the healthy horses because it is very stressful."

The report created an option in which wild horses of all ages could be sold "without limitation". In other words, horses could be sold directly to killer buyers in unchecked numbers. The Team admitted that "some wild horses will go to slaughter".

"Once they are gone, they're gone" says Karen Sussman, President of the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros. "To lose this incomparable species would be a travesty."

Team Members formulated ways in which they could circumvent the National Environmental Policy Act, asking "How many (wild horses) could be euthanized during a gather (roundup) without having NEPA?" BLM discussed ways to circumvent the federal carcass disposal law (43 CFR 4730.2). Conversations included how many wild horses could be rendered at the Reno Rendering plant or "disposed of in pits". The Team concluded that "there will not be large numbers of horses euthanized during gathers or in the field. This is due to state environmental laws."

Recommendations include the creation of gelding herds, and sterilization of mares to create non-reproductive herds in the wild in place of natural herds. The team recommended changing the sex ratio from the normal 50% males and 50% females to 70% males and 30% females. Then the experimental two-year infertility drug, PZP-22, would be given to all mares that are returned to the wild. Plans call for rounding up the wild horses every two years to re-administer the drug.

"Mares on the drug will cycle monthly and, with the altered sex ratio, the social chaos will be dangerous and on-going," Kathrens explains. "Any semblance of normal wild horse society will be completely destroyed."

Kathrens has spent 15 years in the wild documenting mustang behavior for her PBS television documentaries which chronicle the life story of Cloud, the now famous pale palomino stallion she has filmed since birth. "Even Cloud and his little herd in Montana are in serious danger if BLM implements these options," she continues. "The BLM plans a massive round up in Cloud's herd beginning August 30, 2009."

The BLM will not guarantee that Cloud and his family will remain free.

The BLM documents referred to above and photos of wild horses are available from The Cloud Foundation.

The Cloud Foundation, Inc.
107 South 7th St.
Colorado Springs, CO 80905
719-633-3842
719-633-3896 (fax)
info@thecloudfoundation.org
www.thecloudfoundation.org

"Secrecy in Government is the Beginning of Tyranny"

- Robert A. Heinlein

Madeleine Pickens Update:

Dear Friends,

My positive meeting in Washington, June 9th, with the Senate Majority leader, Harry Reid and Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar was very encouraging. Jerry Reynoldson will be working with officials from the Interior Department moving in the right direction to close the loop and bring everyone on board with my business plan. In addition, we look forward to working with the newly nominated BLM Director, Bob Abbey.

Please visit my website, www.madeleinepickens.com for continuing updates on our progress. Also, if you haven't already done so, be sure to "Take Action" on my site to keep the signatures coming to Ken Salazar. It really does make a difference!

Keep the faith!

Madeleine Pickens

Click on title above to go to Madeleines website

Update on 3 Strikes Horses

Found this floating around on the internet and thought Id share. I know we could all use some good news for a change.

---------

HEy gang!

I was looking throu Smug Mug and came across the photos by Rachel Waller. They are some of the 3 Strikes ranch horses that were rescued on Mother's Day this year. ABSOLUTELY moving photos! There are 2 albums, Day 1 and Day 6. Go take a look!

Click on title above to see pics;
http://rachaelwallerphotography.smugmug.com/Animals/789246

Also here is a website of one of the rescues that took the horses in:

http://www.wildhorserescue.org/

So happy these horses are in a better place!

AXXXX BXXXXXXX

The "Build-Up" to Mass Extermination & a "Catch All" Excuse, the Economy - Dont believe the Hype

From The Aspe Daily News
June 7, 2009

Wild horses victims of recession, too

Wild horses are feeling the effects of recession, as federal authorities find fewer horse owners willing to take on extra animals.

At a wild horse auction run by the Bureau of Land Management in Eagle Saturday, only 10 of 39 horses were adopted. Most went for the minimum bid of $125.

The trend is a national one. In 2002, more than 7,700 wild horses were adopted nationwide. Last year, the number was 3,700.

"In today's economy, horses are more of a luxury than a hobby," said Fran Ackley, head of the agency's wild horse and burro program in Colorado. "Right now, we're just feeding a lot of these horses. Nothing else to do with them."

About half the wild horses were gathered from the Sand Wash Basin in northwestern Colorado and the Book Cliffs area north of Grand Junction.

The backlog of unadopted horses is leaving the government with a higher tab to care of them.

Last year, the BLM spent $27 million on housing and caring for unwanted wild horses and burros. Officials say the tab could rise to $85 million by 2012 if private adoptions don't pick up.

"We've got the money for this year and next," Ackley said. "But after that, I don't know. We're going to have to figure something out."

The BLM is currently holding about 30,000 wild horses and burros in long-term holding facilities. The agency reports about 36,000 horses wild on the range, which Ackley said is about 10,000 horses too many.

Under a 1971 law, the BLM manages some 33,000 wild horses in 10 Western states, mostly descendants of domesticated horses and burros that escaped or were set loose long ago.

Without any predators in the wild, horse populations can grow quickly, putting a strain on land designated by the BLM for habitat.

Each year, government agents take thousands of horses and burros off the range and put them up for adoption. More than 220,000 have been adopted since 1971.

But with fewer adoptions, the agency has begun experimenting with other ways to manage wild horse populations.

The BLM has attempted to limit reproduction through the infertility drug Porcine Zona Pellucida. The agency has used two methods of administering the drug: shooting mares with a contraceptive-laced dart, and feeding the horses pellets containing the drug. But the drug has fallen short of agency expectations.

"It helps," Ackley said. "But it's not the end-all, be-all tool we'd hoped for."

Federal law allows the agency to euthanize unwanted horses, but Ackley told the Aspen Daily News the agency has yet to put down a healthy horse.

David Boyd of the BLM says the public needs to talk more about the problem of excess wild horses.

"At a certain point, if more and more of our budget goes to caring for these captive horses, we won't be able to do our job in other areas," he said. "What we're looking for is a balance. We want to keep the wildlife healthy, the range healthy and the horses healthy."

___

On the Net:

BLM program: http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/wild_horse_and_burro.html

___

Information from: Aspen Daily News, http://www.aspendailynews.com

Saving Wild Horses

Daryll Hannah on "Saving Wild Horses"

Click on title above to see vid

http://www.dhlovelife.com/v2/show/