Ranchers Push Native Elk Out

It has begun. Now that Mustangs exist in such low numbers in the wild, most cattle ranchers cannot legitimately complain about them. Do they stop complaining? Of course not. Instead, they advance on native herbivores. Ranchers, who graze their non-native cattle by the thousands in elk territory, are labeling the native elk species as "invasive." Cattle ranchers are pressuring the National Park Service to remove native elk and/or build fences to contain the elk and provide more graze for their cattle.

Mustang advocates have been predicted for years that cattle ranchers would attack native herbivores once Mustang populations were reduced, and we have been laughed at. Well people, it's happened.

Ranchers have threatened our Mustangs for long enough. Will we allow them to threaten our native wildlife as well?

Sign the petition to protect our native elk from cattle ranchers!

Petition to Start Responsible Mustang Management

Please sign this Petition to urge the U.S. government to stop BLM roundups and instead use responsible, more affordable management methods.

Photo:Sandra Leidholdt / Getty Images

"To: White House, U.S. Congress, U.S. Department of Interior

We, the undersigned citizens, call on President Obama, the U.S. Congress, and the U.S. Department of the Interior to halt the Bureau of Land Management wild horse and burro roundup program and instead to

1. Manage our public lands for all Americans and not a small group of ranchers who benefit from taxpayer-subsidized grazing on our public lands

2. Manage wild horses and burros humanely on the range, using proved PZP fertility control when necessary, as recommended by the National Academy of Sciences in 2013

3. Give wild horses and burros a fairer share of resources on the small amount of public land that has been designated as habitat for these cherished animals

4. Return wild horses and burros stockpiled in holding pens (where they cost taxpayers more than $5 a day a horse) to the range. Wild horses and burros have been eliminated from more than 15 million acres of BLM land that was designated for their protection. It’s time to return our national icons to freedom on our public lands.

Sincerely,

[Your name here]"

BLM Plans to Zero-Out Wyoming Mustang Herds

Emergency Motion Denied to Stop 800+ Wild Horse Roundup in Wyoming Checkerboard The BLM plans to completely remove all Mustang herds on Wyoming checkerboard lands. Checkerboard lands are lands that consist of small areas of public land that butt up against small areas of private land. As no one is responsible enough to place fences around their private land, the Mustangs wander onto private lands, thus eating graze that belongs to private ranchers. The BLM's response is to remove all of the horses, not to encourage ranchers to manage their private land properly. Here's what YOU can do: Post your discontented but civil and respectful comments on the Department of Interior's Facebook page, stating your stance on the removal of the Wyoming checkerboard horses. Share this on your Facebook page and with all your friends. Be sure to join the conversation with #justice4mustangs on your postings. Tweet to @SecretaryJewell @Interior: Public lands 4 all Americans: Stop WY wild horse wipeout. #justice4mustangs Write your US Senators and Representatives. Thank you for your support! For more information on the roundup and legal action Click Here. Dear sir or madam of the BLM, As an adult American citizen, I ask you to please reconsider the scheduled removal of the Mustangs herds of the Wyoming checkerboard lands. Congressionally-mandates studies have revealed that there is no scientific reason to remove the Mustangs. They are not overpopulating or causing damage to the rangelands as those studies have shown that even after massive removals (such as this one), the land is not much improved, if it is improved at all. Cattle on public lands number in the millions and cause far more damage than Mustangs ever could have (which number fewer than 40,000 in the wild). By zeroing out the Mustang herds of the checkerboard lands, you will be zeroing them out of public lands, lands which are designated to be shared by cattle and wildlife (Mustangs included.) This is a clear violation of the Wild Horse and Burro Act which states in Section 1: "It is the policy of Congress that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death; and to accomplish this they are to be considered in the area where presently found, as an integral part of the natural system of the public lands." The removal of Mustangs and not cattle from the Wyoming checkerboard lands also displays an unmistakable partiality to cattle ranchers, something which you claim to be false (according to your "Myths and Facts" page.) If you continue to blatantly lie to us, how do you expect us to trust you? Prove us wrong by cancelling this Mustang removal and instead choose other management methods, such as fertility drugs and the option of fencing off private land in the checkerboard lands. Thank you for your time.

Copied from: http://thelibertydigest.com/2013/12/13/zero-herd-policy-obamas-war-on-wild-horses-gone-in-20-years/

Zero Herd Policy: Obama’s War On Wild Horses – Gone In 20 Years

This story seems like something from the 1800s. Since the 1970s, the federal government has balanced the rights of ranchers and railroads with those who enjoy the wild horse herds in the West.  While there have been disputes on herd size and management, this story isn't about that. The Obama Administration’s  policy is one that we find incredulous:  U.S. policy is now aimed at zeroing out wild horse herd. It is one thing to manage them, but quite another to zero them out. While the focus of this article is on the Salt Wells group and the mistreatment that is currently underway, the White Mountain herd and the Great Divide Basin herd are also scheduled to be eliminated.

This is a planned extinction event.This is something your grandchildren will not see.

The wild herds will be no more. Your grandchildren will never see them, only read about them. The man who claimed to heal the oceans has waged war on wild horses in America’s West.

It is bad enough that the herds are being zeroed out. The treatment of the animals in the Spring Hills facility is just another sad chapter to this ongoing tale of how these iconic animals of the west were lost.

Backdrop

Sandy Jewel, Secretary of the Interior, has decided to continue Ken Salazar’s  policy to zero out these  herds. The plan to do this is through capture, mass sterilization, and adopting out the “excess number.”  Apparently, the whole herd is an excess number.

This policy is direct violation of Federal law. The 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act mandates,

“The  Secretary shall manage wild free-roaming horses and burros in a manner that is designed to achieve and maintain a thriving natural ecological balance on the public lands.”

I am not a lawyer, but I think zero is not the number intended by this act. “Thriving” implies a number greater than zero. Nevertheless, the Federal Court ruled that the BLM has the right to zero out these herds. Lloyd Eisenhauer, a former BLM manager in the Rock Springs was shocked by the court’s ruling in April of this year. He stated,

“The BLM has no biological or ecological basis for zeroing out a herd of wild horses in an HMA that existed at the time the wild horse statute was passed in 1971 . . . [B]ecause the wild horses have a statutory right to be there, whereas livestock only have a privilege that can be revoked at any time by BLM, there also is no authority or precedent, to my knowledge, for the agency to zero out these two longstanding wild horse herds simply to appease private livestock grazers.”

The court ruling stunned even those who were not opposed to herd reduction. Reducing the herd is one thing, but the court ruling has allowed the federal government to move forward with the zero herd policy. According to the BLM plan, the mares of the White Mountain herd were given fertility control treatment. The Salt Wells group was to be  rounded up and shipped off. This effectively means that within 20 years, there will be no more wild horses.

It might be different if the people in the region were complaining about the horse. However, the only people really complaining is the Railroad and commercial scale operators were the motivation behind eliminating the herd. A reduction in wild herds is one thing to balance the interests of rangers and those with an interest in eco-tourism. That is vastly different from a zero out policy.  The town of Adobe thrives on eco-tourism. People come to the small town of Adobe to see the horses. Sadly, the herd will no longer be there for future generations.

The Round-Up

Over Thanksgiving, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) engaged in an aggressive mission to  roundup  Wyoming’s Salt Wells wild horses. The horses were rounded up by using helicopters to drive the horses in traps. Stallions were shipped 300 miles away to the Gunnison Prison Wild Horse program in central Utah. Rachel Reeves put together an extensive photo essay on that roundup.

Rachel Reeves has an entire photo essay on the Thanksgiving roundup by the BLM.

Current Mistreatment

But the mares and foals were sent to the BLM’s Rock Springs corral.  The facility does not have any wind break or shelter for the 668 captive horses. Eye witnesses in Rock Springs report the animals suffering in bitter cold and battering winds. In nature, they would have found shelter somewhere. In captivity, they are exposed to the elements and have no option to escape the brutal winds needed to survive. They are suppose to be available for adoption, but first they have to survive until someone steps up to the plate and adopts them.

Photographer Carol Walker described the conditions:

“Mares and foals seemed frozen in place, resigned, unmoving.  There is no shelter for these horses in Short Term Holding Facilities and although they have heavy winter coats, these horses have nowhere to get out of the biting, stinging wind.  In their natural setting, they would be out of sight in low areas, gullies, next to cliffs, sheltered from the wind.”

You’d think someone would zip tie some concrete blankets along the corral to block the wind. In the wild, these horses would be in forested areas where the trees or in rocky enclaves to break the wind. They would not be out in the open. Sadly, in a corral, the don’t have much of a choice.  Horse owners will quickly notice the lack of hay and water available in the corral.

A requirement for adopting a horse is for the prospective owner to show they have a 3 sided shelter. Yet it appears from Walker’s photos that the BLM does not provide such a shelter for the horses in their custody.

Finally, some hay.



The group has a Facebook page if anyone wants to stay up to date on the status of the horses. Those interested in adopting a horse can find additional details on the BLM website.

Petition to Add Mustangs to ESA List

The Cloud Foundation has once again stepped up to the plate to help Mustangs. Mustangs are not listed as an endangered, threatened, etc. species, nor are they recognized as an endangered, threatended, or rare breed of horse. The Cloud Foundation hopes to add Mustangs, and eventually burros, to the ESA's list. If they are added to the ESA's list, they will be granted special protection by the government(s) and it would become a crime even for the government to cause their extinction.

To sign a similar petition, click here: http://forcechange.com/128592/save-wild-horses-from-extinction/?utm_source=ForceChange+Newsletter&utm_campaign=7b7810a499-NL4657_2_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_600a6911b9-7b7810a499-297437169#gf_15

To learn more and find out what you can do, click this link: http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/take-action-what-you-can-do

To read the entire petition, click this link: http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/images/pdf/Final_Petition_Complete_As_Filed.pdf

BLM distorts Madeline Pickens' plan

If you are a Mustang advocate, you may have heard of Madeline Picken's proposed plan to legally house several herds of Mustangs on her privately-owned land. The BLM has been considering her plan, and this is their response: To remove all mares and their offspring and/or geld all stallions and then allow them to live protected by Pickens' private land. Thus, the herds would be unable to reproduce and would eventually die off. This is a typical BLM tactic: they don't want the horses, but many people do, so the BLM will remove all hope of the horses surviving long term. Instead of allowing several herds of horses to live on Pickens' land and manage their population through fertility drugs and the like, the BLM plans to castrate all the males and possibly remove the females and young. The BLM seems to think that wild horse advocates are stupid, and that as long as we can see the pretty horsies, we will stop protesting.

Herd Removed and Slaughtered - 4 Foals Saved

From Ginger Katherens of the Cloud Foundation: Dear Friends of Wild Horses;

The journey from my office in Colorado Springs to Lovell, Wyoming near Cloud’s home in the Pryor Mountains, is a long drive—about nine and a half hours. Spotting wildlife along the way makes the time pass. I enjoy seeing herds of elegant pronghorn antelope and the occasional golden eagle.

The rare sighting of a coyote or a wintering bald eagle is exciting, but nothing I spotted in the past year surprised me as much as seeing a band of wild horses! Past the town of Greybull, Wyoming and about 20 miles from Lovell, I saw them for the first time. It was June 22, 2013. I pulled off to the side of the road, grabbed my binoculars and began glassing.

They were grazing peacefully in front of the only trees I could see for miles. I counted 12 including two foals and assumed that the larger black horse with a blaze was the band stallion. He looked like quite a handsome fellow. There had once been wild horses in the area, but I thought the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the agency charged with preserving our wild horses, had removed them long ago. Over 150 times BLM has chosen to “zero out” herds for various reasons, even though the horses were designated for management under the 1971 Wild Horse and Burro Act. In the shadows of the stunted cottonwoods I noticed a shimmer of light. There was at least one small pond back in there. I snapped a picture of the tranquil scene and looked through my binoculars again. In the distance there was movement.

It was another, smaller band trailing across a rise with Sheep Mountain in the background. The bright sorrel coats of the smaller band shone in the late afternoon light. The lead mare had a small foal at her side. What a stark and beautiful landscape.

Beyond were the flat-topped Bighorn Mountains still sporting patches of snow. How exciting, I thought—a secret herd of lost mustangs. In my mind, I imagined bringing Trace up from Colorado and riding him in search of the herd. We’d have to take lots of water, but what an adventure it would be. I noted several roads that led from the paved highway toward Sheep Mountain where I would take the trailer and park. In retrospect I wish I had done this sooner rather than later.

Over the next nine months, each time I traveled to and from the Pryors I looked for them. Two bachelor stallions were easy to spot in November as I traveled toward Greybull from Lovell. These two would be the closest I ever got to the lost herd. What a flashy pair.

The sorrel had a bald face. I was sure he had a blue eye on the side of his head that was white. He had tall stockings. The black had two back shorter stockings and a pretty star and snip. (Sorrel stallion, right, may be a brother to one of the rescued foals)

I saw the big band, led by the blaze-faced black stallion in February and in March. On March 8th when Paula King, our Communications Director, her husband, Ron, and I traveled back from the Pryors, we spotted them. There were two new foals in the band, one black and one sorrel. I never dreamed that the next time I would see these foals I would be loading them into my trailer.

On March 25th, our Facebook Manager and Board Member, Linda Hanick, called me. She has a message on our Cloud the Stallion FB page. A person wishing to remain anonymous said that a crowed truckload of mustangs had crossed over the Wyoming border into Montana. The informant said the truck driver was bound for Shelby, MT. When Linda said the word Shelby, my heart dropped.

Shelby is the place where horses are held before being transported over the border to Canada and the Alberta slaughterhouse. The informant said the horses were healthy and fat and “fresh,” meaning they had just been caught. They had come from the Worland Livestock Auction and were going to quarantine in Shelby for 30 days.

Our investigation began. Linda called the State Director of the BLM in Cheyenne who said that 31 horses had been “gathered” with a helicopter near Greybull, but they were not wild. They were domestic horses that got loose or were turned out 40 years ago. They could only be the secret herd!

I got the number for the Bar S Feedlot in Shelby and called. A woman answered the phone. "I'd like to buy the 37 wild horses that were captured in Wyoming on March 18th and 19th," I said. “That’s not possible,” she responded curtly. “We don’t sell horses to individuals.” I told her I represented an organization and that I would pay much more than the going slaughter rate. She was abrupt. “These horses were rounded up and removed for slaughter, and that’s where they’re going.” The finality of her words was chilling. “Can you at least tell me if they reached you safely?” I asked. “I won’t tell you anything,” she answered and hung up.

For the first time I was staring horse slaughter squarely in the face. Suddenly the anonymous thousands that go to slaughter across our borders had faces. Friends went to Shelby and photographed the pens and I tried unsuccessfully to match up the pictures of the pathetic horses (some mares with newborn foals) with those I had grown to love in the wild.

Paula called the Brand Inspector, the BLM in Cody, the Worland Office of BLM, and the Bighorn County Sheriff’s Department. BLM said they captured 41 “estray” horses and turned them over to the Wyoming Livestock Board who hauled them to the Worland Livestock Auction. They in turn sold them to a kill buyer for a Canadian slaughterhouse.

The Brand Inspector confirmed that 37 were shipped. Four small foals were left behind because the manager of the Worland Livestock Auction. where the horses had been taken, demanded that they not put the foals on the truck. For this act of kindness, we will all be eternally grateful.

The BLM Public Information Officer (PIO) echoed the State BLM Director. The horses were not wild, she insisted, and claimed they were removed because they were a hazard and there had been complaints. She said a horse had been hit by a Bentonite Truck and damaged the truck. The Sheriff checked his records and could not find the incident. Next she said a horse had been hit by a train. The Sheriff had no record of that either and was upset that a helicopter had been flying in his county, rounding up horses without his knowledge. (below, black stallion band)

Further digging by Paula found that there were, in fact, two incidences—one five years ago and the other 8 years ago. Why would accidents that happened so long ago precipitate an action like this at the very time the horses are most vulnerable, when there are tiny foals and heavily pregnant mares? Later we got our answer.

When in doubt, follow the Money. A BLM budget existed for a helicopter removal. That money would not be available to BLM after the end of March. It would have to be used or turned back into the government coffers according to a BLM employee in Cody. (left, foals captured on March 18th)

As for the complaints received by BLM? They would not confirm that any had been in writing. According to the PIO, the complaints came from people who dropped by the BLM office, or those who spoke with her while shopping at the grocery store.

Over and over the BLM said the horses were not wild and had no protections under the Wild Horse and Burro Act. They were rodeo stock let go on the range 40 years ago and the former owner had died. I recognized the name. His family reputedly stole horses off the wild horses ranges to supply their bucking horse business. How ironic, I thought. Horses stolen from the wild, turned into bucking stock, and released back to the wild weren’t wild according to the BLM.

On March 19th, just hours after the last five were captured the BLM turned all 41 horses over to the Wyoming State Livestock Board who sold them to a kill buyer for a Canadian slaughterhouse. Within hours the horses were on their way to Shelby.

On Sunday I flew back to Colorado from a conference in Massachusetts while my dear friend and TCF Board Member, Ann Evans, drove my trailer from Westcliffe, Colorado to Dr. Lisa Jacobson’s home and vet facility in Berthoud, Colorado. We met at Lisa’s that evening. Lisa had excitedly agreed to care for the four little foals.

Early the next morning Ann and I started driving north to Worland, Wyoming, a seven hour trip. Wind gusts 50 mph and even stiffer eventually combined with ice-packed roads and we nearly turned back at Douglas, Wyoming, but kept going when we sensed the worst weather was behind us.

We arrived at the Worland Livestock Yard in the early afternoon. Kim Michels, our friend from Red Lodge, Montana was already there. Kim had negotiated the purchase of the foals before we even knew that “Dr. Lisa” would take them in. In short order, a quiet cowboy helped us load the tiny foals.

The oldest foal, the one we eventually named Allegro sniffed the back of the trailer. Then she jumped in with the tiniest, the one we named Piccolo, glured to her side. Allegro immediately went to the back of the trailer and started biting on the padded wall. Ann and Kim prepared some formula for them which they divided into two buckets that we secured in the back. Within an hour we were on our way with our precious cargo. (right, Allegro sniffs)

Seven hours later we arrived and unloaded at Dr. Lisa’s place. The foals calmly hopped out and eventually found their stall piled high with soft shavings and buckets of milk replacer hanging on the wall.

The next morning I got up and walked to the barn. A meadowlark, perched on a fence post, was singing. The air was crisp but the sun was warm. I found the four foals outside in the sunshine and looking around. Lisa’s old mare, Dusty, greeted them. The foals had lost their mothers and gravitated to the old mare, as if searching for their families.

While there might not have been any illegal with the capture and sale of these lovely, wild animals, the act was unthinkably cruel, immoral, and completely unnecessary. Advocates would have purchased the entire herd had we only known.

So here they are, our four, sweet leftovers.( three pictures above courtesy Carol Walker) They are flourishing under the care of the remarkable “Dr. Lisa” who gives them their freedom in the arena they call the “big running place.” They have lots to eat and domestic mares who try to keep them in line and teach them what their parents would have reinforced each and every day. I wonder if they will always remember where they came from, and the life they lost forever in one fleeting moment when the monster in the sky came and drove them into a trap and took their families away. We have named them the Dry Creek Quartet for their herd area that had been zeroed out 27 years ago.

They are Maestro, the only male, who is a handsome blaze-faced sorrel colt (left). His half sister is, Allegro (right), the oldest who functions as lead mare for our Quartet. Then there is feisty Coronet, a darling little bay. And Piccolo, who Dr. Lisa believes was only a few days old when captured. (below right)

The blue-eyed filly is a flashy little paint who reminds me of the handsome sorrel bachelor I photographed last year. I wonder if he was her big brother? Piccolo’s resilience, her ability to survive this holocaust at such a tender age, is extraordinary. They are our band of orphans—the Dry Creek Quartet.

We are working very hard to make sure this tragedy never repeats itself. And we smile everyday as “Dr. Lisa” relates the progress the foals are making. Sadness fades, over shadowed by joy and love. Happy Trails! Ginger