Wild Horse Lawsuit to Go Forward!!!

A federal judge sided with wild horse advocates April 19 when he declined to dismiss their lawsuit claiming that a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) round up of approximately 2,000 animals from the Twin Peaks Herd Management Area near Susanville, Calif., was unlawful.

On July 15, 2010, attorneys Joseph Cotchette, Stuart Gross, William Spriggs, and Rachel Fazio filed the complaint in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California on behalf of ecologist Chad Hanson; Barbara Clark, founder of the DreamCatcher Wild horse and Burro Sanctuary; Linda Hay; and the animal advocacy group In Defense of Animals. The complaint alleges that the gather violates the Wild and Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 because it endangers horses. The Act protects mustangs and burros from harassment, capture or death, and places the animals' management under BLM jurisdiction.

The complaint also alleges that BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act. That Act requires federal agencies to consider environmental impacts of their proposed actions and offer to reasonable alternatives to those actions. The complaint alleges that the BLM failed to prepare an environmental impact study demonstrating that animals residing in the Twin Peaks management area exceed levels appropriate to maintain that range's ecological balance, and that the agency failed to offer alternatives to the gather for maintaining such an appropriate ecological balance.

The BLM sought the suit's dismissal on grounds that the case was moot because the gathers had already taken place.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Morrison C. England Jr. declined to dismiss the case, said a spokesperson for the court's clerk.

The Horse

CNN to run Mustang Series

CNN - Wild horse roundup triggers controversy
"Happy New Year to all you mustang supporters.

CNN is running this series so hope you can catch it. One of the key issues is management of the wild horse. BLM says there are too many herd area and not enough employees to manage the herds. However what they don't say is that they refuse to allow dedicated groups of horsemen with the knowledge and a lifetime of expertise to volunteer their help in a management program. By culling the herds down to a few horse, genetic viability is compromised and the older horses so necessary to teaching the younger horses survival are removed. The wild horses that have run free for so many decades will become extinct. All that will be left are the ones in private sanctuaries unless those of us who are fighting the war to save them turn around government policy within the BLM.

And, to bring you up to date, our group of rescued Colonial Spanish Mustangs continues to thrive. The babies that were born here in Borrego are as big as their mothers and all are healthy and beautiful. We continue to search for land for a sanctuary where they will be protected and managed with programs set up so that the public can enjoy and view these living examples of history running free.

Blessing to you all

Kay"

CNN - Wild horse roundup triggers controversy

Supposed to be continued tomorrow as another segment.