Let's Work Together

Original Message -----
From: Valerie James-Patton
ToSent: Tuesday, August 08, 2006 7:35 PM
Subject: A National Moratorium to Stop DOI Wild Horse Round-ups
A National Moratorium to Stop DOI Wild Horse Round-ups

Hi Everyone,
I'd like to present something to everyone that I believe just might be the solution that we need to help save what's left of our wild horses and burros. I'm starting to think it may be the only solution. It's not my idea, it's Deanne Stillman's idea. And I believe it's a great one. I certainly have not seen any better suggestions. I sent this idea to some of you a few weeks ago, and because I've added many more names here, I'm sending it again to share thoughts and ideas between everyone here.
Deanne mentioned it in her recent article, "Let's Mend the Broken Trail," but until she sent me the Department of the Interior's Code of Conduct, I didn't realize the possibility of what she has in mind. Given the dwindling number of wild horses on the range, she is urging that wild horse groups set aside any differences, work together, and ask for an immediate moratorium on all wild horse round-ups carried out by any agencies within the Department of the Interior, until the Department proves itself to be in compliance with the code.
I'm pasting the Code of Conduct here, and I hope you all see what I do. For instance, note that the code prohibits the fabrication and falsification of studies. Yet last year, two Interior Dept. scientists, Brooks and Campbell, came forward and accused the Bush administration of falsifying the latest grazing studies. There are many other aspects of this code that apply to current policy towards wild horses and burros. I think Deanne might have found us all a solution. I did tell her I'd try to help push it, and just sending her idea out to all of you is the only way I can think of to do it. If any of you see the possibility as well, please forward the idea to anyone you feel might be interested.
Thank you,
Valerie



For Immediate Release Hugh Vickery May 30, 2003 202-501-4633

(WASHINGTON) -- Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton today announced the
development of a for the Interior Department
- independently reviewed and approved by a panel of leading scientists
and ethicists - to help ensure the integrity of all scientific work
done by its employees and contractors.
"The scientific code of conduct will help ensure the American people
that the research and analysis we use has been conducted according to
the highest standards of the scientific community," Norton said.
The department developed the code in accordance with a new federal
policy on conduct of science published on December 6, 2000, by the White
House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
In addition, the Interior Department's Office of Inspector General
recommended the department develop a scientific code of conduct in its
report on its investigation of the submission of unauthorized samples to
a laboratory during population surveys for the Canada lynx in 1999 and
2000.
The code is being developed through a unique process involving both
peer review by an independent panel and employee involvement. The code
will be a new addition to the Department Manual, and this will be the
first time employees have had a chance to comment on a change to the
manual.
"We want the new code of conduct to be fully embraced by Interior
scientists as an accurate statement of their ideals," Norton said. "We
will fully involve employees in active discussion to ensure this reflects
their professional standards."
In addition to the employee comment process, there will also be an
opportunity for public comment on a similar code being prepared for
consultants and contractors to the department. Their code will go through the
ordinary administrative rulemaking process. Dates for public comment
will be announced later.
The code is similar to the codes of conduct of many scientific
organizations, including the Wildlife Society, American Fisheries Society,
and Ecological Society of America, to which many department scientists
belong. All of the scientific activities conducted or funded by the
Department are covered by this definition. These involve inventory,
monitoring, study, research, adaptive management or assessments that are
conducted in a manner specified by standard protocols and procedures.
"It is vitally important that any organization that does as much
scientific research and analysis as the Interior Department have a
well-founded code of scientific conduct that governs the full range of scientific
activities," said Dr. Deborah Brosnan, president of the nonprofit
Sustainable Ecosystems Institute and head of the independent review panel.
"Our panel felt that this was a strong code that meets three key goals
of building trust between science and the public, giving guidance, and
providing support for scientists."
The panel also included: Ann Bartuska, executive director of The
Nature Conservancy's Invasive Species Initiative and current president of
the Ecological Society of America; Baird Callicott, professor of
environmental ethics at the University of North Texas; Barry D. Gold, program
officer for the David and Lucile Packard Foundation; Carol Boggs,
director of the Center for Conservation Biology; and Jim Reichman, director
of the National Center For Ecological Analysis and Synthesis.
Under the new federal policy, scientific misconduct includes both
professional misconduct and research misconduct. Research misconduct is
defined as fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing,
performing, or reviewing research, or in reporting research results.
Fabrication is making up data or results and recording or reporting
them.
Falsification is manipulating research materials, equipment, or
processes, or changing or omitting data or results such that the research is
not accurately represented in the research record.
Plagiarism is the appropriation of another person's ideas, processes,
results, or words without giving appropriate credit.
Research misconduct does not include honest error or differences of
opinion.

Any allegations brought under the code will be handled in accordance
with departmental personnel policies and with the department's Handbook
on Charges and Penalty Selection for Disciplinary and Adverse Actions as
a guide. The new federal policy includes safeguards for subjects of
allegations, including timeliness, objectivity and confidentiality.
The Interior Department has established a website
(http://www.doi.gov/ethics) that contains the existing agency directives
pertaining to policies and conduct.
The U.S. Office of Government Ethics also has a website
(http://www.access.gpo.gov) where it has published the Standards for
Ethical Conduct of Employees of the Executive Branch.
Here is the proposed code:

THE CODE OF SCIENTIFIC CONDUCT
To the best of my ability:
I will act in the interest of the advancement of science and
contribute the best, highest quality scientific information for the Department
of the Interior.
I will conduct, manage, judge, report, and communicate scientific
activities and information honestly, thoroughly and without conflict of
interest.
I will be responsible for the resources entrusted to me, including
equipment, employees' time, and funds. I will be accountable for the
prompt and accurate collection, use, and reporting of all financial
resources and transactions under my control.
I will disclose the research methods to the local communities, Indian
tribes, and other individuals whose interest and resource uses are
studied; and respect the confidential and proprietary information provided
by those individuals to the fullest extent permitted by law.
I will neither hinder the scientific and information gathering
activities of others nor engage in dishonesty, fraud, deceit,
misrepresentation, or other scientific, research or professional misconduct.
I will welcome constructive criticism of my scientific activities and
information, participate in appropriate peer reviews, and critique
others' work in a respectful manner amid objective scientific review.
I will be diligent in the creation, use, preservation, and
maintenance of collections and data records; adhere to established quality
assurance and quality control programs; follow the records retention policies
of the Department; and comply with Federal law and established
agreements related to the use, security, and release of confidential and
proprietary data.
I will know, understand and adhere to standards of public information
dissemination and the formal publication of scientific information and
respect the intellectual property rights of others.
I will be responsible in all scientific activities for both the
collection and interpretation of data I collect and the integrity of
conclusions I present.
I will place quality and objectivity of scientific activities and
information ahead of personal gain or allegiance to individuals or
organizations.

Sulphur Springs Band on the Range

Sulphur Springs Band on the Range
Photos by Robert Hayden taken this month near the Utah/Nevada border about 100 miles west of Cedar City Utah. There are an estimated 200 left after 325 were removed last November 2009!!

Las Vegas Rally for Wild Horse Preservation April 25

From: artistfromafrica@hotmail.com
To: dgrizzle@pdglv.com
Sent: 4/23/2010 11:42:38 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time
Subj: come to wild horse rally Sunday called DON'T TAKE MY BALLS

PLEASE COME OUT NOON SUNDAY TO RALLY FOR THE CALICO STALLIONS - MEET AT THE RED ROCK SCENIC OVERLOOK. We are spray painting tennis balls red and suspending them from lariats - and signs will be provided for you. If we have enough people, we'll put a second group in front to the RED ROCK entrance so do come out.

If you cannot come, please put the information below on your facebook and twitter pages. The achey, shakey geldings at the Fallon holding pens thank you!



DON'T TAKE MY BALLS!
Las Vegans will rally in sympathy with the young stallions under 4 years of age that were painfully castrated last week by the BLM at the Fallon Nevada holding pens. If the BLM wins the federal lawsuit by In Defense of Animals, they will castrate all the remaining mature stallions from the Calico roundup. The BLM has severely limited public access to the captive Calico horses despite public demands for transparency.
We will hang blood-red balls from lariats and circulate petitions asking President Obama to rein in the BLM, an outdated agency and friend of welfare cows. Below see poster by Melissa Ohlsson.

WHERE? RED ROCK CANYON SCENIC OVERLOOK ON HIGHWAY 159, from Las Vegas Strip, go west on Charleston, past the 215 Beltway and Red Rock Canyon entrance gates

WHEN? SUNDAY APRIL25, 2010 from NOON to 2pm

WHY? Castration is a way of wiping out the gene pool of the mustangs that have unique bloodlines adapted to their specific area. Pictures of the castrated horses taken by Craig C. Downer appear below.

BACKGROUND? In January 2010, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) conducted a deadly roundup of 1922 wild horses from the CALICO MOUNTAINS COMPLEX in northwestern Nevada, despite a federal lawsuit underway to stop the roundups and the recommendation of the federal judge that BLM should NOT conduct a roundup in the dead of winter. The Calico horses were not starving and had not damaged the public range, meanwhile the BLM sharply increased the number of private cattle allowed to graze at subsidized cost on the horses' range. Stress and trauma lie behind the majority of the 86 wild horse deaths (to date) and 40 spontaneous abortions, a report issued today by the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign (AWHPC) concludes. AWHPC notes the expense of the Calico roundup which will cost taxpayers at least $1.3 million through April, and $1 million a year to warehouse the non-adoptable horses over their 20+ year lifespans. This costly policy, which relies on expensive roundups every four years, is pursued while cost-effective, on-the-range management strategies are ignored.

CONTACT PERSON? ARLENE GAWNE (702) 277-1313 artistfromafrica@hotmail.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION, see:
American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign
The Cloud Foundation press releases
News Story on Calico, rising death toll & skewed numbers from George Knapp (KLAS- Las Vegas)
BLM Daily Reports from Calico Roundup/Fallon Holding
American Herds
Mestengo. Mustang. Misfit. America’s Disappearing Wild Horses - A History

Roundup Schedule- updated February 2010

Don't Care About Wild Horses?...Maybe You Care About Your Pocketbook??

Grass Roots Horse.com
thecloudfoundation | April 19, 2010 at 7:45 pm | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/pDfE4-Ho

A great new site to foster grassroots activism to protect and preserve our wild horses and burros in the wild--- online here

From the site: "We are individuals who care about the issues and want to join together to take concrete, measureable steps to make a difference. Grassroots activism is a time honored tradition that has stood the test of time. Let’s put it to work for our Horses. Join with us. E-mail us at volunteer@grassrootshorse.com"

American Herds Alert - US Forest Service

----- Original Message -----
From: Vicki Tobin
To: Vicki Tobin
Sent: Friday, March 19, 2010 8:33 AM
Subject: American Herds Alert-US Forest Service

Hi! I spoke to Cindy last night and she is trying to work on an article but asked me to pass along some preliminary info. I was furiously taking notes and hope I got everything….

The US Forest Service is going to be issuing an EA and EIS for 11 territories. The announcement was made on February 24 but they are not allowing the 30 day comment period contrary to federal register protocol. Her understanding is they are going to issue their decision WITH the EA. Not only that but they are doing the EA before they complete the EIS for livestock grazing. Comments on the EIS are due by March 22.

In addition, their AMLs must be in line with BLM AMLs. Apparently, the BLM has issues because the horses are intermingled and because in the winter, the wild horses are on Forest Service land in the mountains and then come down to BLM land in the summer. They don’t want the AMLs set for only the mountain areas because they’ll ruin the ranges – same ol’, same ol’.

She also mentioned that they are using old maps. Really old maps. Several of the herd areas no longer exist or have been renamed so you know the numbers are going to be inflated.

Of most concern is that the management plan will remove public access during round-ups.

Here’s a link with some information on the EIS

Stay tuned for more info from Cindy. If anyone has additional info I can pass along, send it my way.

Thanks.

v

If Citizens Ran the Feet Off Wild Horses..........

if citizens ran the feet off of wild horses they would rot in jail.

http://www.barndoorstudio.com/id25.html

Hope Springs Eternal (A Eulogy) By Laura Leigh
written 2/1/2010
HOUSTON, (Horseback) – On January 22, 2010 I was given a tour of the Fallon holding facility after my observation days (Calico gather) had been cancelled by weather twice.
I had witnessed the gather on January 16, and met Gene Seidlitz (Winnemucca district manager) and Heather Emmons, both of the Bureau of Land Management. Both appeared to be very willing to accommodate and provide access in as transparent a manner as possible Gene spoke to me many times about the concept of finding areas for dialogue and co-operation. I had hoped to write an article based on that concept.
On January 22, Seidlitz and Lisa Ross, BLM public relations coordinator for Calico gather met me at the agency’s Fallon facility. John Neill is acting BLM manager at Fallon. I was given free access to photograph and ask questions. I was also allowed to videotape the “hospital” facility at Fallon. I soon saw a row of small pens near the entrance to the facility next to the area being built to process horses. The plywood for windbreaks was stacked but not installed.
The pens held mostly foals and a few mares. Each horse I saw demonstrated some form of lameness. Many had bandages on their legs. Of particular concern was a foal that would not rise when approached.. His eyes were glassy.
Over the next few days I made several attempts to gain information about that foal. I sent e-mails to Gene, Lisa, and John. I was told the foal was up the very next day and doing well. Information I found hard to believe because I did not think he would even make it through the night. I requested a vet report and was told I would have it as soon as one was available. I requested that the foal be released to me and I would facilitate his placement into a facility that could properly care for him. The request was denied, the BLM saying it was not needed.
I named him “Hope Springs Eternal.” I began to make inquiries to find a facility to bring him to. He would have a home.
Several more conversations with John Neill continued to assure me the foal was fine. John said he was busy and if I did not get the vet report to please call him again.
I called today. I was told the vet report is online. It’s not. He was euthanized Saturday because his hooves had begun to slough.
My emotions are many:
So much for a timely exchange of information. So much for the concept that the “guys on the ground” are any different than the guys in DC, something they want you to believe. So much for the idea that co-operation toward problem solving with the best interests of the horses at its heart will ever be a reality. So much for “ Hope Springs Eternal.”
The baby I saw on January 22 was in incredible pain to the point that, as a wild animal, he could hardly lift his head as a strange human, a potential predator, approached. All the others rose and limped away. This baby languished in that facility with no windbreak in agony. A baby that had a chance if the humans involved could have attempted to create an opportunity to work together. Releasing that foal would have cost the BLM nothing… and maybe created the sensation that somewhere in this madness a spirit of humanity could overcome this battle of obstinate adherence to outdated bureaucratic protocol. I had “Hope.”
Little spirit you are now free of this administration’s unwillingness to recognize your worth. “Hope Springs Eternal,” rest in peace. You are loved.

Sacramento Peaceful Protest on Behalf of Our Wild Horses & Burros 1/21/10

, Wild Horse & Burro Advocates -

Please put Thurs, 1/21, on your calendars per the attached notice & bring
your friends, family & whoever you can get ahold of if you can make it out.

Also, please forward this notice to everyone you know in the Sacramento
area, Rancho Cordova, Folsom, El Dorado Hills, Roseville, Elk Grove,
Placerville, Auburn, etc. If you have a website to post this notice, that
would be great. We want to have an incredible turnout. We expect good press
coverage & want them to know there's plenty of us standing up for America's
wild horses and burros.

There have been & continue to be protests across the country & even
internationally. We must get the American public educated that our wild
horses & burros are being managed to extinction by the BLM & to take action.
If we don't do this now, it will be too late.

Many thanks for your support of our wild herds.

For the wild ones, Carla B ;--}


Sacramento Protest Against Wild Horse & Burro Roundups
Join us to stand up for America’s disappearing wild herds

Date: Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010 Rain or Shine
Time: 11 AM – 1 PM, Press Conference at Noon
Place: State Capitol, 10th Street between L and N

This peaceful protest on behalf of America’s wild horses and burros is part of a grassroots nationwide campaign that includes The Cloud Foundation and In Defense Of Animals who are sponsoring this event. It is one of several protests that are taking place across the country and internationally to protest the U.S. government’s destructive wild horse and burro policy.

This is an urgent call to President Obama, Dept. of Int. (DOI) Sec. Salazar & Congress to order the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to stop the inhumane & treacherous winter roundup of over 2,500 wild horses in the Calico Mtn. Complex in NW Nevada. Also, this is a call to stop all additional roundups planned by the BLM in FY2010 until a sustainable in-the-wild & fiscally responsible management plan is put in place to re-protect our magnificent wild herds on their native Western public lands. We want accountability and transparency from our government and the BLM, the agency that is supposed to be protecting our legendary herds, but instead is using millions of taxpayer dollars in their ongoing mismanagement and elimination of our herds.

The Mission of this protest and beyond is:

• To educate the press & the American public that our wild herds are being managed to
extinction by the DOI/BLM, mainly because of fast-tracked, carte blanche energy
development on our public lands and the cattle and big game industries.
• To call for an immediate moratorium on all roundups.
• To call for a Congressional investigation into the Wild Horse & Burro Program under the
direction of the BLM.
• To call for an independent census of the numbers & health of all herds still wild in the West &
in all short & long-term holding facilities.
• To call on the Congress to reject the Salazar Plan to relocate the majority of our wild herds to
zoo-like preserves in the Midwest and East, non-wild, non-free, and non-reproducing at
millions of dollars of taxpayer expense.
• To call on the Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources to bring the ROAM (Restore
Our American Mustangs) Act to the table, to work with the American public on improvements
and pass The Act as soon as possible to re-protect our wild horses & burros on their legal
Western lands.
• To call on Senator Boxer for her support on the above issues.

Despite repeated outcries from humanitarian groups, wild horse advocate organizations,
celebrities such as Sheryl Crow, Viggo Mortensen, and Michael Blake, and experts on wildlife and range management, the BLM has pressed forward with its brutal and inhumane round up of one of the last large mustang herds on the Nevada range. BLM started the Calico Roundup on 12/28/09 even though U.S. District Court Judge Friedman recommended they hold off pending further findings & decisions in the Calico Lawsuit regarding the legality of housing our herds in short and long-term facilities off of their legal Western public lands.

The roundups inhumanely stampede the frightened wild horses by low-flying helicopters across rocky and steep terrain for several miles to a temporary trap site, including pregnant mares and foals that struggle to keep up & sometimes die en route or are brutally trampled in the temporary corrals by the other terrorized horses. Often, roundups are done in severe cold (as is presently the case with the Calico roundup) or hot conditions (as in the Pryor’s roundup) adding undue stress to the animals where needless injuries occur. The worst injury of all is that our wild herds are no longer wild and free roaming on their legal Western lands. Eventually, a lucky few will be adopted out, most will go to long-term holding at huge taxpayer expense and some will go to auction and could end up with the worst fate of all, cruel and inhumane slaughter in Mexico or Canada for human consumption abroad. Is this what the American people want for our living legends of the American West?

Under orders from the DOI, the BLM plans to gather another 12K wild horses and burros in FY2010 to add to the already 33K in short and long-term holding facilities for over $50M/year of taxpayer expense. BLM states 30-36K remain in the wild currently. Independent sources say only 15-18K remain. BLM has already zeroed out over 100 herds and the vast majority of the remaining herds are left with genetically nonviable numbers that threaten their long-term survival.

When will the BLM stop? What is fueling this relentless effort to remove 80-90% of the Calico Complex herd? Is it the proposed, fast-tracked Ruby Pipeline Project? Are all the wild herds going to be zeroed out with BLM’s false excuses that the herds are overpopulated, or destroying our rangelands or are starving to death just to fast track massive energy development on our public lands with taxpayer-funded stimulus monies? Even though we need energy independence & job creation, is everything of value going to be destroyed to achieve those ends?

We, the American people, cannot let this happen. We must stand up and fight for what we know is right and save our wild horses and burros before it’s too late. They are the living legends of the West--symbols of freedom, family, independence, strength, spirit and our Western heritage. If we lose them, we lose part of ourselves.

Get educated. Get active. Save our iconic wild horses and burros.

Call Pres. Obama to issue a moratorium on all roundups at 202-456-1111, Fax 202-456-2461
Call/fax your Senators to improve and pass the ROAM Act now

For further information and for sign ideas/slogans, please see:
http://www.thecloudfoundation.org, http://www.thecloudfoundation.wordpress.com,
http://idausa.org

Local Contacts:
Carla Bowers, Wild Horse Advocate and The Cloud Foundation volunteer, carla84bowers@yahoo.com
Cathy Adams, Wild Horse Advocate, crowbot32@yahoo.com

Media Contacts:
The Cloud Foundation: Makendra Silverman, 719-351-8187, makendra@thecloudfoundation.org

In Defense of Animals: Elliot M. Katz, DVM, 415-448-0048 x225, emk@idausa.org
Hope Bohanec, 707-540-1760, hope@idausa.org

Cattle Graze While Wild Horses Are Rounded-Up

Cattle are grazing under oil derricks, carribou around the Alaskan pipeline, freeways built across the Western Unitized States. Why should wild horses be displaced for this pipeline???




Activists Ask Senator Udall to Investigate BLM’s Removal of Wild Horses in Ruby Pipeline Zone
Denver protesters request an immediate moratorium on roundups
Denver, CO (January 7, 2010) —Chants of “Wild ‘N Free—Let ‘Em Be” echoed through Downtown Denver today as close to 50 members of the wild horse loving public protested outside Senator Mark Udall’s Office to stop the roundups. Despite single-digit temperatures, protesters came from as far as three hours away. Mustang advocates met with the Senator’s staff following the protest to discuss the wild horse crisis as well as what may be the smoking gun behind these roundups—a massive natural gas pipeline from Wyoming, through Nevada to southern Oregon.

“We are asking Senator Udall and his colleagues to investigate the BLM’s dealings with the Ruby pipeline with an eye on the wild horse crisis,” said Ginger Kathrens, Volunteer Executive Director, The Cloud Foundation and Emmy-Award winning filmmaker.

Protests also took place today in Albany. NY and Las Vegas. An all-day Boston protest at the Massachusetts Sate House is scheduled for January 8 and another Las Vegas protest on Sunday. A large protest is planned for New York City on January 17th.

“Protesters are calling for a moratorium on all roundups until a truly sustainable plan is in place—one that protects our legendary wild herds in the West,” explained Makendra Silverman, Associate Director, The Cloud Foundation,


###

Links of interest:
Ruby Pipeline Information

News Reports

News Reports


Pipeline Map:


Western Watersheds Project


American Herds


Freedom’s Escape & Roundup Report:

Video Overview of Calico horses and current roundup
Youtube
More YouTube

12.28.09 USA Today: “Activists Decry Wild-Horse Roundups”


Mestengo. Mustang. Misfit.
America’s Disappearing Wild Horses


Frequently Asked Questions on Wild Horses


Stampede to Oblivion: An Investigate Report from Las Vegas Now
Updated 2009-2010 Roundup Schedule


Unified Moratorium letter and signatories

Photos, video and interviews available from:
The Cloud Foundation
news@thecloudfoundation.org

Time to Hold Obama Accountable...Wild Horse Roundups Unjustifiable

(the following is from In Defense of Animals)

This is insane... one massive unnecessary and unjustified roundup...
Please do this now, thanks!


Time To Hold President Obama Accountable:
Demand Halt to BLM Calico Wild Horse Roundup
BLM to Begin Secret Calico Roundup on Private Land - No Public Observers Allowed
Please join IDA and Sheryl Crow in calling on President Obama to halt the Christmas-week roundup of thousands of Nevada horses.
IDA continues to work diligently to stop the pending Bureau of Land Management (BLM) roundup of 2,700 horses in the Calico Mountain Complex in northwestern Nevada. Despite our efforts, the roundup is set to start today, but there is still time to save most of the horses! We won’t stop fighting – but we need your help to stop this massive assault on America’s wild horses.


Please take these THREE essential steps today! Only a huge public outcry will save these horses from the trauma of being stampeded with helicopters over treacherous winter terrain into capture pens, where they will be torn from their family members before being loaded onto trucks destined for possibly illegal BLM wild horse warehouses in the Midwest.

1. Paste the letter below (please feel free to personalize) to President Obama in the web form

2. Follow your email with a phone call to the White House (both numbers) to appeal to the President to halt the BLM’s cruel Calico wild horse roundup. See letter below for details on what we are asking of the President.
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414

3. Forward this message to five friends and family and ask that they take a couple of minutes to help the horses – every public comment and phone call counts. You can help us increase the number of active wild horse advocates.
For more information, see the most recent Associated Press story and IDA’s statement on the recent federal court ruling in our lawsuit to stop the Calico roundup.
LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA (Paste the letter below (please feel free to personalize) to President Obama in the web form


December 28, 2009
Dear President Obama,
I urge you to stop the largest scheduled roundup of wild horses in years – those living in the Calico Mountains in Nevada. Please halt the Interior Department - Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) pending cruel round up of over 2,500 horses who are living peacefully in more than 500,000 acre public land complex.
Last week, a federal court judge ruled that the BLM’s stockpiling of western wild horses in mid-western holding facilities may be illegal and consequently suggested that BLM postpone the Calico roundup. In addition, several appeals are pending with the Interior Board of Land Appeals – including a formal Motion to Stay (stop) the roundup – and your White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) charging that the BLM has flagrantly violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in its failure to assess the impacts of its massive capture and removal plan.
Over the weekend, the BLM made public its plan to begin the roundup in secret on private land from which the public will be barred, thus violating a BLM pledge made just three weeks ago at a packed public meeting in Reno to conduct these roundups with full public transparency.
Wild horse society is complex and consists of tightly knit family bands. President Obama, as you enjoy the holidays with your lovely family, I urge you to take a moment to remember the wild horse families in Nevada’s Calico Mountains that are about to be shattered forever by the BLM's cruel round up plans.
With a simple phone call, you Mr. President can stop the terror that is about to befall the majestic wild horses of northwest Nevada. Please act today.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,



In Defense of Animals, located in San Rafael, Calif., is an international animal protection organization with more than 85,000 members and supporters dedicated to ending the abuse and exploitation of animals by protecting their rights and welfare. IDA's efforts include educational events, cruelty investigations, boycotts, grassroots activism, and hands-on rescue through our sanctuaries in Mississippi, Mumbai, India, and Cameroon, Africa.
In Defense of Animals is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. We welcome your feedback and appreciate your donations. Please join today! All donations to IDA are tax-deductible.

In Defense of Animals
3010 Kerner, San Rafael, CA 94901
Tel. (415) 448-0048 Fax (415) 454-1031
idainfo@idausa.org

BLM in violation of Legal Responsibilities: Mustangs vs Ranchers

Ranching is the history of western settlement, as well as wild horses. Both have rights based on property law i.e. herd areas and allotment improvements) as well as historic cultural landscape preservation. BLM has violated their fiduciary duty us to manage our heritage (inheritance) of wild horses according to the law. They have violated their duty to manage healthy ranges that are overgrazed by livestock. They have violated their duty to manage for ecological diversity by removing the very equid wild life that contribute to healthy diversity.
DOI and Congress are catering to the global special interest agenda for energy development and while embezzling our heritage estate in the process.
Boycotting beef and aiming poison arrows at ranchers will not gain ground for wild equids. BLM is the responsible agency and Congress is responsible for BLM. Every BLM manager that authorizes a gather should be personally sued for removing excess horses, transporting them from their native ranges to long term holding and sale (adoption)
kat
----- Original Message -----
From: Nylene Puha
To: Sent: Tuesday, December 22, 2009 12:24 PM
Subject: RE: All evidence points to N. American Native Status of the wild ones...Re: "horses under-counted more likely" Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter

Conversation with a local ranchers relative yesterday-she stated that her Uncle should not have to change his way of life-(cattle rancher)-for wild horses. EVEN IF beef IS unhealthy for the land and even if his own health is affected-he should not have to make any concessions to his family's traditional lifestyle.
My question -Does he hate wild horses? Answer-Well, he is a RANCHER.
Those of you who don't live here-this is the culture we face.

This is war. And the ranchers are winning. The best thing I can suggest at this point is to Boycott Beef. If we can get all the REAL environmental groups to join in and organize -which there is talk of...this could have some true clout. Even those who don't intend to stop eating beef-could make the THREAT...."I am a lifelong beef eater but due to the wild horse situation..."...and so on. We must hurt the rancher/beef industry where they care-their pocketbooks. Another issue-wolves, coyotes, cougars-the wild horses natural predators here-are being wiped out by the BLM as well. Wild horse herds cannot survive as wild horses without them.

Nylene

PS-I think the hay thrown in Moundhouse that caused the accident that killed the wild horse last week- was by a rancher. I was told it was a guy who threw a bale of hay from the back of his pickup-right on the edge of the busy highway. I can't imagine a wild horse person doing such a thing. I think it was to cause talk of the 'problems' wild horses cause. Ranchers don't want winter feeding of wild horses because they will also eat the hay the ranchers throw to their cows in winter. They don't want the predators as they will also eat their cows.

Near Las Vegas? Get Involved! Protest Plan for Today!

PROTEST THE INHUMANE WINTER ROUNDUP OF NEVADA’S WILD HORSES

WHERE: THE ENTRANCE TO RED ROCK CANYON, LAS VEGAS NEVADA, WHEN: 1PM, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27. 2009, CONTACT PERSON: ARLENE GAWNE, 702-277-1313 artistfromafrica@hotmail.com

On Monday, Dec. 28, 2009, the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) intends to roundup approximately 2,400- 2,700 of the estimated 3,000 wild horses in the Calico Mountain wild horse complex of Northern Nevada. They will be driven by helicopters in icy winter conditions, over rocky ground, for long distances. Some horses will be injured or die just as they have in recent BLM helicopter roundups.... (Press Release continued here)

Two More Wild Horse Foals Killed in BLM Roundup

From The Cloud Foundation

Sheryl Crow and Thousands of Advocates Call on President Obama and Senator Reid to Grant America’s Mustangs a Christmas Reprieve

Two More Wild Horse Foals are Killed in Most Recent BLM Roundup

Colorado Springs, CO (December 24, 2009)—Sheryl Crow asks Senator Reid and President Obama to grant a Christmas reprieve until the American people and Congress can find a better way to manage our living legends of the West. Now they are being managed into extinction. The Cloud Foundation also reports two more wild horse deaths, during the recent Paisley Wild Horse roundup in southern Oregon (December 16-18).

"I'm asking President Obama and Senator Reid to stop the Calico roundup of the American wild mustangs in Nevada NOW until Congress decides how to manage our living legends of the West." – Sheryl Crow

Two wild horses foals died, one that broke its leg during the helicopter roundup and another that was found dead in the temporary corrals where the horses had been held overnight. The Wild Horse and Burro specialist at the BLM Lakeview field office reported that the second foal was found dead in the foal pen the morning following his capture. The foals had been traumatized and separated from their mothers directly following entry into the trap.
275 horses in all were captured, 23 were allowed back out on the range, 15 mares and 8 stallions. All mares released were given infertility drugs. According to the Paisley Wild Horse and Burro Specialist, the estimated number of horses remaining in the immense herd area of nearly 300,000 is 102 animals. This number is below minimum standards to ensure their long term survival.

Many are demanding that the numbers of wild horses allowed on their home ranges be increased to guarantee they can survive into the future. At the December 7^th National BLM Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Meeting in Reno, Don Glenn, Chief of the Wild Horse and Burro Program, stated that 150 acres is necessary to maintain one wild horse on dry western areas. Yet, in the Paisley area, which is legally designated for wild horses, the BLM has left one horse for every 3,000 acres. As in most wild horse herd areas, BLM allows for cattle grazing and regularly cites the lack of forage in their decisions to remove wild horses.

The focus is now turning on the Administration in an effort to save the last stronghold of wild horses. Three days after Christmas BLM plans to wipe out 80-90 percent of the estimated 3,000 horses living in the Calico Mountain wild horse complex. The horses will be driven by a low-flying helicopter over dangerous terrain in winter conditions to traps and temporary corrals. Respiratory illnesses, permanent injury and death are expected should this winter roundup take place.

“Two foals and a mare have already been killed in the first two winter roundups and these deaths were in roundups 1/10^th the size of Calico. I’m asking the public to join me in calling on our President to stop the Calico roundup now. No horse owner in their right mind would run their own horses in the winter the way the BLM does our wild horses. This is nothing short of government-sponsored cruelty.” – Ginger Kathrens, Naturalist and Emmy-award winning filmmaker- creator of the popular PBS Cloud Wild Horse Documentaries

In Defense of Animals (IDA) has filed complaints with the Department of Interior and White House Office of Environmental Quality (CEQ) alleging multiple violations of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
“The President should order a halt to this roundup until the legality of the long-term holding facilities is determined. The BLM itself says this (Calico) is not an emergency roundup, so there would be no harm in waiting for adjudication of this enormously important issue,”said William J. Spriggs, of Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney, which filed the case on behalf of IDA, Downer and Farley.

IDA charges that BLM violated NEPA by failing to adequately assess the environmental impacts of its massive wild horse capture plan. Over 10,000 public comments were submitted to the BLM in opposition to the Calico roundup, which the BLM has stated will cost taxpayers $1.9 million for the roundup contractor and BLM personal alone. Additional costs for branding, sorting, processing and transporting horses are expected to add at least another million.

“The thing these horses have to fear most is the very federal agency that is supposed to protect them.” —Howard Boggess, Crow Indian Elder and Historian
It would appear that there is a continuation of the Bush era policy of removing tens of thousands of wild horses from their rightful Western publicly-owned rangelands, often to make room for increased grazing of privately-owned livestock as well as for oil, gas and mineral deals. Judge Friedman questioned the legality of BLM’s warehousing of over 34,000 wild horses in government holding facilities. 9,000 more are expected to be added this year and in 2011 and in 2012 as BLM continues its unwarranted massive removals. Independent analysis¹ of BLM’s own population estimates shows a dramatic decline in populations since 2000 and leaves in question how many wild horses and burros are even left on public lands. According to BLM the number of wild horses in government holding facilities will exceed those left on public lands around the time the government agency completes its desruction of the Calico horses.

“BLM only looks at removing or contracepting wild horses to manage what they claim to be exploding populations. BLM fails to look into restoring even a portion of their legally designated 24+ million acres that have been taken away from the wild horses and burros in the past 40 years.” —Craig Downer, wildlife ecologist.

“This is not only a humane issue, this is an issue about preserving a legacy that we have in the west.” —Congressman Raul Grijalva, in an address to wild horse advocates in Washington DC on September 29^th, 2009.

How the Grinch (BLM's Ken Salazar) Stole Our Mustangs

In case you missed this when it made the rounds....



It's really too good (and informative) to miss!

Judge Denies Preliminary Injunction But Questions BLM Policies

Judge Friedman Denies Preliminary Injunction But Questions BLM Policies
Posted Dec 21, 2009 by laura allen, Animal Law Coalition

Update Dec. 23, 2009: Judge Paul L. Friedman has denied the motion by plaintiffs In Defense of Animals, Craig Downer and Terri Farley, for a preliminary injunction to stop the roundup of up to 2,736 wild horses from the Calico Mountain Complex herd management areas in Nevada.

But the judge has also rejected that BLM can continue to keep unadopted wild horses and burros in long term facilities. The judge agreed with the plaintiff that BLM has no authority to transport healthy unadoptable horses and hold them in long term holding facilities especially in places where they were not located previously, Oklahoma, Kansas or South Dakota.

The judge, however, found the plaintiffs did not raise this argument until their reply brief and it could not be the basis for a preliminary injunction. The judge said the defendants had not had time to brief the issue fully. The judge did reject the BLM's contention that Congress had ratified its policies of putting unadopted wild horses and burros into long term holding facilities by approving appropriations bills.

The judge suggested the agency postpone the roundup scheduled for December 28 but declined to issue an injunction at this time. The judge reasoned that if the BLM proceeds with the gather, knowing that long term holding may not be an option and with no funds under the Appropriations Act, FY 2010, for euthanization or sale for slaughter, the agency must come up with another solution for the horses it will have removed from the wild. The judge said that once removed as excess, the horses could not at that point simply be returned to the herd areas.

The judge found "untenable" the plaintiffs' other contention that BLM cannot round up and remove horses en masse. The court rejected the plaintiffs' interpretation of the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act, 16 U.S.C. Sec. 1331 et seq, (WFRHBA) that BLM must determine on a case by case basis those horses deemed "excess" or causing an overpopulation, and then remove them under a tiered approach with the old, sick and lame taken first and then the healthy adoptable horses. The judge said such a process would put the BLM in "an impossible Catch-22" because the agency could not really evaluate the health or age of horses without capturing them first. The judge found the WFRHBA did not prohibit the BLM's current method of rounding up horses, separating them, sterlizing and returning some and placing others in short term holding facilities for adoption or sale.

Judge Friedman did also say the public and BLM's interest in controlling the overpopulation of wild horses could be negatively impacted by a delay. He said "issuance of an injunction at this stage might lead to substantial growth in already overpopulated herds" in the Calico Complex. The judge said that, according to BLM, a spring roundup could result in more injuries for the wild horses.

This ruling does not end the case. With this ruling, judge rejected the motion for a preliminary injunction to keep the status quo pending a final decision. It is a serious warning to BLM that the judge does not think its policy of keeping wild horses in long term holding facilities, is legal. But, unfortunately, unless BLM takes the judge's advice, the Calico roundup will proceed on Dec. 28.

At this point, the best course of action is to call on President Barack Obama and BLM to stop the roundups. Urge Congress to take action, too, and demand a stop to these roundups! Go here to find out how you can join the call for a moratorium on BLM roundups of wild horses and burros.

Lawsuit Filed Giving Mustangs 28-day Reprieve

Nevada Mustangs Given 28-Day Reprieve

IDA Lawsuit Postpones Huge Wild Horse Roundup

Washington, DC (November 24, 2009) - The U.S. Department of Justice announced tonight that the massive roundup and removal of thousands of horses from public land in northwestern Nevada will be delayed until December 28 as a direct result of the filing of a lawsuit by In Defense of Animals and renowned ecologist Craig Downer on November 23.

Tomorrow, IDA and Mr. Downer plan to file a motion for a permanent injunction, with supporting affidavits from horse experts and eyewitnesses to Bureau of Land Management (BLM) roundups. The motion will ask Judge Paul L. Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to stop the roundup altogether.

The roundup and removal of 80-90 percent of the estimated 3,055 wild horses living in the BLM's Calico Mountain Complex was originally scheduled to begin December 1. The BLM has received over 10,000 public comments in opposition to the roundup.

"We welcome this moratorium on the capture and inhumane treatment of the Calico horses," said William Spriggs, Esq. of Buchanan, Ingersoll and Rooney, pro bono attorney for IDA and Mr. Downer. "The BLM plan for a massive helicopter roundup of these horses is entirely illegal."

"We are confident that the court will agree that America's wild horses are protected by law from BLM’s plan to indiscriminately chase and stampede them into corrals for indeterminate warehousing away from their established habitat," he said. "The magnificent wild horses and burros of the American West are an important part of our national heritage and must be preserved."

The Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act, passed unanimously by Congress in 1971, designated America's wild horses and burros as "living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West," specifying they "shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death … [and that] to accomplish this they are to be considered in the area where presently found, as an integral part of the natural system of public lands.”

Since 1971, the BLM has removed over 270,000 horses from their Western home ranges and taken away nearly 20 million acres of wild horse habitat. Only 37,000 wild horses and burros remain on public lands in the West. By contrast, millions of cattle graze our public lands. Thirty-two thousand wild horses who have been removed from the range are already held in government holding facilities, and the BLM intends to round up 12,000 more horses in FY 2010.

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In Defense of Animals is an international animal protection organization located in San Rafael, Calif. dedicated to protecting animals’ rights, welfare, and habitat through education, outreach, and our hands-on rescue facilities in Mumbai, India, Cameroon, Africa, and rural Mississippi.

Vicki | A Voice for Our Horses