Despite some public trepidation, Jim Sparks, field manager for the Billings Bureau of Land Management office has said repeatedly that Pryor Mountain wild horses that are rounded-up will not be euthanized.The BLM has proposed gathering 38 of the estimated 172 wild horses in the Pryors.
No worries. I think...
Cutting 38 horses should not negatively impact the herd because there are plenty of spring foals, said Matt Dillon, who heads the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center in Lovell.
Ginger Kathrens, a Colorado Springs author who has filmed the Pryor herd for public television and founder of The Cloud Foundation, does not necessarily suspect the horses will be poked by a poisonous needle. However she fears if the animals are not adopted, they could spend their final days at a BLM long-term holding facility. And those days could numbered if the bureau decides to euthanize horses.
Kathrens said the BLM is holding 33,000 wild horses, which far outnumbers 13,600 roaming within the confines of wild horse management areas across the west. Sparks said the BLM has the legal authority to euthanize its horses. So theoretically, the bureau could play the dirty needle card to rub-out its surplus horse stock.
Kathrens’ contention is that could lead to a stampede of lethal injections to thin herd numbers and clear pastures for more incarcerated horses.
However, bear in mind, euthanization was only a proposal, not a plan of action.
You got me. I am inclined to believe Sparks at least on the local level. But, what the BLM big shots in Washington, D.C. decide is an entirely different matter.
Kathrens’ argument may have validity. She said the BLM should be exploring ways to get all their horses adopted. If she keeps the heat on, that could elicit more public and media scrutiny and so protect horses from potential death.
Dillon made a valid point too. He said folks should concentrate on finding means to get wild horses adopted, not fretting over the killing of Pryor horses, which he said won’t happen.
You decide. I am just a wacky reporter striving to make sense of what I am told.
I favor protecting both the McCullough Peaks’ and Pryor herds. I also prefer wolves, bears and all other four-legged critters to development.
I will make efforts to stay abreast of the issue. There is a proposed roundup for the McCullough herd as well. There is natural gas in them thar hills. Who will come out on top, natural gas developers or horses?
In the picture, two stallions duke it out for choice grazing.
Thanks for the blog.
ReplyDeleteTwo questions: Would you happen to know why there hasn't been a posting on Matt Dillon's Pryor Mountain Blog in 2 months?
Is there a place where one can find specific info on adopting a Pryor Mountain Horse?
Thanks for keeping us informed.
Scott
Scott,
ReplyDeleteYou can visit the Wyoming Bureau of Land Management Web site at http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en.html. to get the skinny on adoption.
Keep your eyes peeled. The Billings BLM hosted a wild horse and burro adoption August 9-10. So if you are interested in taking a horse or burro home, check the Web site or give the Billings, Cody or your nearest BLM field office a call. Keep checking.
I know the Cody BLM is planning a fall roundup. There are some beautiful horses in the McCullough Peaks. As you know, Billings BLM is planning a roundup too.
I don’t know exactly when either the roundups or adoptions will occur, but I’ll try to inform my blog pals when they do take place.
I don’t know why Matt Dillon has not recently posted blogs. You would have to ask him. He may be busy. I know Dillon spends as much time as possible on the range.
I am new to this blog thing, but I do enjoy reaching out to you guys. Keep in touch.
Scott, there is another internet adoption coming up on Aug. 27th, if you can't make it in person. They list the horses by the area they come from.
ReplyDeletewww.blm.gov/adoptahorse
Also, I'd have to say that while she's certainly a staunch advocate for wild horses, Ginger Kathrens is by no means a crazy animal activist talking out of her butt. She's in the thick of it out there and has remained heavily involved in an advisory capacity on the management of the herds as much as possible. There is more info. on one of her sites: www.thecloudfoundation.org
And I'm not sure what's been going on with Matt Dillon either. It's been two months and not even a pic was put up. I certainly hope everything is OK first and foremost, but as long as it is, I'd love to hear about how the horses are doing and see pictures of conditions of the range since one of the BLM's main arguments for having to reduce the herd further is that it is poor when everyone else who lives up there seems to think the opposite.
Also, if it's updates on any and ALL the wild horse herds in the U.S. that you're interested in, there's another good blog which is sometimes long-winded and maybe a little alarmist on occasion, but nothing if not thorough. That's americanherds.blogspot.com
This letter from a Las Vegas reporter to Willis Lamm is a particularly good read.
Sorry to be link happy. :)
AUGUST 8 th, 2009
ReplyDeleteSTAND YOUR GROUND with Ginger Kathrens of the Cloud Foundation
Lawmakers and Citizens Come to the Rescue of Wild Horses
Lawmakers introduced legislation following the Bureau of Land Management’s controversial announcement last year that it is considering killing large numbers of wild horses taken from the range. Do these hero‘s have time to save the horses and burros from death and total destruction ? A friend in need is a friend indeed.
“GATHER Plan http://www.pryormustangs.org/uploads/miscdocuments/2009gatherEA.pdf
STAND YOUR GROUND with Ginger Kathrens of the Cloud Foundation.
How to help ASAP ~ See Below!!
Drastic Removal Planned for Cloud's Herd
Watch this 30 second video by Ginger Kathrens
Newsletter
http://webmail.aol.com/43792/aol/en-us/Suite.aspx
VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qp_EXnlXxg
Write and SPEAK OUT!! Clouds and his Herd are on the roundup list now..... Don't let this round up & death sentence happen. What do you do? Address and e-mail below.
Go into silent vigilance of hope prayer and meditation for Cloud and his Herd and all the Wild Horses
4. Send this E-mail to Director of the Interior ASAP!
Time is of the essence. “Cloud and his family (herd) could be killed before his October 2009 movie comes out on PBS.”Ginger Kathrens
Email Ken Salazar and the Bureau of Land Management now! There is an easy format below you can use just add your name.
To this e-mail: exsec@iosdoi.gov
Mail: Ken Salazar
Department of Interior
1849 C Street , N.W.
Washington, DC 20240
Phone: 202-7351
http://www.doi.gov/contact.html
Dear Kenneth Interior Secretary Salazar,
Interior Secretary Salazar and the Bureau of Land Management I’m asking you to stop the Roundups of Cloud and his Family!
I am writing to express my extreme disappointment in THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT'S (BLM) DECISION to continue THEIR plan to euthanize or hold in captivity thousands of wild horses and burros and ROUNDUPS ~ AT THE EXPENSE OF THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER.
The Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act (1971) was created with the hope of managing healthy herds of wild horses and burros on healthy Western rangelands. With the goal of managing the sizes of these herds, the BLM believes that wild horses and burros consume unfair amounts of forage on BLM lands. “On March 3, 2009, it was stated by a BLM representative that the forage depletion on public lands leaves cattle with nothing to eat. Contrary to that statement, a Wild Horse Ecologist, Craig C. Downer, of Nevada, stated in his speech (Wild Horse Speech With Tables And Charts, Wild Horse Summit, Las Vegas, Nevada, October 2008) that wild horses and burros only consume a mere 5.6% of the forage consumed by livestock on BLM land. “
It is not necessary to hold these wild horses and burros in captivity or round them up for slaughter (an expense to taxpayers). THE Cloud Foundation OFFERS an Alternative Herd Plan & SOLUTION. (The Cloud Foundation Web) This was given to the BLM in June 2009.
The BLM holding costs for the BLM in 2009 are $33 million, and in 2014 it is estimated to be $85 million. This business plan will help unravel the problem that the BLM has created in gathering horses off the range land at the tax payers’ expense.
1. Stop the BLM from managing our wild horses and Clouds Herd to extinction.2. Halt all round-ups of wild horses until range conditions and herd numbers can be verified.
3. Return wild horses in holding to the 100+ herd areas (19+ million acres) that have been zeroed out.
4. Expand the Pryor Mountain. Wild Horse Range for Clouds Herd & protect herd at viable population level of at least 150 adult horses until range is expanded.
Sincerely thank you for any and all consideration to saving our National Treasure and Cloud‘s Herd and family.
You’re Name (_______________________)
Barbara Ellen Ries, Arizona Horse Advocate and Pro-ROAM
If your organization can help please e-mail me at ~ spirithorsebr@aol.com
Thank you for any consideration
Return America’s Wild Horses to Their Rightful Ranges
ReplyDeleteSecretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced a new initiative for the Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse and Burro program. The Secretary announced that this is a “national solution to restore the health of America’s wild horse herds and the rangelands that support them by creating a cost-efficient, sustainable management program that includes the possible creation of wild horse preserves on the productive grasslands of the Midwest and East.”[1]
The Cloud Foundation is encouraged that the Interior Department realizes that there are problems with the management of wild horses on public lands by the Bureau of Land Management and is considering ways to improve the Wild Horse and Burro Program.
However, the Cloud Foundation questions the need to develop seven new preserves in the mid-west and east (at an estimated initial cost of $96 million) when there are 19.4 million acres of designated wild horse and burro of rangelands that have been taken away from them since 1971. In just the past few weeks, 12 herds (620 horses) were zeroed out on an additional 1.4 million acres in Eastern Nevada. “It would seem that the best use of taxpayer dollars and the most humane plan for the nearly 32,000 wild horses in government holding[2] would be to return them to their native lands” says Ginger Kathrens, Volunteer Executive Director of the Cloud Foundation.
Initial Recommended Steps for the Management of America’s Wild Horses & Burros
1) Cease all roundups until independent analysis can be made of each herd management area. Move forward only with emergency removals if deemed necessary by independent as well as BLM specialists.
2) Return wild horses and burros in good health to the 20.8 million acres of public land designated primarily for their use in 1971 that has since been taken away from them. As per the ROAM Act (§1579): “ensure that, to the extent practicable, the acreage available for wild and free-roaming horses and burros shall never be less than the acreage where wild and free-roaming horses and burros were found in 1971.”
3) Reanalyze appropriate management levels (AMLs) for herd management areas (HMAs). Currently only about 25% of wild horse and burro herds are genetically viable.[3] AMLs should not be reduced due to the private use of public lands for livestock grazing. Currently AML “is based on consideration of wildlife, permitted livestock, and wild horses and burros in the area.”[4] It is not cost-effective to remove wild horses from an HMA at a cost of $2600- over $3000 per individual removed in order to allow a cow/calf pair to graze for a payment of $1.36/month. Cattle, who originated in southeast Asia, damage the land to a far greater degree than wild horses, who are of North American origin.
4) Congress should follow-up with hearings on the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program as recommended by the Government Accounting Office (2008 report).
Photos and more information available from:
The Cloud Foundation
719-633-3842
info@thecloudfoundation.org
Download the Press release and send on to your local media and national media sources - available online from the Cloud Foundation here
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Department of Interior press release, 10/7/2009.
[2] Nearly 32,000 wild horses are in holding as of 10/7/2009 according to BLM records. No independent inventory has been conducted and the truth of this number cannot be verified.
[3] Genetically viable defined here as a population of horses 1 year and older that is at or above 150-200 individuals with a Ne (genetic effective number) of 50 or more. This is the bare minimum for genetic viability of wild horse and burro population. More information here.
[4] According to Nevada BLM site, accessed 10/8/2009
Our mailing address is:
The Cloud Foundation 107 South 7th St Colorado Springs, CO 80905
Our telephone:
719-633-3842
Thanks for giving the public information on what really happens that we never hear about! I'm looking forward to finding out more about what happens to the wild horses.
ReplyDelete