Media Contacts:
Makendra Silverman
Makendra@TheCloudFoundation.org
Tel: 719-351-8187
Anne Novak
Anne@TheCloudFoundation.org
Tel: 415-531-8454
For Immediate Release
Public Opposes Salazar’s Request for Millions to Move Mustangs East
Americans want to keep their wild horses in the West
Colorado Springs, CO (March 1, 2010)—The Cloud Foundation and members of the public are calling on their Senators to oppose the dubious Salazar Plan— to move captured wild horses East. On March 3rd Secretary Ken Salazar is expected to testify before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to request $42 million to implement phase one of what many are calling the “SalaZoo Plan”, a call for moving thousands of mustangs (mares and neutered stallions) to taxpayer purchased lands in the Midwest and East. With Salazar’s plan, announced last October, only a few “treasured” wild horse and burro herds may be left in the West. The Secretary, a former Colorado U.S. Senator and will attempt to convince Senators that the West is out of room for wild horses and they must be moved East for their own good. The Cloud Foundation contends that the Salazar Plan this is cruel, unnecessary, and enormously costly to taxpayers and wild herds alike.
There are now more wild horses in expensive government holding that there are on 29 million acres of public lands and less than a quarter of wild herds are managed at genetically viable levels. Advocates continue making clear demands for the return of wild horses to the over 24 -58 million acres of public lands where legally designated wild horse herds have been zeroed out since passage of the Wild Horse and Burro Act in 1971. When Congress unanimously passed the Act, it stated that our wild herds were to be managed as “an integral part of the natural system of the public lands.”
“How about putting the mustangs back out on the lands where BLM zeroed them out?” asks Eric Wright, Nevada resident and wild horse photographer. “BLM can’t even explain what happened to 24 -58 million acres where wild horses were to be managed. Just last fall they completely zeroed out 12 herds outside of Ely, Nevada—lands where mustangs have roamed for centuries. Now the land is suddenly ‘inappropriate for wild horses’ but still appropriate for some thousands of head of cattle.”
After a 2006 town hall meeting in Greeley Colorado, then U.S. Senate candidate Salazar, told Barbara Flores, a longtime wild horse advocate, that wild horses don’t belong on public lands. Clearly, his opinion remains unchanged. The Secretary’s plan to move thousands of mustangs East onto private lands purchased on the taxpayer’s dime and to continue the massive roundups would spell the end of America’s celebrated Western Herds on the public’s land.
“The Secretary’s plan is fiscal insanity and just the opposite of what Congress intended when it passed the Wild Horse and Burro Act,” stated Ginger Kathrens, filmmaker of the Cloud series and executive director of The Cloud Foundation. “Whether you like wild horses and burros or not, every taxpayer should be up arms over this. And the SalaZoo plan is a potential health disaster for western wild horses shipped east. Did the Secretary ever think about trimming the feet every six weeks of thousands of wild horses now on grassy pastures? Or the risks of humidity and non-native forage? What about rain rot, colic, founder, or the other illnesses and conditions wild horses would need to overcome in the East?”
Already over 34,000 wild horse are warehoused by the BLM at a cost of over $3.3 million per month. According to American Herds <http://americanherds.blogspot.com/2009/12/whats-left.html> an estimated 15,000 or fewer wild horses and burros remain in the wild. BLM admits they have no accurate census. The remaining half of their $67.5 million budget goes directly to removing thousands more wild horses in expensive helicopter roundups by private contractors, one of whom was convicted of using aircraft to hunt wild horse horses, aiding and abetting. Those horses were sent to slaughter in Texas. “This contractor has continued to receive millions of taxpayer dollars even though he violated the very law the BLM is mandated to uphold,” commented Julianne French, an Arizona wild horse and burro advocate. “The management of this program is so broken, it’s hard to know where to clean house first. And Salazar’s plan just compounds the problem.”
The public disagrees with the Salazar Plan. “It seems a real stretch that captured, neutered mustangs would be an ecotourism draw the East,” remarked advocate Marian Jo Souder of Ohio. “I’d sure rather see mustangs and burros in their natural western ranges, not in eastern holding fields.” Already over 22,000 wild horses are kept in holding pastures in Kansas and Oklahoma. The only difference between BLM’s current “long-term holding” and Salazar’s “preserves” according to DOI Undersecretary Sylvia Baca is that the public would be allowed to view these captured horses. Her comments were made at the December, 2009 BLM National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board Meeting in Reno, Nevada.
The Salazar plan only highlights the enormous disconnect between the public and the so-called Rogue BLM agency. One advocate in Oklahoma remarked, “As far as the Salazar plan, my great grandmother was full-blooded Cherokee who walked the trail of tears. I don't see Salazar’s ‘preserves’ as much different from the reservations my family members were forced to move to.”
In the recent million dollar-plus, 40-day Calico Roundup, over 1900 mustangs were pushed by helicopters from their stark and beautiful mountain stronghold in NW Nevada. At least 64 mustangs have died in this winter roundup with that number climbing daily and over 35 late term abortions have been reported in the Fallon, Nevada holding pens. BLM stopped the roundup early when they admitted they had significantly over-counted the wild horses left on the range. Meanwhile thousands of privately-owned cattle still graze those same wild horse herd areas bringing in revenues to the BLM of around $40,000 per year – less than what it cost to hold the Fallon horses for four days. Annually American taxpayers lose $123 million running the taxpayer subsidized grazing program, referred to as “welfare ranching”. The grazing fee is currently the lowest allowed by law—$1.35 per cow/calf pair per month. A grazing fee hike of 600% would be required to pay for just the costs of administration of the program. Outnumbered 100:1 by cattle on public lands, wild horses and burros represent less than 0.5% of hooved animals on our public lands.
Americans from across the nation will gather in Washington DC on March 25th (March for Mustangs <http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/index.php/news-events-a-media/events/details/48-march-for-mustangs-in-dc> ) to protest Salazar's plan for the removal and destruction of America’s Western wild herds. Advocates want a truly sustainable plan to protect wild horses and burros in the West.
“It is time to reveal the BLM wild horse and burro program for what it is— a deceitful and inhumane waste of taxpayer money. What other program aims to destroy what it is charged to protect with such willful disregard to the public they serve?” asks Ginger Kathrens.
# # #
Links of interest:
American Herds - "What's Left?" http://americanherds.blogspot.com/2009/12/whats-left.html
March for Mustangs- March 25th, DC Rally: http://bit.ly/d8GqEY
News Story on Calico, rising death toll & skewed numbers from George Knapp (KLAS- Las Vegas): http://bit.ly/9f1DYb <http://bit.ly/9f1DYb>
BLM Daily Reports from Calico Roundup/Fallon Holding: http://bit.ly/aSaeVc
Humane Observer blog http://humaneobserver.blogspot.com/ <http://humaneobserver.blogspot.com/>
“A Cruel Waste” – explanatory youtube video: http://wild-horse-burro.org/
Rebuttal to Salazar’s plan in LA Times: http://bit.ly/a3T6GJ
The Cloud Foundation position paper on Salazar plan—Oct. 2009: http://bit.ly/cpKnum
Good Morning America at Calico http://bit.ly/bXtwd5 <http://bit.ly/bXtwd5>
New York Times “Horses Die in Roundup” http://nyti.ms/atZqF5 <http://nyti.ms/atZqF5>
Feds Deny Gas Pipeline Related to Wild Horse Roundup http://bit.ly/buLfh5 <http://bit.ly/buLfh5>
After campaigning for Obama, Sheryl Crow at odds over his administration’s wild-horse plan (Associated Press)
http://bit.ly/6UQleO
Mestengo. Mustang. Misfit. America’s Disappearing Wild Horses - A History
http://www.wildhorsepreservation.com/resources/wild.html
Frequently Asked Questions on Wild Horses
(http://www.wildmustangcoalition.org/id44.html <http://www.wildmustangcoalition.org/id44.html> )
Stampede to Oblivion: An Investigate Report from Las Vegas Now <http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225> (http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225 <http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225> )
Unified Moratorium letter and signatories http://bit.ly/6ck87L <http://bit.ly/6ck87L>
Roundup Schedule- updated January 11, 2010 http://bit.ly/5AmMLm <http://bit.ly/5AmMLm>
Photos, video and interviews available from:
The Cloud Foundation
news@thecloudfoundation.org
719-633-3842
www.thecloudfoundation.org <http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/>
Media Contacts:
Makendra Silverman
Makendra@TheCloudFoundation.org
Tel: 719-633-3842
Anne Novak
Anne@TheCloudFoundation.org
Tel: 415-531-8454
For Immediate Release
Captured Wild Mustangs Die As BLM Bars Public Observers
The Calico Wild Horse Roundup death toll exceeds 60 as public alarm grows
Fallon, NV (February 25, 2010)— At least 62 federally-protected American wild horses have died due to the controversial Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Calico roundup in Nevada as of today. An additional 35 late term abortions have been recorded in the Fallon feedlot-style holding facility where 1869 captured mustangs are corralled at enormous taxpayer expense. Advocates are being denied access to observe horses as the death toll rises. At least one horse died during BLM "processing" operations. The public and humane observers want access to view how their tax money is being spent and to verify the horses are being treated humanely. Standard processing procedures are generally open to the public to observe without issue. Advocates question if there is something to hide.
"Moving forward with this winter roundup was a huge mistake on the part of BLM. Two years ago a February roundup in Nevada resulted in the death of 85 horses. I would hope BLM never rounds up wild horses again in the dead of winter," says Ginger Kathrens, Director of the Cloud Foundation.
American taxpayers are paying over $10,000 a day to hold the captured Calico horses at the privately owned Broken Arrow holding facility. Processing (freeze-branding, inoculating, tagging) adds thousands more to the cost. BLM has denied repeated requests for even two humane advocate observers to be present during processing and allows public visits by reservation only for two hours each Sunday. The Cloud Foundation and the public are seriously alarmed by the rising death toll and BLM’s complete lack of transparency and accountability. Promised vet reports have not been posted since February 1st as horses perish daily.
“The public deserves to have people who can watch and document how our tax dollars are being spent. Allowing humane advocate observers into the facility would be a good first step in restoring trust in an agency that has thumbed their nose at the American public while rounding up and destroying America’s mustang heritage,” states Ginger Kathrens.
Humane observers would not inhibit the processing or frighten horses during processing and would allow the concerned public a view of what is going on during processing of these publicly-owned horses. The BLM removed the mustangs from public lands despite a federal judge’s suggestion that the roundup be delayed and over 10,000 public comments asking the BLM to stop their winter roundup plans.
BLM has given indications that they will select “impartial” observers to watch the proceedings. “I think that the public and wild horse advocates should be able to send their own humane observers, not hand picked and selected people that will not criticize the BLM. That would be much like the skewed public Advisory Board that also fails to represent the welfare of our wild herds,” stated Julianne French, an Arizona wild horse advocate.
Wild horse and burro advocates will protest in Washington DC on March 25th. The rally “March for Mustangs” will start in Lafayette Park at 1:00pm with a press conference at 1:30pm, concluding with a march to BLM offices.
# # #
Links of interest:
News Story on Calico, rising death toll & skewed numbers from George Knapp (KLAS- Las Vegas): http://bit.ly/9f1DYb <http://bit.ly/9f1DYb>
Humane Observer blog http://humaneobserver.blogspot.com/ <http://humaneobserver.blogspot.com/>
A Cruel Waste – explanatory youtube video: http://wild-horse-burro.org/ <http://%22/>
Don Glenn public statement on openness of roundups to public: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvCE5PTIARA <http://%22/>
Rebuttal to Salazar’s plan in LA Times: http://bit.ly/a3T6GJ
The Cloud Foundation position paper on DOI plan—Oct. 2009: http://bit.ly/cpKnum
Good Morning America at Calico http://bit.ly/bXtwd5 <http://bit.ly/bXtwd5>
New York Times “Horses Die in Roundup” http://nyti.ms/atZqF5 <http://nyti.ms/atZqF5>
Feds Deny Gas Pipeline Related to Wild Horse Roundup http://bit.ly/buLfh5 <http://bit.ly/buLfh5>
Ruby Pipeline: The Smoking Gun? http://bit.ly/c4pfOA <http://bit.ly/c4pfOA>
Wild Horse Emergency PSA with Sheryl Crow, Viggo Mortenson http://vimeo.com/8441353 <http://vimeo.com/8441353>
After campaigning for Obama, Sheryl Crow at odds over his administration’s wild horse plan (Associated Press)
http://bit.ly/6UQleO
Mestengo. Mustang. Misfit.
America’s Disappearing Wild Horses - A History
http://www.wildhorsepreservation.com/resources/wild.html
Frequently Asked Questions on Wild Horses
(http://www.wildmustangcoalition.org/id44.html <http://www.wildmustangcoalition.org/id44.html> )
Stampede to Oblivion: An Investigate Report from Las Vegas Now <http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225> (http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225 <http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225> )
Unified Moratorium letter and signatories
http://bit.ly/6ck87L
Roundup Schedule- updated January 11, 2010
http://bit.ly/5AmMLm
Photos, video and interviews available from:
The Cloud Foundation 719-633-3842
www.thecloudfoundation.org
< http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/>
#####
Media Contacts:
Makendra Silverman
Makendra@TheCloudFoundation.org
Tel: 719-351-8187
For Immediate Release
BLM Denies Public Access to Captured Calico Mustangs During Processing
Americans are wondering what BLM is hiding as processing of nearly 1900 wild horses begins in Nevada. Protests continue to save an American icon as President Obama heads West
Colorado Springs, CO (February 17, 2010)— The Cloud Foundation objects to the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) severe limitations placed on viewing of the wild horses captured in the controversial Calico Wild Horse roundup. Despite the enormous cost to the American taxpayers and the controversial nature of the roundup, the BLM and the Department of Interior (DOI) are denying requests for independent humane observers during the processing of nearly 1900 mustangs over the next few months in preparation for their long term holding or adoption. During this dangerous time for the mustangs, the public will be denied an opportunity to view BLM running the animals through alleyways and into chutes where they will be freeze-branded, inoculated and neck-tagged.
“I’ve been watching the processing of mustangs on and off for 15 years. What is the big deal this time?” Asks Ginger Kathrens, Volunteer Executive Director of the Cloud Foundation, “There’s something very wrong when it’s easier to crash a party at the White House than go view our wild horses being freeze-branded in Nevada. Makes you wonder if there’s something to hide out in Fallon?”
49 horses have died as the result of the roundup. This does not include the 30 plus mares that have aborted their late-term foals in the feedlot style corrals in Fallon, Nevada. The 4% death rate is over eight times the BLM expected level for a helicopter roundup. Foals are now being born in the pens and the public is not permitted to confirm young, sick and old animals are being humanely treated in a timely fashion.
BLM says that the shut down of the facility is a safety issue due to the horses being continuously in facility alleyways during the preparation process. Given the high level of interest The Cloud Foundation asks BLM to figure out a way to safely allow the public to observe.
“Processing our wild horses in secret does nothing but promote suspicion on the part of the public who simply request to have independent representatives present to verify that our horses are being treated humanely,” said Craig Downer, wildlife ecologist and Nevada wild horse advocate. “Denying American citizens the right to watch over their horses is a very disturbing trend, and simply throws fuel on a spreading fire.”
1922 wild horses were captured in the 40-day dead-of-winter helicopter roundup which stopped weeks early and over 600 horses short when BLM discovered fewer wild horses than anticipated in the huge 500,000 acre Calico Mountains of northwestern Nevada. The horses are now being housed at a cost to the taxpayer of approximately $75,000 per week while the death toll continues to rise. One stallion was euthanized on Monday, however, vet reports are now being withheld so the official reason for killing the stallion is unknown.
Despite Wild Horse and Burro Chief Don Glenn’s promise that the public is welcome “anytime” to view the roundups, the BLM conducted the Calico roundup with limited access. Now BLM has repeatedly denied official requests from the Cloud Foundation and others to allow even two members of the public to be present during processing of horses which began February 15. Ed Roberson, Assistant Director, Renewable Resources and Planning with the DOI told The Cloud Foundation in an email last week not to worry about the horses as “we have a licensed vet on site during the prep work to ensure humane treatment.” Given BLM’s reticence to release vet reports from Fallon this is no consolation to the concerned public.
By disallowing access to any independent humane observers, BLM’s “bunker” mentality appears to have trumped any requests for transparency. “If American citizens are willing to travel to Fallon, Nevada to check on and observe wild horses that have been removed from public lands against the public will by a federal agency, why is this access being denied?” asks RT Fitch, Texas author of the popular book Straight from the Horses Heart.
Meanwhile the captured Calico wild horses, many still with swollen joints and injuries from being run over sharp volcanic rock by helicopters, stand in pens without windbreaks. “Topography credited by the BLM as a natural wind break is a joke. I’ve been to Fallon and I’ve seen the conditions these horses are exposed to—no cover, no windbreaks except for some of the ‘hospital’ pens”, explains Terri Farley. The celebrated children’s author of the Phantom Stallion series, based on the Calico mustangs, visited the holding facility on February 11th with a professional photographer whose photos will soon be posted at www.thecloudfoundation.org <http://www.thecloudfoundation.org> .
To combat the continuing roundups of America’s wild horses and burros, Nevada is planning two protests in coming days to gain the attention of a visiting President Barack Obama. On Thursday, February 18th, protestors will unfurl over 50 banners along Las Vegas Boulevard calling for a stop to the roundups which will remove half of Nevada’s wild horses this year. On Saturday, February 20th the public will gather in Carson City, Nevada to further protest the tax-payer funded destruction of America’s Wild Horses and Burros.
According to Wild Horse and Burro Chief, Don Glenn, the facility is charging the government around $5.75 per day/per horse. That amounts to over $10,000 taxpayer dollars per day to house the mustangs. The cost of the Calico roundup alone was at least $1 million and holding of horses will cost taxpayers additional millions.
While nearly 2,000 Calico mustangs languish and die in Fallon, thousands of privately-owned cattle still graze the Calico wild horse herd areas, bringing in revenues to the BLM of around $40,000 per year. The cost to administer the grazing program for the Calico area is six times this amount based on the national average for the program as calculated by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The GAO reported that yearly revenues from the national public lands grazing program are $21 million per year, while the costs to administer the grazing program are $144 million per year, resulting in a yearly loss to the American taxpayer of $123 million. This taxpayer subsidized grazing program is often referred to as “welfare ranching” due to the small fees charged to livestock permittees. The rate is currently the lowest allowed by law—$1.35 per cow/calf pair per month.
# # #
Links of interest:
News Story on Calico, rising death toll & skewed numbers from George Knapp (KLAS- Las Vegas): http://bit.ly/9f1DYb
Humane Observer blog http://humaneobserver.blogspot.com/ <http://humaneobserver.blogspot.com/>
Court Case: In Defense of Animals and Craig Downer v. Secretary Salazar http://bit.ly/d6wOUQ <http://bit.ly/d6wOUQ>
Good Morning America at Calico http://bit.ly/bXtwd5 <http://bit.ly/bXtwd5>
New York Times “Horses Die in Roundup” http://nyti.ms/atZqF5 <http://nyti.ms/atZqF5>
Feds Deny Gas Pipeline Related to Wild Horse Roundup http://bit.ly/buLfh5 <http://bit.ly/buLfh5>
Ruby Pipeline: The Smoking Gun? http://bit.ly/c4pfOA <http://bit.ly/c4pfOA>
Wild Horse Emergency PSA with Sheryl Crow, Viggo Mortenson http://vimeo.com/8441353 <http://vimeo.com/8441353>
After campaigning for Obama, Sheryl Crow at odds over his administration’s wild-horse plan (Associated Press)
http://bit.ly/6UQleO
Mestengo. Mustang. Misfit.
America’s Disappearing Wild Horses
- A History
http://www.wildhorsepreservation.com/resources/wild.html
Frequently Asked Questions on Wild Horses
(http://www.wildmustangcoalition.org/id44.html <http://www.wildmustangcoalition.org/id44.html> )
Stampede to Oblivion: An Investigate Report from Las Vegas Now <http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225> (http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225 <http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225> )
Unified Moratorium letter and signatories
http://bit.ly/6ck87L
Roundup Schedule- updated January 11, 2010
http://bit.ly/5AmMLm
Photos, video and interviews available from:
The Cloud Foundation
news@thecloudfoundation.org
719-633-3842
www.thecloudfoundation.org <http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/>
Media Contacts:
Makendra Silverman
Makendra@TheCloudFoundation.org
Tel: 719-351-8187
Anne Novak
Anne@TheCloudFoundation.org
Tel: 415.531.8454
For Immediate Release
AUTHORING CHANGE FOR WILD HORSES AND THE READERS WHO LOVE THEM
Terri Farley partners up with The Cloud Foundation to launch the International ‘Heart for Horses’ campaign
Reno, NV (February 10, 2010)—When government helicopters stampeded the last wild horses out of the snowy Calico Mountains into traps outside of the public’s view, Terri Farley <http://www.TerriFarley.com/> , author of HarperCollins’ best-selling PHANTOM STALLION series based on the Calico mustangs, decided to take action.
“The true privilege of any wild horse is to live a life of freedom, surrounded by their family in the land of their birth. Fewer and fewer have that privilege,” says Cloud Foundation founder, Ginger Kathrens <http://www.TheCloudFoundation.org/index.php/about-us/board-of-directors> , whose films and books about Cloud and his wild herd are real-life adventures. “Terri’s books may be fiction, but they capture so realistically the drama of living wild and free. And, like her wild horse characters, she too has grit and determination. She is not afraid to stand up and speak for our mustangs who seem to have no voice or place in the Obama Administration.”
In response to her readers, Farley partners with The Cloud Foundation to launch the Hearts for Horses <http://www.phantomstallion.com/hearts_for_horses.shtml> campaign which answers the question: What can I do to help the mustangs?
Visitors to PhantomStallion.com <http://www.PhantomStallion.com/> , TerriFarley.com <http://www.TerriFarley.com/> and TheCloudFoundation.org <http://www.TheCloudFoundation.org/> will find the Hearts for Horses campaign—a list of ways they can work to protect wild herds. Launched today, the campaign will continue until a moratorium on all roundups is in effect. A moratorium is necessary to provide time for hearings regarding the BLM’s mismanagement of wild herds on the public’s land and to create a sustainable plan for wild horse and burro management in the West.
Supporters are encouraged to cut out paper hearts; decorate them with glitter and messages before sending them to First Lady Michelle Obama. They can make short YouTube videos showing the plight of the horses, print out petitions, find reading lists, articles and more ways to get involved.
Farley devoted much of 2009 to bringing the world of wild horses into classrooms, libraries and conferences. Most recently, she’s been interviewed by the national media and addressed rallies to save America’s wild horses and burros.
The writer isn’t sure she’s cut out for activism, but says PHANTOM STALLION fans leave her little choice.
“When my stories show readers that they should speak up for what they believe, even if their voices shake, I can’t very well sit home at my computer with a cup of tea and a cat on my lap, can I?” comments Farley.
Already Farley hears from hundreds of readers daily. “I max out my email limit constantly,” she says. Understandable as the PHANTOM STALLION series has sold over a million copies internationally.
“These kids are readers and they love wild horses,” she says. “They’re giving themselves a crash course in democracy so they can be sure Congress knows what they’re thinking. Their letters speak of the balance of nature, compensatory reproduction and viable herd genetics. I guess they’re learning some biology, too. So, really, they shouldn’t be dismissed as teary-eyed kids. They’re writing from their heads as well as their hearts.”
The most recent BLM roundup ended weeks ahead of schedule and 600 mustangs short of their 2,500 horse goal with BLM saying they “were satisfied” and stating that 600 mustangs now remained on the half million acres, formerly the last stronghold of the American wild horse. Before the hasty ending, at least 39 horses had died including two foals (under a year old) who literally had their hooves run off as a result of the roundup. Many of the horses shot or euthanized were old mares (females). Some were in their twenties. More than 30 mares have spontaneously aborted their foals in the corrals resulting from the stressful winter roundup. Advocates expect that number to increase.
The public cannot be sure how many horses will die as the BLM begins “processing”—gelding (sterilizing) the stallions and freeze-branding all 1922 captured mustangs. BLM is denying humane observers and the public the right to visit the facility after Saturday February 13th. With the pending lawsuit, advocates state the BLM must not castrate the stallions since there is a possibility of returning them to the wild. If the lawsuit does not protect the Calico horses then their eventual fate is to be warehoused at taxpayer expense, joining 34,000 mustangs already in holding. There are now far more wild horses in holding than in the wild.
The assault on some of the horses closest to Farley’s heart—the Calico herds—convinced her to join a federal lawsuit to stop the roundup. Farley became a plaintiff in the case In Defense of Animals v. Secretary Salazar in December 2009. The preliminary injunction to stop the roundup in December was denied but the animal cruelty case will be heard April 30, 2010 in Washington.
“These round-ups aren’t being done to save the range or protect the horses,” says Farley, “and you don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to suspect they are being conducted in response to special interests with deep pockets.”
She devoted 2009 to talking about wild horses instead of writing about them, readers approve, but are impatient. Farley is eager to get back to her computer, to the West she can control with a keystroke, but she refuses to let the mustangs disappear without a fight.
“I don’t want to grow old in a world where kids believe wild horses only lived in fairy tales—like unicorns.”
The American public has protested in nearly 20 cities from coast to coast and rallies for the wild horses will continue in Missoula, MT (February 12), Estes Park (February 13), Las Vegas Nevada (Febuary 18) and Carson City, NV (February 20).
# # #
Links of interest:
The Phantom Stallion http://PhantomStallion.com <http://PhantomStallion.com/>
Terri Farley http://TerriFarley.com <http://TerriFarley.com/>
Humane Observer blog http://humaneobserver.blogspot.com/ <http://humaneobserver.blogspot.com/>
Court Case: In Defense of Animals and Craig Downer v. Secretary Salazar http://bit.ly/d6wOUQ
Good Morning America at Calico http://bit.ly/bXtwd5
New York Times “Horses Die in Roundup” http://nyti.ms/atZqF5
Feds Deny Gas Pipeline Related to Wild Horse Roundup http://bit.ly/buLfh5 <http://bit.ly/buLfh5>
Ruby Pipeline: The Smoking Gun? http://bit.ly/c4pfOA
Wild Horse Emergency PSA with Sheryl Crow, Viggo Mortenson http://vimeo.com/8441353
After campaigning for Obama, Sheryl Crow at odds over his administration's wild-horse plan (Associated Press)
http://bit.ly/6UQleO
Mestengo. Mustang. Misfit.
America’s Disappearing Wild Horses
- A History
http://www.wildhorsepreservation.com/resources/wild.html
Frequently Asked Questions on Wild Horses
(http://www.wildmustangcoalition.org/id44.html)
Stampede to Oblivion: An Investigate Report from Las Vegas Now <http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225> (http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225 <http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225> )
Unified Moratorium letter and signatories
http://bit.ly/6ck87L
Roundup Schedule- updated January 11, 2010
http://bit.ly/5AmMLm
Photos, video and interviews available from:
The Cloud Foundation
news@thecloudfoundation.org
719-633-3842
www.thecloudfoundation.org <http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/>
#####
Media Contact:
Makendra Silverman
Makendra@TheCloudFoundation.org
Tel: 719-351-8187
Anne Novak
Anne@TheCloudFoundation.org
Tel: 415.531.8454
For Immediate Release
BLM Pulls Plug on Contested Million Dollar Wild Horse Roundup
Calico Roundup ends with 1922 Mustangs in captivity, 39 dead and the Eagle Roundup just around the corner
Reno NV (February 5, 2010)—The Bureau of Land Management has pulled the plug on the massive roundup of wild horses in the Calico Complex, 600 short of their 2,500 goal, and leaving only a reported 600 in the wild. This remote and starkly beautiful area in northwestern Nevada was home to one of the largest wild, free-roaming herds of wild horses in the United States. In light of the shocking number of roundup-related deaths and injuries the Cloud Foundation continues the call for an immediate moratorium on all roundups. 39 horses are reported dead as a result of the Calico ‘gather’. This does not include the 25-30 mares that have aborted their late term foals in the feedlot style facility outside Fallon, Nevada. The death toll is expected to rise as BLM begins processing the horses in a few days (freeze-branding, gelding of stallions, etc.). However, the public may not know what happens from here on out, as BLM has decided not to provide veterinary reports on the cause of death in the new Fallon facility, according to BLM manager, John Neill.
“Thousands of Americans protested this the dead of winter assault on the last wild horse stronghold remaining in the United States,” stated Ginger Kathrens, Emmy winning producer and director of the Cloud Foundation. “I hope this is an eye-opener for Congress and that the huge outcry against these cruel and unnecessary roundups will be a wake-up call for the President. BLM continues to make a fiscal train wreck of the Wild Horse and Burro Program. While millions of privately-owned welfare cattle occupy public lands, a few thousand horses are targeted for removal, using the tired and ridiculous reason that the native horses do the damage, not the exotic cattle.’’
Despite a public statement by Don Glenn (December 7 at the National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board Meeting in Reno) in which he said that the public is welcome to view the roundups all the time (hence no need for a humane observer), the public was allowed only limited access to watch the Calico roundup. Viewing was limited to Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays by appointment only. Only a total of 10 observers were allowed per day. Even on the days the public was allowed to attend, viewers were required to leave between 1 and 2 in the afternoon, even though the Cattoor contract crew and helicopters continued to round up wild horses seven days a week as winter storms allowed. Close access was denied for the last two weeks of the operation. Injuries could not be detected or documented. BLM has referred to the visitors as “anti-gather advocates”. The contractors admitted that 30 wild horses captured on January 31 were left overnight in a crowded capture corral without water due to muddy conditions which prevented trucks from accessing the capture sight.
Now BLM sights are set on the wild horses of the Eagle Complex in the mountains of eastern Nevada. The area is larger than the state of Rhode Island, yet the number of mustangs allowable according to BLM is 100. At the same time, the number of privately-owned welfare cattle allowed is over 2,700.
The Cloud Foundation, noted celebrities, over 160 organizations and Americans from coast-to-coast continue to protest and demand a moratorium on the roundups before the wild horse is just an image in one of Kathrens’ Cloud documentaries.
# # #
Links of interest:
Humane Observer blog http://humaneobserver.blogspot.com/
Good Morning America at Calico http://bit.ly/bXtwd5
New York Times “Horses Die in Roundup” http://nyti.ms/atZqF5
Feds Deny Gas Pipeline Related to Wild Horse Roundup http://bit.ly/buLfh5 <http://bit.ly/buLfh5>
Ruby Pipeline: The Smoking Gun? http://bit.ly/c4pfOA
Wild Horse Emergency PSA with Sheryl Crow, Viggo Mortenson http://vimeo.com/8441353
After campaigning for Obama, Sheryl Crow at odds over his administration's wild-horse plan (Associated Press)
http://bit.ly/6UQleO
Mestengo. Mustang. Misfit.
America’s Disappearing Wild Horses
- A History
http://www.wildhorsepreservation.com/resources/wild.html
Frequently Asked Questions on Wild Horses
(http://www.wildmustangcoalition.org/id44.html)
Stampede to Oblivion: An Investigate Report from Las Vegas Now <http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225> (http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225 <http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225> )
Unified Moratorium letter and signatories
http://bit.ly/6ck87L
Roundup Schedule- updated January 11, 2010
http://bit.ly/5AmMLm
Photos, video and interviews available from:
The Cloud Foundation
news@thecloudfoundation.org
719-633-3842
www.thecloudfoundation.org <http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/>
Media Contact:
Makendra Silverman
Makendra@TheCloudFoundation.org
Tel: 719-351-8187
Anne Novak
Anne@TheCloudFoundation.org
Tel: 415.531.8454
For Immediate Release
Wild Horse Roundup Humane Observer Calls for Help--Meets with Feinstein’s Office and Speaks to Public
Novato resident will show slides, describe cruelty and inhumane treatment at tax payer expense
San Francisco, CA (February 4, 2010)—Elyse Gardner, the ‘humane observer’ for the horses comes home to give a first hand account of the controversial Calico roundup. Gardner has been observing and documenting the roundup of 2500 wild horses in the Calico Mountain area of northwestern Nevada since late December. Her blog (www.humaneobserver.blogspot.com <http://www.humaneobserver.blogspot.com/> ) helps people worldwide stay informed due to the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) lack of transparency. At least 34 mustangs have died to date and 25-30 mares have had late term, spontaneous abortions in the corrals likely due to the stress of the roundup. Two foals have had their feet run off and more deaths are being reported every day in a roundup that the BLM is conducting seven days a week with limited public access. Back in California for one day only, the passionate and well-spoken Gardner will be meeting with Senator Feinstein’s aide, Mr. Molinari, in the morning and will speak to the interested public and media on the cruelty seen at the roundup tonight. The free talk will be held in Petaluma at Roundtable Pizza (the Excalibur room), 1520 E Washington from 7:00-9:00pm, today, February 4.
“BLM is creating a fabrication a scenario in which horses are starving and need to be rescued” explains Gardner. “Doing something wrong for many years does not make it right. These horses were gorgeous and healthy. Again and again, I see how they know how to live in their habitat. They are now being subjected to cruelty that the BLM is doing their best to hide. We want and need an immediate moratorium on all roundups if we are to save our wild herds.”
20-30 mares have aborted their late term foals according to BLM. The Agency claims this is because of poor forage on the range. “This is a smoke screen on the part of BLM,” states Ginger Kathrens, Executive Director of the Cloud Foundation who has spent 15 years documenting mustangs in the wild for her Cloud programs on PBS as well as other films on horses. “A much more likely reason is that BLM has chosen to chase wild horses with helicopters in the dead of winter when all wildlife survival hangs by a thread. Stress on these animals is intense. On at least one occasion the wild horses were not even given water as they stood overnight in a crowded capture corral. Then, they are separated from their families and trucked four hours to a feedlot style facility and fed hay. Even BLM admits that deaths are occurring because the horses cannot adjust to this new diet.”
Rather than responding to the public demands that the “government sponsored and taxpayer funded cruelty” halt immediately, BLM digs their heels in deeper—continuing to remove every horse they can find in the remote half million acre Calico Mountain complex—home to mustangs for over 500 years, far longer than the privately-owned cattle that outnumber wild horses at least 100 to one on public lands. “By appointment only” public access has been limited to ten people for 3 half-days per week. Gardner is among many who have been setting aside their own daily responsibilities to watch out for America’s wild horses as best she can. Access has been limited compared with the round up of Cloud’s Herd in the Pryor Mountains which Gardner observed in September 2009. The BLM now restricts access to viewing from 75 yards away as well as insisting they sign a “ground rules” waiver.
“Just yesterday they shot a mare after she was kicked in the head. Another stallion broke his neck; foals are loosing their hooves after being chased by these helicopters for miles over rough rocky, snowy ground. And trying to even get the facts from BLM, let alone get close enough to monitor these horses is next to impossible,” says Gardner.
BLM Wild Horse and Burro program Chief Don Glenn broke his promise to allow the public to ‘watch any roundup, anytime’, (video: http://bit.ly/aXK1Au). The public has not been allowed to observe a roundup in full since his statement to the public at the Wild Horse and Burro Advisory meeting on December 7th in Reno, Nevada.
Despite receiving well over 100,000 phone calls and written demands, public protests in over 18 US cities, worldwide media coverage and pressure from over 150 organizations and celebrities such as Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson, Ed Harris, Lily Tomlin and Bill Maher, the BLM continues the roundups which are costing the wild horses their lives and the taxpayer millions of dollars at a time of national financial insecurity.
“This is an enormous, unsupported expenditure of taxpayer money benefiting special interests and destroying America's wild horse and burro herds. Stopping the round ups now would be a win-win. The wild horses win and the taxpayers win.” explains Kathrens, adding “The only losers would be the roundup contractors, who make multi-millions and the corporate ranchers who run cattle in outrageous numbers on public lands costing the public a minimum of $123 million a year.”
The American public is calling for Congressional hearings and an immediate investigation of the BLM Wild Horse and Burro program that even Secretary Salazar, describes as unsustainable. BLM appears to be afraid of the potential passage of the ROAM (Restore Our American Mustangs Act, §1579) that passed the House and is now in the Senate. Secretary Salazar has proposed an expensive and absurd plan to move and warehouse 26,000 wild horses to pastures in the Midwest and East thus removing even more wild horses from the pitiful 4% of public lands they are currently allowed to roam. Meanwhile, more than 4 million head of corporate and privately owned cattle graze on the wild horses’ limited acres of public lands.
The BLM currently spends half its $69 million budget removing wild horses from their designated public lands and the other half feeding and warehousing the over 34,000 mustangs already removed from the wild. Their program is currently non-sustainable with over 12,000 wild horses and burros being removed in fiscal year 2010 while fewer than15,000 likely remain in the wild. Fewer than 3000 mustangs are projected to be adopted in 2010. More herds are reduced to non-viable levels, which are then often zeroed out completely despite excellent rangeland and horse health. Advocates are concerned the Obama administration’s “New Energy Frontier” is forcing the wild horses off their land in the West. The BLM plans to roundup 595 more Nevada mustangs off the Eagle Herd Management Area next, leaving only 100 horses on an area the size of Rhode Island yet allowing over 2700 head of cattle to remain.
"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, GRAMMY® award-winning singer/songwriter.
# # #
Links of interest:
Humane Observer blog http://humaneobserver.blogspot.com/
Good Morning America at Calico http://bit.ly/bXtwd5
New York Times “Horses Die in Roundup” http://nyti.ms/atZqF5
Feds Deny Gas Pipeline Related to Wild Horse Roundup http://bit.ly/buLfh5 <http://bit.ly/buLfh5>
Ruby Pipeline press release http://bit.ly/c4pfOA
Don Glenn “welcome to the roundups” video clip http://bit.ly/aXK1Au
Wild Horse Emergency PSA with Sheryl Crow, Viggo Mortenson http://vimeo.com/8441353
After campaigning for Obama, Sheryl Crow at odds over his administration's wild-horse plan (Associated Press)
http://bit.ly/6UQleO
Mestengo. Mustang. Misfit.
America’s Disappearing Wild Horses
- A History
http://www.wildhorsepreservation.com/resources/wild.html
Frequently Asked Questions on Wild Horses
(http://www.wildmustangcoalition.org/id44.html)
Stampede to Oblivion: An Investigate Report from Las Vegas Now <http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225> (http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225 <http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225> )
Unified Moratorium letter and signatories
http://bit.ly/6ck87L
Roundup Schedule- updated January 11, 2010
http://bit.ly/5AmMLm
Photos, video and interviews available from:
The Cloud Foundation
news@thecloudfoundation.org
719-633-3842
www.thecloudfoundation.org <http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/>
Media Contacts:
Makendra Silverman
719-351-8187
makendra@thecloudfoundation..org <mailto:makendra@thecloudfoundation.org>
Anne Novak
415-531-8454
anne@thecloudfoundation.org <x-msg://307/%22mailto:>
For Immediate Release
Captured Calico Wild Horses Denied Windbreaks
BLM’s double-standards leave nearly 1000 captured mustangs in the cold
Fallon, NV (January 19, 2010)— 956 wild American mustangs rounded up off public land by helicopters in the past two weeks now stand in a feedlot-style Bureau of Land Management (BLM) contracted holding facility outside of Fallon, Nevada on private land. The new Fallon facility is not equipped with shelter, windbreaks or protection of any kind for the horses. High winds, rain and snow are expected to continue through the end of the week. In Calico, herds can move to sheltered canyons for protection from the harsh winter weather. Yet, in Fallon, they are deprived of adequate protection despite recommendations from wild horse advocates. This is in direct opposition to BLM’s own standards.
“I’m confused by the double standard. Before members of the public are allowed to adopt a wild horse from BLM we must prove we have adequate shelter. Why doesn’t BLM have to meet the same standards?” asks Ann Evans, adopter of three mustangs.
Yesterday, members of the public reported an inhumane lack of windbreaks. No apparent effort has been made to tie canvas tarps on fences to block the howling wind and the anticipated driving snow. On Friday January 15, advocates asked local Nevada BLM staff, Directors and top-level Department of Interior (DOI) under-secretaries to intervene on behalf of the horses by creating wind blocks.
"Those that care about the welfare of the wild horses or burros are asking for minimal protection for these vulnerable animals. Wild horse families are being ripped out of their natural environment where they can take care of themselves, separated from their family members and incarcerated on a windswept plain outside Fallon where they have no ability to protect themselves from the elements. BLM then tells the public their actions are for the good of the animals,” states Ginger Kathrens, Executive Director of The Cloud Foundation (named for the famous wild horse Kathrens has documented for the PBS/Nature series)
The DOI and BLM responded that at the just constructed Fallon facility “weather is not that extreme to require wind breaks for healthy horses. . . they do not require protection from the elements to maintain good health. . . .there is nothing to be concerned about from an animal well-being standpoint.” Thus, no actions to protect the captured horses have taken place, not even for foals or sick horses. Advocates contend that the horses are more prone to strangles (equine distemper) due to the lack of adequate protection.
“When these horses were rounded up, some where limping and wet with sweat. They are now terribly traumatized, depressed and confused. Their immune systems are compromised, making them more vulnerable to illness, like strangles (equine distemper) and death,” explains Craig Downer, wildlife ecologist, third generation Nevada native, and witness to the Calico roundup.
“BLM continually tells the public and the media that the wild horses are starving and must be removed from the range. Yet, the BLM provides them with no shelter in dangerous weather conditions where the horses will burn fat reserves attempting to keep warm. No reputable rescue would place any horses in a situation like Fallon,” stated Hilary Wood, President and Founder of Front Range Equine Rescue.
When asked about the lack of windbreaks the BLM indicated that the contractor who built the facility was not asked to provide any shelters or windbreaks. BLM zeroed out a portion of the Dishpan Butte wild horse herd in Wyoming solely on the basis that the wild horses did not have cover according to BLM Program Chief Don Glenn.
“We owe so much to these mustangs—it’s a dishonor that our government does not provide wind protection from the harsh elements,” said Elyse Gardner, humane observer, Calico and Pryor Mountains roundups
The Cloud Foundation and the public call on Secretary of Interior, Ken Salazar, to stop the Calico roundup and take immediate action against the cruelty and mismanagement of the BLM's wild horse and burro program. Canvas tarps are affordable and readily available at various outlets in the Reno/Fallon area.
###
Photos of the Calico wild horses, along with video and interviews available from:
The Cloud Foundation - news@thecloudfoundation.org <mailto:news@thecloudfoundation.org> - 719-633-3842
Links of interest:
Willie Nelson and Sheryl Crow Cry out for Wild Horses http://bit.ly/6UYGRw
Is the Ruby Pipeline the Smoking Gun? Roundups for Pipeline?
http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/index.php/news-events-a-media/press-releases/258-ruby1 <http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/index.php/news-events-a-media/press-releases/258-ruby1>
Ruby Pipeline Information
http://americanherds.blogspot.com/2009/11/crunching-calico.html
After campaigning for Obama, Sheryl Crow at odds over his administration's wild-horse plan (Associated Press, Jan. 10)
http://bit.ly/6UQleO <http://bit.ly/6UQleO>
Frequently Asked Questions on Wild Horses
(http://www.wildmustangcoalition.org/id44.html <http://www.wildmustangcoalition.org/id44.html> )
Stampede to Oblivion: An Investigate Report from Las Vegas Now <http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225> (http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225 <http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225> )
Video Overview of Calico horses and current roundup <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-0OK3i1YFI&feature=channel>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-0OK3i1YFI&feature=channel <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-0OK3i1YFI&feature=channel>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl0keG49kQU <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl0keG49kQU>
Unified Moratorium letter and signatories
http://bit.ly/6ck87L <http://bit.ly/6ck87L>
The Cloud Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Colorado Springs, Colorado and dedicated to the protection and preservation of wild horses and burros on our public lands, with a specific focus on Cloud’s herd in the Pryor Mountains of Montana.
The Cloud Foundation ~ 107 S 7th St. Colorado Springs, Colorado 8095 ~ 719-633-3842 ~ www.thecloudfoundation.org <http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/>
Media Contacts:
Makendra Silverman
Makendra@TheCloudFoundation.org
Tel: 719-351-8187
Anne Novak
Anne@TheCloudFoundation.org
Tel. 415-531-8454
For Immediate Release
Environmental Group Joins Hunting Lobby in Government Sponsored Assault on Nevada’s Mustangs
What fuels the alliance?
Colorado Springs, CO (January 17, 2010)—During today’s protest in New York City, The Cloud Foundation asks why has the Nevada Sierra Club joined in a bizarre alliance with the powerful international trophy-hunting lobby, Safari Club International <http://www.scifirstforhunters.org/content/index.cfm?action=view&content_id=109> (SCI), whose work to lift hunting bans worldwide often diminishes protections for wildlife. In announcing their support for the current inhumane and costly removal of 80-90% of the Calico wild horses in Northern Nevada, The Sierra Club spokesperson has failed to acknowledge that the essential cause of degradation of public lands is livestock use—not wild horses. One must ask: why the alliance? Is it forged on more than livestock? Are there energy moguls making deals behind the scenes?
Upon accepting the position as Secretary of Interior Salazar announced, “I look forward to helping build our clean energy economy, modernize our interstate electrical grid, and ensure that we are making wise use of our conventional natural resources, including coal, oil, and natural gas.”
The Safari Club sung praises for Obama’s appointment of Salazar for Secretary of the Department of Interior. Obviously the powerful SCI lobby has been actively backing Salazar for a long time.
“Senator Salazar’s pro-hunting votes over the past four years in Washington, and his support for access to federal lands for hunting throughout his entire career in Colorado will prove to be invaluable for sportsmen and women during this Administration” said SCI President Merle Shepard continuing with “SCI looks forward to working with Senator Salazar in the Obama Administration to make sure the hunter’s voice is heard on every issue that affects hunting, hunters or science-based wildlife management.”
The half-million acre Calico Complex herd management area is the last stronghold of the American mustang and was designated by Congress principally for the use of wild horses and burros.
Scapegoating wild horses and burros for range deterioration must stop—they comprise only a tiny fraction of the animals and grazing wildlife on our public lands. Millions of head of livestock graze public lands at a cost of $1.35/cow-calf pair/month. Overall public lands grazing constitutes a net loss of $123 million annually to the American tax payer following administrative costs while economists estimate the total damage at $500 million to $1 billion annually.
Cows graze within a mile of water; in comparison, wild horses are highly mobile, moving 5-10 miles from water and grazing on more rugged terrain. The BLM has failed to sustainably balance use of the "forage," water, and space through adequate control of cattle on public land. Not only do cows eat more than 26lbs. of forage daily, but they consume as much as 30 gallons of water a day and defecate in it as well. Private and corporate livestock outnumber wild horses at least 100 to 1 on public lands.
"North America’s “green” wild horses are a return-native prey species beautifully integrated with their environment, as opposed to resource-damaging exotic livestock. We are advocating for the preservation of entire ecosystems in which the wild horse plays a vital role," states Ginger Kathrens, Naturalist and Emmy-award winning filmmaker and creator of the popular PBS Cloud Wild Horse Documentaries.
Responding to the Sierra Club’s statement that arid rangelands can't produce enough food for wild horses, Kathrens continues, “It doesn’t square to say that the range can’t support a few thousand “green” wild horses and yet can support millions of head of destructive domestic livestock.”
In January 2008 Western Watersheds filed a court appeal against the new and BLM approved grazing proposal for Nevada’s Soldier Meadows allotment.. Testimony on May 13, 2009 from Glenna Eckel, BLM’s Winnemucca Wild Horse & Burro Specialist, explained that she was surprised at the number of horses after a fly-over because the large population was not showing up in relation to their forage consumption.
BLM never balanced their new information on science and forage on the Calico wild horse herd.. Yet the BLM moves forward regardless with the dead of winter roundup. Was it because the Ruby Project reported to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that BLM had said they would roundup horses for the gas line?
“BLM increased the cow numbers. They misled the public about the horse numbers so they could increase the big rancher’s cattle and the amount of grass the cows could eat on public land. Then, when their own expert testified about the relative effect of the horses—BLM ignored that too. Now they are trying to do damage control to cover it all up. So from my perspective as a wildlife advocate—BLM took grass away from wildlife, and scapegoated the horses to cover it all up,” explained Katie Fite biologist and biodiversity specialist adding, “We need an investigation to get at the truth here.”
The Cloud Foundation and over 195 organizations, ecologists, authors and celebrities (Sheryl Crow, Viggo Mortensen, Ed Harris, Lily Tomlin and more) have called on President Obama to support federal grazing permit buybacks. The Unified Moratorium letter calls for reductions in livestock grazing and a subsequent reanalysis of appropriate management levels <http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/prog/wh_b/appropriate_management.html> for herd management areas to allow for self-sustaining, genetically viable wild horse and burro herds to exist in the West.
# # #
Links of interest:
NYC Protest Mustang Removals on the Ruby Pipeline Path
http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/index.php/news-events-a-media/press-releases/268-wild-horse-protest-sunday-in-new-york-city-11510
Is the Ruby Pipeline the Smoking Gun? Roundups for Pipeline?
http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/index.php/news-events-a-media/press-releases/258-ruby1
Associated Press: Sierra Club Supports Mustang Roundup in NV http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/81885542.html <http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/81885542.html>
Glenna Eckle Testimony
http://www.equinewelfarealliance.org/uploads/Glenna_Eckel_Testimony_May_2009.pdf
Western Watersheds Project
http://www.westernwatersheds.org/
Ruby Pipeline Creates Infrastructure, Industry & has Harmful Environmental Impacts
http://www..standard.net/topics/business/2010/01/11/ruby-pipeline-could-start-soon-may
Ruby Pipeline Information
http://americanherds.blogspot.com/2009/11/crunching-calico.html
Wyoming Tribune Article on Ruby Pipeline http://bit.ly/5o0EXn <http://bit.ly/5o0EXn>
Pipeline Map:
http://www.rubypipeline..com/docs/Ruby%20Overview%20Map.pdf
After campaigning for Obama, Sheryl Crow at odds over his administration's wild-horse plan (Associated Press, Jan. 10)
http://bit.ly/6UQleO
Frequently Asked Questions on Wild Horses
(http://www.wildmustangcoalition.org/id44.html <http://www.wildmustangcoalition.org/id44.html> )
Stampede to Oblivion: An Investigate Report from Las Vegas Now <http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225> (http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225 <http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225> )
Video Overview of Calico horses and current roundup <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-0OK3i1YFI&feature=channel>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-0OK3i1YFI&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl0keG49kQU
Unified Moratorium letter and signatories
http://bit.ly/6ck87L
Photos, video and interviews available from:
The Cloud Foundation
news@thecloudfoundation.org
719-633-3842
www.thecloudfoundation.org <http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/>
Media Contacts:
Makendra Silverman
Makendra@TheCloudFoundation.org
Tel: 719-351-8187
Anne Novak
Anne@TheCloudFoundation.org
Tel: 415-531-8454
For Immediate Release
Dances with Wolves Author & Cloud Filmmaker Speak on Wild Horses in Tucson
Arizona Horse Expo lands hot topic—stories and reasons to save our living legends in the West.
Tucson, AZ (January 15, 2010)—Oscar-winning writer of Dances with Wolves, Michael Blake, and Emmy-Award winning filmmaker and producer of the PBS Cloud : Wild Stallion of the Rockies programs Ginger Kathrens will speak about mustangs at the Arizona Horse Expo on at 12:30- 1:30pm on both January 16 and 17th in Tucson, Arizona (cost $10 presales, $15 day of). The public and interested media are invited to join these two noted speakers for what is sure to be an entertaining and informative presentation about wild horses in the American West.
"Michael and I both have personal stories, long histories and connections with wild horses. At no time in our collective journeys can we recall this sort of massive public outcry to keep these animals on their western lands” explains Ginger Kathrens, Executive Director of the Cloud Foundation. “The clock is ticking. We must stop BLM's fast tracked roundups and urge Congress to investigate the BLM's Wild Horse and Burro program with an eye on the Ruby Pipeline and other public land heists."
“Americans need to stand up strongly to save what's left of our Wild Horses. We no longer have millions. The removal forever of the animals that played a key role in allowing America to be settled by humanity is not only wrong...it is done with criminality that also needs to be stopped immediately. Essential elements of the current government cares nothing about the people they represent,” states Michael Blake adding that, “the BLM and the Secretary of the Interior should be in court ...defending themselves. Stop them now America.”
Blake’s new book, Twelve, the King tells the story of one-captured wild stallion from Nevada. Kathrens’ new film and companion book, Cloud: Challenge of the Stallions, continues the 14-year documentation of a wild stallion in Montana.
Both Blake and Kathrens are committed to protecting the American wild mustang in the West.
To schedule an interview please contact Makendra at 719-351-8187.
###
Links of interest:
AZ Horse Expo information
http://bit.ly/5pPvI8
Ginger Kathrens, The Cloud Foundation
http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/index.php/about-us/board-of-directors
Michael Blake, author site
http://www.danceswithwolves.net/bio.php
Ruby Pipeline Information
(http://americanherds.blogspot.com/2009/11/crunching-calico.html <http://americanherds.blogspot.com/2009/11/crunching-calico.html> )
http://www.trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_ba4c941a-cded-51bf-a33c-c9a84de2a181.html <http://www.trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_ba4c941a-cded-51bf-a33c-c9a84de2a181.html>
http://www.ferc.gov/for-citizens/citizen-guides/citz-guide-gas.pdf <http://www.ferc.gov/for-citizens/citizen-guides/citz-guide-gas.pdf>
Pipeline Map:
http://www.rubypipeline.com/docs/Ruby%20Overview%20Map.pdf
Western Watersheds Project
http://www.westernwatersheds.org/ <http://www.westernwatersheds..org/>
American Herds
http://americanherds.blogspot.com/ <http://americanherds.blogspot.com/>
Freedom’s Escape & Roundup Report: http://humanitythrougheducation.com/ <http://humanitythrougheducation.com/>
12.28.09 USA Today: “Activists Decry Wild-Horse Roundups <http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2009-12-28-horses_N.htm> ”
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2009-12-28-horses_N.htm <http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2009-12-28-horses_N.htm>
Mestengo. Mustang. Misfit.
America’s Disappearing Wild Horses
http://www.wildhorsepreservation.com/resources/wild.html <http://www.wildhorsepreservation.com/resources/wild.html>
Frequently Asked Questions on Wild Horses
(http://www.wildmustangcoalition.org/id44.html)
Stampede to Oblivion: An Investigate Report from Las Vegas Now <http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225> (http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225 <http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225> )
Photos, video and interviews available from:
The Cloud Foundation
news@thecloudfoundation.org
www.thecloudfoundation.org <http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/>
#####
Media Contact:
Makendra Silverman
Makendra@TheCloudFoundation.org
Tel: 719-351-8187
Anne Novak
Anne@TheCloudFoundation.org
Tel: 415-531-8454
For Immediate Release
Wild Horse Protests Follow the Money to New York City
Advocates protest BLM’s wild horse removals on the Ruby Pipeline path
New York City, NY (January 14, 2010)—Wild horse and burro advocates demand immediate investigations of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro program as well as a moratorium on roundups, until sustainable management practices are implemented to protect the American wild horses in the West. Protesters will gather on Sunday, January 17 from 1 P.M. to 3 P.M. at Columbus Circle (59th St at Central Park S). The press conference will be held at 2 P.M. The public objects to BLM’s removal of wild horses for fast tracked energy deals on public land in the West, such as the Ruby Pipeline, and objects to schemes to subsidize corporate welfare ranchers.
“The Roundups must stop. The destruction of public land must stop. Government agencies and private corporations must be held accountable and must safeguard wildlife—not eliminate it,” says Ginger Kathrens, Volunteer Executive Director, The Cloud Foundation (named for the famous wild horse Kathrens has documented for the PBS/Nature series)
Members of the public are furious that the BLM continues roundups despite Federal D.C. District Court Judge Paul Friedman’s recommendation that BLM postpone Calico until the issue of out of state transport and long term holding can be decided.
The ROAM (Restore Our American Mustangs Act, §1579 ) is in a Senate Energy and Natural Resources subcommittee, awaiting urgently needed hearings. The House passed the bill in July 2009.
The Cloud Foundation (TCF) broke the Ruby Pipeline story on January 7. The Foundation asks the BLM to reveal the truth behind the removals of healthy wild horses from the Nevada Calico Complex that BLM claims will starve if left in their natural sagebrush ecosystem.
Outraged at the BLM for clearing wild horses from the Ruby Pipeline path, advocates and the public from across the country are joining together in NYC to demand President Obama call a moratorium on all roundups, including Calico, and demand that the FERC delay the approval of the Ruby Pipeline until Congress investigates the BLM.
“The roundups in the Ruby Pipeline zone are questionable,” states Katie Fite, biologist and biodiversity specialist for Western Watersheds. “The public is not being told the truth. There needs to be an investigation within all levels of BLM considering the unavoidable damage to our public lands. There is no mitigation provided for to restore this biologically wild, remote, and untrammeled landscape in northwestern Nevada and southeastern Oregon.”
According to a Western Watersheds report this is the largest project of its type across significant public lands in the American West in recent memory. Ruby has seized upon a sliver of ecologically critical unprotected public wild land to punch a new corridor through, and bisect this irreplaceable landscape,including many of the last viable herds of wild horses in the West.
Instead of the truth, the BLM tells the public wild horses are being removed because they are starving or destroying the ecosystem. Independent video footage and photographs tell a very different story. Following public outcry over the starving comments, the BLM is now switching gears—saying they want to “prevent the horses from starving” and therefore they are removing 80-90% of the horses. Today their spin attempts to sway the public with a trendy ‘sustainable’ pitch and tell the public the wild horses have no predators—not true.
“Wild horses have predators,” states Ginger Kathrens. “But, the government kills them on public lands to protect welfare cattle.”
The NYC event is a collaborative effort started by local organizer and mustang-adopter, Jo De George, with support from The Cloud Foundation, Equine Welfare Alliance, Return to Freedom, In Defense of Animals and 40 more coalition members of the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign.
"America's public lands are owned by the public, whether they live in New York City or elsewhere. We like to know that outside this city, way out West, herds of wild horses are roaming free. These horses symbolize the essence of our country," explained Jo De George, NYC Protest Organizer and volunteer with The Cloud Foundation and Equine Welfare Alliance.
BLM has already reported four horse deaths (adults and babies) from the current Calico roundup on the Ruby Pipeline route. The public and media have only been allowed to observe the roundup to a limited degree—concerns are circulating regarding unreported deaths and abuses.
Wild horse backers are organizing nationwide to stop taxpayer-funded mismanagement of America’s wild herds. BLM’s hidden agenda is unraveling with the Ruby Pipeline and other public land heists in the West. Their lack of respect towards legendary ecosystems outweighs their double talk about ‘balance’.
“If BLM cares so much about the ecological balance, it would not be enabling the Ruby gas pipeline to rip the public wild lands and watersheds here apart,” says Fite adding, “The horses, sage-grouse, antelope and everything else are caught in the crosshairs of BLM selling out the public lands that belong to all Americans—to ranchers and big energy interests.”
The BLM currently spends half its $69 million budget removing wild horses from their designated public lands and the other half feeding and warehousing the over 34,000 mustangs already removed from the wild, primarily during the last Bush administration. Their program is currently non-sustainable with 12,000 wild horses and burros being removed in fiscal year 2010 and as few as 15,000 remaining in the wild. Likely only 3000 mustangs will be adopted as more herds are reduced to non-viable levels, which are then often zeroed out completely despite excellent rangeland and horse health.
"Yes, there is climate change – but do we destroy the West to ‘save’ the planet? NO – because then you just make the problem worse," states Katie Fite, Biodiversity Specialist, Western Watersheds Project
# # #
Links of interest:
Ruby Pipeline Creates Infrastructure, Industry & has Harmful Environmental Impacts
http://www.standard.net/topics/business/2010/01/11/ruby-pipeline-could-start-soon-may
Ruby Pipeline Information
http://americanherds.blogspot.com/2009/11/crunching-calico.html <http://americanherds.blogspot.com/2009/11/crunching-calico.html>
Wyoming Tribune Article on Ruby Pipeline http://bit.ly/5o0EXn <http://bit.ly/5o0EXn>
Pipeline Map:
http://www.rubypipeline.com/docs/Ruby%20Overview%20Map.pdf <http://www..rubypipeline.com/docs/Ruby%20Overview%20Map.pdf>
Western Watersheds Project
http://www.westernwatersheds.org/ <http://www.westernwatersheds.org/>
After campaigning for Obama, Sheryl Crow at odds over his administration's wild-horse plan (Associated Press, Jan. 10)
http://bit.ly/6UQleO
Mestengo. Mustang. Misfit.
America’s Disappearing Wild Horses
- A History
http://www.wildhorsepreservation.com/resources/wild.html <http://www.wildhorsepreservation.com/resources/wild.html>
Frequently Asked Questions on Wild Horses
(http://www.wildmustangcoalition.org/id44.html)
Stampede to Oblivion: An Investigate Report from Las Vegas Now <http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225> (http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225 <http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225> )
Video Overview of Calico horses and current roundup <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-0OK3i1YFI&feature=channel>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-0OK3i1YFI&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl0keG49kQU
Frequently Asked Questions on Wild Horses
(http://www.wildmustangcoalition.org/id44.html)
Unified Moratorium letter and signatories
http://bit.ly/6ck87L
Roundup Schedule- updated January 11, 2010
http://bit.ly/5AmMLm
Photos, video and interviews available from:
The Cloud Foundation
news@thecloudfoundation.org
719-633-3842
www.thecloudfoundation.org <http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/>
#####
Media Contact:
Makendra Silverman
Makendra@TheCloudFoundation.org
Tel: 719-351-8187
For Immediate Release
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,
#####
Media Contact:
Makendra Silverman
Makendra@TheCloudFoundation.org
Tel: 719-351-8187
For Immediate Release
The Real Reason Behind BLM’s Push to Remove Wild Horses:
Is Ruby Pipeline the Smoking Gun?
Wild horse advocates rally in Denver to stop roundups, ask Senator Udall for help in BLM investigation
Denver, CO (January 7, 2010)—The Cloud Foundation asks the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to reveal the truth behind removing healthy wild horses from the Calico Complex of northwestern Nevada. It does not appear to be coincidental that the multi-billion dollar corporate project, the Ruby Pipeline, would run through the Calico Complex—site of the controversial roundup of more than 2,500 mustangs and the Buckhorn Wild Horse Herd Management Area. BLM removed over 200 wild horses at Buckhorn in December 2009 without public notice.
Director of the Interior, Ken Salazar, has told members of the public that the horses will starve if not removed because there is nothing for them to eat. The Director of the BLM, Bob Abbey, also supported Salazar’s claim when he stated this week that horses are being removed “to restore an ecological balance” even though this claim is nullified by numerous experts including a biodiversity science specialist with 8 years experience in the range and the sworn testimony of BLM employees Eckel and Drake. Abbey went on to reassert the BLM policy position that “we will need to continue removing excess wild horses from the public rangelands in areas where the land can no longer support them.”
Yet, documents recently received by The Cloud Foundation from biologist Katie Fite of Western Watersheds <http://americanherds.blogspot.com/> and researcher Cindy MacDonald (publisher of the American Herds blog <http://americanherds.blogspot.com/> ) today expose what may be the real reasons behind the massive, dead of winter wild horse roundups—and they have nothing to do with horse or rangeland health—but may have everything to do with the Ruby Pipeline.
In a written response to questions posed by the Office of Energy Projects (an agency within the Department of Energy), a Ruby natural gas pipeline project consultant, Dan Gredvig, stated that “Ruby will work with BLM to minimize wild horse and burro grazing along the restored ROW (right-of-way) for three years. Possible management actions would be to . . . reduce wild horse populations following BLM policy in appropriate management areas. BLM wild horse and burro specialists were consulted in developing this management approach.” The document is dated February 23, 2009.
It appears that the public’s wild horses are being removed at taxpayer expense on publicly owned land to make way for a multi-billion dollar pipeline constructed by El Paso Natural Gas Corporation of Colorado Springs, CO. Natural gas and water would ultimately provide added resources to California and other destinations. Given these new revelations, the public has the right to ask several key questions and get immediate answers to them: 1) Who really stands to profit from removing wild horses from public lands? 2) What private contractors, possible politicians, and/or agency bureaucrats stand to benefit from the yet undisclosed details of the Ruby Project? 3) Why has the public been excluded from any discussion of this undisclosed use of taxpayer public lands?
“I don’t think it is out of line to seek immediate responses to these questions. The public has a right to know what is happening to their public lands and to the future of their wild horses, especially when it comes at taxpayer expense..” Ginger Kathrens, Volunteer Executive Director, The Cloud Foundation (named for the famous wild horse Kathrens has documented for the PBS/Nature series).
According to a Western Watersheds report this is the largest project of its type across significant public lands in the American West in recent memory. Ruby has seized upon a sliver of ecologically critical unprotected public wild land to punch a new corridor through, and bisect this irreplaceable landscape, including many of the last viable herds of wild horses in the West.
“The roundups in the Ruby Pipeline zone are questionable,” states Katie Fite, biologist and biodiversity specialist. “The public is not being told the truth. There needs to be an investigation within all levels of BLM considering the unavoidable damage to our public lands. There is no mitigation provided for to restore this biologically wild, remote, and untrammeled landscape in northwestern Nevada and southeastern Oregon.”
Wild horse advocates and concerned Colorado citizens will be gathering to protest in downtown Denver on Thursday January 7 from 12:00-2:00pm in front of Senator Mark Udall’s office building (999 Eighteenth Street, North Tower). Kathrens will address the crowd and press at noon. The group will be asking the Senator to help halt the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) massive roundup of wild horses currently living in the half million acre Calico Mountain Complex area in NW Nevada.
“We are standing up today for the American mustang. Senator Udall’s uncle, Stewart Udall, was responsible for saving Cloud’s herd in Montana back in 1968, when the BLM threatened their destruction. We ask Senator Udall to follow in his uncle's footsteps to protect the last of the mustangs.”—Makendra Silverman, Associate Director, The Cloud Foundation
###
Links of interest:
Ruby Pipeline Information
(http://americanherds.blogspot.com/2009/11/crunching-calico.html)
http://www.trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_ba4c941a-cded-51bf-a33c-c9a84de2a181.html
http://www.ferc.gov/for-citizens/citizen-guides/citz-guide-gas.pdf
Pipeline Map:
http://www.rubypipeline.com/docs/Ruby%20Overview%20Map.pdf
Western Watersheds Project
http://www.westernwatersheds.org/
American Herds
http://americanherds.blogspot.com/
Freedom’s Escape & Roundup Report: http://humanitythrougheducation.com/
Video Overview of Calico horses and current roundup <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-0OK3i1YFI&feature=channel>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-0OK3i1YFI&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl0keG49kQU
12.28.09 USA Today: “Activists Decry Wild-Horse Roundups <http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2009-12-28-horses_N.htm> ”
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2009-12-28-horses_N.htm
Mestengo. Mustang. Misfit.
America’s Disappearing Wild Horses
http://www.wildhorsepreservation.com/resources/wild.html
Frequently Asked Questions on Wild Horses
(http://www.wildmustangcoalition.org/id44.html)
Stampede to Oblivion: An Investigate Report from Las Vegas Now <http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225> (http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225)
Updated 2009-2010 Roundup Schedule
http://thecloudfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/roundupschedule2010_3pp.pdf
Unified Moratorium letter and signatories
(http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/index.php/news-events-a-media/action-alerts/207-moratorium-letter-to-president-obama-and-secretary-salazar)
Photos, video and interviews available from:
The Cloud Foundation
news@thecloudfoundation.org
www.thecloudfoundation.org <http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/>
Media Contact:
Makendra Silverman
Makendra@TheCloudFoundation.org
Tel: 719-351-8187
For Immediate Release
Icon of Freedom—Wild Black Stallion Escapes BLM Capture
Winnemucca, NV (January 6, 2010)—Today the Cloud Foundation honors the Calico wild stallion, named “Freedom” —an inspiration to mustang roundup protestors worldwide. On January 2nd Freedom escaped Bureau of Land Management (BLM capture) by fighting his way out of the roundup corrals, jumping a six-foot fence, and smashing through a barbed wire fence to run fee again in the wild. A storm of protests is growing following on the heels of Las Vegas, San Francisco, Chicago and Ketchum Idaho last week with more planned in Los Angeles and Lexington today, Denver and Albany, NY on Thursday, Boston on Friday and Las Vegas on Sunday. Protests in New York City, London, Santa Barbara, Toronto and Rome are being planned.
Still photos and the corresponding report from Elyse Gardner, humane observer, with ecologist Craig Downer document Freedom’s capture as well as his escape and are available on line. Link here <http://humanitythrougheducation.com/> .
“This was an awe-inspiring, do-or-die effort demonstrating the wild horse’s loathing of captivity and his primal need for freedom,” said Craig Downer, Nevada Wildlife Ecologist.
"This wild stallion's defiance calls us to back him up by telling Congress we refuse to have such actions done in our names,” says Terri Farley, celebrated children’s author of the Phantom Stallion series. "Congress must attach strings to BLM's budget so that the Bureau is forced to cowboy up and admit our remaining mustangs are not responsible for the damage to the range."
The Cloud Foundation with 190 other organizations, celebrities and scientists joined by thousands of members of the public from coast-to-coast have called on the President to stop this high-jacking of our American mustangs by a rogue government agency.
“Freedom’s escape has rallied horse advocates across the globe,” says Lise Stampfli Torme, a San Francisco Bay Area Mustang backer adding, “His example is a lesson in values. Just as Freedom has boldly fought for liberty, we will continue to fight the BLM’s outrageous and inhumane roundups as well as their broken range management system that favors ranchers and other commercial interests, placing them above the law and the will of the American people. This must stop. The People's horses must remain wild and free.”
Despite their federally protected status on legally designated ranges, and an Act of Congress that states the lands on which they roam should be managed “principally” for their use, the Bureau of Land Management is continuing the roundup in Calico. The agency expects to remove more than 2,500 wild horses from Nevada’s last wild horse stronghold—the Calico Mountains.
Wild horse advocates assert that BLM is rushing to roundup 12,000 wild horses and burros based on faulty census figures and what may be a deal made with the builders of a massive natural gas pipeline project—the Ruby Pipeline <http://americanherds.blogspot.com/2009/11/crunching-calico.html> . Even BLM personnel have said that the Calico wild horses are not impacting the range as expected, despite their numbers exceeding what they (BLM) term “appropriate management levels.“ Cloud Foundation and other mustang and burro advocates dispute the BLM horse levels citing an internal system that is deeply flawed, arbitrary and indiscriminately applied without benefit of proper environmental review. (Full report and link to testimony online here <http://americanherds.blogspot.com/> ).
“The BLM is spending more than $30 million dollars to quickly eradicate an irreplaceable piece of American living history. I ask myself, what’s the rush? Is it only pressure from ranchers? Does the BLM fear the ROAM Act will pass? Is it to clear the land for the Ruby Pipeline project, or is it something else?” asks Ginger Kathrens, Executive Director, The Cloud Foundation.
President Obama continues to stonewall on the issue, with only a “no comment” from his spokesperson following months of requests from the American public for his intervention.
###
Links of interest:
Freedom’s Escape & Roundup Report: http://humanitythrougheducation.com/ <x-msg://970/%22http://humani>
Video Overview of Calico horses and current roundup <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-0OK3i1YFI&feature=channel>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-0OK3i1YFI&feature=channel
Video Footage of Calico Roundup <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl0keG49kQU>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl0keG49kQU <http://www.youtube..com/watch?v=gl0keG49kQU>
12.28.09 USA Today: “Activists Decry Wild-Horse Roundups <x-msg://970/%22http://www.usatoday.com/news/> ”
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2009-12-28-horses_N.htm
Mestengo. Mustang. Misfit.
America’s Disappearing Wild Horses
http://www.wildhorsepreservation.com/resources/wild.html
Frequently Asked Questions on Wild Horses
(http://www.wildmustangcoalition.org/id44.html <x-msg://970/%22http://www.wildmus> )
Ruby Pipeline Information
(http://americanherds.blogspot.com/2009/11/crunching-calico.html <http://americanherds..blogspot.com/2009/11/crunching-calico.html> )
Stampede to Oblivion: An Investigate Report from Las Vegas Now (http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225 <http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225> )
Craig Downer, wildlife ecologist: interview Nevada roundup <http://thecloudfoundation.wordpress.com/2009/10/19/interview-with-craig-downer-wildlife-ecologist/> (http://vimeo.com/7135462)
Crunching Calico- An American Herds Report
(http://americanherds.blogspot.com/2009/11/crunching-calico.html)
Updated 2009-2010 Roundup Schedule
http://thecloudfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/roundupschedule2010_3pp.pdf
Unified Moratorium letter and signatories
(http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/index.php/news-events-a-media/action-alerts/207-moratorium-letter-to-president-obama-and-secretary-salazar)
Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971
(http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/index.php/news-events-a-media/news/resources/216-whbact <x-msg://970/%22http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/index.php/news-events-a-media/news/resourc> )
Photos, video and interviews available from:
The Cloud Foundation news@thecloudfoundation.org
www.thecloudfoundation.org <http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/>
###
Media Contact: Makendra Silverman,
makendra@TheCloudFoundation.org
719-633-3842
For Immediate Release
Sheryl Crow Asks President Obama & Secretary Salazar to Stop the Assault on America’s Wild Horses and Burros
Actors Ed Harris, Wendie Malick, and Over 100 Organizations Demand Roundup Moratorium, Protesting Nevada’s Calico Complex Roundup to begin December 1
COLORADO SPRINGS, Co. (November 20, 2009)—Sheryl Crow speaks out for the wild horses and burros on America’s public lands in the west. The multi-GRAMMY®-winning singer-songwriter and mustang owner joins The Cloud Foundation, over 130 organizations, scientists, authors and celebrity supporters calling on President Obama, Members of Congress and the Department of Interior to place an immediate moratorium on all wild horse and burro roundups until a long-term and humane policy to manage the animals is developed.
“With one voice we are insisting that our government stop managing these beautiful and important animals to extinction” —Sheryl Crow
The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) removal plan for Nevada’s Calico Complex wild mustangs is fueling outrage across the country and internationally. In a unified sign-on letter (full text below), wild horse supporters outline their opposition to the Obama Administration's October 7, 2009 announcement (http://www.doi.gov/news/09_News_Releases/100709.html) regarding the management of wild horses and burros. Groups oppose moving 26,000 wild horses to purchased lands in the east and the current government practice of removing entire wild horse and burros herds from public lands specifically designated for the animals by Congress in 1971.
“We ask that President Obama or Secretary Salazar cease all BLM roundups as of this date to prevent further suffering. We request that the government and BLM begin to work in good faith with wild horse advocates for a sustainable solution. The Calico Roundup, scheduled to begin in December and continue through the dead of winter, is inhumane and must be stopped!” —Sheryl Crow
Upon hearing about the BLM’s plans for the large-scale removal of 2,500 horses in northwest Nevada near the Black Rock Desert, more than seven thousand citizens submitted public comments to the BLM opposing the Calico Mountain Complex Round Up, scheduled to begin on December 1, 2009. Public comment has been extended through November 22, 2009 according to the BLM.
Currently more than 33,000 wild horses are stockpiled in government holding facilities at a cost to taxpayers of $100,000 a day. The scheduled removal of 2,500 from Nevada will bring that total to more than 35,000.
“We already have enough wild horses in pens. Adding more horses to those already held in confinement, when they are much safer on the range is shortsighted, inhumane and fiscally irresponsible.”—Ginger Kathrens, Emmy Award Filmmaker & Volunteer Executive Director of the Cloud Foundation.
The BLM will pay the private contractor $610 per horse rounded up for an estimated total of nearly $2 million for the Calico roundup alone according to BLM spokesperson, Tom Gorey. Branding, vaccinating, sterilizing and processing of horses to be placed in government holding will cost several million more. The BLM hired the same contractor for the controversial roundup of the famous stallion, Cloud, and his Pryor Mountain herd in September, 2009. Bands including two-month-old foals were chased down off the mountaintop by helicopter for 10-15 miles in more than 90 degree heat resulting in trauma and lameness. (http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/index.php/news-events-a-media/youtube-videos/146-lamefoal)
"The government is acting in defiance of the spirit and intent of the 1971 Free Roaming Wild Horses and Burros Act which Congress passed unanimously —Julianne French, wild horse advocate. (http://www.wildhorseandburro.blm.gov/92-195.htm)
The 1971 Act preserves wild horses and burros in over 300 areas of publicly owned rangeland in the west, forbidding their exploitation, harassment and removal. Regardless, only 30 million acres remain of the 54 million acres designated primarily for wild horse use in 1971. Over 100 herds have been completely removed by the BLM and most remaining herds are too small to insure their long-term survival. The BLM's current policy of eradicating these herds is a betrayal of the wishes of the American public.
Sheryl Crow, with wild mustang and burro supporters, calls the public to action urging all to come to the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Public Advisory Board meeting on December 7th in Reno, Nevada and to write, e-mail, fax and phone Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, their congressional representatives and President Obama. The list of contact phones, e-mails, faxes and mailing addresses is online here. (http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/index.php/news-events-a-media/action-alerts/198-government-contacts)
“Its time for all of us to speak up for our Wild Horses and Burros so we do not lose these living legends and inspiring symbols of our freedom in America.”
—Sheryl Crow
Photos and video available from:
The Cloud Foundation
719-633-3842 or 719-351-8187
Spokesperson:
The Cloud Foundation: Ginger Kathrens 719-633-3842 ginger@thecloudfoundation.org
For Dates, Directions & Information on Attending a Roundup please contact:
The Cloud Foundation
or
Don Glenn
Chief, BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program
202-452- 5082
Media and the public are encouraged to attend the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Public Advisory Board meeting on December 7th in Reno, Nevada.
http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/info/newsroom/2009/november/NR_11_12_2009.html
Supporting Documents/links
Sheryl Crow Joins in Wild Horse Fight
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-nLYNPACd0&NR=1)
Stampede to Oblivion: An Investigate Report from Las Vegas Now
(http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11285225)
Craig Downer, wildlife ecologist: interview on upcoming Nevada roundup (http://vimeo.com/7135462)
Public lands grazing fiscal costs report from Wild Earth Guardians
(http://www.sagebrushsea.org/pdf/factsheet_Grazing_Fiscal_Costs.pdf)
Managing Wild Equids On Public Lands: A response to the DOI Plan (TCF) (http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/index.php/news-events-a-media/press-release)
Environmental Assessment on proposed Calico Complex Gather
(http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/wfo/blm_information/nepa0/wild_horse_and_burro/Calico.html)
American Herds report “Crunching Calico”
(http://americanherds.blogspot.com/2009/11/crunching-calico.html)
(http://www.wildmustangcoalition.org/id43.html)
(http://thecloudfoundation.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/roundup-schedule-2009-2010/)
Frequently Asked Questions on Wild Horses
(http://www.wildmustangcoalition.org/id44.html)
# # #
November 18, 2009
A Unified Call for an Immediate Moratorium on Wild Horse & Burro Roundups
And a humane, fiscally responsible plan for preserving and protecting the iconic,
free-roaming wild horses and burros of the American West
President Obama, Members of Congress and the Department of the Interior:
We, the undersigned, request major changes to the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro program. This must begin with an immediate moratorium on all roundups. While we agree that the program is in dire need of reform, and we applaud your Administration's commitment to avoid BLM’s suggested mass-killing of horses, the plan outlined in October by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar raises numerous concerns. These include:
In reality, the BLM has no accurate current inventory of the 37,000 wild horses and burros it claims remain on public lands. Independent analysis of BLM’s own numbers reveal there may be only 15,000 wild horses remaining on public lands.
Removing tens of thousands of horses and burros from their legally-designated Western ranges and moving them into government-run facilities subverts the intent of the 1971 Wild Free-roaming Horse and Burro Act, which mandated that horses be preserved “where presently found.” A 2009 DC district court case held that “Congress did not authorize BLM to “manage” the wild horses and burros by corralling them for private maintenance or long-term care as non-wild free-roaming animals off the public lands.”
We appreciate your Administration's recognition of the horses’ value as an ecotourism resource. However, the display of captive, non-reproducing herds in eastern pastures renders them little more than zoo exhibits, further discounting the contribution to our history and the future of the American West.
We believe that workable solutions to create a healthy “multiple use” of public rangelands, protect the ecological balance of all wildlife, and preserve America's wild horses and burros in their rightful, legally protected home can be achieved. We are calling on the Obama Administration to reform the BLM's Wild Horse and Burro Management Program.
We ask that you reverse the current course and immediately take the following actions:
1) Place a moratorium on all roundups until accurate and independent assessments of population numbers and range conditions are made available and a final, long-term solution is formalized.
2) Restore protections included in the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act. Update existing laws that protect wild horses by reopening certain public lands to the mustangs and burros, thus decreasing the number in captivity. Return healthy wild horses and burros in holding to all available acres of public land designated primarily for their use in 1971. If these lands are not available, equivalent and appropriate western public lands should be added in their place.
3) Support federal grazing permit buybacks. Reduce livestock grazing and reanalyze appropriate management levels for herd management areas to allow for self-sustaining, genetically viable herds to exist in the west.
4) Conduct Congressional hearings regarding the mismanagement of our wild herds and further investigate the inability of BLM to correct the shortcomings of the program as audited by the Government Accountability Office’s 1990, 1991 and 2008 reports.
Supported by the undersigned on November 18, 2009.
(http://www.equinewelfarealliance.org/uploads/Supporter-List.doc)