Tag Archives: Bureau of Land Management

*Featured/Spotlights, Wild Horse Sources

BLM Selects Mustang Monument Wild Horse Eco-Preserve Proposal

April 19, 2012 Associate Editor Leave a comment

mustangs106 — Photo Courtesy of Jo Danehy

Dear Friends and Supporters,
We are elated to share the announcement from the Bureau of Land management that they are prepared to move forward with the wild horse eco-sanctuary that I have proposed in Elko County, Nevada. I want to personally thank the thousands upon thousands of supporters of Saving America’s Mustangs that have weighed in with their support over the past few years and for sticking with us through throughout this journey. We could not have done it without each of you.

I also want to thank the BLM and the multitude of their great staff that have worked diligently on this project over the past few years. Their support and the many hours they put into that effort is sincerely appreciated. While we may not have always agreed on every fine point during our early work, I think we always knew we were breaking new ground and moving in the direction of new horizons where the care and management of the Nation’s wild horses are concerned. Nothing of this magnitude is ever accomplished without a difference of opinion and our ability to persevere and work together is essential to the success of this project. And it is important to point out that there is so much hard work left to do and maintaining a good working relationship will ultimately determine how successful we are in moving forward and setting the stage for future successes.

Continue reading BLM Selects Mustang Monument Wild Horse Eco-Preserve Proposal →

Wild Horse Sources

Nevada’s Wild Horses Need Your Help

March 29, 2012 Associate Editor Leave a comment

Comments Needed for the Desatoya Herd & Other News

Dear Wild Horse & Burro Defenders;
Please help the Desatoya Wild Horse herd in central Nevada by commenting on the helicopter stampede and removal plan in which the vast majority of wild horse families would lose their freedom later this year. As many as 500 horses could be removed from their legally designated Wild Horse Herd Management Area of over 160,000 acres. BLM is only allowing for 127-180 wild horses, while permitting the year round grazing of 600 head of privately owned livestock.

Instead of preparing an Environmental Assessment (EA) for just the wild horse removal, BLM has included this wild horse action as part of a habitat restoration project EA. The “restoration” plan calls for the cutting of pinyon, juniper and sagebrush to improve the habitat for threatened populations of sage grouse. Yes, that’s right — destroying sagebrush habitat to help struggling sage grouse populations. It is easy to conclude that the “restoration” might also create more grazing land for welfare cattle. Livestock damage is the major cause of declining sage grouse populations throughout the West.

Continue reading Nevada’s Wild Horses Need Your Help →

Wild Horse Sources

Official SAM Statement Regarding BLM Appointing Callie Hendrickson to Advisory Board

March 20, 2012 Associate Editor Leave a comment

SAM has received thousands of emails regarding the appointment of Callie Hendrickson to the National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board. By a large majority, the comments received through various social media sites have raised concern and strong opposition to Ms. Hendrickson being appointed to the Board because of her ardent support for slaughter of wild horses. While others on the Board have also expressed support for efforts to revive the slaughter of wild horses, as well as domestic horses, Ms. Hendrickson has signaled her support for United Horsemen, the most aggressive coalition in this country advising support for horse slaughter for human consumption. SAM feels compelled to respond to the thousands of inquires we have received about Ms. Hendrickson’s appointment.

The most glaring and perplexing part of the Hendrickson appointment is this: at a time when the Bureau of Land Management, from the Secretary of the Interior and the current BLM Director on down have expressed in no uncertain terms that there will be no slaughter of wild horses, why appoint an individual that supports slaughter to the only public advisory Board that makes recommendations on how to improve the Wild Horse and Burro Program.

Continue reading Official SAM Statement Regarding BLM Appointing Callie Hendrickson to Advisory Board →

Wild Horse Sources

Madeleine Pickens Comments on BLM Announcing First Eco Sanctuary in Wyoming

March 6, 2012 Associate Editor 3 Comments

Dear Friends and Supporters,
SAM would like to express its appreciation for the BLM’s selection of a 4,000 acre ranch in Wyoming to house some wild horses, but this proposal raises more questions than it answers. It continues along the outdated and inhumane path the BLM has pursued for years; continuing to give wild horses to private ranch operations that profit from them without assurances of a real public benefit.

But, let’s look at some of the other aspects of this proposed plan.

BLM has suggested they can do the necessary NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) compliance work in about 3-6 months. I have been waiting for over two years and have been told all along that the NEPA compliance work on the proposal that I submitted for an Eco sanctuary in northern NV would take as long as two years, if they ever start on it. I can only presume that there is a special, unique “fast track” for a rancher where NEPA is concerned.

Continue reading Madeleine Pickens Comments on BLM Announcing First Eco Sanctuary in Wyoming →

*Featured/Spotlights, Wild Horse Sources

Petition to Dump Interior Secretary’s Pro Wild Horse Slaughter Appointee

March 3, 2012 Associate Editor Leave a comment

PryorsDSC_1474b — Velvet, Echo (Cloud's grandson), & Jewel (Cloud's grandaughter) in the Pryors. Photo by Pam Nickoles

Dear Wild Horse and Burro Defenders;
Many thanks to all of you who contacted Secretary Salazar’s office yesterday to ask him to rescind the appointment of Callie Hendrickson to BLM’s National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board. DOI & BLM received thousands of calls in protest all thanks to you!

Now, there is another important step you can take to stop the Hendrickson appointment. In conjunction with American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, Animal Law Coalition, Front Range Equine Rescue, International Fund for Horses, Protect Mustangs, Respect4Horses, and Wild Horse Freedom Federation, we’ve created a petition asking the Secretary to rescind Ms. Hendrickson’s appointment and stop BLM from creating an Advisory Board stacked with pro-slaughter members. The petition with everyone’s signature will be presented at the next BLM Advisory Board Meeting.

Continue reading Petition to Dump Interior Secretary’s Pro Wild Horse Slaughter Appointee →

*Featured/Spotlights, Breeds, Wild Horse Sources

Help Protect the Pryor Wild Horses

January 2, 2012 Associate Editor Leave a comment

BLM Now Accepting Email Comments

Adelina_MS — 2-year-old Adelina, granddaughter of Blue Sioux & Red Raven

Dear Cloud Friends;
The Billings BLM has decided to accept emails (BLM_MT_Billings_FO@blm.gov) and faxes (406-896-5281) for comments on their Preliminary Environmental Assessment (PEA) which calls for the permanent removal of 30 young horses (ages 1-3 years) from the Pryor Wild Horse Range during 2012. Comments are due by close of business (4:30 pm MST) January 6th.

The removal will bring the herd to the “Appropriate” Management Level of 120. This drastic plan is completely unacceptable and dangerous for the future survival of the Pryor Wild Horse Herd.

The herd currently numbers only 150 adults (one year and older), the bare minimum to maintain genetic viability.

In 2011, mortality equaled births which is exactly what BLM states as their goal for the herd.

Continue reading Help Protect the Pryor Wild Horses →

Breeds, Community/Charity, Publications/Media, Rescue/Protection Sources

Willie & The Nelson Family Release “Wild Horses” Video to Help Raise Awareness for America’s Wild Horses

October 4, 2011 Associate Editor Leave a comment

Monday, October 3, 2011 — Washington, D.C. — Earlier this year, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) was honored to announce the exclusive release of the Rolling Stones’ classic “Wild Horses” – performed and produced by the legendary Willie Nelson and his family members. Now, Willie & The Nelson Family have followed up with the release of a video for the song featuring Willie, his daughter Paula, son Lukas and many others from the Nelson family. The video, filmed and produced by Luck Films, was shot at Willie’s ranch in Luck, Texas and features some of the over 40 horses, both wild and domestic, that Willie has helped rescue from slaughter. Willie & The Nelson Family are donating the proceeds from the sale of the song to AWI’s campaigns on behalf of wild and domestic horses. Willie and the entire Nelson family are long-time supporters of AWI and its efforts to end horse slaughter and preserve the right of wild horses to roam free.

“The BLM has been rounding them up at an alarming rate, supposedly for their own good. Sadly, there are more wild horses in holding pens than in the wild. Something is wrong with that, so we must act now before the BLM has managed these magnificent animals into extinction,” said Willie Nelson. “It’s time for the cowboys to stand up for the horses.”

The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act was enacted in 1971 to halt the disappearance of these iconic animals from public lands in the American West. Since then, however, over 21 million acres of land set aside by Congress for wild horses have been removed from their range, even as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) – the very agency charged with their protection – claims there is not enough land to support existing herds. The BLM is unnecessarily removing horses based on spurious claims of damage to range and other adverse impacts. The BLM’s mismanagement of America’s wild horses is largely designed to benefit a livestock industry that has, for decades, exploited western public lands while profiting from massive subsidies funded by taxpayer dollars. Willie & The Nelson Family and AWI are calling on the BLM and the Obama administration to immediately halt all wild horse round-ups, restore the land provided by law to wild horses and stop warehousing horses on private lands at even greater expense to the taxpayer.

Continue reading Willie & The Nelson Family Release “Wild Horses” Video to Help Raise Awareness for America’s Wild Horses →

Breeds, Wild Horse Sources

Comments Needed Immediately for NAS Study Review

September 25, 2011 Associate Editor Leave a comment

Tentative Panel Stacked against Wild Horses

wildhorsesDSC_0665 — Two wild horses from the White Mountain herd in southern Wyoming

Dear Friends of our Wild Horses and Burros,
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is accepting comments on their provisional committee members. The study will be reviewing the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program. However, the current provisional committee makeup is vastly unbalanced.

An NAS committee is supposed to be balanced and free of conflicts of interest, as mandated by federal law. But the current committee members chosen for this study do not represent this impartiality. Some of the committee members have strong ties with largely anti-wild horse organizations, such as the Nevada Cattleman’s Association and the Wildlife Society.

The future of America’s wild horses and burros may rest in the hands of this NAS study. The scope of the study itself is expected to take two years to complete and is to include information on total populations, genetic diversity, annual growth rates, population control, immunocontraception, appropriate management level (AML) establishments or adjustments, and managing a portion of a population as non-reproducing.

I encourage everyone to make their own comments (which are only being accepted electronically here) on these tentatively selected committee members. Below are some talking points you can make in your comments.

You can submit your comments here no later than September 26th.

Continue reading Comments Needed Immediately for NAS Study Review →

Horses in the South – An Equine News Publisher

Tag Archives: Bureau of Land Management

BLM Selects Mustang Monument Wild Horse Eco-Preserve Proposal

Official SAM Statement Regarding BLM Appointing Callie Hendrickson to Advisory Board

Madeleine Pickens Comments on BLM Announcing First Eco Sanctuary in Wyoming

Willie & The Nelson Family Release “Wild Horses” Video to Help Raise Awareness for America’s Wild Horses

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