BLM to remove over 800 wild horses north of Midas

BLM Branded Mustang

Cross-posted from the Las Vegas Sun

REPORTED BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management says it plans to remove more than 800 wild horses from the range about 60 miles north of Midas.

Officials say they plan to begin the roundup around Nov. 26 in the Owyhee Complex, which is located in Elko and Humboldt counties.

Plans call for the initial removal of about 800 mustangs from the Little Owyhee Herd Management Area, then the permanent removal of another 47 horses from the Owyhee Herd Management Area. Read more >>

Feds unnecessarily round up wild horses, complain about costs, recommend slaughter

After ridding Western lands of thousands of wild mustangs at the request of corporate interests, the Bureau of Land Management now is worried about the price of its programs, says Andrew Cohen.

ANDREW COHEN reporting for The Atlantic writes about appointee Joan Guilfoyle:

It surely cannot be easy these days being Joan Guilfoyle, the (relatively) new director of the Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse and Burro Program. On the one hand she works for a federal agency, the Interior Department, which is largely beholden to the powerful industries it is supposed to regulate. And on the other hand, she is responsible, under federal law and policy, for ensuring the survival and management of the nation’s wild horses at a time when relentless political and economic forces threaten to decimate the herds.

“It’s tricky, and it’s hard,” Guilfoyle said last fall in an interview shortly after she assumed her post. “There are a lot of emotions around it, a lot of different opinions.” Indeed, there are. The ranchers and farmers and miners and oilmen see the wild horses as feral pests that should be gone from public and private land. Wild horse advocates see the herds as victims of faulty science, special interests, and spineless federal and state officials. There is, they say, plenty of public land out West where the horses could freely, and safely, roam.

The article continues with this:

Does Guilfoyle have what it takes? More broadly, can an Interior Department led by an unrepentant rancher, Ken Salazar, ever be an honest broker here? Not bloody likely. Having implemented a policy that has driven tens of thousands of horses from their native ranges to grim holding pens, having enabled “welfare ranching” by creating “welfare horses” by shifting the cost of the wild horses from land owners to the general public, Guilfoyle last week said, “Where are we going to put these animals? We only have so much money.”

The wild-horse-and-burro-destroying Obama Administration and his merry band of equine cutthroats should have thought about this a bit more, huh? Considering the amount of spending cuts it has made from programs necessary to a large segment of the American population, waste and stupidity like this is unforgivable. Plus they are robbing America of a majestic symbol of spirit and freedom to do it, and one that is protected by federal law. And you are funding this nightmare every time you pay your federal taxes.

What is their answer, yet again? Cohen reports this from the pro death Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board which met last week in Reno, Nevada.

The other big news was the renewed push by livestock advocates to resume the slaughter of wild horses. The argument goes something like this: Since the BLM now has “stockpiled” nearly 50,000 wild horses, and since the federal government is responsible for housing these horses at public expense, the prudent course is to get rid of the “excess” horses by selling them “without limitation” to the highest bidder. “Without limitation” is a deadly euphemism for slaughter. The sold horses would quickly end up at rendering plants.

I suppose the dastardly BLM will turn around and spend the money they rake in from selling wild horses to slaughterhouse buyers to eradicate the rest of America’s wild equine population.

I have arrived at the sad and tragic conclusion this nation doesn’t gives two figs about its iconic wild horses and burros.

Americans just don’t know? Sorry that doesn’t wash. So much work has been done by wild horse and burro advocates, that plenty know.

The truth is, there are enough Americans who know about our disappearing wild horses and burros that an immediate halt to this monstrous abuse and annihilation should have stopped years ago.

Read more of Cohen’s report. I am going to soak my head in a tub to cool down.

The Wild Horse Conspiracy, a book by Craig Downer, out now

THE WILD HORSE CONSPIRACY

Proudly announcing the publication of a pivotal book for America’s wild horses and burros that has been over 4 years in preparation

by Craig C. Downer, Wildlife Ecologist and Author (Date of Publication: 1/18/2012)

Craig Downer (by Laura Leigh)

This stirring and amply illustrated, 300-page book fully justifies America’s magnificent wild horses and burros while countering the biased machinations against them. Written by an ecologist who grew up observing these animals in the West, it presents new evidence concerning their history and evolution in North America then describes their many positive contributions to soils, plants, animals and people. Though true restorers of this continent’s ecosystem, they have been unfairly targeted for elimination.

Over the centuries, they have borne our burdens and helped us along life’s way—which makes it doubly unfair that they should be blamed for what we humans have done. As always, they stand ready to help us do the hard work now so desperately needed to restore our shared home. Many of the author’s personal experiences with these animals, their diverse herd areas, and the multicolored people involved with them are herein vividly shared.

Urgently required now at the 40th anniversary of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act is a strategy to reverse the negative schemes that are causing their demise the wild. As described, Reserve Design provides a way for establishing self-stabilizing populations through intelligent and caring programs executed with enthusiasm.

Wild Horses (by Craig Downer)

Their lesson for humanity concerns how to share freedom and the land with such paragons of nature. Soaring beyond mundane pettiness and with an inspired vision for the future of all life, the elevated perspective and compassionate spirit of this book will prove key to accomplishing its critical goal. In the wild the vigor of any kind is preserved. And the entire horse family—as the Earth itself—needs America’s wild horses and burros to continue at vital levels into the future here in their evolutionary cradle and worldwide.

The author has defended wild horses/burros against attacks for over 40 years and observed many of the West’s colorful herds. He has also studied the endangered mountain tapir and is president of the Andean Tapir Fund, also dedicated to saving wild horses/burros (www.andeantapirfund.com).

A member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission and board member of The Cloud Foundation, he has written popular and scientific articles and books, including action plans for endangered species, enjoys nature photography and musical composition, lives in Nevada, and is proud companion of mustangs Lightning, a palomino stallion, and Princess Diane, his curly mare, both of whom he knew in the wilds of NW Nevada before they were captured by BLM in 2010.

To order Craig’s groundbreaking book, make out and send $25 (which includes taxes, shipping & handling) either to Andean Tapir Fund (as a tax-deductible contribution to this 501 c 3 organization) or to Craig C. Downer, both at P.O. Box 456, Minden, NV 89423-0456 USA.

Alternatively, you may use PayPal to purchase the book by calling up www.andeantapirfund.com and clicking on PayPal. To order more than one book, please pay $20 per book for up to 5 books, $15 for over 10 books (which includes taxes, shipping & handling).

For any questions or to arrange for a speaking, picture showing and book signing event, write the author at the above address, or call (775) 267-3484 or (775) 901-2094 or email ccdowner@aol.com.

Source: Press Release