The BLM intends to remove all wild horses from the Caliente Complex — We’re fighting back
The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced its decision to round up and permanently remove ALL wild horses from the Caliente Herd Area (HA) Complex in Nevada.
It should come as no surprise that the BLM did not consider reductions to domestic livestock in the same area before announcing its intention to eradicate the Caliente Complex mustangs. This comes as the Acting Director of the BLM has repeatedly sided with private livestock owners over the lives of wild horses.
But this decision is different from authorizing a standalone roundup — The BLM decision would eradicate mustangs in eight of the nine Herd Management Areas (HMAs) in the Caliente Complex.
That’s why AWHC joined with The Cloud Foundation (TCF) and Western Watersheds Project (WWP) to sue the BLM and stop them.
Under federal law, mustangs are one of two animals in our country specifically protected by an Act of Congress. The bald eagle is the other. As part of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, wild horse populations must be managed to maintain “a thriving natural ecological balance.”
1 ) By refusing to protect wild horses or give full consideration to the long term impacts of this wild horse wipeout plan, the BLM deprived the American people of the opportunity to assess and respond to the rationale underlying this major decision.
2 ) Additionally, the BLM must consider reasonable alternatives short of the outright elimination of wild horses in these HMAs. By refusing to consider a reduction in livestock grazing, the BLM is violating the National Environmental Policy Act , its mandate to protect wild horses under the 1971 Wild Horse Act.
3 ) Remember — more than 500% more BLM land is authorized for livestock than for wild horses and burros in the West, and many of these private livestock owners benefit from as much as half a billion dollars annually in taxpayer subsidies. The claims of wild horse “overpopulation” by the BLM are false, further evidenced by the fact that wild horses are not found on 88% of BLM lands.
That’s why AWHC’s legal team is suing. Our suit regarding the Caliente Complex was just fully briefed on summary judgment, meaning it is officially moving forward at a time when the threat of slaughter is once again looming large.
Our wild horses don’t have a voice. Your continued support allows us to be theirs.
Thank you,
American Wild Horse Campaign
a couple of crucial developments in the fight to defend wild horses (please read)
The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:
News & Alerts
Acting BLM Director William Perry Pendley’s recent declaration of wild horses as the top existential threat to public lands (even though wild horses aren’t on 88% of BLM land!) and his claim that it will cost $5 billion to “solve” the wild horse “problem” is the culmination of a years-long propaganda war against mustangs and burros.
The war is being waged by the commercial livestock industry, which seeks virtual eradication of these cherished animals in order to maximize taxpayer-subsidized grazing of privately-owned cattle and sheep on public lands.
This anti-mustang propaganda war was boosted recently with the capitulation of the Humane Society of the U.S., ASPCA and Return to Freedom to the cattlemen’s mass mustang roundup agenda.
With that in mind, your team at AWHC has been fighting back hard — from the battleground of Nevada to the seat of power in Washington DC — and we want to share some of our most recent work with you today.
Fighting Back at Ground Zero in the Wild Horse War: Nevada
On October 23, we organized a high-profile press conference with Nevada business leaders and a leading conservationist to counter the anti-wild horse messaging at a screening later that evening of the propaganda film “Horse Rich Dirt Poor.”
Well known real estate developer and Storey County Commissioner Lance Gilman and Erik Molvar, Executive Director of the Western Watersheds Campaign, struck back forcefully against the scapegoating of wild horses and in favor of protecting these iconic animals on public lands in the West. Read more about this highly successful event here.
Defending Wild Horses & Burros in Washington, DC
AWHC teamed up with our colleagues at Animal Wellness Action and The Cloud Foundation to hold a briefing on Capitol Hill for Congressional staff to discuss the mass roundup plan and its true cost to American taxpayers and the wild horses and burros we cherish. In one of the most successful Hill briefings ever, 35 staffers showed up to learn more about this issue that is obviously of concern to so many of their constituents. You can read more about this event here.
At the same time and a few miles away, the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board was meeting — with AWHC staff in attendance to ensure that your voices were represented and heard.
Throughout the meeting, BLM officials and most advisory board members expressed their utter disdain for public opinion, which they dismissed as being “emotional” and “uneducated.” It’s clear where the public stands on the mass roundup and surgical sterilization plan, as our most recent polling documents. At the meeting, we made sure that the voice of the people was not ignored.
Read more about the board meeting here.
Fighting to Keep Wild Horses Wild
While we’re battling on the national front, AWHC is investing significant resources to protect locally cherished herds and support humane management programs.
From the Virginia Range — where our darters have delivered more fertility control treatments to wild horses in six months than the entire BLM did last year — to the Onaqui Mountains in Utah, where we’re helping the BLM and the Wild Horses of America Foundation expand an existing fertility control program, to the Salt River in Arizona where we work closely with the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group, we’re working every day to keep wild horses wild and prove that humane management work.
You won’t want to miss our latest updates from the field here.
We Couldn’t Do This Work Without You!
From all of us here at AWHC — Thank you for taking the time to read this and thank you for supporting our work.
American Wild Horse Campaign Team
Moving Forward: A Unified Statement
The following is from The Cloud Foundation and The American Wild Horse Campaign:
As you probably are aware, 2017 presented major threats to America’s wild horses and burros. In 2018, the assault on our beloved wild herds is continuing and will intensify.
With the input of others that value our wild horses and burros, we’ve developed a Unified Statement. Its purpose is to detail and demonstrate common cause among equine welfare, photography, eco-tourist and other citizen organizations that support humane, evidence-based management of wild horses and burros on our public lands. By outlining principles and recommendations for ways to keep free-roaming equines on their homelands, the statement shows that we’re not only against a cruel and broken system of roundup and removal, but are also banding together around sensible alternatives. We’re excited that over 110 groups across the country have chosen to participate.
Last month, Congressional appropriators defeated an administration proposal to destroy tens of thousands of wild equines and allow “unlimited” sales of those deemed unadaptable. This month, the Trump Administration again called on Congress to grant authority in the Fiscal Year 2019 budget to authorize killing and selling to slaughter tens of thousands of captive and free-roaming wild equines. Therefore, the Unified Statement could not be more timely. Read the Unified Statement and learn how you can support this effort.
House Subcommittee Stacks the Deck for Mustang Slaughter – Take Action Now!
Tomorrow, June 22, 2016 – the House Natural Resources Federal Lands Subcommittee will hold an “oversight” hearing on the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) wild horse and burro program. This hearing is being driven by pro-livestock members like Wyoming’s Cynthia Loomis and will be completely stacked in favor of legalizing the slaughter of America’s wild horses and burros. Just one witness – Ginger Kathrens of The Cloud Foundation — will testify for our side, while four witnesses, including the BLM, two ranchers and the anti-wild horse Wildlife Society — will make the case for slaughtering our wild horses and burros!
Since your Representative is on this subcommittee, YOU are in a unique position to influence this dangerous development. Please ask your Representative to attend the hearing and speak up for the American public, which wants our wild horses and burros protected from cruel roundups and brutal slaughter.
This hearing will happen TOMORROW, so please act immediately!
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