Month: October 2018

Warm Springs Gather Complete

The helicopter roundup at Warm Springs HMA ended on 10/23/18 but the BLM has not formally announced it.  Refer to the gather stats and daily reports for this blurb:

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There’s your news release.  Are they ashamed of the things they’re doing to the horses, for the ranchers?  Why are they trying to hide the truth?

Here are the results: 846 animals gathered (including 41 burros and 2 mules), one horse returned to the range (by accident), 32 deaths (3.8%).  The stated goal, when the gather was announced, was 652 animals.

News reports, such as this one posted yesterday by the rancher-friendly Capital Press, ignore the fatalities and inhumane treatment by the BLM and its contractor(s).Capital_Press_Logo-1

The pre-gather population was estimated to exceed 800 animals.  The stud that escaped must be very lonely.   The story by CP said only twenty to thirty remained.  The next step, of course, is to cut the ovaries out of 100 mares and return them to the HMA along with 100 intact mares and some stallions, under the guise of ‘research.’

On 10/03/18, a two month old filly died from a head injury after being captured and a three month old filly died of ‘gather myopathy’ after she was moved to a holding pen.

On 10/04/18 a three year old mare died of a broken neck after running into a panel while being sorted.

On 10/05/18 eleven horses were ‘humanely euthanized’ for various deformities.

On 10/15/18 a six month old filly died of ‘gather myopathy’ after she was moved to a holding pen.

On 10/16/18 a yearling captured the previous day died at the holding corrals due to pneumonia.

On 10/19/18 a yearling died after capture, also due to pneumonia.

Other deaths were the result of ‘humane euthanization.’  The reports did not indicate if it was carried out by lethal injection or multiple rounds to the abdomen.

Survivors will be available for adoption in January 2019.

RELATED: BLM Hauls Water to Warm Springs Horses?

Manufacturer to Pay $2.4 Million for Contaminated Feed

Western Milling of Goshen, CA has settled a lawsuit related to the deaths of 21 horses and injury of 28 others at Black Fence Farms of Clovis, CA in 2015.  The contaminant was an antibiotic that kills parasites and promotes weight gain in cattle and poultry but is toxic to horses.

Refer to this story in The Fresno Bee dated 10/29/18.  The company was also fined $726,000 by the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

Banker Horses Cross Border, Lose Freedom

Six wild horses that tried repeatedly to cross the North Carolina state line into Virginia have been apprehended and placed at a rescue, according to a story that appeared yesterday in The News & Observer of Raleigh, NC.

They had been returned to their home territory six or seven times, but were determined to reach Virginia.  Officials were concerned they would end up in populated areas, so after being declared a nuisance by the Department of the Interior (hard to believe, I know), they were rounded up.

Poor things, they only wanted a better life in Virginia Beach.  With a little training, they could have done work that other horses wouldn’t do.  What a bunch of equinophobes!

Wyoming Advocacy Group Receives $5000, Aids Ranchers

Friends of a Legacy, a group that works with the BLM to manage the wild horses of McCullough Peaks HMA in northern Wyoming, has received a $5000 grant from ASPCA to support a fertility control program started in 2004, according to a story posted today in the Cody Enterprise.

“The program has lowered birth rates in the herd management area and the reduced population has benefitted habitat for the wild horses, wildlife and domestic cattle that share the public land.”

The AML for the area is 140 animals, which has nothing to do with the carrying capacity of the land.  Rather, it represents an acceptable forage loss.  By keeping the wild horse population in check, more food is available for livestock.

Welcome to the new reality of western rangelands.  Areas set aside in 1971 for horses and burros are now managed primarily for cattle and sheep.

Anything for the public-lands ranchers.

Wild Horses of Oregon

Came across this video in a FB post dated 10/22/18 by Mustang Meg.  You can watch it below or go to Vimeo.  I agree that the filmmakers did a great job of documenting the issues on western rangelands.

Regarding the caption at 00:45, are 17 HMAs controlled by the BLM in Oregon, plus two WHTs, one of which is jointly managed by the BLM and USFS.

The film presents a range of characters, from Andi Harmon, who reprises the role of Slaughterhouse Sue beginning at 1:05, to Gayle Hunt, a former USFS employee and founder of the Central Oregon Wild Horse Coalition, first appearing at 04:22.

Harmon’s remark at 03:36, ‘Our [not My] biggest issue is not being able to manage them right,’ suggests an allegiance to the livestock industry.

Hunt is a wild horse advocate, for the most part, although it was not apparent to this reviewer until the end of the film.

Keep in mind that all horse behaviors in the video are normal/natural, even when idiots are involved.

The segment at 6:03 shows the essence of their legacy, which must be protected from the PZP zealots, who not only accept the anti-horse agenda but are happy to participate in it.  How many of them aborting/contracepting/sterilizing in their own lives?

Remarks by BLM manager Rob Sharp are predictable.

The trailer at 20:42 probably belongs to the Cattoor Livestock Roundup Company, a favored contractor of the BLM.  Public-lands ranchers are not the only beneficiaries of declining wild horse populations.

Speaking of livestock, you have to wait until 21:27 to learn about the greatest threat to wild horses and burros on western rangelands.  The concept of ‘multiple use’ mentioned by Harmon at 21:45 was not formally sanctioned until 1976, when FLPMA was signed into law.  It is one of several amendments to the WHB Act that need to be walked back.

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Grazing permit buyouts, mentioned by Hunt at 23:00, deserve further attention.

Next up, starting at 34:26, is the innovative Beaty Butte Wild Horse Training Facility near Adel, OR, founded by the BLM and local ranchers.

It is hard to watch.  Horses locked in stalls, separated from others, running continually in the round pen with no release of pressure.  Eventually they settle down, not because of trainer skill but because they give up (his words, 37:46).

No patience, no understanding, no relationship.  The goal is to cashier as many of them through the program as possible, so more horses can be driven from their homelands, to be replaced with cattle and sheep.  Look at them.  Bits shoved in their mouths, paraded around like spoils of war, while livestock graze peacefully on land that belongs to them.

The following segment features more horses locked in stalls, standing in their own poop, tripping over lead ropes that should not be there (ditto for the halters).

The film concludes with a piece on the Trainer Incentive Program then transitions back to the forest with a question about wild horse preservation.

How much are we going to regret their loss when it’s too late?

RELATED: BLM Plans Another 100% Gather at Beatys Butte HMA.

UPDATE: Video owner no longer allows embedding.  Watch at Vimeo.

CBS Covers Roundup at Devil’s Garden WHT

They actually mentioned livestock and public-lands ranching.  The remarks at 1:32 and 1:39 contradict information at the Devil’s Garden web site.  Closed for use by cattle ranchers?  These areas don’t have cattle in them now?  Since when, yesterday?

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Has the WHB Act been inverted?  With over 10,000 animals gathered so far this year, you might be thinking that lands set aside for wild horses and burros are now being managed primarily for cattle and sheep.

RELATED: Lies of Omission at Devil’s Garden WHT.

Work Day Set for Tomorrow at Piceance HMA

Piceance Mustangs, an advocacy group for the wild horses at the Piceance-East Douglas HMA in northwestern Colorado, has scheduled a work day for 10/27/18, according to a story posted today in the Rio Blanco Herald Times.

Volunteers work with the BLM to promote healthy horses and rangelands.

Who defines ‘healthy horses and rangelands?’  The BLM, of course.  That means—wait for it—a fertility control program starting next year.

Sure would be nice if the wild horse world could move toward ‘What can we do for the horses?’ instead of ‘What can we do to the horses?’  Keeping them on the range would be a good place to start.

The HMA has an aimed-at population density of 1.25 animals per thousand acres.

RELATED: Stop the Roundups, Fertility Control is Better!

NPS Says Death Valley Burros Have to Go

They’re not a part of the natural ecosystem.  They destroy western rangelands and squeeze out wildlife, just like the horses.

A private organization has been hired to remove them, every one, even though they are dispersed at a rate of approximately one animal per thousand acres (in line with the average density of wild horses on BLM lands).

“Burros, natives of North African deserts, were once among the West’s most precious resources: sure-footed in rugged terrain and capable of carrying heavy loads long distances in extreme temperatures.  But with wild populations that doubled every five years, they were damaging habitat sought after for cattle grazing, mining, development and off-road vehicles.”

Refer to this story, posted today by the Los Angeles Times.  Bait traps have been set up to capture the burros.  If that doesn’t work, helicopters will used to finish the job.

It’s not about saving money.  There are no plans to close departments, sell buildings and lay people off when the roundup is complete.  Who benefits?

BLM Removes Wild Horses, Aids Ranchers Affected by Martin Fire

In what can only be described as a shocking development, BLM has moved against the horses in favor of public-lands ranchers, offering assistance to permit holders impacted by the largest wildfire of 2018 in Nevada.  Many of the horses that roamed the area were not available for comment.

“BLM is addressing fencing status and needs, helping coordinate Farm Services Administration funding sources, and holding individual meetings with permittees about future grazing needs and feasibility within the fire perimeter.”

The fire affected seven grazing allotments and eight permittees n the Winnemucca District.  The number of affected grazing allotments and permittees in the Elko District was not provided.

The fire started near Paradise Valley, NV in early July and spread eastward across the Little Owyhee and Owyhee HMAs.  An emergency gather was ordered for September.

If you were thinking that maybe the BLM might be biased a little in favor of the livestock industry, this announcement should remove all doubt.  Their priorities should now be obvious to even the casual observer.