Western Horse Watchers Association
Exposing the Hypocrisy, Lies and Incompetence of the Wild Horse Advocates
On the range
The state Senate voted yesterday to concur with House amendments and repass the bill.
Once signed by the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House, the measure can be sent to the Governor for signature.
RELATED: Colorado Wild Horse Project Clears House.
The Assateague Island Alliance counted 79 horses on the Maryland side of the island in May, up from 77 in April.
Five foals have been born this year.
The number of deaths was not reported.
The ratio oF males to females is unknown.
The herd shows little if any growth since the safe, proven and reversible fertility control program was shut off in 2016.
RELATED: Assateague Pony Census, April 2023.
The measure passed its third reading on May 6 with no new amendments, according to the bill history.
In the current version, text with gray shading denotes House amendments, double underlining marks Senate amendments.
The bill will likely go back to the Senate for review and approval.
Section 1 notes that local volunteers undertake the majority of care and management of the state’s wild herds, but those groups have insufficient resources to meet the need and they often struggle to find and retain qualified volunteers to perform critical activities.
Who knows, the pool of donors and field workers may be going down as the risk of legal trouble goes up?
These hard-working individuals apply restricted-use pesticides in the state’s HMAs, all of which overlap or abut federal grazing allotments.
RELATED: Colorado Wild Horse Project Amended, Passed and Referred.
On the trail to Grayson Highlands with Lisa Wild and Free.
The Environmental Protection Agency registers pesticides and their use on specific pests and under specific circumstances.
For example, a pesticide registered for use on apples may not be used legally on grapes, and an insecticide registered for outdoor use may not legally be used inside a building.
The advocates use Zonastat-H (the Montana Solution) to control pests (horses and burros) that interfere with animal agriculture (permitted grazing), a purpose for which the pesticide was not registered.
Some groups may not have Delegations of Authority or other such documents naming them as designated agents of state and federal governments, a violation of federal law.
Most the areas identified for horses and burros, shown in black on the following map, intersect or abut one or more allotments, shown in green, an indication of the potential for unlawful activity on America’s public lands. Click on image to open in new tab.
RELATED: Immunocontraceptive Wish List.
At least five have vanished recently and a spokesman for the Wilburn Ridge Pony Association told WSET News in a story posted yesterday that it could be a bear, mountain lion, or pack of coyotes.
Eventually the animal will run out of ponies, he warned. “It’s only a matter of time before it’s someone’s pet or child.”
Hikers on the Appalachian Trail often pass through the park, posting videos of the ponies on YouTube.
Scientists at the University of Wyoming and Oklahoma State University have concluded that current methods will fail because the animals are simultaneously viewed as wildlife, livestock and pets.
Choosing one of the labels, and tailoring plans accordingly, offers the best hope for success in wild horse management, according to an article dated May 4 by the University of Wyoming.
Why would they care about wild horses?
Why do we have to choose from those three?
Why are they silent about privately owned cattle and sheep, the predominant species on America’s public lands, found nowhere in the north Americal fossil record?
Why won’t they admit that there is enough food in areas identified for wild horses to support
Maybe there is a hidden agenda.
Dates were announced in yesterday’s news release but not times and locations.
The first and last sessions will be online, separated by in-person meetings in Denver, Reno and Albuquerque.
The proposed rule would assert, not clarify as stated in the summary, that conservation is a valid use of public lands, on par with other such uses, with no statutory changes, an end-run around the legislative process.
The Public Lands Council, a ranching advocacy group, denounced the new rule.
As of this morning, over 13,000 comments have been submitted.
RELATED: Bureaucrats Trying to Amend FLPMA, Expand “Multiple Use?”
Today the House Committee on Agriculture, Water & Natural Resources added new language about fertility control, perhaps leaving the door open to new methods, and sent the bill to Appropriations, according to its history.
New pesticides are always of interest, especially if they’re approved for use in animal agriculture, a drawback of PZP and GonaCon.
In these snippets from the video about the Virginia Range darting program, volunteers with the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, a leader in the wild horse removal industry, hang themselves with their own rope. Click on image to open in new tab.
RELATED: What Is PPE?
PZP and GonaCon are used for pest control in areas designated for animal agriculture, a purpose for which the pesticides were not registered.
It is a violation of Federal law to use these products in a manner inconsistent with their labeling.
You don’t need to hire an attorney and file suit to stop these abuses.
They are criminal matters, to be investigated by state and federal law enforcement.
RELATED: Feeling Betrayed?
For years the advocates have been telling you about their safe, proven and reversible fertility control programs, how they’re changing the way wild horse herds are managed and how they’re protecting wild horses from removal by getting rid of them with PZP.
They say they’re trying to slow population growth, but they’re actually trying to reverse it, by snuffing out new life and letting the older horses die off.
Now you’re realizing that they’ve been darting the mares with an EPA-registered pesticide, not a vaccine as they claim, that destroys their ovaries in four to five years.
Moreover, the EPA specifies rules and restrictions for its use, and they rank among the greatest offenders.
They probably haven’t been designated as agents of state and federal governments, which the EPA requires.
They don’t use EPA-mandated PPE when applying the product, as seen at 7:15, 7:50 and 9:10 in this video by the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, a leader in the wild horse removal industry.
They’re using the product for pest control in areas identified for animal agriculture, a purpose for which it was not registered.
These are violations of federal law.
RELATED: The Promises of PZP, Unfulfilled.
The online meeting, to be livestreamed, runs from 3:00 to 5:00 PM Mountain time, according to an April 28 news release.
Motorized vehicles and aircraft enable rapid and efficient shifting of resources to privately owned cattle and sheep in the lawful homes of wild horses and burros.
If livestock receive 84% of the authorized forage in areas identified for wild horses before the hearing, they will receive 84% of the authorized forage after the hearing.
The Tonopah Field Office will implement Alternative A, the Proposed Action, according to a Decision Record dated April 11.
The Proposed Action, described in Section 2.2 of the Final EA, features an initial roundup to remove excess animals and achieve low AML, followed by population growth suppression over a ten-year period, including application of Zonastat-H and GonaCon Equine, both restricted-use pesticides, castration, sex ratio skewing and IUDs.
The Complex and surrounding lands are used for animal agriculture, discussed in Section 3.7 of the EA, a purpose for which the pesticides were not registered.
The EA and DR were posted to the project folder with other related documents.
RELATED: Stone Cabin Pest Control Plan Out for Public Review.
On the Maryland side of Assateague Island with Kevin Lynch.
Personal Protective Equipment is the last line of defense when working around hazardous materials and/or dangerous equipment.
The list includes, but is not limited to, chemical-resistant and cut-resistant gloves, safety glasses and goggles, face shields, hard hats, steel-toed shoes and boots, fire-resistant coveralls, welder’s hoods, fall-protection harnesses, dust masks, earmuffs and plugs, and supplied-air, full-face and escape respirators.
The best approach is to eliminate the hazards or minimize contact with them through engineering controls.
Mixers, loaders and applicators of the Montana Solution, an EPA-registered pesticide, must wear long sleeves and pants, and chemical-resistant gloves, according to the precautionary statements on its label.
The advocate in the photo above, a staffer with The Cloud Foundation, demonstrates her skill with a Dan-Inject darting rifle and the proper PPE.
RELATED: What Is FIFRA?
The bill survived its third reading in the Senate on April 27, passing by a vote of 30 to 5 with no new amendments.
Then it was referred to the House Agriculture, Water & Natural Resources Committee.
The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, 7 USC 136, provides for federal regulation of pesticide distribution, sale, and use, according to the overview by the EPA.
Although the advocates oppose the use of GonaCon Equine and promote the use of Zonastat-H (PZP), both are on the list of restricted-use pesticides.
They are not available for purchase or use by the general public.
Definitions of certified applicator and restricted use can be found in the statute.
The EPA registers pesticides according to their use on specific pests and under specific circumstances. For example, “Pesticide A,” registered for use on apples, may not be used legally on grapes, or an insecticide registered for “outdoor use” may not legally be used inside a building. In some circumstances, use of a registered pesticide may be restricted to pesticide applicators with special training.
RELATED: Using Pesticides in a Manner Inconsistent with Their Labeling.
Farmers use herbicides to control weeds. Directions and precautions are specified on their labels.
What about the Montana Solution, a restricted-use pesticide?
The bureaucrats and advocates use it to achieve and maintain AMLs so ranchers can access most of the food and water in areas identified for wild horses and burros.
The product is used for pest control in animal agriculture.
Unfortunately, it can be used only on female horses and burros that are capable of doing environmental damage, according to a 2017 labeling amendment by the EPA, not those trying to reclaim their food from said ranchers.
Claiming that there are too many horses and burros in their lawful homes, that they’re robbing forage from livestock and wildlife, or that they’re a hazard to public health and safety, do not warrant the poisoning of those animals with said pesticide.
In addition to using the product in a manner that’s consistent with its labeling, governments overseeing such programs must name certified applicators as their designated agents, as discussed earlier this week.
RELATED: Connecting the Dots: PZP Is Used for Animal Agriculture!
Wherever the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses is involved, or one of its affiliates, wild horse numbers go down. Ever notice that?
Can you imagine a group claiming to protect bald eagles reporting decreases in eagle sightings three years in a row?
Can you imagine giving money to such an organization?
In the story earlier this week by Colorado Politics regarding SB23-275, Tracy “You need to manage the numbers to fit what’s available for the horses” Wilson, field marshal for CAAWH, said her group saw a 61% reduction in births and a 20% reduction in herd size on the Virginia Range between 2020 and 2022.
Back then the herd size was around 3,000, maybe a bit more, but let’s use 3,000.
If there was no darting program and the herd grew at a very modest rate of 10% per year, the population would have increased over 20% during that period.
If the growth rate was 15% per year, the population would have increased over 30%.
Instead, it decreased 20%.
The herd should contain 3,600 to 3,900 animals.
But it only contains 2,400 animals, meaning that the advocates took 1,200 to 1,500 animals off the range between 2020 and 2022, rivaling the largest of roundups and affirming previous statements on these pages that, next to the federal government, nobody’s getting rid of more wild horses than the wild horse advocates.
On the Salt River, plaintiffs in a case filed yesterday claim the Forest Service approved a plan in February to reduce the population over a ten-year period from 400 to 500 wild horses to 100 to 200 via birth control, according to a story posted today by Courthouse News Service.
They believe the current figure is closer to 600 and the goal will take 25 to 35 years to achieve.
Who’s doing the reducing?
The Salt River Wild Horse Darting Group, an affiliate of CAAWH.
RELATED: Coalition Sues Forest Service Over Salt River Horses.
Western Horse Watchers Association 