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Nevada wild mustange photo by carrol abel
A final determination of "No Signifigant Impact" has been made by Bureau of Land Management regarding the controversial Calico Complex roundup of wild horses in Northern Nevada. Alan Shepard, lead BLM officer for the state of Nevada, quoted an all inclusive cost of $900,000 for the massive gather of 2,700 animals.
BLM District Manager, Gene Seidlitz says that he will sign the final determination document this afternoon. A modified Environmental Assessment will then be fowarded to all interested parties. The determination is effective immediately and the roundup will begin on December 28th of this year.
Public outcry over the scheduled removals has grown to a loud roar since the Preliminary Environmenmtal Assesment was released in late October. Over 10,000 comments were logged by BLM staff within the thirty day public comment period given. Public opinion against current BLM activities in their wild horse and burro program seems to have reached critical mass. International animal rights group, In Defense of Animals, and noted wildlife ecologist Craig Downer initiated a lawsuit in an effort to stop the roundup. No news on that front has been reported since they filed a request for permanent injunction last week.
The Humane Society of the United States sent a letter last week to Secretary Ken Salazar, Department of Interior, stating in part,
No single example illustrates the BLM's contradictory impulses more clearly than the gathers the agency has planned for the Calico Complex, set to start next month. According to the environmental assessment (EA), the last gather at the Calico Complex occured in the winter of 2004-2005 when 2,033 wild horses were gathered, 1,623 removed, and 410 released back to the range. Following the gather an estimated 575 wild horses remained in the HMA( herd management area).Now, four years later, the agency claims there are now over 3,100 animals on the range and it proposes to remove over 2,800 ...This is exactly the gather-and-removal treadmill that the Five Year Plan is supposed to stop, yet it appears to be business as usual with this animal care and fiscal disaster."
BLM records quote 2007 wild horse population in the complex as 700+ animals. The 2008 census suddenly jumps to over 2,000. Meanwhile, an Envionmental Assessment for the increase of cattle grazing the area states that there is not enough wild horse activity to even monitor populations. In explaination for the the large discrepancy, Seidlitz cites the "BLM lack of knowledge" regarding herd movements between the Calico Complex and a herd area handled by the Surprise field office in Cedarville, California.
If the operation goes as BLM officials would like, 90% of the herd will be gathered and roughly 300 animals will be returned to range. Seidlitz also stated that the post gather population of 600 or so is considered to be a genetically viable herd. They will be aiming at a population of 60% male and 40% female. He was uncertain how many of the mares will be injected with a birth control agent.
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Comments
Deer run wild , why Can't God's creatures run wild, for cattle can take over their land for money to graze on the wild Mustangs Land.. Let them run wild and live free our legacey not for $$$$$ paid by farmers
BLM continues their reign of terror upon the mustangs considering they have continued to break the law with no consequences. If they don't have any accountibility to the laws that protect our mustangs, why would they have any accountibility to the taxpayers (who are outraged), that pay their salaries? The bottom line, BLM wants the mustangs gone forever, period. We all know the special interest groups are padding the BLM's pockets to get the land for grazing, mineral, & hunting rights.
How dare this BLM trample our first amendment rights...Over 10,000 comments have been sent to them protesting this roundup, a lawsuit has been filed and yet, they pursue this because of special interest groups waiting in the wings. Where is the buck President OBama promised to stop in these situations?
Why is it being left to private citizens to police the violations of this government agency? The BLM is breaking the law and no one is stopping them except the public. They have ignored Congress entirely.
I do believe this is the most outrageous thing I've ever seen. Valerie, you are SO right in asking why the PUBLIC is having to attempt to rein in an agency of the Federal Government, for Heaven Sake! It's ridiculous.
Keep screaming, folks!
Money is not a consistant excuse factor for an illegal excuse to why the BLM is exterminating the gift of beauty and grace to all mother earth and her children.Cattle companies/McDonalds and oil Companies are taking over our lands, slaughtering our animals,and destroying our Sacred Ground.Native American culture and heritage is to be wiped clean from this earth by mans evil greed, ego and selfishness.The prophecy is alive and 2012 is upon us,I pray we move into the new Aeon as swiftly as possible and learn once again to live in Peace as One.Sacred animal kingdom is to be honored and respected as our family,we must remember our ancient elders and respect the ancient ways of the elders,walking the path of Heart
Rogue BLM continues to annihilate these precious re-introduced N. American Native species from their LEGAL home ranges to appease a politically powerful minority public lands livestock industry while stealing OUR public lands at a cost of ½ to 1 billion dollars annually to maintain their cowboy corporate lifestyles on OUR public lands. It costs nothing to keep America’s wild horses/burros on their legal ranges.
MESSAGE TO Obama, Salazar, Abbey, Cattoors: LEAVE our public lands and America’s wild horses/burros ALONE! SEND Salazar back to Colorado, Abbey to Nevada and the Cattoors to Utah, but not at the expense of “the horse we rode in on" (D.Stillman-MUSTANG).
My MESSAGE to our touted “President of Change” is still pending, but he is on my short list for an AWARD as Horse Slaughter Czar, along with Salazar & Abbey and a special award for “finishing the job” of previous administrations to annihilate America’s wild horses/burros from their legal ranges. Shame on our president!
The urban environmentalist (which is to say not very knowledgeable about the environment) love this issue, but even the photo in this pro-horse article shows all the problems with wild horses in the west - denuded stream bank, overgrazed range, noxious weeds. Keep in mind that when horses were native to North America (over 10,000 years ago) we also had saber toothed tigers and other predators to help control the grazers. BLM has to respond to the need to protect and improve natural resource conditions on public lands - while getting angry letters from far away folks who think the horses are pretty but have absolutely no knowledge of the realities of the situation.
So what makes anyone know from whence we write? You presume what? Once urban, only and always urban? I grew up with horses, cows, etc. on a farm. This is more than a wild horse issue. That is only the face of the problem. This is about a government agency defying everyone, including the United States Congress, and doing as they please, ignoring taxpayers, ignoring Congress, ingnoring scientists. Certainly it begs the question of"why?" It hasn't been transparent or different from other administrations. In fact, it is worse.
Round 'em all up... then ship 'em to the canners.... bring back horse slaughter plants in this country so we don't have this outrageous waste of tax-payer money on FERAL horses....
Funny how all the bleeding hearts think the "wild mustangs" are so lovely... dummies never realize that they are simply unwanted, worthless horses that reproduced from rejects tha someone turned out on the BLM or forest so they wouldn't have to feed them any more.... that is why good horses are cheaper now than ever... the market is flooded with these things that anyone can adopt for $125. Absolutely asinine....
Why are we spending almost 2 million dollars on this????
"According to BLM’s Senior Public Affairs Specialist Tom Gorey, the cost of the roundup alone with be $1,943,460 for the contractors and BLM personnel." Cloud Foundation
Why? THEN, the BLM will have 12,000 more horses and nowhere to put them? 2 million on that? C'mon!
I would love your help! Readers who care:
Please take a look at my blog at TerriFarley.com to see how you can help.
The round-up has been delayed, but I know this area and the 2,700 "excess" horses are way too many to round up. As if we need to spend the $900,000 + either, srsly
Hmmm...useless horses/burros?...they don't belong here? Interesting. Let's see, when they were in the millions, farmers, ranchers, Native Americans, US government found multiple uses for them. As to denuding stream banks, ruining grasslands I ask...any cattle or sheep contiguous with these national, natural resources? If so, you can't blame the equines until studies are done w/o bovine still there.
Here's the bigger complaint: DOI/BLM is running amuk on behalf of special interests. They are spending limited # of funds on removing when they whined last year that they didn't have enough funds to care for the current corraled mustangs/burros. Sounds stupid to me. Unless, of course the goal is to exterminate the equines in the first place.
Somebody cut off their credit card and start making them responsible for the 1971 and accountable. Round-ups in the Rockies winter?...just sick and incompetent!
Sorry, it should have read...1971 Act...of which, special interests in collusion with DOI/BLM, USFS, USDA, State wildlife agencies have been degrading, abusing, violating and manipulating ever since Nixon signed it.
Bottom line, you got a permit actively in use? Then not one horse, not one burro moves until the cattle, sheep, mining, forestry, et al activities CEASE. Then you can do your EA WITH a designated, veto vote holding rep for the mustangs/burros in consultation. Until then, cease and desist!
Quote from Jay F. Kirkpatrick,Director,The Science and Conservation Center,Billings,Montana.Patricia M.Fazio is a freelance environmental writer/editor,and holds a B.S.in animal husbandry/biology from Cornell University, an M.S.in environmental history from the University of Wyoming,and a Ph.D. in environmental history from Texas A&M University.
Critics of the idea that the N. American wild horse is a native animal,using only paleontological data,assert that the species, E.caballus,which was introduced in 1519,was a different species from that which disappeared 13,000 to 11,000 years before.Herein lies the crux of the debate.However,the relatively new field of molecular biology,using mitochondrial-DNA analysis, has recently found that the modern E caballus,is genetically equivalent to E lambei.Date of origin,based on mutation rates for mitochondrial-DNA,for E caballus,is set at approximately 1.7 million years ago in N. America.
wildhorsepreservation.com/resources/native.html
Tuck ,over 10,000 people want the mustangs.
I think it's time to place this in the presidents lap. He should be the champion of the word freedom. I don't believe he would allow the very symbol of freedom to be extinguished on his watch.
I am a wild horse owner and advocate...
The BLM is just caving in to big energy and their plans to drill, and dig as much as possible. Just look at us here in WY.
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