It seems that hardly a day goes by without the BLM announcing that it intends to round up most of the members of yet another wild herd and put them behind bars forever. After weeks and months of this, we have to ask: why the rush to sweep America's free-roaming mustangs from their designated homelands?
The BLM's language belies their true intent. They no longer talk about "gathers," but are now bluntly describing their missions with a word that reveals how they really view what they're doing to wild horses: "removals." As if these horses are a form of vermin that must be eradicated because they pose a threat, or don't belong.
BLM has gotten pretty good at smooth-talking the rationales behind the forced removals of the wild horses, never admitting that cattle interests, or mineral interests, or gas interests, or industrial interests are the true forces behind the dizzying efforts to create vast wild horse-free zones where herds have roamed for decades, if not for centuries. Instead, they talk about the lack of suitable habitat, water sources, and forage, making it seem that they are doing the wild horses a favor by wrenching them from their families and from the only homes they have ever known.
By simultaneously carrying on the war against wild horses on so many fronts, BLM hopes to mitigate--if not silence--the passionate voices of the advocates who cry foul when they see young foals being literally run off their feet, mares spontaneously aborting, and stallions breaking their necks and legs as a result of grueling helicopter chases and thoughtless, overcrowded confinement. But BLM forges mindlessly on, even though its helicopter contractor has copped to shooting compromised wild horses and packing their lifeless, still-bleeding bodies into a truck so no one can see the carnage and the cruelty.
In the last week alone, at least 260 wild horses have been scoured from the 798,000-acre Twin Peaks HMA near Susanville, California. We don't really know how many horses may have died in the helicopter's wake; all we know is that BLM reported two fatalities. On Saturday, September 4th, "a 20-year-old stud ran into the trap with his head down, struck a gate post and died instantly." And on Monday, September 6th, an unknown horse was "euthanized" because "of a badly broken leg." Astonishingly, BLM claims the latter death was "not gather related."
And in the last three days alone, another 106 horses were taken from the Reveille HMA, an area of more than 105,000 acres in the Great Basin Desert of Nevada. BLM has stated its intention to take a total of 250 horses, inexplicably arguing that only 80 can survive in this remote, rugged area.
By Monday, September 13th, the BLM will raise the curtain on another theatre of war, and the helicopters will fly at the Montezuma Peak and Paymaster HMAs in Esmeralda County, Nevada. Believe it or not, BLM says only three wild horses and 10 burros can occupy this 178,431-acre range. They plan to catch and truck away 123 "excess" wild horses and 61 "excess" burros, essentially zeroing out the herds without ever saying that's what they're doing.
As Laura Leigh told The Las Vegas Sun, "Any first grader knows a herd of just three wild horses is not a herd with a future. This roundup is an extraordinary example of BLM's absurd designation of herd sizes."
And in spite of the fact that more than 38,000 wild horses are languishing in long-term holding pens, the BLM plans to escalate the pace of its wild horse removals through the end of the year, with thousands more slated to be captured. Again, we must ask: why?
Comments
Well here we go again, more talk. We talk, they round up and many die. We talk more, and they round up even more and many more die, and still here we are talking and those poor things are dieing. WHY AREN"T THEY BEING ARRESTED? WHAT IS THE HOLD UP? JUST WHO DO THEY THINK THEY ARE? THEY ARE LOWER THAN DIRT AND NOT EVEN AS CLEAN. SOME OPF YOU OUT THERE KNOW HOW TO GET THESE SPINELESS WEASLES ARRESTED SO WHAT ARE YOU ALL WAITING FOR? IF I KNEW HOW I WOULD HAVE ALREADY HAVE DONE IT> WHY KEEP LETTING THESE SKUNKS CONTINUE TO BREAK THE LAW? DOESN"T ANYONE HAVE A BACK BONE ANYMORE? TIME FOR TALKING IS OVER> DO SOMETHING OR TELL ME WHAT TO DO AND I WILL DO IT> THESE SLAGS DON"T FRIGHTEN OR INTIMIDATE ME PERIOD> JUSTICE IS SCREAMING TO BE HEARD AND HAD> COME ON PEOPLE YOU CAN"T PLAY NICE LITTLE DIPLAMATIC CRAP WITH SCUM LIKE THIS> DO SOMETHING BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE> IT HAS ALREADY GONE ON WAY TO LONG> WHERE IS AMERICANS FIGHTING SPIRIT? WHERE IS ITS BACKBONE? W~H~E~R~E ?
All right, Brenda, I'm getting a little sick of people like you using ALL CAPS, screaming "where is your backbone?" and "They don't intimidate me!" and telling everyone ELSE to DO SOMETHING! Okay, what in H**L would you have us do? Huh?
We are spending thousands of dollars on lawsuits - where is your contribution? Advocates are managing to get close enough to take pictures and videos even though the BLM does NOT want them around, have ignored a Judge's order to allow them to observe, and follow them around with ARMED GUARDS who say they're quite willing to "take it to the next level," whatever that means. At any rate, if an advocate steps out of line by a millimeter, that would be an excuse to permanently bar them from observing AT ALL. That what you want?
These people on the front lines are busting their butts and being threatened with arrest, whatever it takes. Frankly, I don't see how they do what they do. And the BLM spins and lies - even in court - and even with the documentation we have, no one in a position to stop the BLM lifts a finger to do so.
If WE know how to get them arrested, don't you think we would ALREADY HAVE DONE IT?!?! We've called on the local authorities, the FBI, the Attorney General, the Inspector General, the Governors and Congress people from the various states besides our own reps over and over, people have put on demonstrations in the western states AND Washington.
How old are you - 10? Why don't you go on out there and do your thing then. If you could do SOOOO much better, what are you waiting for? Where's your money to help pay legal costs? How many letters have you written to your people in DC. What have you done to spread the word? What have you done to disseminate facts to newspapers and on the internet?
You just toddle on out there with those armed guards with your cameras, and tell them you're gonna photograph what you d**n well please. And you're gonna be out of there before you can snap a single shot and you will NEVER be back. These people are NOT playing, and typing with all caps ain't gonna impress them one bit.
You obviously know absolutely NOTHING and all you can manage is to spit on the ones that are out there 24/7 doing everything they can POSSIBLY do, and those giving as much financial support as they possibly can? Goodbye!
Reveille,Paymaster and Montezuma herd areas are what BLM has lumped together in their shellgame of words as Tonapah, Tonapah has a heliostat project, mining expansion, 1.5 billion dollar stimulus bill attached......to name a few. I'd say we know why only 3 horses & 10 burros can live on 880,000 or so acres of land that was designated for them. Even though BLM it self and two other governement agencies agree that BLM has no scientific integrity policy at all. Your descriptions were so accurate as usual and theater of war was chillingly accurate.
We CAN all do something. Salazar is the man behind all of this. ALL of us - thousands and thousands of us MUST call his offices every single day until the BLM understands we are not going away and we will Not rest until they stop rounding up and confining our horses.
Put ot on your calender. Every day call Salazar in Washington - every single day until he stops the madness.
It is total madness and I find it hard to understand why something can't be done. There are a lot of questions that go unanswered and as American taxpayers, we have a right to know and should demand answers! To allow them to just go out there and round up our wild horses and burros, under such horrifying situations, is totally unacceptable. Do they really call this LAND management?! Where are all the Animal Rights Groups and Wildlife Organizations that are suppose to care and have compassion for our animals? That's what I would like know! Disgusting!!!!
The BLM is a government agency. You can't just walk up to them and demand answers. They will turn you away. They will send you to their web site for "official" information. They will lie to you to get you to leave them alone. The American taxpayers have the right to answers but if a government agency won't answer, it takes another arm of government to force them to do right. That is why we are writing our congressmen, the president, governors and other officials. We are supporting those who are filing law suits to make the BLM comply with the law. We are getting the stories out to the news media so more uninformed animal lovers can join our fight. If you find an animal rights group who doesn't support our cause, contact them and demand to know why. We are fighting an uphill battle. The more people who know about this and contact their congressmen demanding a solution the faster we will get results. Don't just sit back and ask why. Call your political leaders every day and demand a stop to the roundups. Don't post your outrage here unless you follow it up with calls to your congressmen and then educate your friends and neighbors to do the same. Be part of the solution.
Keep calling everyone...drive them crazier than they already are!!!!
I have to admit, I am one of those people that have sadly given up on believing that anyone in the government will ever listen to us. As I write this, however, I am feeling the fight being renewed. The entire country focuses on how far in debt we are and they use health care ane unemployment as the main reason for that debt. I am going to begin researching the cold, hard facts ~ how MUCH are these round ups costing the tax payers? Fits with the issue of worthless and pointless animal testing. We don't already know that radiation can cause cancer or kill yet we are still using our tax dollars to pay for that as well. Thank you for renewing my fight!
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