Action Alert: Four days to defend the freedom of 2,000 wild horses in Oregon
The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:
News & Alerts
We’ve got less than a week to spring into action if we want to weigh in on plans that will affect nearly 2,000 wild horses in the state of Oregon.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) have both proposed wild horse management plans to target four different herds in the state that could, if they move forward without opposition, result in the removal of thousands of wild horses.
Action Alert #1: Stop the BLM from Removing 1,850 Horses From Three Herd Management Areas
Deadline: Monday, May 18th
The BLM is accepting public comments on a 10-year plan for three Herd Management Areas in Oregon’s Barren Valley Complex, covering nearly 1 million acres of public lands.
While the plan contains some encouraging components, including the implementation of humane, reversible fertility control before any roundups take place, it still calls for the removal of 1,850 wild horses over ten years.
Since the BLM has not prioritized roundups in this area for nearly a decade and the local BLM office has made an effort to utilize fertility control in local herds, this is a unique opportunity to support and expand fertility control programs to manage the horses humanely on the range.
Take Action: Urge the BLM to prioritize safe and humane fertility control over roundups in the Barren Valley Complex
Action Alert #2: Protect the Ochoco National Forest Horses
Deadline: Sunday, May 17th
At the same time, the U.S. Forest Service is targeting a wild horse herd in Oregon’s Big Summit Wild Horse Territory in the Ochoco National Forest.
The agency is seriously proposing an “Appropriate” Management Level (AML) for the area as low as 12 wild horses. That’s right, one dozen.
At the highest level, the AML would be 57 — that would translate to just one wild horse per nearly 500 acres of public land. Meanwhile, the Forest Service allows as many as 2,200 (!) privately owned sheep and lambs to graze there for periods of time, all at taxpayer expense.
In its Environmental Assessment (which is required by law), the Forest Service admitted that the Big Summit wild horses could be in genetic depression and reducing their numbers substantially, as they are proposing, will worsen this, threatening the future of this herd.
If that wasn’t bad enough, the Forest Service is also considering the use of dangerous sterilization procedures as a management tool for these protected wild horses.
Thank you for taking action. If you can also share this email with even one or two friends, you will help us build the response we need to defend thousands of wild horses in Oregon.
We are grateful for your support,
American Wild Horse Campaign