Thanks to great teamwork, the future for the four Fish Springs wild horse families who were removed from their homes on the range by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) late last year is looking bright!
It took a village — and a coordinated bidding strategy in the BLM's online auction, which ended yesterday — to secure these cherished horses. The American Wild Horse Campaign was…
Our team put together some of the most striking photos from this past month – ones that made us smile, and others that remind us why we work so hard to protect these icons every day.
Mustangs in their winter coats on the Virginia Range in Nevada, where our fertility control program is in its tenth month with over 830 wild mares inoculated with the PZP vaccine. Learn more about our program here.
AWHC joined with the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group this month to advocate for construction of a wildlife overpass for the famed Salt River wild horses in AZ. Learn more here.
Friend of AWHC and photographer, Mary Hone captured a series of photos of a wild burro youngster living her best life out on our public lands in California. Check out the series here. (Credit: Mary Hone Fine Art).
Just captured wild horses from the Eagle Herd Management Area in Nevada arrive at BLM holding pens in good body condition, despite winter conditions and BLM claims of overpopulation and starvation. Read more here.
Wild horses have long been misrepresented as a non-native invasive species, but respected scientists are working to change that narrative. Learn more about wild horses as a native species here.
Earlier this month, the Congress gave the green light to accelerate roundups in the West, which could result in as many as 20,000 wild horses being removed from public lands in 2020.
This comes at a time when the Acting Director of the Bureau of Land Management is describing mustangs and burros as an ‘existential threat’ to the survival of public lands…. Even though wild horses aren’t even on 88% of those lands! We know what this scapegoating of wild horses will mean if we don’t stop it.
Many of you have reached out and asked why don’t we sue to stop this? Well, the answer is we are!
90% of the suits our legal team files we win — and our ongoing litigation is one of the most important ways we’re fighting back and setting legal precedents to defend America’s wild horses and burros.
California: AWHC successfully prevented the U.S. Forest Service from significantly reducing the size of the Devil’s Garden Wild Horse Territory in California — One of the largest in the state.
Nevada: AWHC filed suit to challenge the BLM’s decision to permanently remove all wild horses from the Caliente Herd Area in Nevada without considering any reductions to domestic livestock in the area.
Oregon: AWHC sued the BLM in order to stop proposed cruel sterilization surgeries on wild mares. The court granted our request for an injunction, causing the BLM to cancel the experiments.
Utah: AWHC successfully defended wild horses in Utah from a rancher lawsuit that sought the removal of thousands of wild horses from public lands.
Wyoming: AWHC successfully intervened and successfully petitioned the court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the State of Wyoming on behalf of in-state ranchers seeking the forcible removal of thousands of wild horses.
In Nevada’s Virginia Range, AWHC operates the world’s largest humane management program for wild horses and burros. The cornerstone of this highly successful program is the remote darting of wild mares with the scientifically proven fertility vaccine known as ‘PZP’.
No need for roundups, expensive and crowded holding corrals, or risky sterilization surgeries. And do you want to know how much it costs for a single mare’s annual PZP vaccine?
$30.
Compare that to the tens of thousands of dollars the Bureau of Land Management spends on the roundup, long-term holding, and contractor fees involved in the removal of a single horse.
Let alone the $5 BILLION figure the Acting Director of the BLM is citing as the cost of a plan to round up over 100,000 horses from public lands over the next decade.
At the beginning of the 1970s, our country came together to prevent the extinction of America’s mustangs.
Congress recognized that wild horses were “fast disappearing” and at one point, the wild horse population in Nevada fell below 4,000 (for reference: Nevada is home to the majority of wild horses today).
Thanks to years of activism and public pressure, Congress unanimously (!) passed the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 to save these American icons.
But right now, in 2019, the future of America’s wild horses and burros is once again in jeopardy.
The Bureau of Land Management could remove as many as 20,000 wild horses from public lands next year. At the same time, the livestock industry and two large animal welfare groups that sold out the interests of wild horses are lobbying in favor of a plan that would bring mustang populations to near-extinction levels over the next decade.
Our passionate volunteers, skilled attorneys and lobbyists, and incredible staff are taking a monumental stand in 2020 to defend the future of wild horses and burros against this threat.
If you’re like me, the news that Congress is going to give the Bureau of Land Management $21,000,000 to round up as many as 20,000 wild horses next year broke my heart.
My name is Deb Walker and I’m the Nevada Field Representative for AWHC. In these moments of heartbreak and hardship, it’s important we remember why we’re in this fight and why we should continue to have hope.
For me, this is personal
When I was younger, I experienced my first glimpse of wild horses in Owyhee above Elko, Nevada. My dad and I were absolutely in awe watching the horses.
When I grew older, my husband and I made a habit of visiting northern Nevada to see wild horses (from a respectable distance). Every Thanksgiving, I would gather my camera, grab a coffee, and head out to go see them.
Fast forward to when I approached retirement from the Air Force. My husband asked me where I would like to go and retire. For me, that decision was easy: I wanted to retire in northern Nevada where I could live as close to wild horses as possible.
And it’s what ultimately motivated me to work with AWHC as its Nevada Field Representative.
What I do
I think my dad, who recently passed, would certainly approve of my work. I want my two daughters and my three grandchildren to have these experiences and make the same memories with the horses like I did.
That’s why the news about Congress giving the green light to accelerate roundups next year just motivates me to work harder. As the Nevada Field Representative, I get to work with a team of incredible volunteers in the largest humane management program for wild horses in the entire world.
Since April, our team administered more than 1,200 PZP fertility treatments to wild horses — that’s almost double the number the BLM, with its $80-million-a-year program budget, did in an entire year!
Together, we’re proving that there is a more humane and cost-effective way to manage wild horse populations that does NOT require roundups or risky sterilization surgeries.
That’s why, despite this week’s disappointing news, I am hopeful about what we can accomplish together for our wild horses and burros in the New Year.
Thank you for being a part of our AWHC family,
Deb Walker
Nevada Field Representative
American Wild Horse Campaign
As the dust settles on the Fiscal Year 2020 spending agreement reached by Congress this week, we wanted you to know that the fight is far from over and that there will be ample opportunities for us to defend wild horses and burros in the New Year.
We also want to highlight two significant positives that were included in the spending bill that are a direct result of your advocacy and leadership from key officials in Congress.
Congress attached strings to the $21 million budget increase for the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program
The spending bill states that the additional funding will not be made available until 60 days after BLM submits a report to Congress detailing its plan for future wild horse management. This is a direct result of alarm bells raised by House Natural Resources Committee Chair Raul Grijalva, Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Chair Deb Haaland and ten of their colleagues about increasing the agency’s budget by nearly 30% without following proper oversight channels.
While we remain disappointed that Congress awarded the BLM millions more tax dollars without strict requirements to prevent BLM from using all the funds to round up and sterilize wild horses, this new provision is a significant improvement over previous versions of the spending bill. It gives the House committee with oversight over the BLM — the Natural Resources Committee — a chance to scrutinize the plan and, potentially, take steps to rein in the BLM, before funding is authorized.
Huge thanks for this major development goes to Grijalva, Haaland, Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler, and their colleagues who formed this bipartisan effort to protect our wild horses and burros by signing a letter to request proper oversight.
Forest Service Wild Horse and Burro Slaughter Ban
Another positive development in the FY 2020 spending bill is language that prohibits the U.S. Forest Service from destroying healthy wild horses and burros and selling them for slaughter. Previously, Congress prohibited the BLM from lethal management of wild horses and burros, but the ban did not extend to the Forest Service, which manages a much smaller but still significant number of federally-protected wild horses and burros in the West.
The expanded prohibition is a direct response to the Forest Service’s threat to sell California wild horses for slaughter and a result of the leadership of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein — a long time champion of horse welfare — and U.S. Reps. Ted Lieu, Dina Titus, Grijalva, and California State Assemblymember Todd Gloria who worked with AWHC to pass legislation to improve protections for California’s horses from slaughter.
Everyone who contacted their elected officials over this past year to seek protections for our cherished wild horses and burros should take a moment to appreciate the fact that our grassroots advocacy is working. Although this work is a marathon, not a sprint, and there are disappointments along the way, we are making progress on the road to saving America’s iconic wild herds.
So, as we fire up our legislative and legal teams for the challenges ahead, we want to thank you for staying strong and committed. You are the key ingredient to our successful advocacy for our wild horses and burros, and together, we remain the last line of defense between these beloved animals and their destruction.
Yesterday, the House and Senate unveiled an agreement on the fiscal year 2020 spending legislation. The final bill rejects the efforts of bipartisan lawmakers to prevent federal funds from being allocated toward cruel sterilization surgeries and accelerated roundups.
The vast majority of Americans, from both parties, oppose these surgeries and roundups.
But, this bipartisan effort to protect wild horses and burros was rejected in favor of a backroom deal cut by Washington D.C. lobbyists for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the Humane Society of the U.S., the ASPCA, and Return to Freedom that seeks federal funding for the roundup of as many as 20,000 wild horses and burros from our public lands next year.
This week marks the 48th anniversary of the signing of the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, and the spending bill unveiled yesterday marks a sweeping and unparalleled betrayal of these beloved and iconic animals by groups that say they want to protect them.
But we’re not giving up! The words of then-President Nixon in his signing statement for the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act stand as true today as they did in 1971.
“Wild horses and burros merit man’s protection historically … as a matter of ecological right–as anyone knows who has ever stood awed at the indomitable spirit and sheer energy of a mustang running free.”
Then, as today, the American people stand firmly on the side of protecting America’s majestic public horses and the public lands they live on.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY:
Arm yourself with the facts. The groups that are behind this devastating funding bill are using deceptive language to justify their actions. Learn the truth by clicking here.
We have terrible news. 15 more wild horses from Fish Springs have lost their freedom, and the community is heartbroken. Beloved and well-known stallions, Rocky, Shadow and Rusty, and their families are no longer free and are incarcerated in BLM holding pens near Reno joining Samson and his family.
Worse, the BLM refuses to hear the will of the people and is intending to leave the…
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is currently conducting a roundup at the Desatoya Mountain Herd Management Area located approximately 77 miles east of Fallon, Nevada.
The BLM plans on permanently removing 431 wild horses from the area with the intention of leaving just 127 in the herd (leaving one horse per 1,273 acres of public land). Our field representative was on the ground and joined local advocates in warning the BLM to properly flag ALL barbed wire fencing to prevent scared wild horses from colliding with it.
Our warnings were not heeded and terrified wild horses fleeing helicopters crashed through multiple barbed wire fences as a result.
This is just further proof that these roundups are unnecessarily cruel (and entirely unnecessary)!
AWHC’s field representatives are sometimes the only eyes, ears, and oversight on the site of roundups throughout the West. But AWHC does more than just document these roundups, our legal counsel just filed a complaint with the BLM over this recurrent problem and we intend to hold the agency accountable.
We’re also working to make roundups a thing of the past by demonstrating that there are safer, far more humane and cost-effective ways to manage wild horse populations (in fact, we’re implementing the world’s largest humane management program for wild horses right here in Nevada).
We know these photos are heartbreaking and the news of these roundups can be disheartening. But we can’t lose hope — When we lose hope, our wild horses lose their voice and their chance to live in peace in the wild.
With a heavy heart, we have sad news to share with you.
The Bureau of Land Management set up a trap outside the Fish Springs Herd Area near Gardnerville, Nevada to remove wild horses over the Thanksgiving holiday. Unfortunately, an entire family of wild horses lost their freedom as a result. Two treasured stallion brothers and four generations gone in a flash.
This is Samson.
Samson is a beautiful and respected stallion, known and loved by the local community — And known internationally among the tens of thousands of people who keep up with him and his fellow Fish Springs horses on Facebook.
After being caught in the trap, Samson and his family were loaded onto trailers and shipped to BLM holding pens near Reno. Soon the family could be separated by the BLM and sold off to the highest bidder.
We know Samson and his family belong together and deserve to be free. That’s why we’re organizing a national petition drive to keep them together and return them to the wild.
Samson’s family includes his brother Jet, and his mares Old Momma, her daughter Apple, Apple’s daughter Dumplin’ and Dumplin’s baby little Sam (pictured together below). Old Momma has been on the Fish Springs Range for more than 20 years and wants to go home.
They lost their freedom because one resident called the BLM to formally complain about these wild horses on his property.
The local community pressure was enormous, calling on the resident to remove the trap, which he finally did.
The very person who called in the complaint with the BLM regrets doing so and wants Samson and his family to stay together on their home range in Fish Springs.
P.S. — The BLM’s removal of Samson and his family shows, once again, the heartlessness of this agency’s wild horse and burro management policies. Please consider supporting our work to fight these policies and keep wild horses and burros in the wild by making a donation (every dollar makes a difference in this critical fight!)
AAE is so thankful for you! Your support and generosity on #GivingTuesday is so appeciated!
Without you, we would not be able to continue our mission to Rescue, Rehabilitate and Rehome.
Thank you for all you do!
Did you know that giving isn’t limited to a single day? Let #givingtuesday be the start of your giving campaign!
There are more giving opportunities in the month of December as we continue to help horses! Your support means the world to horses in need! We can’t do it without you!
Thank you from the all of us at AAE.
It’s been a busy year and you’ve made this world a better place for some lucky horses this year.
Join us as we share 31 stories that show how you helped horses in 2019.
We hope you enjoy these stories as we count down to 2020!
Your support this month will help us prepare for another year of helping horses by
Texas, Big & Rich came to AAE in January 2019 after abandonment on a large (400-acre) property in Placer County eight years ago. Sadly, these guys have a long history of failures after once roaming free.
Our understanding these mustangs came to a rescue in California in 2009 after removal from a neglect situation at another rescue in Nebraska. These are three-strike mustangs; they had three failed adoption attempts while at BLM. Long story short, in 2011, they were part of a group of 10 placed on a beautiful 400-acre foster property. The foster was asked to remove the horses after failing to provide the promised care. When they returned to remove the group of 10, they were unable to load these three and left them behind, never to return for them. Texas, Big & Rich lived on the foster property for years, until it was recently sold. Sadly, these boys lost eight years of prime time, and according to their brands, they are all 16 years old. Little is known about prior handling/training, but these guys were feral; none of the three were halterable at the time we picked them up.
Fortunately, picking up was straight forward. The fosters had set-up a round pen, and fed the horses in the roundpen to get them used to coming in. We setup a long loading chute from the roundpen to the trailer. The pick up was anything but difficult; actually, the hardest part was managing the panels with only one truck/trailer.
The loading was the easy part….literally seconds from the time the roundpen was opened until the horses were in the trailer. Think about the intake process and the hidden costs that most people don’t consider when thinking about the costs associated with rescuing horses: one trip to visit/evaluate the horses (three hours volunteer time), one trip to deliver and setup the panels (three hours onsite plus time hitching up, loading panels, fueling vehicle, ranch help unloading and setting up), one trip to load/pick-up the horses (three hours plus time for hitch-up, ranch help, an hour waiting on roadside for road service while truck was stuck in 4WD, return/unload, intake), and another trip to pickup the panels (three hours times two plus unloading). Add the gas and wear and tear on the truck and trailer. This was only the beginning of the journey with three feral mustangs that have already had failed placements a multitude of times. Consider prepping for hoof, dental, and vet care after eight years of none. Volunteer hours upon hours.
Fortunately, these boys were in relatively good health, except for Tex, who had foundered. There was much work yet to do!
Tex responded well to re-learning about human touch and haltering, and we were able to get radiographs and a farrier on his hooves. Thankfully, after several rounds of trimming, shoes, and ongoing hoof care, he’s done very well.
Tex and Rich were quite bonded. Well, Rich was extremely timid, fearful, and reactive. He found his confidence in Tex. Tex, on the other hand, had a sweet blend of curious with a bit o’ confidence. Where you found one, you found the other. It was hard on Rich when Tex was away for farrier care or other work. Unlike most mustangs, Rich was irrationally reactive, explosive, over the top. With the slightest of pressure, he would lose his mind. How I wish we knew what this lil’ guy had experienced; well, maybe not :( Rich did much better when he and Tex joined the herd in our “pasture” (10-acre dry lot). He interacted with the other horses and found solace with a couple of the girls. Sadly, his separation anxiety was so extreme, he tried to challenged a farm gate during feeding time to get to one of his girls, and he injured himself. Fortunately, we had made some progress with haltering, we were able to halter and sedate him for veterinary treatment (thanks to the team at Loomis Basin Equine Medical Center), and his wounds healed with barely a scar.
It was very apparent the human world was simply way too much for Rich. His fear and reactivity far outweighed a safe existence for him and his human friends at AAE. We were very fortunate to find a sanctuary home for Rich and his BFF, Tex.
That leaves Big. While Tex and Rich were winding down their stay at AAE, Big graduated and took a little vacay to enhance his learning as a project horse for a student at the Monty Roberts International Learning Center . Big was a favorite. (Consider the transport time and costs, as well as the student and instructor time, care costs, plus).
Big is a very willing and has a very kind soul. That being said, he is reactive and a long way to go in becoming a confident, trusting partner, but charming he is!
Big needs his own person that is very experienced with mustangs. He gives nicely to pressure, and he accepts touching around his neck, chest and withers more readily than his face, but he will tolerate facial and forehead rubs. At AAE, his human time is divided among the many horses here. He really needs his very own dedicated person to give him daily, consistent handling to continue his progress. Big has an adorable “dork” factor with his charming eyes, head tilts, and generally goofy expressions. You can’t help but fall in love with this guy. At 16, he’s probably best suited as a fun companion for lots of liberty work. He’s not going to be “easy” to develop into a trustworthy riding partner, but never say never. The right person is just what he needs. Someone calm, quiet, and confident, that knows how to develop trust and confidence and continue progress.
Big is available for adoption. He is current with hoof and dental care, as well as vaccines and deworming. He has a microchip in place. He is NOT suitable for a beginner or anyone without significant experience gentling mustangs.
As you can see, the time, effort, and dedication it takes to rescue is much more than a quick pick up and rehome. It takes hours upon hours of volunteer time and a lot of equipment and financial resources to accomplish just one rescue like Texas, Big and Rich. Your support makes it possible for horses like these three to have another chance for a happy, healthy life. Thank you!
If you’d rather mail a check, please make check payable to
“All About Equine Animal Rescue, Inc.” and send to
2201 Francisco Dr. #140-174
El Dorado Hills, CA 95762
We’ve Extended Our Hours!
Check out our facebook page for pop-up hours and specials!
Proceeds from the store support AAE operations.
If you’d like to donate tack or join the volunteer team at the store, please send us an email.
New Volunteer Needs
As many of you know, we’ve been trying to expand store hours.
TACK STORE SUPPORT:
We need a second person (no experience necessary) to help staff the store on Tuesday, Wednesday, and/or Thursday afternoons, 2p-6p, can you help?
If you’re interested in helping with tack store activities (e.g. cleaning donated tack, researching/pricing, organizing, helping customers, sharing AAE info, admin support, and more), we need you.
Current store hours are Fri-Mon 12-4p, and recently added Thurs hours 2-6p.
We can always use help during any of the current hours, too.
Please email us if you are interested/available Tues, Wed, or Thurs afternoons, 2-6p.
ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT:
If you are available to help with administrative activities, we are creating admin hours in the office at the store.
We have a variety of administrative tasks we need help getting done.
Please email us if you are interested/available Tues, Wed, or Thurs afternoons, 2p-6p.
BOOTS & BLING 2020
We have kicked off our Boots & Bling planning for 2020.
The event has included a catered BBQ Dinner, DJ Music and Dancing, Live/Silent/Dessert auctions,
a special fundraiser, and line dancing with instruction.
We need help in most areas for planning for this event to make sure its a huge success for AAE and our horses.
Please email us if you are interested in helping with Boots & Bling.
We meet once a month until the event.
SPECIAL PROJECTS AROUND THE BARN
Maybe you’d like to help around the barn, but don’t want to work directly with the horses, or you don’t like to muck?
We could use some help cleaning and organizing, whether it’s the feed room, the meds room, the office, the tools, groundskeeping, painting shelters, monitoring the fencelines, tree trimming, coordinating vehicle maintenance, or a zillion other things.
There’s so much that needs to be done, and
we could use some extra hands to help keep things looking nicer and more clean.
Please email us if you are interested/available during regular barn shifts,
Mon-Sat 8a-noon, Sun 9a-1p or afternoons 3p-6p.
Daily Horse Care, especially pm shifts needed now
(Daily 8a-12p or 3p-6p)
Used Tack Store Support, all areas
(Fri – Mon, 12-4p)
Barn/Facility Maintenance
Foster Homes, Long-Term Foster/Sanctuary Homes
Capital Campaign Support
Board Members
Fundraising/Events
Grants – Writing and Research
Volunteer, Project, and Activity Coordinators
Outreach Activities
Youth Programs
Therapy Programs
Veteran Programs
Special Projects
Admin Support
Marketing
Graphics
Social Media
Bloggers
Photographers
Media and/or Photo Librarian
More, more, more
Interested in volunteering or volunteering in other areas?
AWHC has an incredible team of staff, specialists and volunteers across the country working to keep America’s wild horses and burros wild.
The Bureau of Land Management is trying to convince Congress that mass roundups and surgical sterilization of wild horses are the only solutions to managing America’s wild horse and burro population. With the capitulation of the ASPCA, HSUS and Return to Freedom to the livestock industry agenda, we’re the last ones standing fighting for the future of wild herds.
Make no mistake: the scale of the removals proposed — a staggering 130,000 wild horses and burros over the next ten years — will result in both the destruction of wild horses and burro populations in the wild and the mass slaughter of those held in captivity.
AWHC is fighting back hard, in Congress, in the courts and in the field where we’re implementing humane management programs to prove that wild horses and burros can be managed without harming them.
We’re officially one week away from #GivingTuesday, which is one of the largest days for charitable giving in the United States for the entire year. Our ability to hit our annual fundraising goal at the end of the year depends on having a successful #GivingTuesday.
Here’s Why We Need Your Help: Over the past weeks, we’ve been sharing the news with you. The BLM outlined a $5 billion plan that could result in the removal and potential wholesale slaughter of America’s wild horse population in our lifetimes.
The Congress is currently considering giving the BLM more money to accelerate roundups and begin implementation of the plan. This is the biggest threat to mustangs and wild burros in generations and it could begin early next year — Which means we’re in a fight for their lives in 2020.
Our 2020 budget and the extent to which we can fight back (and expand our work in critical areas!) depends on reaching our end of year fundraising goal. And the only way we can achieve that is if we can bring on 5,000 individual donations on #GivingTuesday.
This is an ambitious goal, we know. But the stakes have never been higher and with your help, we will rise to the occasion.
Together, we are unstoppable,
American Wild Horse Campaign
P.S. — If you can’t donate, we completely understand. But there’s a way you can help us out without giving a cent. Share this email with three friends to help us spread the word and recruit more friends of America’s wild horses and burros!
“Zero wild horses.” That is the Appropriate Management Level the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) set for the Seaman and White River Herd Areas (HAs) in Nevada.
As a result, the BLM rounded up and removed 294 wild horses from these HAs this month with 9 dead. AWHC asked the BLM to delay any action until the court ruled in our Caliente Complex lawsuit about the legality of such a decision.
The BLM proceeded, until they halted the roundup because most of the horses were at higher elevations in the juniper forests where the helicopters couldn’t get them. The BLM says it will resume in January when the temperatures drop and the horses come down to lower ground. The BLM did allow public observation during this month’s roundup and most days, our observer was the only member of the public onsite to document and monitor the operation.
We are the eyes and ears on the ground. If it weren’t for that lone AWHC field representative, the public wouldn’t have insight, nor the BLM accountability, regarding this roundup — and many others.
Below Are Photos Our Observer Took During The Seaman and White River Roundup:
These photos are heartbreaking. Wild horses deserve to be free and live in the wild. That’s why it is critical we continue to observe, document and report on the atrocities the BLM is committing, while continuing to fight in the courts, in Congress and in the field to stop the roundups and implement humane management.
Four months. It’s been nearly four months since the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) passed the deadline to submit a report to Congress regarding the future of the Wild Horse and Burro Program.
Despite that, the Acting Director of the BLM has made time to serve the interests of his former clients and piece together a propaganda campaign in support of a $5 billion plan that will likely end with the slaughter of America’s wild horses.
This comes at a time when Congress is considering allocating more money to the Wild Horse and Burro Program without even seeing the BLM’s critical report!
We’re not the only ones fed up with this. Seven members of Congress are teaming up to demand the BLM issue this report ASAP since they missed the latest deadline.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced its decision to round up and permanently remove ALL wild horses from the Caliente Herd Area (HA) Complex in Nevada.
It should come as no surprise that the BLM did not consider reductions to domestic livestock in the same area before announcing its intention to eradicate the Caliente Complex mustangs. This comes as the Acting Director of the BLM has repeatedly sided with private livestock owners over the lives of wild horses.
But this decision is different from authorizing a standalone roundup — The BLM decision would eradicate mustangs in eight of the nine Herd Management Areas (HMAs) in the Caliente Complex.
That’s why AWHC joined with The Cloud Foundation (TCF) and Western Watersheds Project (WWP) to sue the BLM and stop them.
Under federal law, mustangs are one of two animals in our country specifically protected by an Act of Congress. The bald eagle is the other. As part of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, wild horse populations must be managed to maintain “a thriving natural ecological balance.”
1 ) By refusing to protect wild horses or give full consideration to the long term impacts of this wild horse wipeout plan, the BLM deprived the American people of the opportunity to assess and respond to the rationale underlying this major decision.
2 ) Additionally, the BLM must consider reasonable alternatives short of the outright elimination of wild horses in these HMAs. By refusing to consider a reduction in livestock grazing, the BLM is violating the National Environmental Policy Act , its mandate to protect wild horses under the 1971 Wild Horse Act.
3 ) Remember — more than 500% more BLM land is authorized for livestock than for wild horses and burros in the West, and many of these private livestock owners benefit from as much as half a billion dollars annually in taxpayer subsidies. The claims of wild horse “overpopulation” by the BLM are false, further evidenced by the fact that wild horses are not found on 88% of BLM lands.
That’s why AWHC’s legal team is suing. Our suit regarding the Caliente Complex was just fully briefed on summary judgment, meaning it is officially moving forward at a time when the threat of slaughter is once again looming large.
The Bureau of Land Management is moving fast — This past week alone the BLM concluded a roundup in the Challis Herd Management Area (HMA) in central Idaho and announced that the agency will be moving forward with a plan to reduce the size of the wild horse and burro population in the Twin Peaks HMA in northeast California by 80% over the next 10 years.
Challis Roundup: 295 Wild Horses Captured
The BLM forcibly removed 295 wild horses from the Challis HMA between Nov. 5 and Nov. 11 as part of the Idaho roundup. This week the agency is expected to complete a census flight to determine how many wild horses will be returned to the 169,000-acre area.
The vast majority of the wild horses removed from these public lands will not be returned to the wild. Many will spend their lives in the BLM’s holding facilities, or worse, face being killed or sold for slaughter if Congress pulls the plug on funding for their long-term care.
We can expect the roundups to be greatly accelerated if the Senate approves the $5 billion plan, pushed by the livestock industry and BLM’s Acting Director, which would reduce wild horse populations in the West to near extinction levels.
You can read more about the Challis Roundup in this article from the Idaho Statesman here.
Twin Peaks HMA: BLM Officially Moves to Reduce Herd Size
The BLM recently released its management plan for the wild horses and burros of the Twin Peaks HMA — Including future helicopter roundups and fertility control over the next ten years.
According to the Sierra Sun Times: “This plan calls for several approaches, including using helicopter drive trapping, bait-and-water trapping and fertility control to reduce the herd … over ten years.”
While AWHC supports using fertility control, we do not support the drastic reduction in herd sizes for wild horses and burros in this HMA.
Nearly 90% of the existing wild burro population will be removed over ten years, leaving just 72 animals on the range and destroying the genetic health of this herd.
For the Twin Peaks wild horses the plan is almost as bad: reduce the herd by 80% and release castrated stallions (geldings) onto the range, a move that will take the wild out of these wild horses by destroying their natural behaviors. AWHC has a pending case at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that will determine whether or not the BLM can release geldings onto the range before its research into the impacts of the procedure on wild horses is completed.
Acting BLM Director William Perry Pendley’s recent declaration of wild horses as the top existential threat to public lands (even though wild horses aren’t on 88% of BLM land!) and his claim that it will cost $5 billion to “solve” the wild horse “problem” is the culmination of a years-long propaganda war against mustangs and burros.
The war is being waged by the commercial livestock industry, which seeks virtual eradication of these cherished animals in order to maximize taxpayer-subsidized grazing of privately-owned cattle and sheep on public lands.
This anti-mustang propaganda war was boosted recently with the capitulation of the Humane Society of the U.S., ASPCA and Return to Freedom to the cattlemen’s mass mustang roundup agenda.
With that in mind, your team at AWHC has been fighting back hard — from the battleground of Nevada to the seat of power in Washington DC — and we want to share some of our most recent work with you today.
Fighting Back at Ground Zero in the Wild Horse War: Nevada
On October 23, we organized a high-profile press conference with Nevada business leaders and a leading conservationist to counter the anti-wild horse messaging at a screening later that evening of the propaganda film “Horse Rich Dirt Poor.”
Well known real estate developer and Storey County Commissioner Lance Gilman and Erik Molvar, Executive Director of the Western Watersheds Campaign, struck back forcefully against the scapegoating of wild horses and in favor of protecting these iconic animals on public lands in the West. Read more about this highly successful event here.
Defending Wild Horses & Burros in Washington, DC
AWHC teamed up with our colleagues at Animal Wellness Action and The Cloud Foundation to hold a briefing on Capitol Hill for Congressional staff to discuss the mass roundup plan and its true cost to American taxpayers and the wild horses and burros we cherish. In one of the most successful Hill briefings ever, 35 staffers showed up to learn more about this issue that is obviously of concern to so many of their constituents. You can read more about this event here.
At the same time and a few miles away, the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board was meeting — with AWHC staff in attendance to ensure that your voices were represented and heard.
Throughout the meeting, BLM officials and most advisory board members expressed their utter disdain for public opinion, which they dismissed as being “emotional” and “uneducated.” It’s clear where the public stands on the mass roundup and surgical sterilization plan, as our most recent polling documents. At the meeting, we made sure that the voice of the people was not ignored.
While we’re battling on the national front, AWHC is investing significant resources to protect locally cherished herds and support humane management programs.
From the Virginia Range — where our darters have delivered more fertility control treatments to wild horses in six months than the entire BLM did last year — to the Onaqui Mountains in Utah, where we’re helping the BLM and the Wild Horses of America Foundation expand an existing fertility control program, to the Salt River in Arizona where we work closely with the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group, we’re working every day to keep wild horses wild and prove that humane management work.
You won’t want to miss our latest updates from the field here.
William Perry Pendley, the Acting Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced this week that it would cost the taxpayers $5,000,000,000.00 to clear public lands of wild horses.
Pendley knows exactly what he’s doing. By putting an outrageously high price tag on humane management of wild horses and burros, he’s laying the groundwork to make the case that non-lethal management of wild horses is too expensive and that slaughter is the only option.
Just last week, Pendley labeled wild horses an “existential threat” to public lands in America, even though wild horses aren’t even present on 88% of BLM lands.
Pendley’s goal is to divert attention away from the commercial industries, including livestock grazing, that are the true “existential” threats to public lands, while simultaneously securing funding from Congress for unprecedented mass wild horse and burro roundups.
Pendley is executing a sophisticated propaganda campaign against wild horses. Phase 1 was to establish a fake crisis of wild horse overpopulation. That has largely been achieved with the HSUS, ASPCA and Return to Freedom capitulation to the livestock industry agenda of reducing wild horse and burro populations to near extinction levels.
Phase 2, to convince Congress that non-lethal management of wild horses is too expensive, is now underway.
This represents the greatest threat to the survival of wild horses and could result in their extinction. We need to organize and fight back like never before.
