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Dissappointment Valley

October 21, 2010 9:57 AM / Leave a Comment

Zuma's Supports an End to Horse Slaughter....

Three simple things you can do for the Wild Mustangs! Please

August 27, 2010 12:58 PM / Leave a Comment

Obama Administration Accelerates Assault on Wild Horses

Mustangs saved at Zuma's

Three Simple Actions You Can Take To Help!

Largest Roundup Of Wild Horses In California’s History Underway
Act Today To Oppose Other Planned Roundups

On August 11, 2010 the Interior Department began the largest roundup of wild horses in California’s history. Nearly half of the 4,000 wild horses left in the state will be removed from their homes and families in the next few weeks. This devastating and unnecessary roundup began despite a lawsuit filed by In Defense of Animals (IDA) and others. We have a representative on the ground at the roundup and will provide an update on the IDA blog later this week.

Today we are asking you to take three actions to help wild horses. Congress and the Interior Department must continue to hear from you! Together we can change this broken system if we continue to fight the deeply-entrenched special interests which control the Interior Department’s management of our public lands and the wild horses who live there.

1. Speak Out Against The Zeroing Out Of All Wild Horses From The Winter Ridge Herd Area in Utah

Take action to oppose the removal of all horses at the Winter Ridge Herd Area in Utah. This is just the latest effort of the Interior Department to remove all wild horses from lands specifically designated for their usage – while allowing livestock grazing to continue on the same lands. Click here to submit comments:

https://secure2.convio.net/ida/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=1597&autologin=true&AddInterest=1028

2. Oppose Removal Of 321 Wild Horses From Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Area In Colorado

Oppose the Interior Department’s plan to remove the majority of wild horses in Colorado’s Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Area. The agency will only leave 135 horses on this 190,000-acre public land area, while allowing hundreds more livestock to graze the same public land! Click here to submit comments:

https://secure2.convio.net/ida/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1601

3. Summer Recess – Perfect Opportunity To Visit Your Senators And Representatives At Home Through September 12.

One of the best actions you can take to help wild horses and burros is to meet in-person with your Senators and Representative. Ask your members of Congress to stop the mismanagement of America’s wild horses and burros. Despite public opposition, the Interior Department continues the unsustainable practice of rounding up, removing and stockpiling wild horses in government holding facilities – this ill-conceived and unnecessary practice is bankrupting the American tax payer wasting tens of millions of tax dollars annually.

In the next eight weeks, the Interior Department plans to remove four-thousand wild horses, using helicopters to stampede them and removing them from their families and homes on public lands only to be stockpiled in government-holding facilities. Congress must step in to stop this.

Members of Congress are currently in their home districts on recess until September 12. This is a great opportunity to let your Senators and Representative know that you, their constituent, want them to take action to help America’s wild horses and to end horse slaughter.

Here’s what to do:

Call the district offices of your U.S. Representative and both U.S. Senators and:

1. Request a face-to-face meeting with both Senators and your Representative to discuss these issues (you may need to meet with one of their aides – try to meet with their chief of staff or lead aide on this issue);
2. Ask for specific dates of town hall meetings or open events that constituents can attend.

Find contact information for your elected officials click here. You’ll need to enter your zip code on that page to get your officials’ local contact info.

Learn more about the issues by reviewing briefing documents here.

Below are talking points for specifics on what to say to schedule your in-person meeting.

TALKING POINTS FOR MEETING WITH YOUR FEDERAL REPRESENTATIVES

1. Call the local offices to schedule a meeting.

Here’s a suggestion for what to say:

“Hello, I am a constituent of ____ and I would like to set up a meeting with him/her while he/she is home in our district to talk about wild horse protection issues. I’m also wondering if he/she has any town hall meetings coming up that I can let others know about.”

2. For your meeting, dress professionally, be friendly and polite. Here are some suggestions of what you can say to begin the meeting:

“Thank you for meeting with me. I am very concerned about our federal wild horse management program. Public opposition to the Interior Department’s massive wild horse roundups is growing. The roundups are unnecessary, inhumane and wasting tens of millions of tax dollars.

For the first time, we now warehouse more wild horses in government holding facilities (38,000+) than are left free on the range (less than 33,000). This stockpiling of horses costs taxpayers tens of millions of dollars annually. Even Interior Secretary Salazar acknowledges the program is unsustainable, yet BLM roundups continue with over 12,000 to be removed from the range this year alone. They have no solution to stop this broken cycle.

The problem is not overpopulation. Fewer than 33,000 horses live on 26 million acres of BLM-managed public land. The problem is inequitable distribution of resources within the small percentage of BLM lands that are designated as wild horse and burro areas. The majority of resources are allocated to privately-held livestock, not federally-protected wild horses.

The BLM has demonstrated repeatedly that it is not capable of reforming itself. It’s up to Congress to reform this broken federal program.”

3. Ask your Senators and Congresspersons to take the following actions:

1) Join the 56 House members who have called for a halt to roundups by sending a sign-on letter to Secretary Salazar.

2) Ensure Fiscal Year 2011 Appropriations language that:

*    Suspends wild horse and burro roundups in all but verifiable emergency situations;
*    Prohibits the use of any funds to euthanize healthy horses or sell horses directly or indirectly for slaughter;
*    Authorizes a National Academy of Sciences reevaluation of Appropriate Management Levels including analysis of resource allocation for livestock and other commercial uses;
*    Phases out long-term holding and shifts BLM resources toward managing horses on the range in a humane and minimally intrusive manner as Congress intended;
*    Rejects request for $42.5 million government “preserve;”
*    Funds public/private partnership solutions.

3) Co-sponsor the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act (H.R. 503/S. 727) to ban horse slaughter.

Please Call The White House~ Ask them to stop the round ups TODAY.

August 5, 2010 4:01 PM / Leave a Comment

Salazar Must Go

July 25, 2010 8:50 AM / Leave a Comment

SAVE MUSTANGS: http://www.wildhorsesneedyou.com

No Fences!

Washington, D.C. (July 23, 2010)—On July 21 the Colorado-based Cloud Foundation, Front Range Equine Rescue and author/advocate Carol Walker filed an amended complaint in Federal District Court to add the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to their current suit against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The suit challenges both agencies’ rejection of a Natural Management Approach for the herd and the planned construction of a two-mile long fence which would cut off the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Herd from crucial summer and fall grazing lands they’ve used for centuries. This small herd is the world’s most famous and the last remaining in Montana, sometimes called “Cloud’s herd” for the now-15-year old band stallion who TCF Director and plaintiff Ginger Kathrens has documented for the popular PBS Nature series. The herd traces its history back to the horses of the Spanish Conquistadors, the Lewis and Clark expedition horses, and Crow Indian War ponies. Plaintiffs contend that the USFS and BLM are engaging in illegal treatment of these federally-protected mustangs and that the Pryor Wild Horses are entitled to use lands in the Custer National Forest, currently not included in the designated range.

Plaintiffs in the litigation include Front Range Equine Rescue based in Larkspur, CO; Carol Walker, equine photographer and author of “Wild Hoofbeats: America’s Vanishing Wild Horses”; and Ginger Kathrens, Director of the Cloud Foundation and Emmy-Award winning producer with 16 years experience documenting and observing the Pryor Mountain herd.

“People value the whole spectacular Pryor ecosystem including this unique Spanish wild horse herd. Seeing the area fragmented by new fencing across pristine, wide-open meadows degrades the experience of visiting this area with true wilderness values,” states Kathrens. “Beyond the visual and environmental damage, it will compromise the future of Cloud’s globally-beloved herd. Forest Service should be working to set this area aside as a designated wilderness rather than working on how to build a bigger, stronger barrier to keep the Pryor horses from their rightful and essential high mountain meadows.”

Building the fence, cattle guard and gates would illegally confine horses to jurisdictional boundaries, restricting their natural and long-held seasonal pattern of use on East Pryor Mountain. Centuries old horse trails go straight through the line now flagged for construction of the fence, estimated to cost taxpayers between $25,000 and $100,000, not including USFS planning costs which, according to USFS, greatly exceed the cost of building the fence.

“The Forest Service has fought efforts to expand the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range to allow the herd to engage in their historical and seasonal migrations. Confining wild horse herds to smaller and smaller areas of the public lands lays the groundwork for more intrusive management and manipulation as the Forest Service and BLM contend that these animals will need to be removed from the wild for their own good,” states lead attorney, Valerie Stanley.

For a four-year period in the early 2000s the Pryor Herd was at zero population growth due to mountain lion predation on the foals, as well as the ever-present harsh winter weather and deadly lightning storms. The population of the herd increased only after BLM encouraged the killing of mountain lions.

“The public has overwhelmingly supported allowing the herd the opportunity to manage itself. Apparently, BLM and the Forest Service think Mother Nature can’t get along without them,” Stanley concludes.

Over 100 wild horses have been using the Custer National Forest this month, which constitutes the majority of the Pryor Mountain wild horses, of which less than 150 adults remain in the wild following a massive roundup in September 2009. The Custer National Forest has not explained how the wild horses would be driven them back into the designated horse range. At least two new foals were born last week on the mountaintop and more births are anticipated. Running these young mustangs is dangerous and inhumane and can be fatal as has been proven during recent BLM roundups in Nevada and Oregon.

The area immediately adjacent to the designated range is not currently allocated for livestock grazing, but the Cloud Foundation questions USFS motives in blocking horses from this public land. Actions by the USFS are based, not on damage by the horses to the ecosystem, but seemingly on complaints from livestock permittees. Plaintiffs wonder if USFS is arranging for the building of this fence to facilitate cattle grazing on what would be a new livestock allotment on scenic subalpine meadows used annually by wild horses, mule deer, black bears and an array of small animals in the summer and fall.

“Wild horses have used these Forest Service lands for centuries. BLM and Forest Service have so far failed to work together to expand the range, using natural boundaries which encompass the mustangs’ use area, for the good of the herd and the public that loves them,” explains Front Range Equine Rescue President/Founder, Hilary Wood.

Historically, BLM directed livestock permittees on public grazing land to round up wild horses by aircraft. Once captured, the wild horses were either killed and butchered on the range or were shipped live to meat packing plants. In 1968, a public outcry was launched, spurred by local residents and ABC reporter, author and TCF Honorary Board Member, Hope Ryden. Ryden’s discovery of plans to trap and remove the Pryor Horses despite BLM assertions to the contrary caused a national outcry. In response, then Secretary of the Interior Stuart Udall issued an Executive Order creating the first public range ever dedicated in the United States for the protection of wild horses. The 39,000-acre range was intended to protect the horses, other wildlife, and the natural state of the area. At the time, none of the Custer National Forest Service lands were included, as that was outside of Interior Secretary Udall’s jurisdiction.

“Treating the wild horses as if they are livestock by fencing them into one small section of their traditional use area will not just harm the mustangs, but also the public who can more easily access the Forest Service lands to experience a wildlife display unlike any in North America,” states plaintiff Carol Walker. “I don’t understand why the Forest Service would want to deprive the public from experiencing this kind of natural wild horse wilderness.”

“Wild horses need to be treated like wild horses—not livestock. Right now the public can easily access the Forest Service lands and experience a wildlife display unlike any other,” states plaintiff Carol Walker. “We want the Forest Service to immediately abandon plans to build the fence.”

How Many More of Americans Horses Have to Die for Oil and Cattle?

July 13, 2010 9:24 AM / Leave a Comment

BLM suspends NV horse gather after 7 animals die

By SANDRA CHEREB
Associated Press Writer

Published: Monday, Jul. 12, 2010 – 3:50 pm

Last Modified: Monday, Jul. 12, 2010 – 5:01 pm

CARSON CITY, Nev. — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management suspended a wild horse roundup in northeast Nevada on Monday after seven animals died of dehydration and another was shot when it broke its leg in a holding pen.

Animal rights activists were outraged, saying the outcome was predicable given the sweltering temperatures and helicopters used to gather the animals.

The BLM said the animals appeared in otherwise good shape when two groups were herded by helicopter to holding pens in northern Elko County on Saturday. But the roundup was halted Sunday morning after four horses were found dead in the pens and others showed signs of colic and brain swelling.

In all, seven died of what the BLM called dehydration and complications from “water intoxication” that can occur when dehydrated animals drink excessive amounts of water. The condition causes colic and brain swelling, the BLM said.

BLM Director Bob Abbey said the agency was committed to treating the animals humanely and that the roundup was suspended so “options for minimizing mortality of horses weakened by dehydration can be assessed.”

Ginger Kathrens, executive director of The Cloud Foundation, a Colorado-based wild horse advocacy group, called the BLM’s actions “disgusting.”

The horses “were run over volcanic rock by helicopter for mile after mile,” she told The Associated Press. “We’re talking about the hottest time of the year, the hottest month of the year. I’m not one bit surprised to hear that seven horses have died of dehydration. It’s what we’ve warned.”

The mustang deaths came two days after In Defense of Animals joined ecologist Craig Downer in filing an appeal to try to block the roundup in an area known as the Owyhee complex, three management areas covering 750 square miles north of Elko. The appeal argued the roundup should be postponed until after Aug. 15 because it would subject young foals and mares to life-threatening conditions.

The groups ramped up their criticism Monday.

“That the BLM refused to even postpone this roundup knowing full well the life-threatening nature of conducting them during the hot summer months in desert country is yet another example of this agency’s unwillingness to change,” said Todd Tucci, an attorney with Advocates for the West, a public interest law firm that filed last week’s appeal.

“The Interior Department must halt all summer roundups before other horses are subjected to similar inhumane treatment and conditions,” he said.

Heather Emmons, a BLM spokeswoman in Reno, said the water holes in the range had withered to mud puddles in recent weeks. She said an aerial survey showed some bands congregating around a dwindling hole, though other water was within migrating distance.

“That’s the hard part with wild horse behavior,” she said. “If they don’t migrate, look for something else, they’ll stand there and wait.”

The BLM said 32 horses were herded about a mile from a temporary holding corral, and another 196 were driven about eight miles.

Emmons said the animals would be kept at the temporary pens and given food and water until veterinarians determine they are stable.

The BLM had said it intends to remove up to 1,200 horses from the area.

All Systems That Are Symptom Based Fail ~ Treat The Cause NOT The Symptom

March 23, 2010 8:40 AM / Leave a Comment

It seems our SYSTEMS today, all of them are symptom based, which we all know treating the symptom of anything will never end the cause of the symptom. No this is not a riddle it is fact and a sad fact at that.

Here are some examples that we at Zuma’s face every day.

Symptom: Child abuse and neglect

Systems solution:

Remove child from home, diagnose child as if child is cause of abuse and neglect, medicate child, mandate that parents provide better living environment for child. re-evaluate situation with no family counseling or intervention.

Treat the symptom; neglected child… not the cause; bad parenting. Less than 10% success rate.

Zuma’s Solution:

Begin court mandated family experiential learning and quine assisted learning along with individual child behavior modification. Have paid facilitators move into family home to keep child safe.

If a family member poses real danger, have home under 24 hour police surveillance.

Work with the family not just the child mend the entire family. Less cost involved and less trauma to the child.Removing a child from his or her family is far too traumatic.

Symptom;

Perceived un-wanted horses population

System Solution; Horse Slaughter Plants in US or Horses in the wild rounded up into holding pens

Zuma’s Solution

Develop breeding licensing with fees high enough to cover the administration cost

Mandate all horses be registered with the state, create a medical horse history for each horse

Charge all horse owners and End of life Tax on all horses, this annual tax held by the state will follow the horse for its life time and be available to end the horses life humanely.

Mandate licensing of all stallions charge high fees for breeding stallions

Create a use tax for everything horse, this tax will be a state tax held to develop a humane end of life solutions for horses

Dart wild horse herd for birth control every three years manage the herd size to the land set aside for them.

As you see we at Zuma’s are cause based solution system- VS – the current system of treating symptoms

Given enough time our cause based system will cure the cause and there will be no more symptoms

Save Our Mustangs! Salazar is in the cattlemens pockets

February 13, 2010 7:12 AM / Leave a Comment

Could you betray these faces of innocence?

The current wild horse “gather” taking place in the Calico complex in northern Nevada needs to be placed in context with the overall BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program. Secretary Salazar’s announcement calls for major geographic relocation of wild horses and reforms to this Program.

There is no proposed reform for day to day management of wild horses, except to broaden the use of sterilization to control herd size. Sterilizing thousands of mares will not bring short term relief plaguing the wild horse program as it currently stands. Rather, it raises serious questions on the intent of the Secretaries’ reform. If the BLM continues to gather horses at this frightening and unprecedented rate, while dramatically reducing acreage for these protected animals while increasing sterilization, the genetic viability of our wild horse population will surely be at risk. Will the ability of the remaining wild horses to survive after having been so drastically “managed” still be plausible? Is the current agency’s approach based on scientific methods that will guarantee the wild horses will survive, as well as their genetic health? Or, are we on a path to witness the extinction of our Nation’s last wild horses?

BLM current projections are to gather 10,000 to 13,000 horses this year. These gathers will take place while the BLM has over 33,000 wild horses in captivity awaiting adoption or disposal to clear out the holding facilities which are needed for this year’s horse gathers. Where will the agency put 46,000 captive horses, and at what cost to horses and taxpayers? Common sense begs us to consider leaving the wild horses on their designated rangelands, as opposed to stuffing them into unsanitary, overcrowded feedlots until a practical and humane alternative is operational.

In 2008 BLM received a pioneering alternative management approach to the current wild horse warehousing procedures. This approach is a cooperative agreement for private/public land wild horse sanctuaries which provide open space and protection for the thousands of warehoused wild horses. These horses would be relocated to their native rangelands in their native western states. The BLM would pay the non-profit Foundations a stipend to cover annual operational cost. These cooperative sanctuaries over the next 20 years will save hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ dollars. To help implement this alternative for some of these horses a Foundation was created by Madeleine Pickens, whereby she would buy a large ranch controlling approximately ½ million acres in northern Nevada, using private dollars for the purchase. Her offer is still being evaluation by the BLM!

The Secretary of Interior has proposed yet another approach which requires shipping western wild horses to unfamiliar country in Midwest or Eastern States. He is going to ask Congress for $96 million dollars to buy two tracts of land which can sustain only 7000 wild horses. Additionally, he hopes private funding for other “preserves” in Eastern States will be forthcoming for the balance of the horses he wants moved East. If it takes 96 million to support 7000 horses in a Midwest or Eastern State, the Secretary is hoping for nearly 500 million dollars in private contributions to implement the balance of his approach.

The BLM is evaluating at least three options: continue with their current inhumane “snatch and stack” program, to-opt for the eastern preserves approach (which most likely will have funding difficulty given the financial climate of 2010), or choose the environmentally and economically viable Pickens alternative. The ONLY plan which leverages private dollars to create a eco-sanctuary where all Americans would be able to come and experience these majestic wild roaming horses in their natural setting. In making their choice, the agency should keep in mind they will be gathering up to 13,000 horses this year, with only feedlots for relocation. Also, there is insufficient money in the current Wild Horse and Burro Program budget to feed the 33,000 wild horses they currently have in holding pens across the country.

Another management predicament the BLM faces is their administration of 22,000 horses currently in long term holding. A Federal judge recently called into question the legality of placing wild horses in long term holding. He asked the involved parties to come back to his Court to present evidence supporting the use of long term holding. This Federal judge also suggested the BLM might consider suspending the Calico gather until the Court had time to review additional evidence. Irrespective to this suggestion, the BLM is forging ahead this winter to gather wild horses from the Calico complex.

Madeleine Pickens, founder of the non-profit Saving America’s Mustangs initiative, went to northern Nevada January 12-14, 2010 to tour the Calico gather and holding facilities. She went to witness the gather first hand. She was accompanied by several reporters and they requested information on: accuracy of the current census of wild horses, including wild horses count in the Calico complex; how Appropriate Management Level for wild horses in Nevada and elsewhere is determined; and agency allotment management objectives for responsibly reducing wild horse numbers. Questions regarding permanent reduction in livestock numbers when resource protection is essential will also expect logical explanation.

Hopefully, the agency some day, with a functional and operational program can demonstrate to the American public that we are protecting and preserving our wild horses for future generations, as mandated in the 1971 Wild Horse and Burro Act.

Save

End Horses Suffering, End Horse Transport for Slaughter

February 9, 2010 8:00 AM / 2 Comments

Senator Mary Landrieu

Urges Humane Treatment of Wild Horses

and Speaks out

against Horse Slaughter

Joins representatives from the Humane Society, celebrities and Representative Whitfield at press conference today.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, D-La., today joined Representative Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., the Humane Society President and CEO Wayne Pacelle, representatives from the horse and agriculture industries, and actors Kelly Carlson and Wendi Malick at a press conference on Capitol Hill in support of the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act (H.R. 503/S. 727), a bill to prohibit the trafficking in horses for slaughter for human consumption in the United States and the export of horses for this purpose.

In 2009, more than 90,000 American Horses were exported for slaughter in other countries. According to a Public Opinion Strategies survey, 70 percent of Americans oppose horse slaughter.

“Just recently in 2007, the last slaughter house in the United States was finally shut down,” said Sen. Landrieu. “This was a good first step, but the continued inhumane export of American horses to sell them for slaughter is still a major concern. This legislation will finally put an end to this barbaric practice.”

The press conference also addressed the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) cruel wild horse roundups. Participants, including Sen. Landrieu, called on BLM to stop these roundups until a plan is developed for the adoption of these horses or their relocation to a sanctuary.

“I am going to re-double my efforts to end the cruel practices used during the roundups,” said Sen. Landrieu. “There is a humane way to handle these horses, and I urge that the roundups be stopped, until a proper plan is in place.”

The Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act of 2009 was introduced by Sen. Landrieu, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., the House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., and Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind. to prevent any horses from being slaughtered here in the United States and to spare horses from being transported over the border to foreign slaughter plants. The legislation has garnered significant bipartisan support and is in now in a position to move forward in the legislative process.

Get on board write letters tell congress how you feel about horses, tell them how horses are not like cattle, tell them how many horses went to battle with Americans defending our freedom, tell them that horses are pets, tell them slaughter is brutal and in-humane.

Join Zumas in the fight to protect horses.

Donate to Zuma’s help us save them One Horse At A Time.

Help Save Wild Horses: Part IV

October 16, 2009 6:00 AM / Leave a Comment

The following is a continuation of information on Wild Horses and Burros in the United States from Madeleinepickens.com.

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How can you keep 30,000 head of wild horses from escaping the Ranch?

The Ranch boundary is securely fenced. Fenced railroad & highway right-of-ways are major portions of the boundary. The fenced boundary in the high country would not be pressured by large numbers of horses. The high country boundary fences may be damaged as a result of winter snow and ice, but would be inspected and repaired prior to the horses returning to the high country each season. Agreements would be honored to ensure a good neighbor policy.

Cattleguards would be installed on all roads that access through the ranch boundary.

What kind of conflicts may exist between wildlife and wild horses on the NWHF Ranch?

Very little conflict is anticipated. Wild horses have roamed tens of millions of acres in the West for hundreds of years without conflict with other animals native to North America.

Water sources are numerous on the ranch so there is no concern of horses limiting the availability of water for wildlife species.

Open spaces are plentiful for horses and wildlife in the spring, summer, and fall, but limited in the winter. The NWHF Ranch is very fortunate to have one third of the ranch as winter range, including the hay meadows and irrigated fields. Most of the winter range is private land which will accommodate both horses and wildlife needs during the harsh winters of major snow events and sub zero weather. Elk, deer, and horses will concentrate on the private land winter range during these major winter events, which is critical to their survival.

Could there be impacts to federal land users, adjacent land owners, local communities, county, or state government by changing use from cattle to horses on the NWHF Ranch?

Legitimate negative impacts are hard to find because:
(a) BLM lands used as a wild horse sanctuary do not preclude any valid existing rights or public land laws for existing land uses;
(b) Federal water rights are not reserved on BLM lands used as a wild horse sanctuary;
(c) The authority of Nevada Department of Wildlife is not precluded on BLM lands used as a wild horse sanctuary;
(d) The Foundation will be a non-profit agricultural business which would employ many businesses and personnel knowledgeable in agricultural practices associated with forage production and animal husbandry;
(e) The Foundation will always maintain its legal rights to private property or options to return to a traditional livestock business or any other private business venture when the opportunity arrives and;
(f) A goal of the Foundation is to preserve the Western Heritage Culture.

The biggest impact of the Ranch to its neighbors and surrounding communities is the attraction of perhaps a million and half visitors to Northeast Nevada per year. These visitors may be accommodated in the nearby communities and business leaders may need time for planning and implementation to accommodate the influx of visitors.

Will the federal government acquire any private lands within the ranch if the foundation ceases to exist?

If the Ranch ever ceases to be used as a wild horse the private land will remain private and the federal lands within the ranch will remain federal an continue to be managed for multiple use purposes.

Will the Foundation be a good neighbor by being open and accessible, ensuring fences are maintained and the horses don’t escape, and allow public access to the ranch?

The foundation is being created to protect and care for the wild horses and to allow citizens from around the world to come to the ranch to see thousands of free roaming wild horses. To achieve these goals, the Foundation will be active in the community promoting ecotourism, hire within the local area, and be a good neighbor with the adjoining ranches to ensure strong fences are maintained and horses are contained to their own million acre ranch.

Why do taxpayers have to pay the Foundation to care for and protect wild horses relocated from government pens to the ranch?

Costs to the American taxpayer over the next decade are approximately $1 billion dollars. The National Wild Horse Foundation will save taxpayers approximately $700 to $800 million dollars.

The foundation costs are much lower than the government program, but the foundation still needs money to manage the ranch, the farm, repair the fences, install new irrigation, rebuild homes for the help, and care for the horses.

How can the federal government be assured that the foundation is capable of managing and caring for the thousands of horses they will receive and provide long term health of both the horses and the rangeland?

The Foundation expects the same level of agency professional oversight the federal government provides for other lands it manages. The Foundation expects to enter into a contract with the government whereby it provides information on the experience of its personnel, the current carrying capacity of the ranch, the proposed increased carrying capacity, inspection of fences, waters, working facilities, and accurate count and condition of horses. We expect similar contract stipulations that the government requires of other ranches caring for wild horses on private land.

Why not acquire a small ranch which can support between 500 to 1,000 horses where the forage is more plentiful and the overall ranch price is lower so the ranch could be managed without government funding?

The selected ranch is the most acceptable for the horses needs. It has the capacity to hold all the horses on private land during emergency situations. It has sufficient size to accommodate all 9,000 wild horses currently held captive in pens. It has ample forage and open space to accommodate thousands of additional animals removed from federal rangeland for years to come. It saves the taxpayers millions of dollars annually.

Are there other benefits the Foundation proposal provides the government?

The Foundation provides the government with: (1) abundant long term capacity for horses at about the same cost, $500 per year per horse, as its current long term holding facilities, (2) significant savings considering the cost of short term holding is about $2000 per year per horse, (3) an alternative to attempting to locate more long term holding capacity on private lands through standard contracting procedures and (4) reduced shipping cost of relocating horses from western states to central states.

Why does BLM have so many horses in Short Term Holding?

With economic down turn the public is less interested in adopting wild horses. BLM typically adopts about half the animals they gather each year.

BLM cannot find interested parties to enter into long term contracts to care for the horses.

BLM removes thousands of wild horses annually to protect rangeland vegetation from overgrazing by wildlife, cattle and wild horses.

Does it make sense that the BLM relocate excess wild horses to other federal and private lands which has capacity for wild horses, if the WH&BA is amended to provide the Secretary of Interior this authority?

Yes. If directed by the Secretary of Interior the BLM can enter into cooperative agreements for an individual or organization to care for and protect the wild horses.

Help Save Wild Horses: Part III

October 15, 2009 6:00 AM / 1 Comment

The following is a continuation of information on Wild Horses and Burros in the United States from Madeleinepickens.com.

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What can you do to save these excess 30,000 Wild Horses and Burros held in holding facilities?

Write letters to your Senators and Congressmen supporting an amendment to the Wild Horse and Burro Act. Ask them to provide authority to the Secretary of Interior to relocate excess wild horses to exclusive horse ranches containing public land. Ask them to provide adequate funding through Cooperative Agreements between the Secretary and private Foundations for permanent protection, management, and care of wild horses removed from their homes on the range.

Why do we need to create a Wild Horse Sanctuary?

The purpose of the Sanctuary is to use private and federal lands to provide long term care and protection for non adopted Wild Horses and Burros that have been removed from federal rangelands. Currently over 9,000 of these wild animals are being confined in pens year after year. They are provided water and feed, but no shade, no room to roam, no escape from the heat or cold by moving to the other side of the mountain, and no clean spot to roll.

The federal government needs the support of private rangelands to move these animals to a safe and clean environment.

How many wild horses can the NWHF Ranch support?

Two thirds of the Ranch is high summer range and one third of the ranch is low winter range combined with a large farming operation which provide ample year around forage.

A river runs through the middle of the ranch with several large reservoirs and many hundreds of springs to provide abundant water for forage production, horses and wildlife.

The stocking level of horses will be phased in over time, starting with about 10,000 animals and increasing about 4,000 animals per year until the appropriate stocking rate is reached. This phase-in of stocking is necessary for additional forage production projects to come on line.

The maximum number of horses the ranch can support is near 30,000.

Can the NWHF Ranch be managed without negative environmental impacts?

Rangeland and Animal Husbandry professionals will be on staff to ensure animal and rangeland health are protected, on both private and federal lands with additional oversight from the appropriate federal land management authority.

The land use planning process for federal lands already includes environmental concerns and wildlife needs into their grazing program. The private lands on the Ranch currently provide most of the outdoor recreation (hunting and fishing) opportunities for this area and an important revenue stream for the ranch. The NWHF Ranch plans to enhance these recreation opportunities and revenue streams through wildlife habitat improvements on private lands.

Private lands with water rights on the Ranch offer the flexibility with intensive agricultural practices to provide forage for over 30,000 horses, if for some emergency, forage is not available on the open rangeland.

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