BLM HALTS HOTLY PROTESTED ROUNDUPS

By Melanie Huggett

The American Bureau of Land Management has halted the massive roundup of wild horses in the Calico Mountain Herd Area in northwestern Nevada. The area, home to one of the largest free-roaming herds of wild horses in the USA, has seen 1922 horses removed since December 28, 2010 in government roundups. The remaining 610 horses in the Calico area were to be gathered before the roundups were stopped.

So far, 39 horses have died, including two foals who were run until their feet literally fell off; and approximately 25 to 30 mares have aborted foals at the Fallon holding facility. The death toll is expected to rise as the horses processed with freeze brands, and the stallions gelded.

Despite a public statement by Don Glenn in which he said that the public is welcome to view the roundups all the time, the public was allowed only limited access to watch the Calico roundup, reported the Cloud Foundation. There were only ten observers allowed at a time, and for only three days of the week.

“Thousands of Americans protested this the dead of winter assault on the last wild horse stronghold remaining in the United States,” stated Ginger Kathrens, Emmy winning producer and director of the Cloud Foundation. “I hope this is an eye-opener for Congress and that the huge outcry against these cruel and unnecessary roundups will be a wake-up call for the President. BLM continues to make a fiscal train wreck of the Wild Horse and Burro Program. While millions of privately-owned welfare cattle occupy public lands, a few thousand horses are targeted for removal, using the tired and ridiculous reason that the native horses do the damage, not the exotic cattle.’’

EAGLE ROUNDUP POSTPONED
The roundup of horses at the Eagle Herd Management Area in eastern Nevada has been postponed by the BLM, who released the following statement:

"The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has determined there is not adequate time to safely conduct the proposed Eagle Herd Management Area (HMA) gather prior to the beginning of foaling season, and therefore, will defer issuing a decision on the proposed gather until later this year after the foaling season.

BLM will conduct further environmental analysis at that time and will extend additional opportunities for public comment prior to issuing a decision to address removal of excess wild horses from the Eagle HMA. On December 28, 2009, the BLM issued a preliminary environmental assessment (EA) proposing to gather excess wild horses from the Eagle HMA during the month of February 2010. More than 9,000 public comments were submitted following a 30-day comment period.

The preliminary EA also included a proposal to gather approximately 50 wild horses that have moved outside of the Eagle and Silver King Herd Management Areas (HMA) and that are threatening the safety of motorists along U.S. Highway 93 near Pioche, Nev. The BLM is aware of at least three animals that have been hit by vehicles during the past year.

BLM is currently considering options for gathering these horses outside HMA boundaries. BLM anticipates issuing a decision in the next week addressing removal of wild horses along the highway to address the potential risks to the public and to the horses."

According to the Cloud Foundation, the Eagle Herd Management Area is larger than the state of Rhode Island, yet the number of mustangs allowable according to BLM is 100. At the same time, the number of privately-owned welfare cattle allowed is over 2700.

A video of the roundup’s terrible affects on foals can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q_y8UmMKIU

With files from The Cloud Foundation, BLM
Photos: Kurt Golgart and Elyse Gardner, courtesy of The Cloud Foundation