Ginger in Boulder tonight

Boulder County Horse Association 2010 Annual Meeting:

My Life with the Wild Horses by Ginger Kathrens, an Emmy-Award-winning filmmaker and founder of the nonprofit corporation, The Cloud Foundation, dedicated to protecting historically significant and genetically unique wild horse herds. Ginger will talk about her life with the Pryors wild horse herd, her current situation with Cloud, the young palomino-colored colt she named, and her fight to keep them free. Ginger will be showing video clips of this magnificent and enchanting herd of wild horses that roam the mountains of Wyoming and Montana.

When: Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Where: Spice of Life Catering Center
Flatirons Golf Club, 5706 Arapahoe Rd. Boulder
Cost: Free to BCHA members. $15 for nonmembers
(membership registration available at the meeting)

Howling Ridge Radio- Wednesday

Craig Downer, ecologist and observer at the Calico Roundup will be on Howling Ridge tomorrow.

Programs are Wednesday @ 9:30p eastern- click here to listen in

New Youtube- Calico Roundup, 2nd Foal to lose hooves

Eagle Roundup on Hold- keep up the pressure

Eagle Wild Horses Safe for Now
BLM cancels winter roundup, keep up the pressure!

Dear Supporters,
The spotlight you are shining on the inhumane, unnecessary and costly roundups along with your calls and letters are making a difference. BLM abruptly put on hold the planned Eagle Roundup of 595 more Nevada mustangs (more details here). This is the second roundup this year that has been delayed because of the growing pressure and oversight on the mismanagement of our wild horses and burros- keep it up!

Take Action Now
Call for a Moratorium on Roundups

Stop the Eagle Roundup- Easy Action

This petition from allows you to send a letter directly to President Obama, your Senators and your Congress person. Numbers to call for follow-up will show up below sample letter. Please spread around! Each call or original letter is generally considered as the equivalent to 600 votes. Your voice is powerful– stand up and speak up for wild horses!
Thank you, just click below and be sure to “tweet” and post to your “facebook” if you are able.
STOP THE EAGLE ROUNDUP- TAKE ACTION

Bravo Ft. Collins!

The Ft Collins protested included one awesome mustang and a great crew of people. Here’s a newspaper article from the Coloradoan and more coming.

BLM Pulls Plug on Calico Roundup

Broken Horses, Broken Promises

Calico Roundup over with death toll at 39 to date . Full Press Release with photos online here – please send on to your favorite media sources (local & national) & ask them to do a story

The Bureau of Land Management has pulled the plug on the massive roundup of wild horses in the Calico Complex. This remote and starkly beautiful area in northwestern Nevada was home to one of the largest wild, free-roaming herds of wild horses in the United States. 39 horses are reported dead as a result of the winter roundup. This does not include the 25-30 mares that have aborted their late term foals in the feedlot style facility outside Fallon, Nevada. The death toll is expected to rise as BLM begins preparing and processing the horses next week (freeze-branding, gelding of stallions, etc.). However, the public may not know what happens from here on out, as BLM has decided not to provide veterinary reports on the cause of death in the new Fallon facility, according to BLM manager, John Neil.

Despite a public statement by Don Glenn (December 7 at the National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board Meeting in Reno) in which he said that the public is welcome to view the roundups at any time (hence no need for a humane observer), the public was allowed only limited access to watch the Calico roundup. Viewing was limited to Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays by appointment only. Only 10 observers were allowed on any one day.  Even on the days the public was allowed to attend, viewers were required to leave between 1 and 2 in the afternoon, even though the Cattoor contract crew and helicopters continued to round up wild horses. Close access was denied for the last two weeks of the operation and injuries could not be detected or documented. BLM has referred to the visitors as “anti-gather advocates”. The contractors admitted that 30 wild horses captured on January 31 were left overnight in a crowded capture corral without water due to muddy conditions which prevented trucks from accessing the capture sight.

Now BLM sights are set on the wild horses of the Eagle Complex in the mountains of eastern Nevada. The 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 2,700

BLM posted their press release here

Kurt Golgart/BLM photo

Wild Horses & Burros on White House Radar! Please call!

We are making a difference, the white house is receiving a lot of calls. Thanks to everyone who calls and writes for the wild horses– some even daily! We are now on “the issues checklist” meaning one of the top issues people call about. The treatment and mismanagement of our wild herds is not logical, sustainable, humane or legal. Demand a moratorium on roundups– call for Obama (202-456-1111) and Congress (202-224-3121) to:

NOT FUND ROUNDUPS OR THE SALAZAR PLAN! Wild horses live only on 4% of our public lands, moving them to the East is a huge waste of their lives and taxpayer money and destructive to or dwindling western herds

1)     Place a moratorium on all roundups until accurate and independent assessments of population numbers and range conditions are made available and a final, long-term solution is formalized.

2)     Restore protections included in the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act. Update existing laws that protect wild horses by reopening certain public lands to the mustangs and burros, thus decreasing the number in captivity. Return healthy wild horses and burros in holding to all available acres of public land designated primarily for their use in 1971. If these lands are not available, equivalent and appropriate western public lands should be added in their place.

3)     Support federal grazing permit buybacks. Reduce livestock grazing and reanalyze appropriate management levels for herd management areas to allow for self-sustaining, genetically-viable herds to exist in the west.

4)     Conduct Congressional hearings regarding the mismanagement of our wild herds and further investigate the inability of BLM to correct the shortcomings of the program as audited by the Government Accountability Office’s 1990, 1991 and 2008 reports.

Please Make Comments on Ruby Pipeline EIS

More details here, suggested points coming soon! Thank you.

The Cloud Foundations press release on the potential correlation between the pipeline and wild horse removals in the 5 Herd Management Areas it crosses.

Katie Fite of Western Watersheds on the Calico Roundup and Ruby Pipeline

Fort Collins Protest!

Reminder for Ft Collins Protest for Moratorium on BLM roundups of wild horses and burros and call for hearings and investigation of BLM’s wild horse and burro program

When: Friday, Feb 5 at 4:00 pm,  Where: Old Town, Ft. Collins

This is First Night Art Walk. Meet at Mulberry and College (Safeway corner) to start, and we will move to Mountain and College as First Night begins at 6:00 pm and traffic increases. Park at public lots (2) on Mountain (east of College), and on LaPorte (west of College). Bring posters, flyers, signs, etc.   Let’s keep the momentum going!