This alone speaks volumes: Roundup Schedule 2010_2009. Wildlife Ecologist and author Craig Downer discusses the Wild Horse & Burro Act and the BLM’s mismanagement in this 10-09 interview.
In this Grazing on Public Lands Fiscal Costs report a net loss of $123 million with true costs estimated at $500,000,000 – $1 Billion is attributed to privately owned livestock on public lands.
Pryors Roundup 2009- photo Elyse Gardner
October 23, 2009 at 12:56 pm |
The link to Report on Public Grazing doen’t work. Will go to Wild Guardians for it.
October 23, 2009 at 1:10 pm |
It appears in this article that Mark Salvao differentiates between domestic horses and wild horses and burros.
Date: 10/8/2009 Press Release
Author: WildEarth Guardians
Contact: WildEarth Guardians (505) 988-9126
Email: msalvo@wildearthguardians.org
Additional Contact: Mark Salvo, WildEarth Guardians, (503) 757-4221
Secretary Salazar Urged to Consider Strategy to Manage Free-Roaming Horses and Burros
Grazing Permit Retirement Effective Tool for Resolving Grazing Conflicts
PHOENIX – Responding to the “significant damage” free-roaming horses and burros can cause to public lands and resources, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar outlined a proposal yesterday in Washington, DC, to improve management of free-roaming horses and burros in the West. However, a western conservation group has criticized the Secretary for failing to recommend voluntary grazing permit retirement, among other strategies, as an effective tool for reducing livestock grazing conflicts with free-roaming horses and burros and native wildlife on public lands.
Given that millions of domestic cattle, sheep, horses and goats are permitted to graze more than 260 million acres of public land in the West, WildEarth Guardians contends that the Interior Department cannot ignore the continued harmful impacts of domestic livestock grazing in its efforts to protect sensitive public lands. WildEarth Guardians recently issued a report, Western Wildlife Under Hoof, which documented the myriad effects of livestock grazing on native wildlife and ecosystems across the western United States.
“Public lands grazing is permitted all over the West, and it’s nearly impossible for displaced wildlife to escape the impacts of domestic livestock production,” said Mark Salvo, WildEarth Guardians’ grazing program specialist. “Any proposal to improve horse and burro management in the West should include removal of domestic livestock from public lands to make way for horses and burros and wildlife.”
Voluntary grazing permit retirement is an increasingly popular way to resolve grazing conflicts on public lands. The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, enacted last April, allows ranchers to permanently retire their grazing permits on select public lands in Oregon and Idaho in exchange for compensation.
“Voluntary grazing permit retirement is an ecologically imperative, economically rational, and politically pragmatic way to address grazing conflicts on public lands,” said Salvo.
A recent survey of public land ranchers in Nevada—the state with the most free-roaming horses and burros—indicates that as many as half are interested in retiring their grazing permits for compensation.
The Western Wildlife Under Hoof report is available at
October 23, 2009 at 6:29 pm |
This is the best thing I have heard in decades on the overgrazing done. Range has been damaged and never recovered all over. This has been an issue many long years. There are those who are caretakers to their leases but they are not the norm. This is activity on the side BLM will recognize, too. mar
October 23, 2009 at 6:31 pm |
Barb, thanks for all your research. There must be a new post to put the horse aggression piece under.. Mar
October 23, 2009 at 7:59 pm |
CHECK OUT THE PUBLIC LANDS FOUNDATION WEBSITE–THEY HAVE SUBMITTED A PUBLIC LETTER AGAINST THE ROAM ACT. HOW POWERFUL ARE THEY? WHO ARE THEY AFFILIATED WITH?
October 23, 2009 at 8:42 pm |
Louie, At this site under Current and old News after you click on that there is a list and the letter They wrote to Senator Bingaman is up near the top.
WE need to Counter the letter from PUBLIC LANDS FOUNDATION, by writing letters to Sen Bingaman that take each piece that they bring against the horses, and DeBunk it. This will help the horses case. We need to use their letter against them.
Barb, I bet you could do this beautifully. Maybe a letter that we all sign would be effective? What do you say? You and JF and JE and JC JB and others I do not mean to leave out, have all found the reasons to stand up to these people. We have all kinds of information and this is what we need it for. mar
October 23, 2009 at 8:48 pm |
Mar–sounds like a plan. Send me info at my email and I will get a letter together and back to you to edit, etc.
I checked out the Public Lands Foundation and it looks like a group composed of retired BLM employees.
Yep we need to get this information organizated and in letter form to send to all Senators, others, that may make the difference.
October 23, 2009 at 9:07 pm |
There was another letter to Senator Bingaman on the Public Lands Foundation website that I could not copy but it is from a whole group of hunting, fishing, sportsmens, NRA Trout Unlimited , etc that also opposes ROAM. Strange though, these names were on the top of the page and the same objections as from the Public Lands Foundation were there but there were no signatures. Doesn’t appear very “official” type document if it isn’t signed, does it?
October 23, 2009 at 9:09 pm |
I better look at the whole lot. I hope that our little group will come by and pick up on this. We need them to be writing Sen. Bingaman, too. mar
October 23, 2009 at 9:19 pm |
From what i see they are attacking horses on ecological grounds. Like cattle are better. They Know this is not true. This is like BLM personified. These are all the cronies. The list of hunting and fishing organizations at the top of an unsigned letter is somehow most shocking. All these people in these groups have any idea that this is happening? We are too diverse a people and this is Male dominated. It is sick. mar
October 23, 2009 at 9:54 pm |
this is more of the same old BLM stuff, I’ll look at their letters later on, and see how we can rebut them, I’ll gladly write to ALL the committee Senators again, AND Obama, and anyone else you can think of, those pictures of the Onaquai horses broke my heart,
October 24, 2009 at 5:01 am |
I’ll sign anything, do anything needed to help OUR Mustangs!
Currently involved w/ Shelley Sawhook the President of the
American Horse Defense Fund..
I’m in Colorado, getting ready to register myself w/the BLM as a “Herd Watcher” for the Sand Wash Herd in NW Colorado.
Maybe I should rephrase… NOT going to WORK for the BLM… going to WORK for the Mustangs!
Lemme know if I can be of help! Please!
October 25, 2009 at 3:52 pm |
[...] illegally and clearly not following the Wild Horse & Burro Act- they must be stopped- these massive roundups are a cruel waste of these horses’ lives on the taxpayers’ dime. In Defense of Animals has [...]
October 27, 2009 at 2:04 am |
Barb, Mar, et al – I’m new to the cause & want to do all I can to help. Would you please post your letter to Bingaman & committee on this site, so the rest of us can send in similar letters? Many thanks.
November 3, 2009 at 12:31 am |
I’m with you all! I will do whatever I can to help. Am writing a book about this very issue, focusing on a small herd in NM. Let me know of anything I can do.
November 3, 2009 at 6:23 am |
Good luck and God bless. We are all here praying and doing whatever we can to help. Thank you for all that you do. We and They appreciate it!
November 4, 2009 at 1:41 am |
Barb and everyone else, PLEASE, I will do whatever needed to help, research, emails, phone calls….just let me know and I will gladly dig in for our mustangs!! I am sick and tired of Ken Salazar’s b.s. “reasons” for “management” and he is a died in the wool “cattleman”, but forgets the heritage that this state and the rest making up the West, were built on, and that really included the MUSTANGS….especially for working their precious cattle!!! Funny how he “remembers” HIS ethnicity and never misses a moment to show it, but when it comes to the same for the mustangs, he is totally against their survival. I only wish there were some way of getting him out of office and putting someone in who HONESTLY (oops, sorry, wrong word for politics) can and would do this job for the good of the land and all the animals, and NOT the ones wanting grazing permits!!! We have to fix this, Wild Horse Annie must be crying all the time to see the way things are going….Expecially since Salizar wants to just KILL the “SURPLUS” horses!!! Please, let me know what needs to be done, and I will gladly get on it!!!!