Wild horse and burro champions, Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Congressman Nick Rahall (D-WV), are currently circulating a letter that will be sent to Secretary Salazar with a cc to BLM Director, Bob Abbey.
Please take time today to ask your Congress person to sign on to this letter and show their support for protecting wild horses and burros on our public lands. Please DO NOT contact Congressman Grijalva or Rahall or the House Natural Resources Committee, they are already on board and doing all they can. Take this opportunity to contact your Congress person. The public’s voices must be heard and Secretary Salazar needs to place an immediate moratorium on roundups and removals of our wild horses.
Please call your congress person today! Find their contact information at votesmart.org
Adelina - June 2010
The following email is being circulated:
Dear Colleague,
We invite you to join us in sending the attached letter to Secretary of the Interior Salazar on the recent tragic deaths of wild horses that occurred during Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Tuscarora Complex roundup in Nevada early this month. The roundup occurred in extreme temperatures, using deeply flawed methods, and was conducted without allowing any public observation. This comes just months after another round up in the Calico Mountains in Nevada resulted in the deaths of over 100 wild horses.
Given this troubling pattern, the letter asks the Secretary to halt the Tuscarora round up, along with any pending gathers, until the BLM can demonstrates that it has addressed the failings of the Wild Horse and Burro Program and can ensure the health and safety of these federally protected animals. It further asks the Secretary to take temperature extremes and the age and general health of the horses into consideration when scheduling roundups, as well as allow for public observation. Additionally, we ask the Secretary to request an independent study from the National Academy of Sciences on the Wild Horse and Burro program – to determine scientifically sound, non-lethal, and effective management practices.
To sign on to the letter please contact Laurel Angell in Chairman Rahall’s office or Marcos Huerta with Chairman Grijalva.
| Nick J. Rahall, II Chairman Committee on Natural Resources |
Raúl M. Grijalva Chairman Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands |
DOWNLOAD THE LETTER CIRCULATING NOW- This strong letter speaks for the majority of the American Public- thank you to Congressman Grijalva and Rahall Grijalva-Rahall Letter 7-10_circulating
Madison in her Montana mountain home - July 2010
short link to this action alert: http://eepurl.com/LrrD
thecloudfoundation.wordpress.com 
July 27, 2010 at 7:18 pm |
Gosh, my lupine would look so much prettier with cloud in them!!
I hope there is some good that come out of the deaths of the OWyhee wild horses, we do not know the total of horses that were euthanized where they stood on the desert, no longer capable of running in terror from the helicopters, staggering foals- how many were lost..we must demand to know the numbers that died and were put down in the field..They count and they matter and should be totaled in the gather deaths..Autopsys were done and not released, that showed they died from heat exhaustion as I first surmised, they will have to be gotten with a FOIA..Please make their deaths matter. i stood there on the Owyhee july 17 & 18 camped on the land where they drew their last breath, making their last stand, feeling their bewilderment, knowing they were drawing those last ragged breaths, unable to see them but there to document the conditons..so that maybe down the road others would not die from the same criminal actions..around me were masses of wildflowers and springs pouring out the sides of a mountain, water running literally everywhere and nothing but herds of cattle and closed gates in hours of driving..where there were only cattle I saw fenced off springs where the cattle had pushed the fence over and broke the black PVC pipe and water was pouring on the ground instead of into a water trough that was 1/3 empty..all these things I documented while the BLM and Sue Catoor were claiming the horses were dying from drought conditions..gives Water-Gate a whole new meaning!
July 27, 2010 at 7:35 pm |
[…] New Action Alert- Ask Congress people to sign onto new letter for our wild herds (thecloudfoundation.wordpress.com) […]
July 27, 2010 at 7:46 pm |
Thank you Sandra,
For managing to be there to document what you saw. It is common sense, knowing the BLM, that many more horses have died than reported. One reason observers are not allowed…not see the horses dropping, shot…before they reach the chute…and then…more suffering, deaths.
I can only imagine your feelings. But I do get a feel from your words you felt a spirit connection with the wild horses. YOU were there for them. And I know THEY KNEW. Horses do have a way of knowing.
I so wish I could be there in Nevada, the West, to be near the horses and help in any way I can when the time comes. I will be waiting.
Thankfully action FINALLY taken from DC! I was wondering where Rep. Rahall and Rep. Grijalva were! They were so active and passionate with HR 1018, “Restore Our American Mustangs Act, April 2009.
Beautiful letter by Rahall & Grijalva. Read it twice and seemed to cover all the bases…a good beginning. I took note it was written: “We are concerned by the inability of your agency to acknowledge these disturbing outcomes…” And I mentally added…”not to respond to the unprecedented public and scientific outcry…emails, calls, petitions, rallies, media…” It will be very “telling” as to how Salazar responds…or not. Abbey too.
Maybe now with Congressmen stepping in, the judges will now be more fair with lawsuits. Just seems fishy how the judges go with BLM.
I still say, Salazar has POWER beyond what anyone knows. Scary stuff.
July 27, 2010 at 8:30 pm |
The letter from Rahall and Grijalva is beautiful, and they have been on the side of the horses for a long time. Here is a link to the letter they wrote to the Interior two years ago asking for accountability and decrying the idea of “euthanasia”.
Click to access EuthanasiaBLM_letter.pdf
July 27, 2010 at 8:33 pm |
[…] New Action Alert- Ask Congress people to sign onto new letter for our wild herds (thecloudfoundation.wordpress.com) […]
July 27, 2010 at 9:22 pm |
I did mine!
July 27, 2010 at 9:33 pm |
Me too!
July 27, 2010 at 10:34 pm |
Karen,
Thank you for the link. Another beautifully worded and strong message sent to the BLM. I wonder if the BLM responded back.
Rahall and Grijalva had all down pat to minute detail. They are in the know.
The one item we know was effective, was no massive slaughter of wild horses. But BLM under-cover, I wonder. Always in my memory are the “secret documents,” obtained by FOIA last year. BLM outlined how they would kill the wild horses and the public was not to know. Again, how screwy the BLM. Killing yes, but I wonder how did they think it could be kept secret…36,000 horses!
Thanks again for this letter. Printed out and added to my info file.
July 28, 2010 at 12:48 am |
It’s done! What else can we do to stop this?
July 28, 2010 at 1:11 am |
What do you think about telegrams to the DOI, since faxes and emails are not going to be accepted? We could state what we want in a very short message.
July 28, 2010 at 1:04 pm |
Sure can – “Go to Hell”
July 28, 2010 at 2:51 pm |
I was unsure about the e-mail situation. Are they not accepting e-mails at all, or just not on the strategy document? I’ve reread the message from IDA and can’t tell exactly.
July 28, 2010 at 1:41 am |
i am astonished it has taken so many cruel inhumane mistakes by BLM to get the attention of congress. i will keep writing and emailing. it is a horrible thing. cattle are aplenty. mustangs are not. they are our western heritage. thanks for posting this info. i send it to all those i know who care.
July 28, 2010 at 4:20 am |
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July 28, 2010 at 6:16 pm |
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July 29, 2010 at 10:57 am |
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July 29, 2010 at 6:14 pm |
Just called Congressman Grijalva’s office to thank him for his support of/letter on the Mustangs. Staffer told me that the letter was sent to the BLM and he believes the BLM has sent a response. He wasn’t sure how many Congress people signed on to the letter.
July 30, 2010 at 4:07 pm |
I have written to my Congressman about this letter and would expect him to sign it. He is good on animal issues. As I sifted through my many emails from wildlife and conservation groups this morning, I found the following in the weekly “e-Newsletter of the Center for Biological Diversity” (July 29,2010) and thought I should post it for you. This group does not support the wild horse and burro campaign, to my knowledge, but they are fighting one of our battles. I will write to them and thank them – and encourage them to join forces with us:
Center Challenges 677-mil Gas Pipeline in Five States
In defense of several endangered species dependent on more than 1,000 western waterways, the Center for Biological Diversity this Tuesday petitioned federal regulators to withdraw approval of the 677-mile “Ruby” natural gas pipeline, proposed for Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Oregon and California. The pipeline would cut across more than 1,000 rivers and streams in some of the country’s most pristine and remote lands. It would use more than 400 million gallons of the West’s precious water and affect habitat for several endangered fish — including the Lahontan cutthroat trout, Warner creek sucker, Lost River sucker and Colorado pikeminnow. Yet the project’s proponent, the El Paso Corporation, failed to take basic measures to protect fish (even after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service flagged serious environmental risks).
“It’s not too late to stop this terrible project from moving forward,” said Center Endangered Species Program Director Noah Greenwald. “If the pipeline ruptures at a stream crossing, it could have devastating consequences for endangered fish and other stream life.”
July 31, 2010 at 12:00 am |
Sandra, glad to see you back. Could you post your comment on R.T. Fitch’s “Straight From The Horse’s Heart” and on the “The ~Texas~Mustang Project’s Blog”? There are readers there who may not see that here. That’s valuable information.
July 31, 2010 at 1:40 am |
OK, Louie. Don’t worry – I keep up to date and check the TCF Blog daily. However, I’ve been thinking that you might think I have disappeared from this issue. NEVER think it! “My people” (we all have people these days, right?) are current and writing letters, etc. I decided to go your route a couple days ago when In Defense of Animals asked us to get our comments in about the Salazar Plan by August 3 – I sent mine by snail mail, something you prefer, which was one of the options they suggested. Don’t ask me why they waited so long to ask us for comments, when the comment period is two months long, ending 8/3! They have a whole PDF rebuttal to the Salazar Plan, written from their perspective. Are you familiar with this? I sent by snail mail a copy of their prepared rebuttal and then a personal letter from me and my nephew (he lives in Mexico City and the mail travels by real snails from Mexico, so I put him on my letter). I found a great quote written by Hope Ryden in her “Forward” to Lynne Pomeranz’s book, “Among Wild Horses: a Portrait of the Pryor Mountain Mustangs”, to use in my assault on Salazar, the DOI, and the BLM. I’m sure that this is way too much stuff to post on TCF Blog, so if you’re interested, here is my email, semiller12@gmail.com. Just let me know and I’ll add you to my “Friends and Relatives” list. Then you will get all of this stuff and you can dispense it wherever you think it will do some good.
July 31, 2010 at 6:38 am |
Sandra, check out R.T.s blog. They just extended the comment period. They have some anti horse people in Wyoming.
July 31, 2010 at 8:01 am |
[…] New Action Alert- Ask Congress people to sign onto new letter for our wild herds (thecloudfoundation.wordpress.com) […]
July 31, 2010 at 2:54 pm |
I will check R.T.’s Blog. I’m not signed up with ~Texas~Mustang Project and I think I screwed up my other Blogs trying to do so (it seems they all use WordPress). Just copy and paste my information to there for me, please, and that will be fine. I’m still signed up with this Blog, but I think I deleted by accident my “Notifiy me of follow-up comments via email”, because I was not informed of your new comment above. I will check the box again this time. Remember, Louie, anything I post you can freely use. Just move it around wherever you think it might help.
July 31, 2010 at 10:01 pm |
Sandra, I’m sorry. I didn’t think that would mess up your other blogs. That never even occurred to me.
August 1, 2010 at 3:45 am |
I just wanted tosay how wonderful it is to see little Adelina again! She was such a new little thing when the roundup began and she seemed to symbolize the freedom others were losing. Born wild and remained wild. She is a beauty! Thanks for posting her photo. mar