Losing the Beautiful Wild Horses of Salt Wells Creek

Losing the Beautiful Wild Horses of Salt Wells Creek

by Carol J. Walker, Dir. of Field Documentation for Wild Horse Freedom Federation

A grey stallion at dawn

His family

Just after dawn we arrived at Bitter Creek Road, way down Highway 430 in Salt Wells Creek, Wyoming. I was dreading this day when the helicopters would be taking most of the wild horses in this area, within sight of Kinney Rim.

We saw a small family right by the road as we were driving in, and it was sad to see how unafraid the horses were when we got out of our cars to photograph them.

The little family I knew leading the way

On the way to the trap

We drove down the road to a gas pad with a view of the run into the trap and I set up my tripod and camera and…

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Advocates File Suit to Stop Illegal Removal of Wild Horses in Wyoming

Straight from the Horse's Heart

Equine Photographer, Carol Walker – by R.T. Fitch of Wild Horse Freedom Federation

Cheyenne, WY (October 6, 2017) . . . The American Wild Horse Campaign and wildlife photographers Carol Walker and Kimerlee Curyl filed suit today in U.S. District Court in Wyoming to stop the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from illegally rounding up hundreds of wild horses in a helicopter capture operation currently underway in southwestern Wyoming.

The lawsuit charges the BLM with violating three federal laws by rounding up hundreds more horses than previously disclosed by excluding foals and weanlings from its official count of horses removed from the range. It also challenges the agency’s shipment of captured mustangs to two privately-owned feedlots that are not open to the public for viewing and adoption.

According to attorney William Eubanks of Meyer Glitzenstein and Eubanks, “BLM’s action of permanently removing hundreds more horses than it determined to…

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BLM National Wild Horse & Burro Advisory Board meeting in Grand Junction, CO, on Oct. 17-19

Straight from the Horse's Heart

NOTE: The BLM hasn’t yet updated a photo of their National Wild Horse & Burro Advisory Board yet (the old one on their website is shared below). The BLM must’ve been too busy taking photos of oil fields and mines for their main BLM website page. It’s like playing “Where’s Waldo?” to try to find anything on the new BLM website, and I can’t seem to find the names and bios of the members of its National Wild Horse & Burro Advisory Board. Can you? While the BLM has busy erasing data from the internet and throwing out data that used to be easily available to the public, it has added useless youtube videos on the Wild Horse & Burro Program website pages. See the BLM’s website page on the National Wild Horse & Burro Advisory Board HERE.

Source: Federal Register

The Advisory Board will hold a…

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Fabulous Fake Facts About American’s Wild Horses and Burros

Straight from the Horse's Heart

By Charlotte Roe

“PLEASE call your Senator and share this Misinformation with them before they vote on the Appropriation Bill. Let them know that you will NOT tolerate the murder of federally protected wild horses and burros. AND if money is the issue, why in the hell are horses being rounded-up as I type. It is pure insanity.!” ~ R.T.

http://wildhorsefreedomfederation.org/white-paper/

3 HMAs destroyed, wild horses gone forever ~ photo of Antelope Complex taken by Terry Fitch of Wild Horse Freedom Federation

FAKE: Wild horses and burro populations are exploding on the range.

The BLM’s claims that free-roaming equine populations double every four years is not backed by evidence (even their own version of such). Real world population rates are context-specific. They vary widely depending on management techniques, climate, forage, water resources and predation. The BLM’s population estimates are notoriously sketchy, often contradictory, and in many cases biologically impossible. It…

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Wild horses vs cattle: Who will win the waterhole?

Straight from the Horse's Heart

Source: Heber Wild Horses

Public lands ranchers, in their effort to convince Forest Service and others that the wild horses need to be removed from the Sitgreaves National Forest, often fall back on their old propaganda spiel that the horses guard the waterholes and won’t let the cattle drink. So we uploaded this little video showing what really takes place at a waterhole on a regular basis when cattle and wild horses wind up at the same waterhole at the same time. Observe the drama unfold as you watch this action packed video of wild horses picking on poor little cows…see the terrified looks on the faces of the cattle as the horses plot against them! LOL

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Scoping notice for capture and removal of wild horses on Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range

Straight from the Horse's Heart

Source: The Mustang Center

Attention: Scoping Notice for Capture and Removal

The Mustang Center would like to bring your attention to a BLM Scoping Notice that was issued on September 14, 2017. It is for the “Capture and Removal of Excess Wild Horses and Continued Fertility Control in the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range”. We encourage you to carefully read the information and follow the procedures if you choose to provide a comment. We do know the BLM responds best to comments that are respectful and objective. Comments are due on October 6, 2017.

Scoping Notice p. 1 Scoping Notice p. 2 Scoping Notice p. 3

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On the Eve of the Checkerboard Roundup, An Old Adobe Town Friend is Found

Straight from the Horse's Heart

SOURCE: wildhoofbeats.com

Mica’s Dad, still wild and free

On the eve of the 2017 Checkerboard Roundup, an old Adobe Town Friend is Found

by Carol J. Walker, Dir. of Field Documentation forWild Horse Freedom Federation

In 2010 I was staying in Rawlins, Wyoming to observe the Adobe Town Roundup. The day before the roundup started, I had an encounter with a family of wild horses who would change my life forever.

A wild family through the sagebrush

“Sunrise Stallion”

Just before dawn, I saw a small family peeking out at me through the sagebrush – a grey mare, a pale palomino colt and two other youngsters. I turned and saw a sight that took my breath away – a majestic sorrel stallion with the early light falling on his reddish coat. He looked at me for a few seconds, then he and his family disappeared into the sagebrush.

Mica…

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Wild Horse and Burro Hater Zinke continues to add lobbyists and DC insiders to Interior

Straight from the Horse's Heart

Source: Western Values Project.org

Ahead of potential confirmation votes, check out profiles of Interior nominees at https://departmentofinfluence.org/

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is expected to vote on the nominations of Joseph Balash and Ryan Nelson to the Interior Department. Ahead of the vote, Western Values Project has taken a look at how the revolving door continues to spin between special interests, their lobbyists, and Secretary Ryan Zinke’s Interior Department.

Both nominees have been well documented on Western Values Project’s website for their lengthy histories of favoring big donors and special interests.

“Secretary Zinke is continuing to fill his cabinet with special interests and Washington insiders. While Interior continues to stack the deck with staff from the oil and gas industry, they seem set on ignoring the outdoor industry that our communities rely on. That explains why sportsmen, hunters and anglers are turning against the Secretary,”…

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BLM’s Sally Spencer, who authorized sale of about 1,000 wild horses to kill buyer Tom Davis, gets “promoted” to Acting District Manager

Straight from the Horse's Heart

Source: eplanning.blm.gov

BLM’s Sally J. Spencer

by Debbie Coffey, V.P. & Dir. of Wild Horse Affairs, Wild Horse Freedom Federation

Sally Spencer, as the Supervisory Marketing Specialist for the Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse & Burro Program, personally authorized the sale of almost 1,000 of the wild horses (that ended up going to slaughter) to kill buyer Tom Davis. Spencer was also willing to sell 10,000 wild horses to slaughter in Canada. In 2017, Sally Spencer signed a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for an oil and gas lease sale, as the “Acting District Manager” for BLM’s Southeastern States District Office.

The BLM must’ve been very happy with Spencer’s work selling wild horses & burros to slaughter, to allow her to be an Acting District Manager and make major decisions about selling off our public lands.

FONSI signed by Sally J. Spencer as Acting District…

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Fighting Wildlife Crime amid Bureaucracy and Solutions

Straight from the Horse's Heart

In 2016, a Minnesota man was found guilty of smuggling objects made from elephant ivory.

SOURCE: PPJ Gazette

by Sam Jojola

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Background

“This article was originally published for World Animal News in November, 2015 and titled “Wildlife Crimes: Why Is It So Difficult to Enforce Laws”. This is an updated version that includes reference to a 2016 GAO report detailing the shortcomings and successes of combating wildlife trafficking. It often seems that the more things change, the more they stay the same. There are some positive changes, but they are slow.”
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Global Anti-Poaching Act of 2015

The passage of the Global Anti-Poaching Act (H.R. 2494) through the House on June 25, 2015 was long overdue and very encouraging news for wildlife law enforcement. It will greatly assist in addressing the rapid expansion of wildlife criminal syndicates and terrorist groups globally. Finally, after decades of “paralysis by analysis” there…

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