Debbie Coffey Copyright 2012 All Rights Reserved.
(You might question the BLM’s project title after reading below. There’s nothing resilient or healthy about it. And not to malign BLM employees at local Field Offices – public lands planning comes from the President, Congress, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and BLM Director Bob Abbey.)
_____________________________________________________
Department of Interior
Bureau of Land Management
Carson City District
Stillwater Field Office
5665 Morgan Mill Road
Carson City, Nevada 89701
desatoyaEA@blm.gov
BLM’s statements in the Environmental Assessment (EA) are italicized, and author’s comments are not italicized.
Introduction
“The project area encompasses approximately 230,000 acres, which includes …136,400 acres of the Desatoya Herd Management Area (HMA) (84% of the HMA).”
The Desatoya HMA is about 161,000 acres, and the BLM is only leaving 127-180 wild horses on the HMA that is primarily for their use. That is only one horse every
1,267.7 acres – one horse every 894.4 acres.
If there is not enough water or forage for the wild horses, this can only be from misappropriation of land uses allowed and facilitated by the BLM, which is mismanagement. When did the BLM last monitor the HMA for carrying capacity? Please send me documents related to any recent monitoring.
“Within the project area, up to approximately 32,705 acres of ground disturbing treatments are proposed over a ten year period including…herbicide treatment… Page 83 – In fact, 2,4-D has limited residual activity (2 weeks); therefore any incidental contamination risk to non-target plants would likely be negligible.”
When considering plants, animals, water and humans, note that:
The EPA says that 2,4-D is seventh largest source of dioxin in the U.S.
Dioxin DCDD that contaminates 2,4-D herbicide is not tested, measured or monitored by the EPA, or even regulated. A Canadian research paper states that dioxin DCDD may have large public health implications due to its prevalence in our food and environment.
DCDD is one of the hundreds of kinds of dioxin – (TCDD is the worst, but DCDD may be equi-potent):
NOTE: “2,4-D is contaminated with an unmonitored form of dioxin,
2,7-dichlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,7-DCDD)… There is very little research on this form of dioxin, but in 1986 2,7-DCDD was found to be “equipotent” to the very toxic 2,3,7,8-TCDD in a test of immunosuppression. Given the wide use of herbicides that are contaminated with 2,7-DCDD there may be large public health implications of this contamination of our food and environment.”
I am requesting that you read the information on the link above, since this has implications for human health, and that the BLM prepare an EIS.
The Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) defined the goal for managing wild horse (or burro) populations in a thriving natural ecological balance as follows: ―As the court stated in Dahl v. Clark, supra at 594, the ‗benchmark test‘ for determining the suitable number of wild horses on the public range is ‗thriving ecological balance.‘ In the words of the conference committee which adopted this standard: ‗The goal of WH&B management ***should be to maintain a thriving ecological balance between WH&B populations, wildlife, livestock and vegetation, and to protect the range from the deterioration associated with overpopulation of wild horses and burros.‘ ‖ (Animal Protection Institute of America v. Nevada BLM, 109 IBLA 115, 1989).
The BLM is in violation of FLPMA because it is giving FONSIs to uses that do much damage to the range, use massive amounts of water, and carry risk, (but bring in money for royalties, etc.), while wildly exaggerating any “damage” done by wild horses.
The BLM will also be in violation of Dahl v. Clark (1.2) to determine the suitable number of wild horses on the public range, which is thriving ecological balance, and (1.3) the secondary purpose of the proposed action, which is to manage the HMA for a thriving natural ecological balance, because the BLM cannot justify a “thriving ecological balance” if BLM doesn’t prepare an EIS. As it is, with this EA, the BLM will be applying 2,4D to the land and has not done risk management considering combined sources of 2,4D in the area or cumulative effects to area water and drinking water.
Also regarding a “thriving ecological balance,” it seems that there are many geothermal leases in the Edwards Valley, and geothermal extraction can use hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and the chemicals being injected into the ground aren’t publicly known and there is also risk of water contamination.
When your office prepares an EIS, please notify the public if genetically engineered (GE) seeds will be used in the “reseeding” project. If so, which seeds will be genetically engineered and what could the impact be to human health? (For example, cows that will eventually end up in the food chain, may be grazing on genetically engineered seeds.) What will the impact of genetically engineered seeds be on the wild horses ingesting GE grass on the range? In your EIS, please provide studies to prove the safety regarding this to animals and humans.
1.2 “Over the next ten years, the BLM intends to continually capture and treat mares as needed and remove excess wild horses, when necessary to maintain the wild horse population within the AML range .”
Will the BLM be doing an EA for each planned gather? If not, what is the precedent for removing wild horses from their HMA without an EA, when there is not an emergency? This EA seems to be just a “blank check” to remove wild horses continually over a 10 year period, without monitoring the range or doing an EA each year for this purpose.
2.1 The Proposed Action
General — The proposed action has been developed in collaboration and partnership with the Nevada Division of Wildlife (NDOW), the Carson City and Battle Mountain District Offices, the University of Nevada Reno, the US Department of Agriculture (ARS & NRCS), Great Basin Bird Observatory, U.S. Geological Survey, and Smith Creek Ranch LLC.
WHAT ABOUT input from the PUBLIC, whose tax dollars pay for this (and your salaries)? Is this EA the first input opportunity the public has had? Was any scoping done? Please send me an unredacted copy of all of the public scoping comments.
…ranch would close the gate on the corral/trap either remotely or a mechanical release method may be used such as a trip wire. If a mechanical release method which is activated by the horses is employed the trap would be inspected daily whenever there is a possibility of the gate being closed.
The trap will ONLY be inspected once a day? What if a horse is injured? Will it be left to suffer for 24 hours or so? Since the trap is a remote location, shouldn’t a camera be on the gate in case there is a problem or injury to a horse? The BLM should supply cameras and tv monitors, like the ones BLM uses at Palomino Valley or Litchfield.
“Personnel from Smith Creek Ranch would follow all of the procedures outlined in Appendix D, Standard Operating Procedures for Wild Horse (or Burro) Gathers.
Gathered horses that are identified for removal would be taken to the Indian Lakes holding facility in Fallon, NV”
Indian Lakes Road is no longer going to be an intake facility, per John Neill, Indian Lakes Road COR, stated during an April 2012 public tour at the Indian Lakes Road STH facility. (Apparently, this does not represent policy and could change.)
“…the Palomino Valley Corrals near Sparks NV. The animals would be transported either by BLM personnel, Smith Creak Ranch personnel or a private contractor and subject to all the stipulations in Appendix D. Horses that would be An Animal and Plant Inspection Service (APHIS) or other veterinarian may be on-site”
A Veterinarian “may” be on site? A VETERINARIAN SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO BE ON SITE, THE ENTIRE TIME, FOR ALL GATHER ACTIVITIES, including loading and unloading of horses. Also, what experience do Smith Creek Ranch personnel have handling wild horses? What are the requirements? If there are no requirements, I will request a detailed description of the training BLM will give Smith Creek Ranch personnel.
“during the gather activities, as needed, to examine animals and make recommendations to the BLM for care and treatment… a freeze mark applied by either BLM personnel, Smith Creek Ranch personnel or a private contractor…”
2.4 Designate the Desatoya HMA as a “Wild Horse and Burro Range
Designate the Desatoya HMA as a ―Wild Horse and Burro Ranges‖. This action under 43 CFR 4710.3-2 would require the amendment of the CRMP, which is outside the scope of this EA. Only the BLM Director or Assistant Director (as per BLM Manual 1203: Delegation of Authority), may establish a Wild Horse and Burro Range after a full assessment of the impact on other resources through the land-use planning process.
Bob Abbey should do this, and I am asking Teresa Knutson to request that he do this.
p. 37 “While impacts to water from horses are different than cattle due to behavior (horses tend to not linger at a source and drink in the morning and at night), decreased cover and diversity of grasses and shrubs as well as decreased mammal burrow density have been documented from wild horses at water sources (Beever and Brussard 2000, Ganskopp and Vavra 1986).”
What about all of the other “uses” taking water from the aquifer, since the BLM doesn’t require 1’ and 5’ water drawdown maps, and a stream can dry up with a 1’ water drawdown? I doubt if the studies cited above considered this important aspect in their report or determination. What about the water used by all the geothermal leases in the area, which may use water from the same aquifer?
P. 38 “The herbicide proposed to be used in the Cold Springs fuel break is imazapic, and 2,4-D would be used for rabbitbrush and decadent sagebrush control. The environmental risks of these herbicides were analyzed in the Vegetation Treatments Using Herbicides on BLM lands in 17 Western States Programmatic EIS (2007). The application scenarios for the risk categories for terrestrial animals were direct spray, off-site drift (wind erosion), indirect contact with foliage after direct spray, ingestion of contaminated vegetation or prey, and runoff, which includes percolation to the root zone, at typical and maximum application rates. The Proposed Action would not exceed the maximum application rates.”
The BLM is only considering the “proposed action” alone, and is not considering or factoring in cumulative use in the area. The BLM needs to do an aggregate risk assessment considering exposures to humans, animals, water, drinking water, plants from COMBINED SOURCES in the area. BLM should do Drinking Water Level of Concern (DWLOC) testing and use the Forward Calculation Approach to include in an EIS (which I am now formally requesting, in writing, in this public comment).
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 2,4D,
Exposure to 2,4-D has been reported to result in blood, liver, and kidney toxicity (1, 2, 4). Chronic oral exposure in experimental animals have resulted in adverse effects on the eye, thyroid, kidney, adrenals, and ovaries/testes (1). Experimental animal studies have demonstrated delayed neurobehavioral development and changes in neurotransmitter concentrations in offspring exposed during pregnancy or lactation (5-9).
Low concentrations of 2,4-D have been found in groundwater in some states. Agricultural run-off containing 2,4-D may contaminate groundwater in some areas.
Experimental animal studies of chronic oral exposure have reported adverse effects on the eye, thyroid, kidney, adrenals, adrenals, and ovaries/testes (1). In addition, some experimental animal studies have reported teratogenic effects (birth defects) at high doses, including increased fetal death, urinary tract malformation, and extra ribs (15, 16). When adult female experimental animals were exposed to 2,4-D during their pregnancy and lactation periods, their exposed offspring exhibited neurological effects, including delayed neurobehavioral development (5) and changes in several neurotransmitter levels or binding activities (6-9, 17) and ganglioside levels (18, 19) in the brain. Delayed neurobehavioral development was manifested as delays in acquisition of certain motor skills such as the righting reflex (5).
If the EPA reports this, how can this BLM EA, without considering cumulative uses in the area, state that risks will be “negligible?” (see below)
“The risk assessment concluded that in general, imazapic, even at high doses, does not adversely affect terrestrial animals, including invertebrates, as it is rapidly metabolized in urine and feces and does not bioaccumulate in animal tissue. The document did state that during pregnancy mammals may be more at risk and long-term exposure had negative effects on birds. However, application of imazapic would occur in the fall/winter, which is outside of the gestation period for most animals that may use the project area; therefore these risks would likely be negligible (BLM 2007b, BLM 2007c).”
“2,4-D can present risk to some wildlife species due to direct spray, consumption of the recently sprayed vegetation, and consumption of contaminated insects.”
Please prepare an EIS.
SOURCES:
http://group.bmj.com/docs/pdf/8_3_s10.pdf
http://water.epa.gov/type/groundwater/uic/class2/hydraulicfracturing/wells_hydrowhat.cfm
http://naturalsociety.com/millions-of-pounds-of-toxic-dioxin-to-flood-us-farmland/
http://naturalsociety.com/carcinogenic-dioxins-epa-kneels-to-big-agriculture-monsanto/
Oct 28, 2012 @ 22:47:31
Oct 28, 2012 @ 22:12:02
Apr 10, 2012 @ 06:50:11
Anonymous, thank you for your input and willingness to try to understand our position. I believe that we all want what is best for our wildlife and our public lands. We do know that there is something VERY wrong with the BLM Wild Horse and Burro program. There has been for a very long time. We don’t advocate NO management. We have to start by getting at the truth and by insisting upon fairness and honestly. Approximately 22 Million acres (that is a conservative estimate) have been taken from the Wild Horses and Burros since 1971, As you read the documents and the Environmental Assessments, it becomes alarmingly clear that there is more at stake here…much more.
Apr 10, 2012 @ 06:39:06
Wild horse rescues another horse from drowning in Arizona
Stallion named ‘Champ’ grabbed filly by neck and dragged her to safety.
http://www.azcentral.com/video/1549461481001
Apr 09, 2012 @ 15:38:28
Louie,
I know about most of this. And the really stupid thing is that Las Vegas is closer to the Pacific Ocean, where both California and Nevada water thieves SHOULD have built a desalinization plant fifty years ago in conjunction with the nulcear power plants along the coast, which could use their heat to run the desalination process. Once they discharge the hot water into the ocean, much of the salt is probably already gone., or could be. I remember when Pat Mulroy, of LVVWD tried to impose a building moratorium because of declining water in Clark County. But then some idiot came up with the idea that in the winter, when demand is lower, they could store Lake Mead water by pumping it down into the wells. Of course no one gave much thought to the fact that there are bacteria, uranium and many chemicals in the waters of Lake Mead. And the State of Nevada is no better. At one time I had patented water rights for 5 acre feet. The State forced me to put a meter on my well to be sure that I used all of it, or I would have my water rights revoked. So I planted alfalfa that I didn’t need and flood irrigated the fields just to use the water. I know they were als trying to steal water from Northern Arizona near Mesquite for many years, Lincoln County, on the other hand, has the grand plans for Coyote Springs subdivision with golf courses, so that is why they are now looking at Kane Springs and Meadow Valley Wash as another place to steal more water for them. Frankly, I don’t expect to se people being willing to drive a two lane highway to get to I-15 so they can drive to Las Vegas to work, nor do I see retired people willing to live that far out of town, because their big attrction is the casinos.
Apr 09, 2012 @ 14:58:57
anonymous, thank you for sharing your insights and information with us. BLM uses guestimates and fuzzy math. One retired science and math teacher has gathered BLM’s own information, and proved BLM wrong about the numbers of horses they say are still on the range or on each of the Herd Management Areas. With the PZP BLM is giving for fertility/sterilization to create non-reproducing herds, foals are being born out of season, (and foals are chased in the BLM roundups – there is plenty of video documentation on this, and I have seen it). While the BLM is removing wild horses, there are massive road closures going on (and many “limited use” roads) and this is part of a bigger picture. Please take time to read other articles on this site when you have some time.
Apr 09, 2012 @ 08:24:29
Water/Nevada
http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/prog/planning/groundwater_projects.html
The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) submitted a right-of-way application to the BLM for construction and operation of a groundwater development project that would allow them to develop and transport water from Clark, Lincoln, and White Pine counties to Southern Nevada. The proposed project consists of approximately 306 miles of buried pipelines, five pumping stations, six regulating tanks, three pressure reducing stations, one buried storage reservoir, one water treatment facility, and approximately 323 miles of power lines with seven electrical substations. Construction is anticipated to take place between 2011 and 2022, depending on approvals and phasing.
The Lincoln County Water Disctict (LCWD) submitted a right-of-way application to the BLM for construction and operation of a groundwater development project. The right-of-way would authorize LCWD to construct infrastructure required to pump and convey groundwater resources in the Tule Desert and Clover Valley to help meet future municipal water needs in newly urbanizing areas. The proposed project consists of a 47-mile main transmission pipeline and 54 miles of collection/lateral pipelines, up to 30 production wells, water storage tanks, booster stations, access roads, 138kV, 22.8kV, and 4.16kV transmission lines, a power substation, a natural gas pipeline, underground telephone lines and a telemetry system utilizing a fiber optic line. Contruction would begin upon acquisition of necessary permits, approvals, and grants.
KANE SPRINGS VALLEY (KSV) GROUNDWATER DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
The Lincoln County Water District (LCWD) submitted a right-of-way application to the BLM for construction and operation of a groundwater development project. The right-of-way would authorize LCWD to construct infrastructure required to pump and convey groundwater resources in the Kane Springs Valley. The proposed project consists of groundwater production/monitoring wells, water collection pipelines, one main water transmission pipeline, one terminal storage tank, one forebay storage tank, electrical distribution lines, electrical substations, and a telemetry system/fiber optic lines. Project construction would occur in three phases with 1 to 3 years between phases. Construction of Phase 1 would begin upon acquisition of necessary permits, approvals, and grants.
Apr 08, 2012 @ 21:46:45
Louie, Good video, thanks for posting it. The really stupid part about this, is that Alaska has no use for the natural gas that comes out of the well-heads. They just burn it off. When Palin was Governor, she tried very hard to get a pipeline down through Canada to connect to the trunk lines in the continental US, which would probably have eliminated the need for the fracking entirely. I do agree that we need to become self-sufficient in gas, oil, coal and everything else for the time being, because competitively priced solar or wind turbine energy are many years away. We have five huge wind turbines just outside Kingman, Arizona, with solar panels below them, but you should have heard people scream about them being an eyesore. The same thing happened in Searchlight, Nevada (Harry’s hometown) and the wind farm plan was abandoned. The problems are not going to be fixed overnight. The Keystone pipeline was a good alternative, because the primary source was the oil sands in Canada. We were the refinery target. In Healy, Alaska, is the Usibelli coal mine, which is an open pit operation that produces low sulfur coal and have enough to operate for about 100 years. It goes south on the Alaska Railroad as a slurry, all th way to Seward, where it is loaded into tankers and shipped to the Orient. I assume from this controversy, that Northern Nevada is now being targeted for fracking. And while many of the problems that occurred in Colorado, have been corrected, it is like the Nevada Test Site and nuclear waste. Someone gets it.
The other stupid thing is that Obama is now pushing natural gas, as though it has just been discovered that internal combustion engines can be converted to natural gas for less than $1,000. Unfortunately, he apparently missed the story about Ta-Ta Motors in India, having a water powered commuter car on the market by next year. Similar technology was available here years ago, but the oil companies bought the patents.
Apr 08, 2012 @ 21:13:32
Debbie, This was the first article of yours that I ever read, and I do commend you for posting with your name, for I do the same thing. I have just written a long response that explains my background, and since I am far more familiar with Central and Southern Nevada, where there is a lot less feed and water than around Winnemucca, my perspective is different, though the problems are the same. And the various Departments, BLM, and the Federal government have been allowing the situation to get worse for many years. I blame a great deal of it on the Wilderness Act, because it has kept ranchers from maintaining water resources that benefited both the horses, wildlife and their cattle. As you probably know, the first Director of the Mohave Desert Preserve, mostly in California, ordered all wild horses and burros to be shot from helicopters. Then she ordered many of the working windmills and tanks to be destroyed, with the idea that it was her job to return the area to a Wilderness. Subsequent mangers have toned it down, after thousands of acres of joshua trees, pinyons, and grasslands areas burned because there was no water with which to fight the fires. Any you are right that the worst close-up look I had at the BLM Adopt-a-horse mess was at Pyramid Lake holding pens. But be that as it may, in Central Nevada the wild horse problem, at one time, was enormous. I suspect there is still a big problem on the Nevada Test Site, because even BLM cannot go in there to do anything, and for many years there have been stories of feral horses being the targets for the fighter pilots. I cannot attest to that, but neither do I doubt it.
What does the herbicide have to do with the horses, or the fracking, or is it all just in that general area? The horses would probably quickly adapt to the presence of the fracking operation, just as caribou discovered that the Alaska pipeline was their shade in the summer, and warmth in the winter as soon as the construction was completed. As for the herbicide, I see no advantage of that at all, or any true purpose.
Apr 08, 2012 @ 20:45:57
I do not know the water sources you refer to. I left Las Vegas when I was 60 and moved south to Kingman, Arizona. We listen to train whistles instead of sirens, and there are no casinos, wild horses, and much less grazing than there was at one time.. Though government corruption still abounds, however, and I now work with animal sanctuaries that are constantly under attack by the Mohave County Supervisors. I had hoped to be the one vote that defeated Dirty Harry before I left Nevada, but that wasn’t to be. I do still have a Tea Party/Anti-illegal immigration group up there, and am still a student at UNLV. We also have our problems with Salazar and the Department of the Interior. And as long as Las Vegas builds more hotels and wastes more water that Nevada doesn’t have, you will have water problems. My husband was Chairman of the Clark County Game Commission for many years, before he passed, and we worked with every conservation group in the State, and the horse issue was one of our concerns because we had seen firsthand what they, along with the Wilderness Act, were doing to the sometimes meager water supply for wildlife. Many of the places where we had hunted for 28 years, were being dramatically
impacted as roads were closed, and at that time we often saw herds of hundreds of horses in Central Nevada. At one time he was also on the BLM Advisory Board also. So I was much more familiar with the politics and government bureaucracies than I am now. Through the Nevada Wildlife Federation we passed a resolution to try to get the BLM out of the horse business, but the National Wildlife Federation refused to support us because of the political outcry over the Wildhorse Annie movement, which, though somewhat well intentioned, had become a political hot potato many years ago.
I don’t think that BLM is either capable or desirous of doing anything to solve the problem, humanely, financially, or in any other way. But it was through our involvement with the State and Federal agencies, that we were aware of the plight of the horses on the Nevada Test Site, and other places. But we primarily worked on wildlife issues all over the State with the County Game Boards as well as the State Department and the Commission. As I said everyone acknowledged that there was a problem, but no one wanted to get the political heat from trying to fix it. And so it has gotten worse, Since this is an issue around Winnemucca, not Southern or Central Nevada, I am not familiar with the water sources you refer to. We were primarily concerned with the Southern Great Basin and Northern Mohave Desert Regions. In addition to the Test Site, there were small herds as far north as Goldfield, and most of the biggest problems were East of Tonopah.
Apr 08, 2012 @ 12:50:56
Apr 08, 2012 @ 06:20:20
http://www.americanherds.blogspot.com/2009/08/killing-em-with-kindness.html
Killing Em With Kindness
HELICOPTER HEARING ON THE REMOVAL OF WILD BURROS
WEDNESDAY ~ AUGUST 19th, 2009
Yes, gathers, gathers, everywhere. It’s for their own good, you know. To prevent them from starving and dying and destroying the range and oh yes, just plain being EXCESSIVE!
It’s much safer and more humane than letting them starve, as the drumbeat goes, and BLM publicly reports only a mere fraction of deaths and injuries result from this controlled chaos.
But like everything else in the Wild Horse & Burro Program, the closely guarded facts and statistics often fail to add up or support BLMs claims as they continue to lean almost exclusively on what amounts to little more than a public relations campaign in order to hide its darker reality.
Turning a blind eye to “direct reduction programs”, (a.k.a., shooting these federally protected animals unless advocates could intervene) of once protected burros implemented by National Park Service or military installations, they have sat silently by as authorized officers fenced water sources or designed land use plans that removed habitat from Herd Management Areas containing critical water sources (such as the recently approved land use plans in Arizona, which removed all the land around the Colorado River from the HMAs – a stunt they learned from managers who yanked all the acreage around Lake Mead from its Herd Management status as well). Of course, these are just steps leading toward the final goal of “zeroing out” the herds completely.
Apr 08, 2012 @ 06:01:56
http://www.americanherds.blogspot.com/2009_12_01_archive.html
In January 2008, when the BLM Winnemucca Field Office approved the new grazing proposal for the Soldier Meadows Allotment, Western Watersheds Project filed an appeal and took BLM to court to challenge that decision.
As a result, extensive testimony from BLM personnel has been given about the Soldier Meadows Allotment and is now part of the public record, some of which included testimony from Glenna Eckel, BLMs Winnemucca Wild Horse & Burro Specialist on May 13th, 2009.
Ms. Eckel testified, under oath, in a court of law, about impacts from wild horses on the range in areas of the Calico Complex that she had been monitoring for the last six years. Below are some of the highlights of this testimony. To view the complete transcript, Click Here.
Page 818
Line 20, Answer from Eckel; “I’ve been assigned the Warm Springs Canyon Herd Management Area and the Calico Mountains Herd Management Area for the last six years. I have only been assigned to the Black Rock Range West for the last year.”
Page 796
Line 18, Answer from Eckel; “Well, I guess, honestly, I’m surprised that the number of horses that are out there, based on my monitoring data that I’ve done the last couple of years, that the monitoring data hasn’t shown a higher utilization than what I’ve read. So I guess what I am thinking is that I’m not sure it would change my conclusion.”
Line 24. Question; “Increasing the horses five times would not change your conclusion; is that right?”
Page 797
Line 1, Answer from Eckel; “Well, I think, again it boils down to that competition. And what I have seen, again based on the monitoring data, is that I would have expected different monitoring data than what I’ve collected, based on those numbers.”
Page 809
Line 22, Question; “Okay. I believe, in your testimony, you made a statement that you were surprised at the number of horses that were out there, that the monitoring data hasn’t shown higher utilizations than what you read?”
Page 810
Line 1, Answer from Eckel; “Correct”.
Line 2, Question; “Could you just elaborate a little bit more on what you meant by that?”
Line 4-16, Answer from Eckel; “Sure. I guess what I mean is, given the March ’08 census and the numbers we counted, I didn’t have that knowledge prior to March ’08. So the monitoring that I did and since the last gather, which was in 2004-2005, I was under the impression that we were at AML, those population estimates that we looked at earlier.”
“And what surprises me is that now, knowing that we had – I can’t remember what you gave it, a certain percentage over. But there’s significantly more animals out there than what we thought were, so I would have expected the monitoring data to show higher levels of use than what I collected. And I guess I’m learning it’s a big country, animals move”.
Page 814
Line 18-21, Question; “What were the implications, in your mind, of the monitoring data that you collected? In other words, once you gathered it, what were your – perhaps “conclusions” is a better word.”
Line 25, Answer from Eckel; “And at the time, again, like after the gather, I assumed that we were close to those population estimates of being under AML, and so the monitoring data was meeting management objectives that we had identified. And again, I was thinking we had a smaller population than I learned then in 2008.” (emphasis added).
To summarize, Glenna Eckle stated that, despite wild horse populations being five times over BLMs “established AMLs” in the areas she was monitoring in the Calico Complex, BLMs “monitoring objectives were being met”, that this significantly larger population was NOT evident in their forage consumption, that she had no idea they were so far over AML until they flew over the area and counted the horses, and that based on what she had seen, she was really surprised about what she was finding on the range regarding wild horse impacts.
To understand the full legal implication of what Glenna is saying here, it is also important to understand what the courts have already told BLM in the past about the legal criteria they must use to determine what is “excess” before they have any authority to remove wild horses and burros from the range.
The Calico Complex Environmental Assessments never mentioned Glenna’s testimony or what she found about “monitoring objectives being met” with five times the wild horses than BLM knew were out there before they counted them.
Instead, BLM buried the evidence and used old decisions to perpetuate the “Appropriate Management Levels” of wild horses in the area, some of which were set as far back as 1982.
So now, wild horses are galloping in the snow, down steep terrain, through rocky, icy, slippery paths on private land and being hauled to BLMs newly built Northern Nevada wild horse holding facility, not the publicly open Palomino Valley Facility, but a facility so new, BLM doesn’t even have a protocol established for public access yet.
Apr 08, 2012 @ 01:23:48
Great Comment Granny: And What of The HUman Species and the Planned extermination of This ADMINISTRATIONS planned: Extinction Level assault on this particular species?
Apr 08, 2012 @ 01:13:53
Sharon K. Holmes, you must not have read, or understood, many of my articles, which have defended private property rights, ranchers, farmers and our Constitution. I did not see you at the week of Nevada water rights meetings that I attended, spending my own money to be there, in order to help defend ranchers and farmers. I was the only person to write about the water rights that had been in their family for generations being threatened. I talk with many Nevada ranchers, as well as ranchers in other states, and I like them. I have been to many roundups in Nevada, and have yet to see a starving horse. The only time I have seent them look “miserable” is in BLM holding facilities. Most of what I write about mining is about the huge water usage and specific instances of contamination. I also wrote an article about the government owned bank of China giving money to a company to buy a Nevada mine with a strategic metal. I’m sorry you weren’t able to grasp the implications of that.
And to anonymous, I have the courage to put my name on what I write. I put many sources on all of my articles. I consider people who hide behind a fake “anonymous” moniker to be cowards, and normally don’t even bother to take the time to respond. But, I have arranged for some wild horses from a roundup adopted by a sanctuary. It’s funny, you ask the same question the BLM asks “What’s the solution?” Well, start by not pertpetrating fraud against the American public.
Apr 07, 2012 @ 22:21:49
Sharon-
I am sorry to hear that you are so ill-informed about our state of Nevada. I hope it is not too late and that you will be able to spend some time learning the honest truth about this very large issue that includes the wild horses and burros but is not limited to those animals. They are only the canaries in the coal mine. Other ill-informed residents who have the mind-set that you have expressed are only playing into the deception game of the corrupt government and the US and foreign “big bucks” who are destroying our land and padding our government employee’s and elected official’s purses. Today’s America is not the same America that my mother and father fought for. If you want the real truth … open your eyes and mind and follow the money. If you don’t want to learn for your sake, then learn for the sake of your grandchildren before it is too late.
PS If you have not seen the public water sources on public land that are fenced to keep the Wild Horses out so that they WILL die … then you need to take a few trips out onto the range. I have seen it over and over and over with my own eyes.
Apr 07, 2012 @ 22:07:08
We do not allow “astroturfing”………I’m sure you know what that means …it was explained to you when you got your job description and a seat at that computer.
Apr 07, 2012 @ 21:10:01
And why woudl they starve to death? Where did you get that idea? In areas where public lands have been fenced off by cattlemen, preventing the horses from drinking and also preventing them from accessing prime grazing areas, I suppose this does happen.
The really unfortunate part of all of this is that eventually they will get around to driving YOU off the land. Just because YOU see no value in protecting these animals from further exploitation doesn’t mean they have no value.
As for this worn out addage that the horses are “feral” and not “native”…….this based on the concept that they have only been here for 600 years or so…….might I remind you that white europeans have only been here for about 250 years…I guess we could be managed to extinction too based on that premise.
Apr 07, 2012 @ 21:03:03
Tha mining and particularly fracking are causing serious swarms of earthquakes where ever it occurs. You will be displaced, relocated and housed somewhere else if a mining or fracking operation wants what is under your land. There is no need for the horses to be in holding pens anywhere. About 20 years ago there were 2.2 million of them roughly. Now, there might be 16-18 thousand left on the land and about 30 thousand being held captive. As for horses driving the deer away from water holes……thats natural nature at work. The deer will come back when its safe. We are paying private buddies of the BLm an estimated 127 million a year to house horses that should be left alone on the preserves. that 127 million could have just as well been spent doing hay drops and providing water and could have done so for less than what holding, transport and the contracting with felons to torment, terrorize and drive these animals into captivity. Instead it is spent destroying something many of us value whether you do or not. Adoption should not even be an option……leave these animals alone!
And by the way….Each of us has been paying for feeding and taking care of these animals thru taxes.
Those mining companies you think are so special are using millions of gallons of what should be drinking water and devastating everything around you. And no one is seriously going after the cattle ranches. Maybe we just don’t understand why when there is an average of 2600 head of cattle for every 1 horse on the ranges…….that somehow horses are blamed for environmental damage.
Apr 07, 2012 @ 20:59:36
Preserve the horses for what and for whom? You? Just let them starve to death? Why don;t you buy land and start a sanctuary and you feed then, pay the vet bills and look at them in awe? The horses and burros are not native, Many have been dumped by people who can no longer afford to feed them hay. And every mouthful they eat or drink effects native wildlife. My husband and I worked with the Wildlife Federation for years recommending possible solutions, but everyone was afraid to touch the subject. Now it has become a catastrophe for Nevada and thousands of horses have led miserable lives waiting to starve to death. Exactly what is your solution????
Apr 07, 2012 @ 20:27:01
One more comment about fracking. Nevada has perhaps th worst economy in the United States Right now, and North Dakota is booming, because of that terrigly fracking. If you had studied the tehnology, as I have, prehaps you would understand that the problwes that occurred in the early days of the technology are no longer problems. And if Nevada keeps driving off mining and a lot of other industries with stupid regulations like requiring mine dumps to be irrigated, and grass to be planted on them, you better plan for a State Income Tax, IF you are a Nevada Resident. That will sure help the economy won’t it?
Apr 07, 2012 @ 20:19:47
First of all, I am a second generation Nevadan, and 68 years old. The worst videos that I saw were the herds on the Nevada Test Site, but there were others around Central Nevada. At one time I was an assistant guide for bighorn sheep hunters, and rode many mils on horseback, mostly in Southern Nevada, but when I was married we hunted deer all over Nevada. I have personally seen horses drive deer from water holes on more than one occasion.
You are absolutely right that BLM does not car anything about sage grouse, or any other fish and game. That is the responsibility of the Department of Wildlife..
As for water, which is certainly the main concern in much of Nevada, the Wilderness Act, which basically drew a circle around most mountains where the pinyon and juniper belt starts, was the worst thing that ever happened in Nevada because in many places it meant that water holes and springs that had been maintainsed by cattlemen with grazing rights, but also supplied water to wildlife, were no longer accessible by road. Two of the areas we used to hunt, had roads through the mountains that had been there for over 100 years. We would occasionally see Native Americans there harvesting pinyon nuts when we were hunting. The Wilderness Act closed the area entirely, except by horseback or on foot by blocking the road in the valleys on both sides of the ranges. All wildlife suffered when that happened all over the State.
Have you ever gone to one of the BLM holding pens for the Adoption program? Would you really pay to take one home and feed it for the rest of its life? I once had a mare that had come off the range near Fallon. She didn’t look bad, but the ride was horrid because their hocks had no spring because she have lived in rocky areas. I also know of many people who just take their old stock horses out and turn them loose when they get old, because of the cost of feed. As see it, the only alternative to removing the excess would be to castrate all of the stallons except for a few which would lower the numbers. That is why bucks are removed from herds of deer and elk, and how range cattle numbers are cotrolled.
I just hate to see people bashing mining and ranching, though I have never been involved with either. That is what most of the Nevada economy started with. Not gambling or some hell-hole like Las Vegas.
Apr 07, 2012 @ 19:57:12
You are so clueless. most of us here are Republicans or tea Partyiers. You were the one who set the rude tone. Don’t complain when it comes back at ya.
No we are not ignorant…….thats the problem. You don’t have to be a bleeding heart liberal to want to preserve the horses. You are letting your greed get in the way of your good sense.
BTW: Who sent ya? Who you working for? Whats the matter…did the price of your welfare grazing lease go up? Not to worry….shortly…..they will get rid of you too.
go eat your cat
Apr 07, 2012 @ 19:15:25
Exactly where and when did you see any wild horses on public land that were eating each others manes and tails?
In a video?
The only time I ever saw that happen was when an animal abuser starved some horses.
Wild horses and burros only starve on public land when humans steal their legal land and water for the sake of the almight dollar.
Tell us all what your financial interest is this issue – livestock grazer or professional fracker or ?
Apr 07, 2012 @ 18:53:38
Marcellas,
You attack the Taylor Grazing Act. Do you eat beef? Where are the horse being starved or refused water because of massive mining and drilling? Or where are they being fenced out of those prime areas you seem to see? If it wasn’t for mining, Nevada would never have been a State until the 1900′s. Perhaps you beieve that old towns like Goldfield are eyesores. I’m a second generation Nevadan, and I love the relics of Nevada mining, as well as what little is left of the cattle industry in central Nevada. Every horse on open range is one less head of beef that can be supported. And by the way, horses can jump fences. Cows can’t.
As for your rude comments, it just shows you for what you are, Ignorant.
Apr 07, 2012 @ 18:42:30
You bleeding heart liberals obviously have never watched those feral horses drive deer off a water source, or become so starved that they stand next to each other eating manes and tales for food. In fact, I doubt that you even live in Nevada if you consider pine nuts an important economic resource. Wild horses and burros are no differnet that feral cats and dogs roaming your neighborhood.
I am certainly not condoning the use of 2-4-D. But if the horse herds were managed by Nevada Department of Wildlife instead of BLM, they could issue tags for the number of animals that needed to be removed. It would create revenue from the sale of the tags to benfit wildlife, stabilize the population of horses and burros, and creat jobs and income for the people removing the animals. Horse meat is on the menu in France, as is Zebra in Africa. Beatty, Nevada used to barb-Q-que burros once a year during their Burro Races as a fundraiser. Nevada cowbows and sheepherders made burro jerky. There are millions of starving people in this world. Perhaps you should consider them.
Apr 07, 2012 @ 18:39:52
The Nevada wild horse herds are being intentionally starved so that water can be diverted massive mining and drilling which cause massive virtually unrecoverable devastation.
How ’bout them welfare cattle grazing leases?
I noticed you never mentioned how rangeland is fenced off so the horses and burros can’t get to the water and to grazing…..we save that for those speical cattlemen!
I don’t care who eats donkeys, burros, horses or zebras…..personally I think we shoudl round up people like you and offer you up on the global meat market as a delicacy……jackass steaks.
The perpetrators of this multi-victim crime are the DoI, the corrupt BLM, and jackasses like you who value nothing. Go eat your dog
Apr 07, 2012 @ 18:27:27
You bleeding heart Wild Horse Annie’s, ought to ask to see the videos of Nevada Wild Horse herds that are so starved, they stand next to each other eating manes and tails. Or scarce water sources that horses defend against wildlife, driving off deer and other native animals. Horses and burros are not wildlife, any more that feral cats and wild dog packs in your neighborhood. The Nevada Department of Fish and Game should be allowed to sell tags for the removal of horses and burros from the desert based on the carrying capacity of the range. That would restore native animals to previous numbers, help to fund conservation projets, and provide food for people, zoos, or animal feed. Many people worldwide eat horses, zebras, burros and donkeys.
This would be a far better solution that 2-4-D. But wild horses are not the victims, but the perpetrators of range and habitat destruction.
Apr 07, 2012 @ 16:39:29
Great letter. More transparency is needed.
Apr 07, 2012 @ 16:26:02
Excellent article!
It is my understanding that the BLM is very worried about the Sage Grouse getting on the Endangered Species List … and I wondered why … since we know they could care less about the bird itself or any animal that doesn’t make them money.
I discovered that if the Sage Gross does get put on the Endngered Species List, almost all large scale human activities (mining, gas and oil exploration etc.) could come to a screeching halt and be tied up in court for years. So BLM uses the smoke-screen of saving the Sage Gross Habitat as it blunders along behind our backs destroying “Mother Natures’ Way” and replacing it with “BLM’s Way” which is based entirely on money.
Apr 07, 2012 @ 05:18:27
BULLSEYE, Debbie!
This looks like a “MASSIVE DEFORESTATION”/Wild Horse eradication project all wrapped up in one neat little package.
It does make a taxpayer wonder..WHY and FOR WHO?
American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is combining a wild horse roundup with a vegetation- and tree-killing project. The agency refers to this ill-conceived proposal as a “Habitat Resiliency, Health, and Restoration Project.” Our friends at the Western Watershed Project describe it as a “massive deforestation and sagebrush/pinyon pine-killing scheme” that will also victimize wild horses.
It’s ironic that the BLM is claiming that it will save the sage grouse by eliminating sagebrush — the very habitat that the birds need for survival. In addition, the pinyon pines that the BLM wants to remove are an important component of the ecosystem, providing food and habitat for wildlife, watershed protection, as well as pine nuts, which can be harvested as an important economic resource.