by Grandma Gregg – Eye Witness
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The Bureau of Land Management is claiming an emergency drought and plans to capture 12 horses near the Summit Springs on the Surprise Valley High Rock Complex – 615,946 acres of federally protected herd management area (HMA) in N.W. Nevada.
ONE standard size water truck could supply these 12 horses with enough water for 21 days. They could remain in their home range “where found” as Congressional law requires. A horse drinks about 15 gallons of water a day so for the 12 horses near the Summit Springs area of the BLM Surprise Valley that would equal only about 1,260 gal. per week. BLM states they are taking three water truck loads a week to the area (see link) so obviously it is livestock and wildlife that are drinking the other 10,740 gallons each week and the horses get the blame … as usual. Does something smell fishy to you?
Sheep on HMA
As it happens, in this same area there are two large livestock grazing permits one of which is authorized to graze 1,340 cattle this time of year. Have the livestock been removed to protect the range and the dwindling water supply? Another example is the Bright Holland Corporation who controls very large water rights in this same Surprise Valley area – the company’s president is the Nevada water baron Sam Jaksick who is also tightly connected to Sempra energy – Sempra is reported to be the largest global energy company next to BP. So who DOES own and control our water on our public land?
I’ll admit the area is dry this year but I also know (and BLM would never admit this because it would cause too much pressure from the large ranching corporations) that most of the immediate problem is caused by cattle and sheep overgrazing. I have witnessed and documented this. Two weeks ago and very near to this same Surprise Valley area – about 500 sheep were standing in an area that had been a lake but is now only a dry barren shallow pit stripped of all forage (see photos taken 6/30/12 Pilgrim Lake, Twin Peaks HMA, CA-NV boarder) and in another nearby dry riparian area there was no sign of any wild horse manure but there were cow patties every six feet within the lake bed … and that is no exaggeration.
Our wild horses have been adversely affected by BLM MIS-management of our public land. Last winter’s big wild horse capture in this area displaced the few horses that were released and those that had been forced to run from the helicopter and hide. Now BLM is stating that they will be trapping 12 wild horses and moving them. This will disrupt their family bands and cause extreme stress and some may be injured and die from this unnecessary plan. And this is becoming a trend; just this week BLM has announced a very similar scenario for other wild horses in the west.
I say leave them alone on their legal land, remove all livestock from these areas and spend a few dollars taking them out some water for the next few months – after all this is their water and their land and our water and our land. The BLM made $112 billion from our public lands in 2010 … and they are saying that they can’t even take a water truck out to the legal horses every three weeks? Not likely! – Does that seem right? – Hogwash!
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http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/ca/pdf/caso/WHB.Par.75362.File.dat/tuledad.pdf
Aug 02, 2012 @ 14:06:28
Thank you for this article, I recently did an informational speech on this topic on the national level. It may be already too late for our great American Icon the Mustang. From my research of collection data from BLM and from various legal authorities, we are down to approximately 12,000 mustangs total. Out of these most have been collected and only 1/10 of a herd or less if any at all released are 50% stallions to 50% sterile mares (yes they are injecting the mares with a hormone that destroys the pituitary gland and leaves them sterile). This is all under the guise that the mustang is a feral animal despite the National Geographic itself declaring that the mustang was no longer a feral animal but a part of a very delicate ecological balance. Horses eat the underbrush that causes much of the vast wildfires that have hit barren lands. When the Roaming WIld horse and Burro Act was passed in 1971, there was a population of 140,000 animals and at that time the BLM was put in charge of managing them to insure their existence and protect from extinction. But since President Obama’s reign the Mustang has been under attack, fighting with 3.1 million head of cattle on the small 21 million acres of land designated for their survival. Recent push to implement the Agenda 21 plans for eradication of any non-indigenous animal on what has been plotted to be the future wild-lands of America. The herds have been mercilessly collected by many means the BLM sees fit and any public viewing has been prohibited. Last year alone over 130,000 horses were transported over the Nations borders to waiting slaughter plants, many of these were mustangs. Currently the remaining 45,000 mustangs gathered are being held in various locations on private lands waiting for the slaughter plants to reopen after last October’s Agricultural bill was secretly passed with out public knowledge. The BLM has been constantly been seeking permission to destroy these herds and Americans who love these dwindling reminders of our historic past are losing the battle to progressive thinking and administration.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/julia-sieben/the-systematic-eradication-of-an-american-icon-persuasive-speech-outline-and-res/10151022514237418
WHO OWNS WATER ON LEGALLY DESIGNATED WILD HORSE AND BURRO LAND? | Wind Wild Horse
Jul 22, 2012 @ 22:01:04
Jul 22, 2012 @ 15:39:26
How about removing all of the cattle that is on the land designated for the horses. Forget the cattle. We need to keep our wild horses free and without human interference. Nature takes care of it all. The BLM is crooked and under the direction of Ken Salazar, a known cattle man who hates the horses. It is conflict of interest on his part and he should have no contact with the horses. The wild horses need to be taken out of the governments control period.
Jul 21, 2012 @ 21:40:10
ALL BLM RESCUED HORSES THAT ARE NOT ADOPTED ARE SOLD IN CANADA AS HORSE MEAT AND KILLED ,SORRY THATS THE REAL TRUTH
Jul 21, 2012 @ 18:13:42
A little bit more about the BLM’s idea of how to play the game.
Do the WH&B have the legal right “primarily” or “comparatively” on their HMA/HA land? Essentially the HMA is supposed to be designated “principally” to their welfare and the FLMPA say they will be provided resources “comparatively” with other resource users.
“Principally” is in the WH&B Act
“Comparatively” is in the FLMPA
An excellent but sickening example of the BLM’s “lack of understanding” (to put it politely) of the words “principally” and “comparatively” is their allocation of forage on the Desatoya HMA which will soon be gathered by helicopter with a follow up of ten years of wild horse bait trapping behind closed doors. The Smith Creek Ranch (owned by Hendrix et al) has 10,541 active AUMs on two grazing allotment permits – Porter Canyon which is 603 cattle year round and Edwards Creek which is 275 cattle year round.
This equals 878 AML (livestock population so to speak), yet the wild horses who legally have the principal/comparative right to the land will only be allowed to have a population of 127 to180 AML (1524-2160 AUMs) – giving the rancher about FIVE times the forage usage that the wild horses have a legal right to graze “Principally/Comparatively”.
And isn’t it “funny” that in the Smith Creek promotional information for the ranch they say they have 250,000 acres (those are OUR acres – not theirs!) and about 800 head of cattle BUT in truth they own only about 2,800 acres which would only run about a dozen or so head of livestock year round … so this ranch truthfully lives off you and me … and again the wild horses get the blame for the forage and water usage.
(allotment data from BLM – and there may be more than just these two that I found)
Jul 21, 2012 @ 17:19:23
Dear Barbara, I agree patience and kindness are out the DOOR, We need to make a Stand Now, short of that we spin our wheels at the expense of the Wild Mustangs lives !!!!
Jul 21, 2012 @ 15:54:30
Agenda 21, check if your city council is on the ICLEI members list, that’s where this insanity comes from the United Nations.
Jul 21, 2012 @ 14:27:49
I know a lot of people feel like I do, and I know there are also a lot that think still being polite is the answer. I think we’re way past being polite with the BLM. Rise up and get MAD. If that means sueing the BLM into extinction, then that’s what we have to do. Being polite will get us no where with this government agency. We also have to get after the “welfare” cattle/sheep ranchers and get them off lands that belong to the wild horses & burros. We can’t be polite any more.
Jul 21, 2012 @ 14:11:34
Jul 21, 2012 @ 12:52:47
To “Silver Account” – what if the wild horses were removed to another part of the HMA, then migrated OFF THAT portion of the HMA onto non-HMA land…you know what happens then…off to slaughter.
Jul 21, 2012 @ 12:41:07
Something is diffidently fishy and happening in other places like Montana. The Feds are looking to control all our Blue Gold rights. They will use any back door approach necessary. In Montana, it will be through the current Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Water Rights negotiations. This will affect all of western MT. Then there’s talk with the Colombia Rive Basin. Add to the mix all this talk of returning what “we” stole from the Indians. Most of the green groups are instigating the Indians toward this direction. Check out this link https://westernmtwaterrights.wordpress.com/ and this http://vimeo.com/42995856
Jul 21, 2012 @ 11:46:25
Thank You !!!! Grandma Gregg your Love and devotion to Our Mustangs and Burros is a inspiration !!!!!!!!
Jul 21, 2012 @ 08:31:56
Jul 21, 2012 @ 06:42:52
SURPRISE VALLEY, Calif. (KRNV & MyNews4.com) — The BLM Surprise Field Office is planning to relocate about 12 wild horses to a nearby water source within their herd management area. The horses are staying close to a water source that has dried up due to drought conditions in the Fox Hog Herd Management Area and their condition is deteriorating.
Jul 21, 2012 @ 02:06:59
Whatever happened to “for their principle use”? This means exactly what it says. The horses and burro’s needs should be met BEFORE additional uses are placed on the land designated for them.
Thank you for keeping up with these horses. Every herd needs their own local guards and voices that advocate for them. Each herd whether horse or burro has specific local issues that affect them. This is why it is so important for herds to be watched by local caring people who want the best for them and know when to bring in the “troops” for support, like now.
Jul 20, 2012 @ 21:26:06
GREAT ARTICLE, Grandma Gregg!!! You have not only been there and write from first hand exerience, but you did important follow up research. Keep up the great work!
Jul 20, 2012 @ 20:50:09
THANK YOU, Grandma Gregg. Your deep love for our Wild Horses and Burros shines through in this article, evidenced by the long hours you have spent researching and getting at the Truth. Your excellent work is truly a Labor of Love.