BLM Seeks Comments on December Wild Horse Roundup in Nevada

by Fran Jurga | 9 November 2009 | The Jurga Report at Equisearch.com

The following press release has been made available from the Bureau of Land Management and is posted here for the information of anyone concerned with or about the next major action in this important and sensitive area of horse world politics.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Winnemucca District, Black Rock Field Office is proposing to gather and remove about 2,500 wild horses in several areas north of Gerlach, Nev., in Washoe and Humboldt counties. The proposal and associated impacts are described and analyzed in the Calico Complex Capture Plan Preliminary Environmental Assessment (EA). The BLM would appreciate receiving substantive comments on the EA by November 12, 2009.

The proposed gather is needed to achieve and maintain the established appropriate management level (AML) and prevent further range deterioration resulting from the current overpopulation of wild horses within the areas.

The proposal is to capture and remove excess wild horses from the Calico Mountain Complex: Black Rock Range East, Black Rock Range West, Calico Mountains, Granite Range, and Warm Springs Canyon herd management areas. The gather is expected to begin about December 1, 2009 and continue through the end of February 2010.

The document may be reviewed online at www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/wfo/blm_information/nepa0.html.

Questions and written comments should be directed to: Dave Hays, Field Manager, Black Rock Field Office, BLM Winnemucca District Office, 5100 E. Winnemucca Blvd., Winnemucca, NV 89445-2921. Comments may also be submitted by e-mail to wfoweb@nv.blm.gov. E-mail messages should include “Calico Complex Capture Plan (Fox)” in the subject line.

Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment – including your personal identifying information – may be made publicly available at any time. While you may ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Comments received during the public review period will be analyzed and considered as part of the decision-making process.

(End of document from the BLM)

Wild Horse Update: Department of Interior Proposal Revamps Future

by Fran Jurga | 8 October 2009 | The Jurga Report at Equisearch.com

The big news from Washington yesterday, for me, was not about healthcare or Afghanistan but about wild horses. I am printing for you here excerpts from the text of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's press release about his proposal to Congress to re-invent the way that our wild horses are managed...and where they are managed. I also suggest that you read the article in today's New York Times for more on this developing story.

For my own take on this, I have to congratulate Mr Salazar for admitting that the current system isn't working, and for trying to forge new solutions. The non-reproducing herds caveat is a big question for animal behaviorists--without reproduction, will there still be a herd?

But I would direct my questions to the environmental impact of relocating a large number of horses to any area; who will want them and how will they disrupt the native flora and fauna of such a large tract of land as would be required to truly adequately support a wild and free-roaming herd in a wildlife park setting? Wild horses are still protected by federal law so they'd have to still run free on thousands on acres, right?

I'd also hope that they would consult with the Australian Brumby Research Unit at the University of Queensland. A pilot study done there to switch groups of horses between different environments had mixed results. I've been told that years ago a mustang-to-Chincoteague swap was unsuccessful as well. A researcher from Queensland will be speaking on their wild horse studies at a special presentation in Missouri next weekend; read about the lecture here.

I don't think there is an easy solution for this problem, and I am glad that the Department of the Interior is attacking it at its highest level. But they need lots of input. It reminds me of the problem of snow geese. And the problem of beavers. And the problem of deer. Those three species are the bane of suburban life around here. They just won't go away on their own. Should they?

In my own coastal environment, I think of the hundreds of gray seals that live here now. There are thousands more further out on the coast of Cape Cod. They are a protected species. Ten years ago, seeing a seal was a big deal; now they are becoming quite commonplace and gather in large numbers. They're out in the harbor outside my office, they're on the beach right in town.

A beach on Cape Cod is closed off to humans because of the seals. They should not be disturbed, the environmental police say. That's great. But the fishermen who make a living look on the sea are starting to do the math of his situation much as the cattle ranchers out west look at the horses. The seals are eating the fish. How many pounds of fish a day does each seal eat and just how many thousand seals are there? This summer, the seals were blamed for attracting a great white shark to Massachusetts waters. And how do you manage one (or more) of those?

Gray seals and wild horses may have a lot in common. Both species have their fans and their opponents. There are no easy answers when it comes to managing nature and introducing/transplanting species.

The following text, printed in red, was provided by the Department of the Interior.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today proposed a national solution to restore the health of America’s wild horse herds and the rangelands that support them by creating a cost-efficient, sustainable management program that includes the possible creation of wild horse preserves on the productive grasslands of the Midwest and East.

“The current path of the wild horse and burro program is not sustainable for the animals, the environment, or the taxpayer,” Salazar said in a letter outlining his proposals to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and eight other key members of Congress with jurisdiction over wild horse issues.

Salazar said he is “proposing to develop new approaches that will require bold efforts from the Administration and from Congress to put this program on a more sustainable track, enhance the conservation for this iconic animal, and provide better value for the taxpayer.”

The challenges to the BLM associated with maintaining robust wild horse populations in the West have been recognized by the Senate Appropriations Committee, which has warned that gathering and holding costs have risen beyond sustainable levels and directed the BLM to prepare a long-term plan for the program. The Government Accountability Office also found the program to be at a “critical crossroads,” affirmed the need to control off-the-range holding costs, and recommended that the BLM work with Congress to find a responsible way to manage the increasing number of unadopted horses.

In response to Congressional direction, Salazar’s proposals aim to achieve a “truly national solution” to a traditionally Western issue. A key element of the Secretary’s plan, designed to address concerns raised by the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Government Accountability Office, would designate a new set of wild horse preserves across the nation. Citing limits on forage and water in the West because of persistent drought and wildfire, Salazar said the lands acquired by the BLM and/or its partners “would provide excellent opportunities to celebrate the historic significance of wild horses, showcase these animals to the American public, and serve as natural assets that support local tourism and economic activity.”

The wild horse herds placed in these preserves would be non-reproducing.

In his letter, Salazar also proposed:

• Managing the new preserves either directly by the BLM or through cooperative agreements between the BLM and private non-profit organizations or other partners to reduce the Bureau’s off-the-range holding costs. This coordinated effort would harness the energy of wild horse and burro supporters, whose enthusiasm would also be tapped to promote wild horse adoptions at a time when adoption demand has softened.

• Showcasing certain herds on public lands in the West that warrant distinct recognition with Secretarial or possibly congressional designations. These would highlight the special qualities of America’s wild horses while generating eco-tourism for nearby rural communities.

• Applying new strategies aimed at balancing wild horse and burro population growth rates with public adoption demand. This effort would involve slowing population growth rates of wild horses on Western public rangelands through the aggressive use of fertility control, the active management of sex ratios on the range, and perhaps even the introduction of non-reproducing herds in some of the BLM’s existing Herd Management Areas in 10 Western states.

The new strategies would also include placing more animals into private care by making adoptions more flexible where appropriate.

Wild Horse Population Control Forum in Australia

by Fran Jurga | 21 September 2009 | The Jurga Report at Equisearch.com

Australia is home to ten times as many wild horses as the United States. Australian "brumbies" are being studied by a unique unit at the University of Queensland that seeks to learn about the feet of these horses as well as their genetics, behavior, and feeding habits. A major presentation of the hooves of Australian wild horses will be presented in West Palm Beach, Florida at the Fifth International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot in November. Later that month, the university will host a conference on wild horse fertility control.

When the Bureau of Land Management of the United States Government set out to round up the wild horses of the Pryor Mountain Range in Wyming at the beginning of this month, they opened a floodgate of controversies. Everyone and anyone could pick their favorite issue related to wild horse management and comment loudly on the Internet. It was a Wild Web free-for-all without a moderator.

One of the subjects that came up was the treatment of mares to decrease or delay fertility and how this might affect behavior of individual horses and the stablity of small mare bands attached to a single stallion. The idea of "birth control" for wild horses is not new, but the widespread practice is, and many people hadn't heard about it.

Half a planet away, Australia is struggling with a massive overpopulation of wild horses. They would absolutely laugh at the numbers that the BLM cites: Australia is home to ten times the feral horse population of the United States. And it is growing exponentially each year.

To discuss the pros and cons of fertility intervention in the vast population, the Australian Brumby Alliance will host a conference at the University of Queensland on November 24, 2009. The conference will include participation by the RSPCA, Queensland Park and Wildlife Service, and scientists and veterinarians from the University of Queensland and its veterinary college.

Click on this link to download a flyer about the wild horse fertility conference: Fertility%20Control%20Seminar%20Flier.pdf

The University of Queensland's vet school is home to the Australian Brumby Research Unit, which is the only research laboratory known to be solely dedicated to the study of wild horses. The researchers are involved in tracking horses with GPS collars, studying their habits, genetics and diet, and particularly noting the distance covered by wild horses.

The Queensland researchers are involved in helping Aborigine groups re-connect with the wild horses in their regions and learn horsemanship skills.

Data on the wild horse hooves is being studied under the direction of famed laminitis researcher Dr. Chris Pollitt, of the Australian Equine Laminitis Research Unit, who hopes to glean insights on what the truly "normal" foot is and how a foot is influenced by its environment, exclusive of human intervention factors. To that end, wild horses are studied that live on different types of terrain and in different moisture zones. One recent study involve switching horses from wet to dry and dry to wet, and the scientists monitored the changes in their feet over the course of time.

Dr Pollitt will present a major report on the brumby hoof research and how it is applicable to domestic horse research and particularly laminitis research at the Fifth International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot in West Palm Beach, Florida on November 6-8, 2009.

Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Drama Over for Now; BLM's Wyoming Roundup Ceases

by Fran Jurga | 9 September 2009 | The Jurga Report at Equisearch.com

The drama unfolding in the high plains of Wyoming has been between wild horse activists and Bureau of Land Management policy makers, as horses have been rounded up, including the famed "Cloud Herd". In spite of an inspired effort by activists to block the plans in court, the roundup proceeded over the past week, with stallions, mares and even tiny foals being herded by helicopter from their mountain pastures down into holding pens.

But the real drama may lie ahead. While it is heartwarming to see all the emails, blog posts and Tweets calling people to action to save Cloud, the real crux of the matter comes on September 26, which is national adoption day. The equation doesn't always make sense, but in the BLM way of doing the math, the adoptability of these horses is critical to the program.

Did all the publicity over the roundup help or hurt the chances of these horses finding homes?

Certainly the Pryor Mountain horses are one of the most beloved of wild horse bands in the United States, in large part thanks to publicity from Cloud's story and their status as descendants of Spanish colonial stock. Just as certainly, no one outside the BLM will ever know what role public pressure played in stopping the roundup at this particular point, since it was winding down anyway, so activists can't quite claim a victory.

This afternoon, horses are galloping back toward their hills, although many mares were apparently treated with PZP as a pregnancy deterrent. Certain horses stayed behind at the holding station and are slated for adoption.

The Cloud Foundation has done an exemplary job of keeping the public informed of their efforts to stop the roundup and, once it started, to observe it and report on the condition of the horses. The contrast between their detailed blog posts and heart-wrenching photos and videos--often updated several times per day--and the BLM's carefully worded official documents is classic.

This complex issue will be off the message boards and Tweetstreams in a few days but it is far from over.

If you really care, click a little deeper:

Click here for the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center web site.

Click here for the Cloud Foundation's blog with updates, photos and video, including information about specific bands and stallions and which ones have been split up.

Click here for the BLM's information page on the Pryor Mountain roundup.

And, what are you doing September 26? It's National Wild Horse Adoption Day. That's the day to make noise about wild horses, whether you are in favor of adoption or against it. If you feel that these horses truly belong in the wild, you'll have to find a way to keep them in the news.