Dear Friends and Supporters,
Tomorrow, January 10th, at the top of the 8am hour (all time zones), Mustang Monument will be featured on “CBS This Morning,” a morning show, hosted by Charlie Rose, Gayle King, Erica Hill, with a brand new format and look, in state-of-the-art studio. Please be sure to tune in or set your DVRs. Also, let CBS know you appreciate them bringing light to this very important issue.
Little Lynx in Cloud's band could be removed if bait-trapping proceeds.
Dear Pryor Wild Horse Defenders;
We’ve just learned that the BLM Field Office in Billings has extended the comment period for the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Preliminary Environmental Assessment (PEA) until January 20th. Emailed comments will be accepted (BLM_MT_Billings_FO@blm.gov), but physically mailed comments are encouraged (Jim Sparks: BLM Billings Field Manager, 5001 Southgate Drive, Billings, MT 59101).
In light of this extension, we are doing more research on alternatives to an unnecessary removal of 30 young Pryor mustangs. We will be sending this new information soon.
Stay tuned!
Happy Trails! Ginger
The Cloud Foundation
107 South 7th St
Colorado Springs, CO 80905
719-633-3842
2-year-old Adelina, granddaughter of Blue Sioux & Red Raven
Dear Cloud Friends;
The Billings BLM has decided to accept emails (BLM_MT_Billings_FO@blm.gov) and faxes (406-896-5281) for comments on their Preliminary Environmental Assessment (PEA) which calls for the permanent removal of 30 young horses (ages 1-3 years) from the Pryor Wild Horse Range during 2012. Comments are due by close of business (4:30 pm MST) January 6th.
The removal will bring the herd to the “Appropriate” Management Level of 120. This drastic plan is completely unacceptable and dangerous for the future survival of the Pryor Wild Horse Herd.
The herd currently numbers only 150 adults (one year and older), the bare minimum to maintain genetic viability.
In 2011, mortality equaled births which is exactly what BLM states as their goal for the herd.
Dear Supporters of the Pryor Wild Horse Herd;
I want to share the following letter (link below) we received this week from the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area (BCNRA) regarding signage which they have erected along the paved Park Highway. It alerts motorists that there are animals on the road. We appreciate your emails and letters encouraging this action by the BCNRA in response to the hit and run deaths of the band stallion, Admiral, and his yearling son, Climbs High (Kapitan is his BLM name) along the park highway last summer.
As you may recall, the driver of a truck, Adam Finn of Germantown TN, was intoxicated when he ran them down at 2 am on July 24th. His case is being heard in the Lander, WY U.S. District Court and, as yet, no decision has been reached. Mr. Finn drove away from the accident, but his truck broke down about a mile from the crime scene. Authorities found him still drunk in his truck the next morning.
Ginger & Trace in the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness, Colorado. Photo by Ann Evans
Dear Friends of the Wild;
I moved to Colorado nearly 40 years ago, captivated by the wild beauty of this inspiring place. Here I could immerse myself in true wilderness where opportunities existed to glimpse animals I had only seen in pictures — mountain lions, bighorn sheep, mule deer, elk, black bears, golden eagles, mountain goats, and even wild horses.
Much has changed in these last four decades. Colorado has been highly developed on the front range of our magnificent Rockies, but there are still those hauntingly beautiful, undisturbed landscapes I once dreamed about. Linda Hanick, an extraordinary Colorado wild horse advocate, writes about one of them in her report below.
Our state has only a few hundred wild horses remaining and often they live tucked away in secluded country like that visited by Linda last week. She was present on the last day of the largest roundup of the year in Colorado. Over two hundred robust, glowing mustangs were stampeded by a helicopter, losing in an instant what they value most — their freedom and their families. I encourage you to read the account of her journey to Colorado’s western slope.
Monday, October 3, 2011 — Washington, D.C. — Earlier this year, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) was honored to announce the exclusive release of the Rolling Stones’ classic “Wild Horses” – performed and produced by the legendary Willie Nelson and his family members. Now, Willie & The Nelson Family have followed up with the release of a video for the song featuring Willie, his daughter Paula, son Lukas and many others from the Nelson family. The video, filmed and produced by Luck Films, was shot at Willie’s ranch in Luck, Texas and features some of the over 40 horses, both wild and domestic, that Willie has helped rescue from slaughter. Willie & The Nelson Family are donating the proceeds from the sale of the song to AWI’s campaigns on behalf of wild and domestic horses. Willie and the entire Nelson family are long-time supporters of AWI and its efforts to end horse slaughter and preserve the right of wild horses to roam free.
“The BLM has been rounding them up at an alarming rate, supposedly for their own good. Sadly, there are more wild horses in holding pens than in the wild. Something is wrong with that, so we must act now before the BLM has managed these magnificent animals into extinction,” said Willie Nelson. “It’s time for the cowboys to stand up for the horses.”
The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act was enacted in 1971 to halt the disappearance of these iconic animals from public lands in the American West. Since then, however, over 21 million acres of land set aside by Congress for wild horses have been removed from their range, even as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) – the very agency charged with their protection – claims there is not enough land to support existing herds. The BLM is unnecessarily removing horses based on spurious claims of damage to range and other adverse impacts. The BLM’s mismanagement of America’s wild horses is largely designed to benefit a livestock industry that has, for decades, exploited western public lands while profiting from massive subsidies funded by taxpayer dollars. Willie & The Nelson Family and AWI are calling on the BLM and the Obama administration to immediately halt all wild horse round-ups, restore the land provided by law to wild horses and stop warehousing horses on private lands at even greater expense to the taxpayer.
Two wild horses from the White Mountain herd in southern Wyoming
Dear Friends of our Wild Horses and Burros,
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is accepting comments on their provisional committee members. The study will be reviewing the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program. However, the current provisional committee makeup is vastly unbalanced.
An NAS committee is supposed to be balanced and free of conflicts of interest, as mandated by federal law. But the current committee members chosen for this study do not represent this impartiality. Some of the committee members have strong ties with largely anti-wild horse organizations, such as the Nevada Cattleman’s Association and the Wildlife Society.
The future of America’s wild horses and burros may rest in the hands of this NAS study. The scope of the study itself is expected to take two years to complete and is to include information on total populations, genetic diversity, annual growth rates, population control, immunocontraception, appropriate management level (AML) establishments or adjustments, and managing a portion of a population as non-reproducing.
I encourage everyone to make their own comments (which are only being accepted electronically here) on these tentatively selected committee members. Below are some talking points you can make in your comments.
You can submit your comments here no later than September 26th.
Madeleine Pickens, the Founder of Saving America’s Mustangs, will be a keynote speaker at this year’s Equine Welfare Conference in Alexandria, VA on September 28th, 2011.
Other distinguished speakers include: Congressman Jim Moran, Senator Landrieu’s Aide, State Senator Dave Wanzenried, Congressman Burton’s Aide, Paula Bacon the former mayor of Kaufman, TX, Ann Marini, Ph.D., M.D., Ginger Kathrens of The Cloud Foundation, Michael Blowen of Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Facility, Keith Dane with The Humane Society of the U.S., Lonita Stewart with Canadian Horse Defence Coalition, Katie Fite with Western Watersheds Project, and authors Deanne Stillman and Alex Brown.
Event Location: Marriott Residence Inn
1456 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
CONFERENCE AGENDA Registration Fees:
All 3 days, includes Tuesday night banquet $150
Individual Day $75
Student: All 3 days, includes Tuesday night banquet $75
Student: Individual
Day $40
note: banquet is only included with 3 day registration
The Women’s Horse Industry Network has announced that Madeleine Pickens has been selected to receive a WHINNY award. The awards dinner will be held on Thursday, October 6, 2011 at the Radisson Hotel Opryland. It will be videotaped as part of a one hour special on HRTV.
“We are very happy to present this award to Madeleine. This woman not only works hard to help animals and horses but has put her money where her boots are and where her passion lives. People like Madeleine deserve to be recognized and applauded for their efforts. We will do everything we can to help promote her and her efforts. It definitely will be my pleasure to hand her this award,” states WHIN’s Executive Director, Catherine Masters.
Animal rights advocate Madeleine Pickens started her career in horse racing in 1983, a passion she shared with her late husband and Gulfstream Aerospace founder, Allen E. Paulson. They achieved enormous success in racing and had a total of 800 horses, including breeding and racing World Champion and U.S. Hall of Fame inductee, Cigar. They achieved much esteem for their successes racing many champion Thoroughbreds, breeding many brood mares, and creating three successful farms from the ground up. Together, they owned a breaking and training farm at Ocala and a breeding farm at Brookside North in Kentucky where many of their champions were raised. They also had one more facility in California. Madeleine managed all the business aspects, farm decisions, and race decisions for the entire operation. The Paulsons owned more than 115 winners of graded stakes races. To this day, they still hold the record for the leader of the most ‘Breeder’s Cup’ champion horses and earnings.
Today, she is still breeding a few racehorses, but adamantly opposes horse slaughter and the use of the drugs in these animals. Until that is cleared up, she won’t ever participate in the race world like she had once been.
Chicago (EWA) – A coalition of animal welfare groups including the Equine Welfare Alliance (EWA) and the Animal Law Coalition has announced the first International Equine Conference (IEC) to be held September 26-28 at the Marriott Residence Inn, Old Town Alexandria, Va.
The three day event will feature renowned experts on the welfare and preservation of both domestic and wild equines, legislators and medical experts. Presentations will address many aspects of the field ranging from horse slaughter to wild equine preservation and will include related human and animal health concerns.
“Few subjects have been clouded by so much misinformation as these,” says John Holland of the Equine Welfare Alliance. “We intend to provide a forum where attendees can get a documented, factual understanding of these complex issues.”
Among the many distinguished speakers will be Madeleine Pickens of Saving America’s Mustangs, Senator Mary Landrieu, Congressman Jim Moran, State Senator Dave Wanzenried, Paula Bacon the former mayor of Kaufman, TX, Ann Marini, Ph.D., M.D., Ginger Kathrens of The Cloud Foundation, Michael Blowen of Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Facility, Keith Dane with The Humane Society of the U.S., Lonita Stewart with Canadian Horse Defence Coalition, Katie Fite with Western Watersheds Project and authors Deanne Stillman and Alex Brown. A complete list of the presenters can be viewed at http://www.equinewelfarealliance.org/Int_l_Equine_Conference.html.
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Monday, October 3, 2011 — Washington, D.C. — Earlier this year, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) was honored to announce the exclusive release of the Rolling Stones’ classic 
Madeleine Pickens, the Founder of Saving America’s Mustangs, will be a keynote speaker at this year’s Equine Welfare Conference in Alexandria, VA on September 28th, 2011.
The Women’s Horse Industry Network has announced that Madeleine Pickens has been selected to receive a WHINNY award. The awards dinner will be held on Thursday, October 6, 2011 at the Radisson Hotel Opryland. It will be videotaped as part of a one hour special on HRTV.
Chicago (EWA) – A coalition of animal welfare groups including the Equine Welfare Alliance (EWA) and the Animal Law Coalition has announced the first International Equine Conference (IEC) to be held September 26-28 at the Marriott Residence Inn, Old Town Alexandria, Va.
