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.
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.
Lynx, in Cloud's band, could be removed next year as a yearling.
Dear Friends of Cloud, his family, and herd;
The time is rapidly drawing to a close for you to be submit your letter to help prevent another removal in Cloud’s herd in 2012. I know you all care deeply for Cloud and his family, just as I do, and it is of vital importance that we all stand together to help the Pryor herd. It is therefore of the upmost importance that you submit a letter in your own writing to the BLM Billings Field Office postmarked by August 30th.
We’ve written our letter, which you can read here. I encourage you to take a look at it, and use it to help you with your own letter if you haven’t written yours already. You can also read over some talking points to help you get started. A reminder that BLM is not accepting emailed comments (we crashed their server last time!), so you can mail them yourself to the address below or you can email them to us at info@thecloudfoundation.org and we will mail them for you. You can also fax your comments to (406) 896-5281. Although we are all frustrated that this unique little herd is continually being threatened, please remember to be polite.
I hope you will all take a moment to help Cloud and the Pryor herd. Thanks so much!
Happy Trails! Ginger
You can mail your letters to:
Jim Sparks, Field Manager
BLM Billings Field Office
5001 Southgate Drive
Billings, MT 59101
Dear Friends of Cloud, his family, and herd;
The BLM Billings Field Office mailed a Scoping Letter to interested parties on July 28th, stating their intent to reach an “Appropriate” Management Level (AML) of 90-120 adult wild horses, one year of age and older in the Pryor Mountains. If they carry out this plan 45 to as many as 75 horses would be removed in 2012. We cannot allow this to happen.
Our position is clear — there is absolutely no need for any removals.
It is important that you respond to an action which would threaten the continued existence of the Pryor Wild Horse Herd. Please write a factual letter to the BLM using some of the information provided here. Remember that BLM will not consider your response unless it is clearly your message — no copying of the list supplied here. Please use your own words to communicate your polite outrage at such an unwarranted proposal.
You will note in our list of recommended response topics, the support of PZP, the one-year infertility drug. This comes as a departure for TCF. However, the remotely delivered drug given at the correct time of year has reduced the foal population and it has given us a good argument to fight for no removals. We still strongly believe in the long-range goal of natural management without helicopters or bait traps or drugs. We see PZP as a means to an end, and that end is a hands off strategy in which Mother Nature calls the shots as much as possible.
Our 3rd Annual Business Networking Expo, the 1st Annual WHINNY awards and the Rhythm & Hooves Benefit is coming along nicely. Winners of the WHINNY awards include such well-known artists as Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Lacy J. Dalton and Templeton Thompson as well as music industry notables such as Mike and Martha Borchetta and Bonnie Garner. Donations are coming in for our silent auction which will benefit the Cloud Foundation, The Equestrian Aid Foundation and NetPosse.com. Sponsorships are now available and information may be obtained by calling 615-730-7833. The events will be televised on HRTV on a delayed basis to millions of viewers.
Exhibitors who have signed up so far include:
My Girlz Clothing Company
Lisa Wysocky – Author, Clinician (new book coming out soon!)
Sciencepure Nutraceuticals, Inc.
Mountain Feather Originals
Rebecca Cagle, BS, CAPLC – Professional Equestrian Life Coach and Equestrian Book Author
Equinature, LLC
Colleen Kelly – World-Renowned Clinician/Speaker
Randi Thompson – How To Market Your Horse Business
Equestrian Aid Foundation
American Association of Riding Schools, Inc.
E3A Equine Experiential Education Association
Easy Mile Log
Canadian Natural Horsemanship Inc.
EQ Bookkeeping
Natural Solutions by Anke, LLC
Exclusive Equestrian Services
Equine Wellness Magazine
“We have some great exhibitors already signed up and since we are still two months away we expect our exhibit space to be sold out very soon. The events are really going to be fun for our attendees and we know from past experience that a lot of business will be done,” states WHIN Executive Director, Catherine Masters.
WHIN has more than 750 members in all areas of the horse industry and offers every kind of product and service you can imagine.
Nashville, TN – July 13, 2011 – Well known country music icon, Lacy J. Dalton, has been awarded a “Whinny” award for her efforts to save and preserve lands for wild horses. The award will be presented by the Women’s Horse Industry at their annual meeting October 6-8 at the Radisson Hotel Opryland in Nashville, Tennessee.
Dalton, whose credentials in music are substantial, has put her energy, money and name behind the Let ‘em Run Foundation.
The Let ‘em Run Foundation is working with other organizations to begin to set aside huge tracts of land for these horses, to help manage the herds and to fence off areas where they should not roam. The group’s dream is to create the “Comstock Wild Horse Sanctuary” where these horses can be preserved, protected and allowed to run free for our children and our children’s children.
“We are very pleased to award Lacy a Whinny for her efforts. More and more people are starting to understand the need to preserve areas for our wild horses and organizations like this and people like Lacy are making this happen. She is to be applauded for her efforts by everyone who cares about wild horses,” states WHIA Executive Director, Catherine Masters.
Lacy is presently recording 2 new CDs. The first, called “Songs of the New West”, is a collection of Outlaw Country songs which include many as yet unrecorded songs by Lacy and friends, along with classics like “Wild Horses” by the Rolling Stones and “Friend of the Devil” by the Grateful Dead. In addition, fueled by feelings generated by what Lacy describes as a “Thermonuclear Divorce” from longtime husband and partner Aaron Anderson, she is working on a CD called “What Don’t Kill You Makes You Strong” after its title track.
The awards will be given out on October 6 in Nashville, Tennessee at the Rhythm and Hooves benefit to save horses. The event will raise funds for three equine charities: The Cloud Foundation, The Equestrian Aid Foundation and NetPosse.com. The benefit will be a part of the WHIA’s Annual conference (October 6-8 at the Radisson Hotel Opryland) where women from around the world will gather to exchange information and business.
For additional information on the WHIA and its upcoming conference and benefit, please visit Women’s Horse Industry or call 615-730-7833.
Dear Friends of our Wild Horses and Burros;
I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful 4th of July! In the spirit of freedom for our wild horses, the Cloud Foundation filed a lawsuit against the BLM in Nevada to prevent the removal and warehousing of over 1,700 wild horses from their vast 1.7 million acre home in northeastern Nevada (Maverick-Medicine, Triple B, Cherry Creek and Antelope Valley West Herd Management Areas).
The exhausted old mare run was nearly hit by the Sun J helicopter at Antelope in January
Taxpayer dollars paid to the infamous Sun J helicopter roundup crew alone will total approximately $600,000 and that’s just the beginning of the expenditures. The costs in short-term holding, where all the horses will go at least temporarily, will be $8,000 per day based on the target number of horses to be removed. Incarceration for life will add millions to the price tag — all funded by American taxpayers.
The cost to the horses is the permanent loss of family and freedom… what wild horses live for. Some horses will pay the ultimate price — losing their lives either during or as a result of this planned operation.
The Cloud Foundation is represented by attorneys Rachel Fazio and Julie Cavanaugh-Bill. We are the primary Plaintiffs in the case and are joined by plaintiffs Craig Downer and Lorna Moffat. In order for the judge to rule on our plea, the BLM has delayed the start of the roundup (originally scheduled to begin on July 7th) until the 16th of July, The hearing will be held at the Nevada District Court, 400 South Virginia Street in downtown Reno at 10 am on July 14th. Please come if you can to show your support of Nevada’s wild horses!
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