My Aggie Girl
Still wondering who all we’re up against?
Posted by Texas Mustang Project on August 2, 2010
Still wondering who all we’re up against? Take a gander at the email and document below… You’ll get at least a few answers… People need to call this manager and ask him if the “sportsmen” think it’s all that smart to go to war with Advocates for the American Wild Mustang, and how smart it is to put the Conservation District in the line of fire…
FYI: Mr. Webster says the meaning of “conservation” is the preservation, management, and care of natural and cultural resources. He doesn’t say “only the natural and cultural resources you care about.”
From: Doug Martin [mailto:dmartin@ntcd.org]
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2010 12:18 PM
To: ‘Jeremy Drew’
Cc: ‘Rex Flowers (Secretary)’; ‘Gil Yanuck’;‘Suzanne Scourby’
Subject: FW: CALL TO ACTION: Submit Wild Horses and Burros Comments
Importance: High
Jeremy,
Being the district manager of a conservation district I got the following and much appreciated email and attachments. The list of recipients is impressive by itself.
I hope that all sportsman will weigh in on this issue. I fear that if we don’t, that horse advocates who oppose removal projects on public lands will have a larger voice at the table than we sportsmen and women who are concerned about the horse impact to the resource and completion with wildlife.
Please feel free to distribute as appropriate.
Doug Martin
District Manager
Nevada Tahoe Conservation District
Box 915
Zephyr Cove, Nevada 89448
www.ntcd.org
dmartin@ntcd.org
(775) 586-1610 x 22
Danielle Dills (Anti) Wild Horse and Burro Talking Points, July 2010 pdf
The ~Texas~ Mustang Project's Blog 
Kathleen said
These people are just depraved. How else could they write in their talking points that BLM caters to wild horse advocates exclusively? Unreal, when just ONE member of the Advisory Board is a horse advocate while the rest of them are elk, sheep, cattle aficionados who hate wild horses and show this with almost every comment out of their mouths? And when BLM spits in the face of advocates time after time on just about every point of engagement, from minor to those in federal court. Depraved. I wonder if they were deprived of oxygen or something to make them this way…
Lynette said
And to think that these people just want the public lands so THEY can kill their prized animal, elk, antelope, grouse, etc. How sick is that, that a whole species has to go extinct so they can kill more of other animals. What is this country becoming?
R. Thompson said
Welcome to the prior administration’s and the current administration’s out look on wildlife conservation. I guess we can be grateful that wild horses aren’t being gunned down gut shot from aircraft…yet….as wolves and black bears are in Alaska.
Never mind Alaskans, in two referendums, the majority of Alaskans voted against the practice of culling predators from the air just to encourage larger ungulate herds for hunters. The moment the referendums 2 year “sunset” provisions kicked in the Alaskan state government was back at the aerial kills, loudly proclaimed righteous by the prior governor and current governor.
The hunting “lobby” is the primary factor in Alaska and appears it is becoming predominant here as well. Is that right?
Arbitrary culling of any species, by whatever means used, is contrary to conservation science in any form, because it wrecks gene pools and destroys the social order that teaches behavior from one generation to the next in wild animals.
You have berserk horses or aggressive wolves (both highly social species)you say? Look to the large scale arbitrary culling for the root cause. Remove problem individuals, no problem. Remove whole groups and senior herd or pack members, here come the problems.
It is a thinly veiling attempt at re-extirpation. Simple as that.
R. Thompson said
I neglected to mention vis a vis Alaska that U. S. Secretary of the Interior Salazar could, with the stroke of a pen, put and end to the aerial culling. But he will not.
He’s not going to intervene on behalf of any species if the prevailing politics make it favorable not to do so. That includes the hunting groups (by all means they are not representing all hunters), energy groups, and livestock grazing groups (again, by all means not every one of them, but the noisy ones).
Sheri Jyringi said
I am an advocate of the American Mustang and I support ENDING the roundup of wild mustang herds on public lands. Removing mustangs herds so sportsmen and women can hunt trophy animals is criminal. The abuse, cruelty and death that is heaped upon the mustang herds that are rounded up and removed is animal cruelty and needs to be STOPPED NOW.
R. Thompson said
I’m not at all sure that 100% stopping of round ups is even possible now. Due to the partitioning off of the available ranges for various uses, some exclusive, the potential for wild horses to survive unassisted may be gone.
Good Lord, in 1971 51 million acres, a “patchwork” of property lines even then, were set aside, meantime 19 million acres vanished (Where? You tell me?), and of the remaining 32 million, 26 million are livestock (not horse) domains.
My guess is that the only remaining chance horses have is for better science and better methodology to be applied to the round ups that are honestly necessary…and not just fulfill quotas based upon plans set by people who’ve never sat a horse in their lives, let alone been near wild horses.
sandra longley said
WWP has shown us the roadmap in their settlement with Ruby..money..take the money, buyout the grazing allotments and return land to the horses..It is possible to get land back for the horses..it may not be the same land..but at one time it was their land…congress just has to ok it…given the options they have on that table..they may find it highly acceptable..get it there before the elections in Nov…
Kathleen said
Just for reference, look at a western states map that shows the reservations – —- the Navajo reservation is 17.2 millions acres – this from a local article on campaigning native style as the Navajo nation is voting today (I think) to elect their president.
So the visual of that Navajo nation is a fair representation of the approximate size of what the horses have had STOLEN from them by the BLM over time.
Jan said
i emailed the one person and told them to ck out the western watershed website – jon is supporter of wild horses and against cattle and he has filed lawsuits against the blm and won
Roxy said
“The approaches undertaken by BLM thus far cater only to animal rights advocates and not everyone else.”
Say what? Is this a joke?
I just turned against hunters!
Linda said
Now we know why the BLM extended the Comment Period for a month. Many of the talking points are skewed or just plain wrong, but hunters will lap them up as long as they can keep growing their herds of prey.
This one REALLY got me:
“The costs gathering wild horses and burros and adopting them out are going up from about $900 to $1300 per horse, not because of contractors doing the work, but mainly because of ensuring safety for public observation during the gathers. There’s the cost of restroom facilities, law enforcement, and increased staff – all this to assuage the demands of animal rights activists who want to be able to observe horse gathers.”
The Cattors were paid how much for Calico? $1.7 MILLION? And how many extra RESTROOMS and staff do they need for people who aren’t ALLOWED to observe the gathers? I guess BLMers and contractors don’t ever have to poop or maybe just find a friendly bush for cover!
And ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS? From my experience, the vast majority of advocates don’t talk about anything but animal WELFARE and there’s a world of difference between “advocates” and “activists”.
Also, the federal judge in Laura Leigh’s recent court case declared her right to attend and observe the gathers legal under the First Amendment. I’d be willing to bet hunters would cry bloody murder if they thought their First Amendment rights were being violated!
I will concede there’s been talk of people trying to block roads and, if that’s true, I wish to heaven they’d STOP. They certainly aren’t doing the wild ones any good!
This whole thing is INFURIATING, but typical of much of the hunting culture’s mindset. That’s why folks have to paint COW or HORSE on their livestock during hunting season.
A woman in Maine was shot dead by a hunter while hanging out laundry in her own backyard. The hunter said he mistook her white mittens for a deer’s tail! Wonder what he thought her sheets were?
Anonymous said
You want a really skewed perspective, and scarily one that is not uncommon? Pick up a copy of “Range” magazine, the far right anti conservation, anti horse publication of the “Rangeland Conservation Association” or something like that. You will fret so much you won’t know what to do….
Linda said
Bookmarked “Range Magazine” for those days when I want to plumb the depths of paranoia.
themustangproject said
Re: Call to Action by Nevada Tahoe Conservation District by TracieLynn Thompson, August 03, 2010 http://wp.me/pLvLO-Da
donna said
why not let the horses live like the old west days its thier right to run free as it was meant to be ,BLM just wants the land for thioer own benifits and thats a bunch of crap leave it for the horses that the way it was set up let them run free like our forefathers did in old day Lets stop this crazy slaughter of our horses