Mica and the Cremello Colts stand together

Winter in Colorado often means snow, although it does not usually stick around for long on the Front Range, so when we had snow, I got bundled up and headed out to the pasture to photograph the boys.  Even though I have 2 sheds they can shelter under, the three boys prefer to spend their time out in the snow.

Cremosso's eye

Mica Close Up

Claro's eye

I was able to get close to all three as they came up hoping for cookies.

Claro Chewing on Cremosso

Mica Biting at Cremosso's Legs

Then I waved my  flag, and they moved back and started to play.

Mica runs

Mica Runs By

Mica loves to run in the snow.

Cremosso with Mica on His Heels

Then he ran behind Cremosso,

Mica and the Cremello Colts in Step

Then finally all three ran together.

Cremosso, Mica and Claro

Now the snow has melted, and we wait for another snow.

Carol in the field

The Rocky Mountain Horse Expo will be March 9 – 11, 2012 at the National Western in Denver.
Carol Walker will be presenting on “Wild Horses: Disappearing From Our Western Landscape” on all three days – Friday and Saturday at 4- 5 pm and on Sunday at 9 am. She will be presenting a slideshow of inspiring wild horse images set to music and will discuss the issues surrounding our wild horses, and what you can do to help keep them wild and free.
Here is a link to the schedule of presenters:
http://www.coloradohorsecouncil.com/index.cfm?id=938b567a-109c-44f4-b210d6e1a06ac301&expo-schedules.html

Carol will also be exhibiting art work at the Art in the Park show which will be going on during the Expo. Come see her at her booth where she will be selling artwork, books, calendars and greeting cards.

The first time I met Echo

I am writing to you today about the BLM’s plans to remove 30 young horses from Cloud’s herd this year.  Many of you have already written to the Billings BLM and I thank you very much for doing that.  Yesterday The Cloud Foundation posted an urgent plea to help save Cloud’s grandson Echo.  If you can write again, before January 20th, please do so.

Echo Running

I was captivated from the moment I first met Echo in the summer of 2010, by his spirit, his playfulness and his beauty.  Upon returning to the Pryor Mountains this last summer, one day I watched Echo come over the hill, with the presence and the energy that I found very familiar, and I said, “he is JUST LIKE CLOUD!”  My next thought was “Oh no, the BLM is certain to try to take him from his freedom.”

Ginger Filming Echo

This is a video from The Cloud Foundation of Ginger’s first time meeting the colt she named “Cloud’s Echo:”

Echo and his sister Kicks Alot

Boulder moving Echo back to the band

Here is what my friend Ginger Kathrens wrote about Cloud’s Echo, and her plea to write to save Echo from being removed from his home this year:

“I know many of you have already sent in your comments to the BLM regarding the planned permanent removal of 30 young Pryor mustangs, but I’d like you to consider adding a special plea for Echo, Cloud’s little grandson (BLM name is Killian).

In April 2010, Bolder’s black mare, Cascade, gave birth to a pale colt. It was early May before Makendra and I could get up on the Pryors to look for the colt that supposedly looked like Cloud. We spotted Bolder and his family far out on a still snowy, finger-like ridge on Sykes. We could see a little colt lying in the snow under a juniper tree. He looked snow white but, on closer examination, I could see his stockings and the blaze on his face. On the tip of his nose he had a pink snip, just like his great grandpa Raven, his grandpa Cloud, and his father, Bolder.
I named him Echo because he looked so like Cloud. But, I was to learn that his resemblance to Cloud was much more than skin deep. We laughed as he ran and leapt off the ground. Outgoing is an understatement for Echo. In the months that followed I watched him develop into quite a precocious little fellow. He played with yearlings when he was just a foal. As a yearling he would march right up to band stallions. Well, I thought, you’ll become a great band stallion if you don’t killed first. His brave, yearling exploits usually ended with him running back to his mother to nurse!

Echo has unusual genetics (his mother is perhaps the only off-spring of Cloud’s rival, Mateo) and he is the only young palomino on the mountain. He is a powerful, athletic colt who will pass on his strength to his offspring—if he gets a chance.
The removal of Echo will be a personal tragedy for me. Although I believe that Cloud will live for many more years, he will not live forever. When he is gone, we will still have Echo as a physical reminder of the great stallion who inspired me, and so many of you.  I ask you to speak up for Cloud’s Echo. Thanks so much for fighting for his freedom!

Happy Trails,
Ginger
P.S.  The Cloud Foundation does not support the removal of any young horses from the Pryor Mountains—certainly not at this time of year, and certainly not 30 youngsters, which will leave the herd under populated and vulnerable to eventual die-off.

Echo in the grass this last summer

Here are the email, mail and fax addresses that you can write, asking to leave Cloud’s Echo (BLM name Killian) in his home on the Pryor Mountains – please write by January 20:

email: BLM_MT_Billings_FO@blm.gov fax: 406-896-5281

Mail: Jim Sparks, Field Manager
BLM Billings Field Office
5001 Southgate Drive
Billings, MT 59101

Cloud and his grandson Echo

“Mustang Plan Riles the West”

Here is the response:

Dear Ms. Simon,

Cloud and his grandson Echo this summer

Please act and write comments to the Bureau of Land Management by January 20th to save Cloud’s herds from another round of devastation. The Billings BLM is finally willing to accept emailed and faxed comments by 4:30 pm MST on January 20: (NEW DEADLINE!)

email: BLM_MT_Billings_FO@blm.gov fax: 406-896-5281

Mail: Jim Sparks, Field Manager
BLM Billings Field Office
5001 Southgate Drive
Billings, MT 59101

Jasper and Adalena play

The BLM is planning to remove at least 30 young horses from the Pryor Mountains in 2012, bringing the numbers of horses in the Pryor Mountain Herd down from 150 adults, which is the minimum number necessary for genetic viability, to 120 horses, despite a high death rate last year.  The BLM is not even willing to see how the horses survive the winter before making this decision which will possibly remove Cloud’s beautiful grandson Echo, and many other young horses, such as Flint’s son Jasper and Adalena, named after Congressman Raul Grijalva’s granddaughter.

Here are some points that you can include in your emails or letters, courtesy of the Cloud Foundation – but please use your own words!

From The Cloud Foundation:

1. Making decisions on a 30 horse removal now could put the Pryor Wild Horse Herd in jeopary of a die-off. Natural mortality in the winter of 2011-2012 is an unknown. The number of foals to be born and survive in 2012 is also unknown.
2. The population of the Pryor Wild Horse Herd is currently stable with only 150 animals one year of age or older. According to Gus Cothran, PhD, the foremost equine geneticist in the U.S., “A census population size of 150-200 is required to achieve the minimum effective population size (usually 1/4 to 1/3 of the of the total population).” Currently, the Pryor population is at this bare minimum level.
3. In 2011 there was no population growth. Births equaled deaths—18 births versus 18 deaths.
4. Removing 30 young horses in one year alone is risky, unnecessary and threatens the genetic viability of the herd, diminishing their ability to survive into the future.
5. We urge BLM to wait and see what winter brings as far as mortality, and what the foal crop looks like in August of 2012. Late summer would be the time to assess herd growth and health as well as range health and decide on whether removals are really necessary.
6. No details have been provided in this EA regarding the disposition of young horses once they are caught, other than their transport to the Britton Springs corrals at the base of the mountain. What then? Where and when would the young horses be available for adoption? These details need to be revealed to the public.
7. There are no criteria cited which ensure that young horses with narrow genetic representation in the herd, unique or underrepresented colors and markings, and rigorous physical characteristics (i.e. size, health) would be retained on the range. Consideration must be given to these removal criteria to ensure that the “best” are left on the range in order for the herd to perpetuate itself into the future.
8. Urge BLM to adopt the No Action Alternative.

Echo, who looks so much like his grandfather Cloud, should be able to live his life in freedom

Thank you for speaking up for Cloud’s Herd.

Two Mares and a foal run in the Adobe Town Herd Area

This week marks the 40th anniversary of the 1971 Wild Horse and Burro Act, the act that was supposed to provide protection for our wild horses and burros, and yet its protections continue to be eroded. Our wild horses and burros are under siege today, and those who care about them and fight to protect them are all that stand between them and their eventual extinction.

Here are two excellent articles by two distinguished journalists, George Knapp who has been a friend and ardent advocate for wild horses in Nevada, and Andrew Cohen for the Atlantic, who has done a series of articles this year about the threat to Wyoming’s wild horses.

George Knapp writes about “The Shame of the BLM:”

http://www.lasvegascitylife.com/articles/2011/12/15/opinion/knappster/iq_49594018.txt

Andrew Cohen asks “Think Our Wild Horses Are Safe?”

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/12/think-our-wild-horses-are-safe/250062/#.Tuu_eO8Znkg.facebook

My gratitude to both of them for bringing public attention to wild horse issues so eloquently.

From: Lauryn Wachs <Lauryn@thecloudfoundation.org

For immediate release

Federal Judge Orders BLM to Answer Questions regarding Roundup and Removal of Kiger Mustangs

Famed Oregon wild horses still surrounded by controversy

PORTLAND, Ore. (November 22, 2011) – The Cloud Foundation (TCF) and Craig Downer, plaintiffs in a case brought against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), are encouraged to learn that Federal Court Judge, Patricia Sullivan, issued a ruling ordering defendant, the BLM, to provide the court with answers to questions regarding the roundup, removal, adoption and warehousing of mustangs from the famed Kiger and Riddle Mountain herds of southeastern Oregon. Georgie Duckler, counsel for the plaintiffs, and client, Kathleen Lewis, requested that the BLM reveal the number of wild horses removed, their locations, condition, deaths, adoptions, and relocations. The BLM has until December 12, 2011 to respond.

“We’re encouraged that the judge is concerned about these famous mustangs and how they’re faring,” states Cloud Foundation Director, Ginger Kathrens. “The Kiger and Riddle herds are some of the most famous and most Spanish of our western wild horse herds, yet they are being managed to extinction by an out-of-control agency charged with protecting them.”

Advocates are hoping that the concerns expressed by Judge Sullivan will translate into a ruling that orders the return of un-adopted Kiger and Riddle wild horses back to the range in order to shore up the genetic viability of these seriously under-populated wild herds. The BLM removed all but 21 horses on the Kiger range and all but 26 in Riddle Mountain during a July 2011 helicopter roundup, insuring inbreeding and the potential for a complete die-out of these herds. A herd population size of 150-200 adult animals is generally accepted as the minimum to maintain genetic viability.

“The numbers of wild horses left in these two herds, even combined, will result in inbreeding over time,” states E. Gus Cothran, PhD, the most respected equine geneticist in the U.S. who has been studying the genetics of western wild horse herds for over 20 years. “It’s a situation you want to avoid if possible. I don’t understand BLM’s reasoning on this.”

The BLM reported that they received no responses to their Environmental Assessment (EA) calling for the drastic reduction of the Kiger and Riddle Mountain Wild Horse herds; however,  advocates claim that no one they know received the EA, not even the local Oregon Resource Advisory Council (RAC) member for wild horses, Diane Pinney. “There is something very irregular about this whole process,” stated Pinney. “There is absolutely no possibility that not one person would have commented on the roundup of some of the most popular wild horses in the country, if given the opportunity, especially given the Kiger community’s concern over the past two roundups which reduced genetic diversity, increasing the chances of inbreeding in this small breeding population.”

Ironically, the BLM’s website touts the unique qualities of the two herds saying: “The BLM manages two special areas in southeastern Oregon for wild horses with Spanish Mustang characteristics… the Kiger and Riddle Mountain Herd Management Areas. Seeing the beauty of the Kiger Mustangs in the wild with their classic coloration and markings will add much to your enjoyment of our western heritage. It is an experience you won’t soon forget.”

“If this is what managing for ‘special areas’ means, I’d rather be a wild horse living almost anywhere else,” says Kathleen Lewis of Portland, a wild horse advocate who brought forth the suit against the BLM. “It is absolutely devastating that the BLM has no regard for our western history and culture, and their mandate to manage for sustainable wild horse herds.”

“The BLM is so hypocritical. The Wild Horse and Burro Act intended for these animals to be the principle users on their legally designated ranges, yet they are at the bottom of the totem pole,” says wildlife ecologist and author, Craig Downer. “BLM thumbs its nose at the true intent of a unanimously passed Act of Congress and completely disregards the will of the American public. It is truly disgusting that they have destroyed these unique populations in Oregon.”

Some wild horses from the two herds remain in short-term holding and could be returned to the range if the plaintiffs are successful with their challenge to BLM management. TCF and Downer brought suit against the BLM in July, seeking to stop the roundup and removal of the famed Oregon mustangs. The judge denied their temporary restraining order and the roundup continued with two reported deaths and a total of 165 animals permanently removed.

# # #

Media Contact:

Lauryn Wachs

617-894-6939

Lauryn@TheCloudFoundation.org

Links of Interest:

Advocates Ask Congress to Stop Dangerous Kiger Roundup (TCF Press Release) - http://bit.ly/kohGUz

Shady tactics surround BLM roundup of famous Kiger mustangs (TCF Press Release) - http://bit.ly/poDIZV

BLM Website Info on Kiger & Riddle herds – http://bit.ly/jN9bX8

American Herds: What’s Left? – http://bit.ly/jwZvuU

TCF’s 10 Steps to Restore America’s Wild Horses & Burros – http://bit.ly/nWcJRh

Media & Interviews available upon request

Thank you for your petition regarding the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro Program.

The BLM shares your commitment to the humane care and management of wild horses and burros. As described by Congress under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, these animals are living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West. The BLM’s goal is to protect and effectively manage these iconic animals for current and future generations of Americans.

The BLM performs gathers of wild horses and burros in response to the annual herd growth rate. In many cases, the ecosystems of public rangelands are not able to withstand the impacts from overpopulated herds, which include soil erosion, sedimentation of streams, and damage to wildlife habitat. The 1971 Act (Section 1333) mandates that once the Interior Secretary “determines…that an overpopulation exists on a given area of the public lands and that action is necessary to remove excess animals, he shall immediately remove excess animals from the range so as to achieve appropriate management levels.”

The BLM estimates that approximately 38,500 wild horses and burros (about 33,000 horses and 5,500 burros) are roaming on BLM-managed rangelands in 10 Western states based on the latest data available, compiled as of February 28, 2011. Wild horses and burros have virtually no natural predators and their herd sizes can double about every four years

The estimated current free-roaming population exceeds by nearly 12,000 the number that the BLM has determined can exist in balance with other public rangeland resources and uses. (The appropriate management level is approximately 26,600.) Off the range, there are more than 41,000 other wild horses and burros that are fed and cared for at short-term corrals and Midwestern long-term pastures. In the most recently completed fiscal year (2011), holding costs accounted for $43.2 million (57 percent) out of a total enacted Wild Horse and Burro Program budget of $75.8 million. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), in an October 2008 report, found the program’s mounting holding costs to be unsustainable.

As a result of the GAO report, and because of feedback like yours, the BLM is preparing to publish a new wild horse and burro management strategy as part of its ongoing effort to reform the Wild Horse and Burro Program and put it on a sustainable and cost-effective track. The new strategy emphasizes population growth suppression techniques, including fertility control; promotes public-private eco-sanctuaries to hold excess wild horses removed from Western public rangelands; seeks to boost adoptions by making more trained wild horses available to the public; and establishes a comprehensive animal welfare program. The BLM developed the new strategy after actively soliciting input from both the public and the agency’s Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board on how to best ensure the health of America’s wild horses and burros, both on and off the range.

The BLM will move forward with this strategy and make any necessary adjustments after the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) completes a two-year study that has been commissioned by the BLM. The NAS study, to be finished by 2013, will recommend how the BLM should proceed in light of the latest scientific research. During the time the NAS study is carried out, the BLM plans to gather and remove from Western public rangelands approximately 7,600 excess animals annually from Fiscal Year 2012 through FY 2014– down from planned removals of more than 10,000 a year – to keep the overall on-the-range wild horse and burro population at 38,000 to 39,000 during this timeframe. (Some additional gathers may be necessary in emergency situations.)

It is important to note that the strategy also includes a comprehensive animal welfare program through which the BLM will strengthen humane animal care and handling practices. The standards set by this program will apply to BLM employees and volunteers, along with contractors who gather wild horses and burros from the range and those who feed and care for these animals in short-term or long-term holding facilities.

Helicopter drives a large group of wild horses toward the trap

“Ugly” is a good description for the Rock Springs Grazing Association’s plans for Wyoming’s wild horses. They brought a lawsuit against the BLM (on the BLM’s recommendation!) to have them remove all the wild horse from 4 of the largest herd areas in the country: Adobe Town, Salt Wells Creek, White Mountain and Great Divide Basin. They demand the removal of the wild horses not only from private lands but also from adjoining public lands, and these areas all together are over 3 million acres. The issue is the “checkerboard” a twenty mile strip that followed the railroad and was used to finance it by selling private lots in amongst public land. In the 80s there was an agreement made about numbers of wild horses allowed in these areas, but the Grazing Association claims the BLM has let wild horse numbers run out of control, so they want all of them gone.  This is a matter of greed and special interest groups driving the use of public lands, which if unchecked, will result in the probable extinction of our wild horses.

Two stallions fight as they are pushed together

Great Divide Basin is the Herd Area under fire right now.  The first 3 days the BLM was removing all of the horses that were rounded up because these horses were “outside the HMA” or nearly outside it.  At this new trap site, some of the horses will be returned – all the mares returned will be treated with birth control, PZP-22 and the sex ratio of the herd will be skewed – 60% stallions to 40% mares.  So although this herd will not be sterilized at this time, the fabric of the families will be fractured, and never be the same.

Two stallions run

Two stallions look at the trap

They run away

I was on a hill in the blowing wind.  I saw the helicopter bringing in a large group horses, more than 30 all together.  AS they are coming in the distance, I see two bachelor stallions run up to the wrong side of the trap.  They are very surprised by this alien structure in their environment – they stop then run up a hill and out of sight.

The large group runs

The helicopter drives them toward the trap

The wild horses break though the wings of the trap, and run up the hill toward me

The horses run free for the moment

The helicopter tries to turn the horses

Then the large group comes closer, and as they approach the trap, the stallion in the lead heads right for the wings of the trap, and one of the wranglers leaps to the side as the whole group charges through the break in the fence.  They run up the hill toward me, which is thrilling to see, but the helicopter dives down to turn the horses and head them back toward the trap. Finally they are driven in in a cloud of dust and steam coming off the horses who have been running hard.

The helicopter with the horses

The helicopter behind the horses

Dust and steam rise up around the horses

Horses steam from sweating and running hard in the cold

As the helicopter hunts for its next group to drive in, a small family band runs up the hill behind us – I hope they stay free!

The stallion comes up the hill

The colt comes next

The mare brings up the rear

The wind is blowing harder and as I huddle in my coat, I hear that this is the last group the helicopter will bring in today.

The last group of wild horses run toward the trap

The horses run

The helicopter drives them in

Trapped in the pens

I follow the BLM down to the temporary holding facility where the horses are sorted and held until their fate is decided – some few will be released, the rest shipped to Canon City or Rock Springs short term holding facilities.  I wait for an hour as the wind howls so that I can see the horses before I leave.  There were no injuries today.  I see a palomino stallion peeking out and then I walk further and see the weanlings, now separated from their mothers.  One of the colts has markings just like my adopted Adobe Town youngster, Mica.

The weanling pen

This little palomino weanling looks just like my colt Mica when he was rounded up

Here are the staggering statistics for this roundup which ended last week – 1132 horses were rounded up and only 137 of them were returned to their home, on over 700,000 acres.

This roundup started before the Red Desert Roundup was completed because of pressure from the lawsuit brought by the grazing association – the BLM decided they better round up and remove most of these horses before the winter weather deteriorated and prevented that from happening.  Who is in charge here?

If the Rock Springs Grazing Association wins this lawsuit, all of these horses will be removed, and all of the horses from Adobe Town, Salt Wells and White Mountain as well.  The intervention into the lawsuit of RSGA v. the BLM by the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, The Cloud Foundation and the International Society for the Protection of Wild Horses and Burros is the only hope for the wild horses of Wyoming.

Here is an announcement by The Cloud Foundation, which includes where you can donate to help pay for legal fees for the intervention:

http://thecloudfoundation.wordpress.com/2011/11/12/court-allows-the-cloud-foundation-awhpc-ispmb-to-intervent-on-behalf-of-mustangs-in-southern-wyoming/

Please pass this along and donate if you can.

Family of wild horses at Great Divide Basin before the roundup

This is from The Cloud Foundation:

Court Allows The Cloud Foundation, AWHPC, & ISPMB to Intervent on Behalf of Mustangs in Southern Wyoming

November 12, 2011 by thecloudfoundation

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