Wild Horses: BLM’s Deadly Long Term Holding Solution
August 22, 2014Wild Horses: Wyoming Wild Horse Roundup Delayed as Advocates Appeal to Tenth Circuit
September 3, 2014Wild Horses: Court Grants Emergency Injunction to Delay Wyoming Wild Horse Roundup
Salt Wells Creek Wild Horse Family
For Immediate Release
Court Grants Emergency Injunction to Delay BLM Wyoming Wild Horse Roundup
Cheyenne, WY (August 29, 2014)…..Late yesterday, the U.S. District Court in Wyoming granted an emergency injunction to delay until September 12 the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) planned roundup of more than 800 wild horses from public and private lands in the Adobe Town, Salt Wells Creek and Great Divide Basin Herd Management Areas (HMAs) in an area known as the Wyoming checkerboard.
The injunction allows the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, The Cloud Foundation, Return to Freedom and wild horse photographers Carol Walker and Kimerlee Curyl the opportunity to appeal the district court’s denial of our motion for a Preliminary Injunction to stop the roundup, which was also issued late yesterday.
In response to the rulings, the plaintiffs issued the following statement:
We are pleased that the district court in Wyoming has temporarily enjoined the roundup, but are disappointed in the court’s denial of our longer-term preliminary injunction request. This decision illegally elevates the interests of a small group of private landholders and ranchers over the broader interest of the American public and our federally-protected wild horses.
We look forward to the opportunity to challenge this decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. The ruling fails to hold the BLM to account for its flagrant violation of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. Over 40,600 citizens have signed a petition opposing this wild horse roundup. Their voices are being ignored as the BLM marches to the tune of the Rock Springs Grazing Association, whose members view America’s cherished wild horses as competition for cheap, taxpayer-subsidized livestock grazing on our public lands.
We are hopeful that the Tenth Circuit will reverse the district court’s decision to allow the BLM to trounce federal law and the will of the people by proceeding with this unprecedented wild horse roundup without even attempting to comply with governing laws on federally protected public land. At stake is the integrity of well-established laws that govern the BLM’s management of our public lands.
The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign (AWHPC) is a coalition of more than 50 horse advocacy, public interest, and conservation organizations dedicated to preserving the American wild horse in viable, free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage. AWHPC is a campaign founded and sponsored by Return to Freedom.
The Cloud Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and protection of wild horses and burros on our Western public lands with a focus on protecting Cloud’s herd in the Pryor Mountains of Montana. Cloud is the subject of Foundation founder Ginger Kathrens’ groundbreaking PBS/Nature documentaries.
Return to Freedom (RTF), is the founding and parent organization for the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign. RTF is a national non-profit dedicated to wild horse preservation through sanctuary, education and conservation, and also operates the American Wild Horse Sanctuary in Lompoc, CA.
Carol Walker is the Director of Field Documentation and Board Member of Wild Horse Freedom Federation, and renowned wild horse photographer who has been photographing the wild horses of the Adobe Town, Great Divide Basin and Salt Wells Creek HMAs for the past 10 years.
The Cloud Foundation (TCF), American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, Return to Freedom, Carol Walker, and Kimerlee Curyl are being represented by the public interest Washington D.C. law firm of Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal.
7 Comments
The ranchers have no right to the land it belongs to the public and the horses. I give my interests to the horses.
IF THE HORSES ARE HEALTHY, AND HAVE ADEQUATE FOOD AND WATER FOR THE SIZE HERD OF THEIR UN-CHANGED NUMBERS, IT IS BETTER IF THEY GET THE BENEFIT OF FREE-RANGE GRASS AND CLEAN WATER, IF IT ACCOMMODATES THE HERD SIZE, RATHER THAN RISK A RANGE FIRE THAT DESTROYS GRASS AND ANIMALS. HOWEVER, IF OLD AND SICKLY HORSES ARE ALLOWED TO DIE AND LEAVE DEAD BODIES OVER A LARGE AREA WITHOUT BEING THINNED OUT, AND CONTROLLED, IT WOULD BRING IN OTHER ELEMENTS, EQUALLY UNPLEASANT. DRAWINGS/AUCTIONS, OF A FEW DUPLICATE SELECTED BREEDS OF HORSES, SET UP AS A LIMITED YEARLY PRIZE/PURCHASE, FUND/RAISING DRAWING COULD BE DONE TO HELP MAINTAIN WINTER FEEDING, AND BE DONATING A SPECIAL GIFT TO A LIMITED NUMBER OF TICKET HOLDERS. GETTING SPECIAL LICENSES AND TAGS FOR FISHING AND HUNTING WORKS IN A SIMILAR FASHION. MAKE IT A HERD SIZING FAIR AT A GOOD LOCATION, THAT WILL FINANCIALLY HELP THE COMMUNITY, RANCHERS, AND ORGANIZE THE AREA TO PLEASE EVERYBODY.
[…] SOURCE: wildhoofbeats.com […]
Please leave Americas Wild horses wild, I would like my Grandchildren I the future see the Beautiful wild horses run free and protected as they should be, horses built this nation, they are Icons as much as the American Eagle. Rounding up wild horses is wrong. This is public land NOT ranchers land….Hell, most have not paid the measly pennies per acre for years!!! I am sure there’s the padding of the hands of the politician in this. The Wild horses belong to the American people, not the wealthy cattle ranchers or any rancher. Is it true cattle pull plants/grass by the roots, horses do not?? So who is actually destroying the lands? Not the Wild Horses that is for sure. NO FURTHE ROUND UPS PLEASE:)
DEBBIE GILLLIS
1SG, US ARMY RETIRED
OIF COMBAT VET.
I have been watching this fight for many years,have also seen a decline in our lands due to our cattle,not so much the sheep,but cattle need good foods so they require alot,they move through a area and totally mow it then moving to the next acre,I wouldn`t be so against this if the ranchers paid there fair shares,and kept there words on there maintainence of the fence lines,the ranchers only want there cattle,which again is fine but use your own land,when you borrow someone elses land,you do not over graze and take away from the rightful owners,thats called GREED the wild horses are not fighting your cows to get off,in fact they move back country to allow space for the cattle.How funny this is.Wonder if the Gov. would like the children to voice what he considers for the kids,wonder if they would like to know there destroying the wild mustangs for there education,this is ridiculous .There are alot of us that would love a mustang legion or two,think we should be more concerned for the ones in holding,allow adoptions,help place those mustangs,ranchers you need to pay your fair share and quite asking for handouts,so your money can be better used to maintaining our lands,and you people who are buisness greedy,you`ll one day pay the price,you know as well as any person with a brain its modification the balance of all humanity.
Any delay helps a little! Hopefully the US court of appeals will be more favorable. We are on the side of the righteous!!!
Carol,
I do not know whether this is true for any specific area in Wyoming, but I suspect that some of the wind-farms have been constructed on or near places where there pockets of oil and natural gas that have either been identified or are believed to be present. Is there a possibility that the ranchers with grazing rights to the Checkerboard would be willing to transfer these rights to an expanse where there are now hundreds of wind farms—a good portion of Wyoming. The amount of energy produced by these wind turbines has been described as profitable only as a tax loss by Warren Buffet, and the amount of profit from what may be on a comparable amount of land where the wind farms exist may be heater than on the checkerboard.