Media Contacts:
Makendra Silverman
Tel: 719-633-38425
For Immediate Release
Scientist, Filmmaker & Actress Protest Massive BLM Winter Roundup to Remove 2,700 Wild Horses
Contrary to science, the law, and public opinion the BLM machine has not changed course—the mismanagement of America’s Wild Horses continues
COLORADO SPRINGS, Co. (December 3, 2009)— Craig Downer, wildlife ecologist; Ginger Kathrens, Filmmaker and Volunteer Executive Director of the Cloud Foundation; and actress Mariana Tosca release the following statements tonight as a result of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) decision to move forward with Nevada’s Calico Mountain Complex roundup. The agency, overseen by Secretary Salazar and the Department of the Interior, is ignoring a massive public outcry, the Free-Roaming Wild Horses and Burros Act of 1971 and scientific reason. Kathrens, Downer and Tosca have joined an international call of over 180 organizations, scientists and celebrities including Sheryl Crow, Lily Tomlin, Ed Harris, Paul Sorvino, Wendie Malick, Bill Maher, Viggo Mortenson, and writer Michael Blake and many others demanding an immediate moratorium on wild horse and burro roundups.
"The BLM’s helicopter roundup of 2,700 wild horses in the Calico Mountain Complex is wrong. These horses are not starving nor are they destroying their habitat, however hordes of cattle in this area definitely are! Photographs from my recent research trip document the truth—These wild horses are healthy.” — Craig Downer, wildlife ecologist
“Despite a massive public outcry to protect the freedom of the wild horses in the U.S.A., the BLM ignores the will of the people, pushing forward to remove healthy wild horses from their legally designated rangelands. If the Department of the Interior claims the Calico Roundup is necessary because ‘the horses are starving’, then why do recent videos and photographs reveal healthy wild horses?”
—Ginger Kathrens, Volunteer Executive Director of the Cloud Foundation/ Emmy-award winning filmmaker
"Without a single dissenting vote, the 1971 Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act was passed by Congress guaranteeing these animals protection from ‘capture, branding, harassment and death.’ With virtually no oversight, the BLM’s duplicitous data and oblique maneuvers have been methodically cleansing the land of these animals who have become an inconvenience and impediment to the goals of the ranching, gas and oil industries.” —Mariana Tosca
The BLM’s operation is set to begin December 28th and conclude at the end of February 2010 during the harsh Nevada winter. According to BLM’s Senior Public Affairs Specialist Tom Gorey, the cost of the roundup alone with be $1,943,460 for the contractors and BLM personnel. Despite receiving over 10,000 comments requesting that the inhumane and unnecessary roundup stop, the BLM ignores the wishes of the public and is moving forward. The Cloud Foundation asks “Why?”
The public is encouraged to attend the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Public Advisory Board meeting on December 7th in Reno, Nevada from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/info/newsroom/2009/november/NR_11_12_2009.html
Of interest:
Photos and video available from:
The Cloud Foundation
719-633-3842 or 719-351-8187
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