Oppose Massive Wild Horse Roundup in Wyoming’s Pristine Red Desert; 1,500+ Mustangs Targeted for Removal in Adobe Town

American Wild Horse preservation Campaign

Email us your comments by Friday (August 13);  we will hand deliver to BLM on Monday (August 16)   BLM is galloping ahead with its wild horse roundup schedule,  despite overwhelming public opposition and the request by  54 members of Congress to halt the mustang captures.  Among those targeted: the famed wild horses of Adobe Town  in the pristine Red Desert region of south/central Wyoming.  Photographer Carol Walker has chronicled the lives of these  magnificent mustangs in her book Wild Hoofbeats.   Beginning in October, BLM intends to round up — via helicopter  stampede — 1,951 wild horses, or 80 percent of the estimated  mustang population living in the Adobe Town Herd Management Area (HMA) and the adjacent Salt Wells Creek HMA. Nearly  1,600 of these wild horses will be permanently removed.  BLM claims that this vast, 1.7 million acre range can support no  more 610-800 adult horses in Adobe Town and 251-365 in  Salt Wells Creek. Meanwhile the agency allocates more  resources within this public lands area to privately-owned  livestock than to our federally-protected wild horses. When BLM began the environmental planning process for  this roundup, the agency received over 7,000 public comments  opposing the Proposed Action. In an effort to avoid being  “bombarded” with “frivolous” emails from the citizens who  pay their salaries, officials in the BLM’s Rock Springs and  Rawlins field offices have decided to prohibit email  comments on the Environmental Assessment for this capture plan.  But don’t let the BLM dissuade you from participating in our government! Be sure to send the email below, because we will personally  hand deliver each and every one of your letters to the BLM in  Wyoming so that your voice is heard.   The BLM must understand that Americans feel strongly protecting  our wild horses and reforming the broken federal wild horse program. What You Can Do Please personalize, cut, paste and email the letter below to us at   by Friday, August 13. Please be sure to include a mailing address  so that BLM does not have an excuse to dismiss your comments. Email to: SaveAdobeHorses@gmail.com ————————————————— Dear Rock Springs and Rawlins Field Offices of the Wyoming BLM: Please accept these comments on the Environmental Assessment  Adobe Town-Salt Wells Creek Herd Management Area Complex  Wild Horse Gather (EA WY-040-EA-10-109). I oppose the BLM’s proposal to roundup approximately 1,951  wild horses from the Adobe Town and Salt Wells Herd  Management Areas (HMAs) in Wyoming and permanently  remove 1,577 of them from the range. The Environmental  Assessment (EA) for this capture plan is inadequate because it: - Fails to provide a scientific basis or rationale for the decision  to remove such a large number of horses. No evidence of range  damage, poor condition of horses or other data is presented  to justify the determination that these “excess” horses must be removed. - Fails to adequately consider the impacts of the Proposed  Action on the horses, including those who are permanently  removed, those who are rounded up and re-released, and  those left behind on the range. The EA contains no discussion  of the harmful effects of social disruption and destruction of  family bands, or the expected deaths of horses in holding  facilities due to capture-related trauma and stress. - Fails to consider any alternatives to the helicopter stampede  of wild horses over rugged terrain for up to ten miles,  which has been demonstrated to cause trauma, injury and death. - Dismisses without foundation, alternatives to the  Proposed Action which were submitted by thousands  of members of the public. These include increasing  Appropriate Management Levels for wild horses; reducing livestock grazing pursuant to BLM’s clear legal authority  to do so; converting livestock grazing allotments to increase  forage for wild horses and allow greater population numbers;  and making range improvements, such as water enhancements,  to better distribute horses throughout the HMAs and sustain higher population numbers. Explanations provided as to why these alternatives were dismissed from consideration are   entirely inadequate. - Fails to evaluate the social, economic and legal impacts  of the warehousing of the majority of captured horses in holding  facilities, where they will join the 38,000 wild horses already  warehoused at taxpayer expense. BLM’s decision to prohibit email submissions of public  comments on the EA, along with its dismissal of alternatives  suggested by thousands of citizens, is evidence that public  input is irrelevant to BLM plans. BLM is proceeding with the removal of nearly 1,600 federally-protected wild horses while  continuing to allocate more resources to privately-owned livestock in these designated wild horse areas, indicating that this  agency manages our public lands for the benefit of commercial interests rather than the public. The BLM’s professed commitment to change is not evident in the  Adobe Town/Salt Wells capture plan. I join with the 54 members  of Congress who have requested that the BLM halt all wild horse  roundups. The Adobe Town/Salt Wells Creek roundup should not  proceed on the basis of such deficient science and inadequate  environmental review. Sincerely, [Your Name] [Your Address] [City, State ZIP] [Phone] The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign is dedicated to preserving the American wild horse in viable free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage. Its grassroots efforts are supported by a coalition of over forty organizations. 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