27 August 2010
Media Contacts:
Makendra Silverman
Tel: 719-351-8187
Anne Novak
Tel: 415-531-8454
For Immediate Release
Independent Review Too Late for Wild Horses and Burros?
Without roundup moratorium few wild horses and burros will remain for National Academy of Sciences Study
Colorado Springs, CO (August 27, 2010)— The Cloud Foundation fully supports the independent review of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) mismanagement of America’s Wild Horses and Burros by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), but only if it is coupled with an immediate moratorium on all wild horse and burro roundups. Otherwise, there will be few viable herds on western lands to study. The NAS review is scheduled to begin in 2011 and last two years, but at the current ragte BLM will have removed tens of thousands more mustangs from their legally designated ranges in 10 western states by then. In just this fiscal year alone, BLM has removed nearly 12,000 wild horses and burros, most warehoused at taxpayer expense.
“At the fast and furious rate of the removals, NAS will have only remnant bands of scattered mustangs to study, but plenty of wild horses to look at in costly government holding facilities,” explains Cloud Foundation Director and Emmy award-winning producer, Ginger Kathrens, who has been documenting wild horses and burros in the west for over 16 years. Kathrens is referring to the 40,000 plus mustangs, which will be corralled in short and long term holding by the end of next month. “I expect the NAS report to be enlightening regarding the lack of science in BLM’s decisions aimed at ridding the west of our wild horse and burro heritage. A moratorium right now is essential so that NAS will have a few viable herds left to study.”
The Cloud Foundation and over 200 organizations and celebrities sent a request for independent review in the Moratorium Letter over nine months ago and have never gotten a reply from Interior Secretary Salazar or President Obama. The signees continue to request an immediate moratorium on roundups to be coupled with an independent review of BLM and the return of the over 24 million acres of public land taken away from the wild horses and burros since 1971.
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Links of interest:
Unified Moratorium on Roundups Letter http://bit.ly/MoratoriumLtr
Judge Denies BLM’s Motion to Dismiss Wild Horse Lawsuit http://bit.ly/BLMdenied
‘Herd-Watch: Public Eyes for Public Horses’ http://bit.ly/9Wvh58
Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act http://bit.ly/a7hOeS
Mestengo. Mustang. Misfit. America’s Disappearing Wild Horses http://www.wildhorsepreservation.com/resources/wild.html
Disappointment Valley... A Modern Day Western Trailer- excellent sample of interviews regarding the issues http://bit.ly/awFbwm
Fact Sheet on Wild Herds & The Salazar Plan http://bit.ly/bfdX1y
Short-link to this release online: http://bit.ly/StudyplusMorat
Past Cloud Foundation press releases http://bit.ly/TCFpress
Photos, video and interviews available from:
The Cloud Foundation makendra@thecloudfoundation.org, 719-633-3842
The Cloud Foundation is a non-profit 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.
107 S. 7th St. - Colorado Springs, CO 80905 - 719-633-3842
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