Wildfire! Take down the fencing so wild horses and burros can escape

Protect Mustangs

Posted on August 17, 2012

Dead wild horse was trapped in unsafe cattle guard (Photo © Craig Downer)

Sent to Jeff Fontana with the California BLM, August 17, 2012 9:43 am, copied to the Director

Dear Jeff,

Will an open gate be adequate for wild horses and burros to pass through in a panic? How long are the gates? What about all the fenced off acreage? How tall are most of the barbed wire fences?

We ask the BLM to take down fencing to ensure wild horses and burros will not be trapped and be able to escape to safety.

How many wild horses and burros are left in the HMA right now?

Please send me a PDF of the BLM’s order to ranchers as well as the order to fire crews to leave the gates open for the wild horses and burros passage to survive during the wildfire.

We would like to be updated regarding sightings of wild horses and burros with specifics on location and headcount.

Besides ranching what other multiple use is present on the Twin Peaks HMA? Will the wildfire be coming close to energy and or mining projects and therefore cause environmental pollution? How will this be mitigated?

Thank you for your kind assistance and your help to ensure wild horses and burros will be able to escape the fire.

Sincerely,
Anne Novak

Anne Novak
Executive Director
Protect Mustangs
P.O. Box 5661
Berkeley, California 94705

Previous email on this issue:

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: RE: Twin Peaks wildfire
From: “Fontana, Joseph J”
Date: Fri, August 17, 2012 8:48 am
To: Anne protectmustangs
Anne,

Sorry for delay.  Rush fire has been demanding.  It is unprecedented up here in size and extreme behavior.

As for the Mustangs:

As of Friday, Aug. 17, there have been no sightings of injured or deceased mustangs or burros.  A group of burros has been seen in an area that had been burned earlier during the fire, and they are safe.  Observers on a flight yesterday saw two small groups of healthy wild horses in unburned areas.  No other groups have been observed.  Resource specialists in the BLM Eagle Lake Field Office feel that prior to the fire the horses and burros most likely moved to higher ground as they left dried up water sources for fresh water sources.

Ranchers have been removing cattle from grazing allotments, and the BLM has directed them to leave gates left open to allow the horses and burros free passage across the range. The BLM has directed fire crews to leave gates open, and shares this message at twice daily briefings with the incident management team.

The BLM shares the concerns of those interested in the well-being and safety of wild horses and burros and is taking actions to ensure the animals are able to move throughout the HMA.

Public lands in the fire area have been closed to protect public safety.

Fire updates and maps are available at www.inciweb.com.

I have added you to the email list for fire updates

From: anne@protectmustangs.org
Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2012 3:55 PM
To: Fontana, Joseph J
Subject: Twin Peaks wildfire

Dear Jeff,

Please send me all the information about the Twin Peaks wildfire and let me know if you are taking fences down so the wild horses and burros can survive by moving out of harm’s way.

Best wishes,
Anne

Anne Novak
Executive Director
Protect Mustangs
P.O. Box 5661
Berkeley, California 94705