I-Team: Wild Horse Contractor Talks About Roundups

http://rtfitch.wordpress.com/2010/08/03/i-team-wild-horse-contractor-talks-about-roundups/

Chief Investigative Reporter George Knapp Reports for Channel 8 News

LAS VEGAS — The contractor for the Bureau of Land Management is denying they are intentionally keeping wild horse advocates from observing roundups.

Sue Cattoor speaking to her "hurt feelings" on camera 9/9/09 - Photo by R.T. Fitch

A federal judge ordered the BLM to give Laura Leigh access to a roundup at the Tuscarora Herd Area in northern Nevada. But Leigh says the BLM denied her access anyway by basing the roundup on private land.

Leigh has re-filed a contempt of court case, saying the BLM is violating the order by doing that.

The contractor for that roundup, Sue Cattoor, says it’s only coincidence they end up on private land and they are doing what is best for the horses.

“The trap was not moved after the order was lifted. I’ll explain why the trap was put where it was on the private ground: we always try to put the trap the closest to the, as close to the horses as we can, but also where they are going to go naturally so we don’t have to put a lot of pressure on them,” she said.

Cattoor also said that foals died during a roundup in the Owyhee Herd Management Area because they drank too much water when they were taken off the range.

“A foal that comes in on it’s mom should not be thirsty, but these ones were thirsty and I would say 90-percent just dove their head in the bucket and drank something,” she said. “There is no way you can control how much you can give a wild horse.”

The BLM recently gathered more than 600 wild horses as part of the Tuscarora Roundup. At least 34 died and many will soon be available for adoption.

Here is some coverage of the rally we attended on Saturday

Stand with Arizona
We're very pleased to report that the National Immigration Policy Summit was a huge success!

Rather than reinvent the wheel, we'll direct you to the excellent work of others who covered the Summit.  Blogger and photographer Kim Mattina put together a very nice write-up, with some gorgeous photos.  Big Dave posted a very nice slideshow of the Saturday Night rally.  FOX10 Phoenix covered the Friday Memorial Service. The Arizona Republic covered both the Candlelight Vigil and the Rally.  Reuters covered the Rally., as did the Mail Tribune, the Sonoran Weekly Review, Philly.com, and many other news outlets.  Moonbattery posted photos and commentary of the Summit.  Tea Party Patriots Blog, ResistNet and One Old Vet also covered the Summit.  Charles Benninghoff posted additional commentary HERE.

An event like this is not carried off by one person, or even a few, but only through the combined efforts of dozens of volunteers and donors and hundreds of grassroots activists spreading the word and participating.  First of all, we must thank Ted Hayes for originally approaching the rest of the coalition members with his vision for the Summit.  This was Ted's vision, and Ted's event, from the very beginning. We can all thank Senator Russell Pearce for hosting the event, and Eric Johnson for his excellent work heading up the organizing committee.  Jennifer Patentreger did an incredible job handling the details of the Memorial Service, Candlelight Vigil, Law and Policy Seminars and Saturday Night Rally.  Tim Rafferty, Rich Martin, and the whole Riders USA team deserve our gratitude for handling security for parking and vendors.  Jim Cooney and his team from Riders Against Illegal Aliens did an outstanding job handling general event security.  Nick D'Orazio did great work setting up the livestream, thereby allowing thousands of viewers to watch the event remotely.

The always-amazing Michelle Malkin was incredibly helpful to us in spreading the word about the Summit to patriots across the nation, and we owe Michelle our eternal thanks for her continued support of the cause of secure borders.  Michelle's agreement to join us for the Summit was a welcome and unexpected surprise.  Michelle has been a strong and courageous leader in this fight, and we can't overemphasize how critical Michelle's leadership has been, and will continue to be.

Each and every one of you who contributed even a dollar to the summit can take pride in your support of an excellent event!  We cannot thank you enough for your support.

The event could not have been a success without the support of our many coalition partners, participants and supporters.  We must thank America's Black Shield, Grassfire Nation, NumbersUSA, F.A.I.R., RidersUSA, Riders Against Illegal Aliens, Americans Against Illegal Immigration, Southern California Tax Revolt Coalition, StandWithArizona.com and The Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas., along with the many other groups supporting this event in many ways large and small.

We offer our sincerest thanks to all of our speakers and seminar participants, including:

Professor John Eastman of Chapman University

Rev. Wayne Perryman

Rep. Sal Esquivel

Former INS Special Agent Michael Cutler

Maureen Wood of Progressives for Immigration Reform

Patrick Charles of the Immigration Reform Law Institute

Jack Martin of F.A.I.R.

Author Mason Weaver, host of The Mason Weaver Show

Fernando Trevino of the Young Consservatives of Texas

Chad MacDonald of NumbersUSA

Mark Spencer of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association

James Spencer of America's Black Shield

Of course, we enjoyed and appreciated the support of many tea parties who supported us and helped us spread the word, including, but not limited to:

 The Arizona Tea Party Network
 Spartanburg Tea Party
 Greater Phoenix Tea Party
 East Valley Tea Party Patriots
 Central Valley Tea Party
 Glendale Tea Party

We welcomed the great coverage and exposure we received on a wide variety of websites, including The Jawa Report, Diggers' Realm, ImmigrationBuzz.com,  IllegalIllegals.com,  DesertConservative.com, The Read My Lipstick Network, Illegal Alien News Update, ALIPAC, Before It's News, Wake Up America, Free Republic, Politifi.com, Paperboyo.com, Restore America Now, McCain Alert.

Finally, we'd like to thank the dozens of patriots across the country helped to spread the word via posts on TWITTER, FACEBOOK and MEETUP.

Thanks to all of you for making this event the huge success that it was!

Thoughts?  Please share them here : http://standwitharizona.org/3657/

Where have all the wild horses gone?

Where have all the wild horses gone?

Congress Must Act Now to Prevent Reckless Government Agency from Imperiling Survival of America’s Wild Horses and Burros

http://rtfitch.wordpress.com/2010/08/02/congress-must-act-now-to-prevent-reckless-government-agency-from-imperiling-survival-of-americas-wild-horses-and-burros/

August 2, 2010

Press Release from The Animal Welfare Institute
Washington, D.C. - The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), along with leading Members of Congress, numerous wild horse advocacy organizations and the majority of Americans, is exceedingly frustrated with the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) gross mismanagement of America’s wild horses and burros. In a recent ad in the Washington, D.C., newspaper, The Hill, AWI called on Congress to take swift and decisive action to prevent the BLM from “managing” our nation’s wild horses into extinction.
“AWI has long been critical of the BLM’s inability to responsibly manage wild horses on the range, and the agency’s recent actions have amplified concern for the future of America’s wild horses,” said Chris Heyde, deputy director of government and legal affairs for AWI. “BLM’s more aggressive campaign of rounding up and warehousing wild horses began under the Obama administration and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. Recent reports of horses dying during roundups due to broken necks and legs, sloughed hooves, and most recently water intoxication (allowing the horses to drink a toxic amount of water following a strenuous run), are unconscionable.”
Thankfully, several members of Congress are stepping up to defend these national treasures. House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall (D-WV) and Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Chairman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) have led the way in holding the BLM accountable for its actions. They sponsored the Restore our American Mustangs Act (ROAM Act), which passed the House of Representatives by an overwhelming margin last year and have just sent a bipartisan letter signed by 52 of their colleagues to Secretary Salazar. The letter raises serious questions about the recent tragic deaths of several wild horses and addresses the dire need for an independent analysis of the wild horse and burro program by the National Academy of Sciences. As stated in the bipartisan letter, “We are concerned by the inability of your agency to acknowledge these disturbing outcomes, change what seems to be deeply flawed policy, and better manage the gathers so as to prevent the unnecessary suffering and death of these federally protected animals.” AWI shares these concerns.
Yet despite all of this public and Congressional attention, the BLM continues to recklessly round up and remove thousands of wild horses from their legally mandated rangeland. In fact, Secretary Salazar has proposed spending millions of taxpayer dollars to build additional long term holding facilities in the Midwest and East to facilitate even more wild horse removals, which will add to the staggering 38,000 animals already in confinement.
Ever defiant, just last week, BLM Director Bob Abby sent a letter to all Members of Congress decrying increased public scrutiny of the wild horse and burro program. In this letter Director Abby wrote, “Some wild horse activists are waging a campaign in the court of public opinion, aimed at stopping the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from gathering wild horses and burros from overpopulated herds on Western public rangelands.”
“The Obama administration came into office promising greater transparency and accountability, which is entirely contrary to the BLM’s preference to keep its abuse of wild horses and burros behind closed doors,” contends D.J. Schubert, AWI’s wildlife biologist. “If the BLM is convinced that its wild horse management program is essential for the good of the horses and the land, it should provide the public with reasonable opportunities to observe its roundups – the good, bad, and ugly – instead of complaining when advocates expose the program’s inherent cruelties and deficiencies,” adds Schubert.
AWI asserts that, like its sister Department of Interior agency, the former Minerals Management Service (MMS), the integrity of the BLM’s wild horse and burro program has been compromised by its relationships with special interests that occupy or use wild horse and burro range. A few thousand wild horses are being blamed for every natural and unnatural problem facing the Western ranges, while ranchers, oil and gas companies, and other commercial entities abuse the public’s lands with inadequate oversight. The BLM’s obvious favoritism toward these more politically connected and financially lucrative industries continues to jeopardize the survival of America’s last wild horses and burros.
“Based upon its record, it is no wonder the BLM balks whenever the demand for genuine accountability is discussed,” states Heyde. “While the BLM has repeatedly ignored the public’s demands, we hope that the requests of Members of Congress will not be so easily dismissed.”

July 30 Congressional Letter to Ken Salazar

Equine Welfare Alliance


Here is the letter that was sent to Ken Salazar on July 30 on behalf of 54 Congressional members asking for reform of the wild horse and burro policies.

The Honorable Kenneth L. Salazar
Secretary of the Interior
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20240
Dear Secretary Salazar,
Recent media accounts have documented still more deaths of wild horses during Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) roundups. Just this month, 12 horses, including three foals, died during the
Tuscarora Complex roundup in northeastern Nevada as a result of deeply flawed methods. This
tragedy was only the most recent in a string of reports of wild horses dying during BLM
roundups this year.
We are concerned by the inability of your agency to acknowledge these disturbing outcomes,
change what seems to be deeply flawed policy, and better manage the gathers so as to prevent the
unnecessary suffering and death of these federally protected animals.
Specifically, on Saturday, July 10, with temperatures hovering near 100 degrees, the BLM, in a
time-span of two and half hours, captured and corralled more than 228 wild horses after running
them more than 8 miles. During this time, public observation of BLM activities was prohibited.
This ill-advised plan resulted in the deaths of 12 protected American Mustangs, most due to
water intoxication; three of the dead were foals less than six months old. By the time the
roundup was halted, 17 horses had died.
While we applaud the speed with which you temporarily halted the Tuscarora roundup after
these deaths, the roundup has now resumed. Apparently, BLM continues to bar public observers,
despite a court order affirming the right to "reasonable access." So far, 410 more horses have
been gathered and, according to BLM's own account, the death toll has risen to 21.
The BLM is repeating the mistakes made during the deadly round up in the Calico Mountain
Complex last winter. That roundup resulted in the deaths of over 105 horses, along with the
stress-induced late term abortions of at least 40 mares.
Given this pattern, and the continued threat of death and suffering to these animals, we request
that the Tuscarora Complex roundup be suspended, along with any pending gathers, until the
agency demonstrates that it has addressed the failings of the current program and can ensure the
safety and well-being of the animals you are charged with protecting.
PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
Specifically, the BLM must account for temperature extremes and the impacts of stampeding
young, elderly or injured animals across long distances when planning roundups. The BLM
needs to ensure transparency by allowing members of the public to observe agency activities.
Further, we remain concerned that roundups are conducted at great expense to the taxpayer. As
we have pointed out in the past, BLM's aggressive use of roundups has resulted in unsustainable
increases in the number of horses in holding facilities (now at 38,000) and continues to
undermine the BLM's overall budget. Unfortunately, the frequency of roundups has only
increased under this administration.
To address these and other flaws, we recommend an independent analysis of the National Wild
Horse and Burro program, conducted by the National Academy of Sciences. This analysis will
provide a clear determination of the most accurate, science-based methodologies to estimate wild
horse and burro populations, provide an assessment of Appropriate Management Levels based on
the goal of maintaining sustainable herds and provide an assessment of practical, effective, nonlethal
and publicly acceptable management alternatives to current BLM policies.
We strongly urge you to refrain from any further action until a clear plan is in place to
sustainably manage and protect our wild herds. Only then can we move forward with a more
informed, open and deliberate process, based on input from all who are concerned with the
health, well being, and conservation of this animal which embodies the spirit of our American
West.
Sincerely,

Signatures: eight congressmen including Grijalva and Rahall.

Anti White, Anti American, Anti Arizona SB 1070 protesters desecrate Ame...

U.S. Senator Attacks BLM’s Mismanagement of Wild Horses

http://rtfitch.wordpress.com/2010/08/01/u-s-senator-attacks-blms-mismanagement-of-wild-horses/

Wild horse was driven over rocks to his death during recent Owyhee roundup

Wild horse was driven over rocks to his death during recent Owyhee roundup

BLM’s Bob Abbey Dances with the Truth and Drops the Ball AGAIN

http://rtfitch.wordpress.com/2010/08/01/blms-bob-abbey-dances-with-the-truth-and-drops-the-ball-again/