Press Release the Cloud Foundation

The Cloud Foundation

BLM Above the Law?

Media Contacts:  

Anne Novak

Anne@TheCloudFoundation.org

Tel: 415-531-8454                

Makendra Silverman 

Makendra@TheCloudFoundation.org 

Tel: 719-351-8187

For Immediate Release: 

BLM Above the Law?

Salazar’s Agency Ignores Federal Court Order Honoring First Amendment, Denies Observers Access to Wild Horse Roundup 

Reno, NV (July 19, 2010)—Laura Leigh, Herd Watch Project Coordinator for The Cloud Foundation, has been denied access to observe the Owyhee roundup, the first leg of the Tuscarora roundup near Elko, Nevada. On July 16^th, Federal Judge Larry Hicks’ ruled Leigh’s First Amendment rights be upheld and therefore allow her and others to view the roundup. Leigh contends that the BLM has gone against the Judge’s orders for three days. Today Leigh filed a motion to uphold the court order for her First Amendment rights.

“We cannot know the truth because they are preventing us from bearing witness.” Says Leigh.

BLM officials refused to tell her where the trap site was located. They had strategically placed it on private land within the public herd management area (HMA) even though the range contains more than 450,000 acres of public land. The private landowner would not grant Leigh and others access. BLM used this method before to hide the Calico roundup from the public and journalists except for rare staged “media days”.

The helicopter stampede resumed as soon as the Judge lifted the injunction last Friday. Since then BLM has captured 620 mustangs and their young foals in the sweltering heat. More than 17 wild horses have been killed during the roundup. At least 2 foals were shot (euthanized) because of leg deformities resulting in lameness after being run over many miles of volcanic rock. Advocates question the accuracy of the diagnosis—pointing to evidence that lameness previously was caused by running the hoofs off the baby horses during last winter’s Calico roundup in Nevada also run by Cattoor Livestock, the private contractor who will be paid close to one million dollars for this roundup.

The BLM has created an alleged wild horses dehydration emergency by fencing mustangs off from water and running them scared by helicopter into traps. Advocates feel it is inhumane that the BLM is not treating the wild horses in the wild for dehydration but instead the BLM continues to chase them, round them up and ship the wild horses crammed in huge trucks for more than 5 hours to a temporary holding facility—all in the desert heat. 

“These are wild animals. If this alleged emergency was happening to deer or big horn sheep the BLM would not be terrifying them by helicopter chase and then trucking them for half a day in the sweltering heat to be cared for at a distant location. Traditionally you care for distressed wild animals in the wild,” states Makendra Silverman, Associate Director of The Cloud Foundation. “And isn’t it curious that other wildlife or cattle isn’t suffering extreme dehydration out on the same range?”

Leigh had filed a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to stop this roundup and defend the public’s first amendment rights to observe the operation. BLM testified in federal court that no cattle remained on the range and that the horses had no water—even though a river is only 10 miles away, a short distance to travel for wild horses who under normal circumstances may travel twice that distance in daily treks to get a drink.

4,000 privately-owned cattle are permitted to graze (and drink) on the Tuscarora Complex where BLM permits only 400 mustangs.  Made up by three separate HMAs: Owyhee, Little Humboldt and Rock Creek, the area is to be managed by BLM principally (though not exclusively) for the federally protected wild horses. 

The foundation wants to know what is stopping the horses from accessing the Owyhee River and other perennial water sources? Are gates locked and vast areas fenced for livestock in the HMA? 

“BLM’s emergency roundups are classified as such before the action begins. The three Tuscarora roundups were never described as emergencies. Suddenly, with the BLM challenged in court and 12 dead horses from the first day’s roundup their operation has suddenly morphed into an ‘emergency rescue’ roundup,” states Cloud Foundation Director, Ginger Kathrens, who has 16 years experience documenting wild horses in the West. “There is really no way to accurately assess the real, on-the-ground situation because the public is still being denied access. Is BLM resorting to any means just to carry out an agenda to rid the western ranges of wild horses?” 

The three Tuscarora roundups (Owyhee, Little Humbolt and Rock Creek) were scheduled months ago as a standard BLM operation. The wild horses were found to be healthy. The primary reason for the roundups was because the wild horses were allegedly damaging livestock fencing. The public, mustang advocates, animal welfare groups and equine experts warned against summer helicopter roundups in the desert heat. The BLM ignored the comments. 

The Cloud Foundation calls for immediate access to be given to all members of the interested public and for the addition of at least two knowledgeable wild horse advocates to BLM’s assembled team of insiders to determine what went wrong in the Owyhee disaster.

“Right now BLM plans to zero out the entire West Douglas herd in Colorado against a Federal Judge’s specific ruling to leave the herd intact. For the past three days, BLM ignored Judge Hicks’ ruling for the First Amendment,” states Kathrens. “Who will stop Salazar’s rogue bureau before they ruin the West?”

# # #

Links of interest:

Washington Post reports on NV Roundup Resuming http://bit.ly/cRwhSc

NBC Reno reports BLM Still Restricting Public Access to Roundup http://bit.ly/bE2wiJ

Leigh vs Salazar Documents filed 7/19 that relate to Leigh's attempt to observe the Owyhee roundup and uphold her First Amendment rights:

Motion for Contempt http://bit.ly/bSAZax

Declaration for Motion http://bit.ly/9AY4x5

Exhibit A DOI Letter http://bit.ly/aL8w95

‘Herd-Watch: Public Eyes for Public Horses’ http://bit.ly/9Wvh58

Court Order Granting Injunction http://bit.ly/doc10LeighvSalazar

Grass Roots Horse http://www.grassrootshorse.com/

BLM daily reports on Tuscarora roundup http://bit.ly/TuscaroraReports

Roundup Schedule- updated July 12, 2010  http://bit.ly/roundupschedule

The Mustang Conspiracy: Sex, Drugs, Corruption, and BP – investigative report http://www.abovetopsecret.com/mustangconspiracy/

Wild Horse and Burro Act http://bit.ly/a7hOeS

Tuscarora/Owyhee Complex Roundup Information from BLM http://bit.ly/Tuscarora

Disappointment Valley... A Modern Day Western Trailer- excellent sample of interviews regarding the issues http://bit.ly/awFbwm

PR Firm Hired for the Destruction of America’s Wild Horse and Burro Herds http://bit.ly/czf3HB

Fact Sheet on Wild Herds & The Salazar Plan http://bit.ly/bfdX1y

Past Cloud Foundation press releases http://bit.ly/TCFpress

Photos, video and interviews available from:

The Cloud Foundation

news@thecloudfoundation.org

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 www.thecloudfoundation.org

I-Team: More Horses Die in Gather, Public Not Allowed to Observe - KLAS-TV Channel 8 News Las Vegas

I-Team: More Horses Die in Gather, Public Not Allowed to Observe - KLAS-TV Channel 8 News Las Vegas

A Day of Reckoning for the BLM?

http://rtfitch.wordpress.com/2010/07/19/a-day-of-reckoning-for-the-blm/

Image via Wikipedia

(The News as We See It) by R.T. Fitch
Today, a Federal judge will become fully aware and engaged in the fact that the Bureau of Land Management and their contractor Cattoor Livestock totally ignored the conditions of his order regarding the deadly Owyhee wild horse roundup.  Plaintiff Laura Leigh was denied access to the trap site but did manage to gather valuable information and evidence to prove that the BLM lied in their defense, last week, on many different levels and, as usual, the agency is acting above and outside of the law.
This entire mess begs the question, is any higher authority paying attention?  Here, again, we have a corrupt and dysfunctional government agency that considers congress, the senate, federal judges and the American people to be nothing more than small irritants that can be brushed aside while it breaks the law on a very grand scale.  Who is protecting this group, is it their big boss, cattleman Ken Salazar who everyone wants a piece of these days?  And who is looking out for Salazar and why is he still in office now that he has proven he cannot manage his own business and control his own agencies?  Would that be the President?  Why is Salazar so highly protected?  Why does the Obama administration hold onto such an obvious loser?  Why has the alleged “animal friendly” administration never, ever responded to the destruction of our wild herds?  Why?
The questions are many, the answers are few but one thing is for certain; Ms. Laura Leigh, American Citizen, will be in front of a Federal Judge today and it won’t be a good Monday for the BLM.  Some positive action in the way of controlling this rogue organization may help to bring back some confidence in our country’s future.
Otherwise, we and the horses are doomed.

To donate to the Wild Horse’s Legal Battle please visit http://www.grassrootshorse.com/

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United Organizations of the Horse Applauds BLM Gathering of Wild Horses in Nevada

Good thing this organization is that "of the horse," for it is surely not "FOR the horse!"

UOH 

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 20, 2010

Contact:

Sue Wallis 

307 680 8515 cell

307 685 8248 ranch

sue.wallis@unitedorgsofthehorse.org

United Organizations of the Horse Applauds BLM Gathering of Wild Horses in Nevada

The United Organizations of the Horse calls for compassion and the redoubling of efforts to gather and remove excess wild horses from the Owyhee Desert, and all other areas of the West where there are too many horses for the ecosystem to support.

In the aftermath of dehydrated horses dying from water intoxication after being gathered off of a Horse Management Area (HMA)that is more than 1,200 horses over the Appropriate Management Level (AML), a number of so-called "horse advocates" are calling for an end to the gathering, and to just leave excess horses on the land.  Fortunately, U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks listened to testimony from BLM that if the temporary restraining order was not lifted that more than 500 horses were in immediate danger of dying on the range from the lack of water, and efforts to prevent that disaster and suffering were allowed to resume.

The United Organizations of the Horse is an organization dedicated to the well being of all horses, and points out that the reason these horses died was because of a lack of water on the range. Leaving too many horses to die horrific deaths of thirst where they are in a weakened state already is condemning hundreds of them to a death that is unconscionable and inhumane.

"From a humane standpoint," says Sue Wallis, Executive Director, "delaying, or worse yet, preventing this gather from happening is the most irresponsible and uncaring course of action. If these people really care about the well-being and sustainability of wild horses...what they ought to be doing is working with the BLM and anybody else who has a compassionate bone in their body to get the numbers of horses on the range down to a number that can survive on the water and forage that is available."

Food For Thought if You Live in Arizona

 OR IF YOU LIVE IN THE UNITED STATES!


Socnet

AMERICA’S VIRTUAL BORDERS (with video)

February 8, 2010

by nopoliticallemmings

Not since President Reagan, has there been any serious attention to stopping illegal aliens from entering America. Most Americans thought that after the Muslim Terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, our complacent federal government would have awakened to the very real threat posed by our open borders. President Bush(43) continued his same open borders policies throughout his two terms of office. The threats to America’s safety from further Islamic attack are well documented.

In the wake of 9/11, Mara Salvatrucha attracted the attention of top al Qaeda officials, who realized that the gang could be used to smuggle operatives and weapons into the United States. An agreement was forged between the terrorists and the gang-bangers. In exchange for safe passage across the border, al Qaeda – – through its cells in South America – – agreed to pay the Maras from $30,000 to $50,000 for each sleeper agent they managed to smuggle into the country with bogus matricula consulars.

Matricula consulars are official identification cards that are issued by the Mexican government through its consular offices. The cards verify that the bearers are Mexican citizens who are living outside of Mexico with the government’s permission. (link)

The FBI has long warned the Federal Government, state agencies, banks and businesses about the huge and active threats posed by fraudulent matricula consular cards. These fake identification ‘documents’ are available for a little as $90 on the streets of Los Angeles, California.

What kind of numbers are we talking about when referring to this continuous invasion of America? Some very conservative estimates are showing between 1,100 and 2,800 illegal aliens per day are entering our southern 2,000 mile border. Illegal alien apprehension figures for 2005 show 1,200,000 were arrested by Border Patrol Agents. The reality of arrest effectiveness is that fewer than 1 in 5 illegal aliens are caught; for every one that is caught 5-6 illegal aliens enter America. The actual number of illegal aliens entering America each year is closer to 7,200,000 or about 19,700 per day!

Here is a short video that shows 112 border invaders on one day on one trail:
http://www.borderinvasionpics.com/0911CompVid1.html

The Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gangsters are ultra-violent and are known to cut-off the heads of government officials and their family members in Mexico and Central American countries. MS-13 is making millions of dollars for the Mexican Drug Cartels by smuggling the Special Interest Aliens (SIAs) into America. According to Sheriff D’Wayne Jenigan of Del Rio, Texas, thousands of Middle Eastern men of military age from: Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Syria and Yemen illegally enter America each year and have been for many years.

The problem with Islamic SIAs is so significant that the government is seeking out Spanish-Arabic linguists and has ‘imported’ many from Southern Mexico to work with Border Patrol.

The routes used by illegal aliens to enter the U.S. have become littered with discarded Muslim prayer blankets, pages from Islamic texts, and Arabic newspapers. Law enforcement officials have named such passageways “terrorists’ alleys” and a street leading north from the city of Douglas, Arizona, as “Arab Road.” (link)

Even as President Obama knows of our porous borders, he has eliminated money from the border protection programs from the current 2011 Budget. Representative Hal Rogers (R-Ky), who is the top Republican on the House panel that oversees the Dept. of Homeland Security’s budget, says funding specifically for border security is “woefully inadequate” and “as dangerous as it is indefensible.” For example, the ‘virtual’ fence of camera/sensor towers will be even more of a fiction. That electronic system that has had tens of millions of dollars spent but has not been effectively working in 6 years faces a $225 million dollar cut in funding. Technical difficulties have delayed the implementation of this virtual system yet we continue to spend millions of dollars on this virtual bill of goods. If the virtual fence is so good, why doesn’t the White House rely on one, instead of that unsightly physical fence?

As a result of the unsuccessful Muslim attack on Christmas Day, we learn that the 2011 DHS Budget has set aside money to buy 500 high-tech body scanners. It has also come to our attention that the Muslim Jihadis on the way here to kill us via commercial airlines are going to be carrying surgically implanted body bombs with chemical initiation (no blasting caps or electronics or batteries). For more information on this, please read our blog topic for 02/03/20-10.

In 2005, then-Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano (current DHS Secretary) declared a State of Emergency in order to get Federal funding in an effort to reduce the amount of drug and human smuggling on Arizona’s border. DHS Secretary Napolitano’s spokesman, Bobby Whithorne says the 2011 budget “continues to supports smart, effective programs to strengthen border and interior security” while making “significant investments in aviation security.”

Our virtual border will continue to be as effective a barrier to the real invasion of our country as air is a barrier for the humans and vehicles that cross that imaginary line in the sand every day. Until we install the effective barriers that were signed into law under the Bush (43) Administration, we have no real border for our country. There may be close to one hundred thousand Muslim sleeper cell members in America just waiting for that activation code in the email. It is time for America to fully wake-up before the Jihadis do.

Link: http://nopoliticallemmings.wordpress...rtual-borders/

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