I’m a little late on this one, but please still try to act.
Another ridiculous move by a government agency to bow down to a large multinational corporation and roundup and sell to slaughter beautiful wild horses. To see what you can do to comment and act, visit http://www.examiner.com/x-45566-Horse-Examiner~y2010m7d5-Unseen-desert-round-up-to-begin-in-three-days
I’ve posted in the full article below found at that link.
Unseen desert round up to begin in three days
July 5, 10:04 PMHorse ExaminerLaura Leigh
On July 9 the Bureau of Land management will begin another round up. The Owyhee and Rock Creek HMA's in Elko Nevada are scheduled for removal of almost 1,200 horses.
The BLM is now labeling this gather the "Tuscarora gather" as the area lies in the Tuscarora field office district. The BLM is now referencing this gather as part of a "complex" system of three HMA's instead of as individual events. The complex of three HMA's is over 480,000 acres yet they claim this area can only sustain about 400 horses.
No matter what this gather is called it will begin July 9th.
“The current wild horse population in these HMAs is more than three times what the range can sustain,” said Field Manager David Overcast. “We need to gather and remove the excess wild horses to achieve a thriving natural ecological balance on the land and address the horse populations that have moved outside the HMA boundaries. By keeping the wild horse population within the appropriate management levels, we can prevent further deterioration of Lahontan cutthroat trout streams, riparian zones, wildlife habitat, wilderness values and other important resources in these HMAs.”
Yet it appears the area is slated for other projects as well.
The Ruby Pipeline that will run through Northern Nevada will go through this complex just as it will the Calico Complex where horses were rounded up this past winter. That round up has resulted in over 101 deaths so far that do not include the deaths of foals 5 months and younger (they don't count those).
On June 22, 2010 the BLM began comment period on the Arturo Mine project. Comments will be accepted until July 21 on the Barrick Gold Exploration project.
"The proposed Project includes the expansion of the existing open pit, construction of two new waste rock disposal storage facilities, construction of a new heap leach facility, and the construction of new support facilities (i.e. substation and associated transmission powerline, water wells, office, and roads)."
As you approach these HMA's heavy livestock use is also evident.
Public land will be closed to the public beginning tomorrow, July 6. The public will not be given access to witness this round up that will run newborn foals for miles over the terrain often deemed "too rough" for vehicle traffic in the supporting documents. During the Calico gather this past winter two young horses were run so hard their hooves sloughed off. Those youngsters were aged at 8 months old. What will be the impact on foals just days old in the summer heat?
In June of 2006 at Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge, not far from Owyhee, the consequences of a horrific summer gather were captured on film. This round up is often referenced as "The Sheldon Massacre." Statements made at Sheldon now reference that population counts are not done until the end of July because foaling is still occurring during the month of July. Yet in the Tuscarora field office we are told foaling season has ended. The contractor for the Sheldon 2006 round up Cattoor Livestock, will be the same one rounding up the horses in Owyhee and Rock Creek.
The BLM currently claims that this helicopter gather is safe. If it is safe why is the public's ability to document being so severely limited?
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