Free Republic

Advocates are skeptical of a new $2 million effort to find solutions to the ever-growing population of wild horses on Nevada’s ranges and elsewhere. But a Friday vote in Washington, D.C., is a step forward in bringing $11 million to help solve the problem. A Bureau of Land Management (BLM) news release on Wednesday announced up to $2 million available for a variety of studies or research efforts. “Fifteen years ago I might have applauded all the grants BLM seems to have money for each year. But after 15 years of watching BLM say they have no money for management...

Mounted on a working horse, fully decked in digger gear of tunic and slouch hat, Tanya Lightowler proudly guards the ancient Aussie spirit, calling us to care for our equine mountain heritage. ......... documents of the secretive Andrews government stated, about their plans to eradicate the wild horses made famous in the Man From Snowy River: " ....... all shooting operations are to be discussed on a need-to-know basis, because of a “significant risk posed by feral horse activists”. " I see Tanya Lightowler as a peaceful protestor and national hero not a risky "feral horse activist." Daniel Andrews secrecy...

Utah native Shane Adams experienced a number of big life changes over the course of eight years — the same period of time that his beloved horse, Mongo, had been missing from home.... ...By 2017, Adams had given up hope and concluded that Mongo died. Team members at BLM Utah were also unsure as to what had become of the horse. .... ...Then, on Sept. 27 of this year, Adams received a Facebook message request from a BLM Utah employee. ...

Species of the horse genus Equus first appeared on the North American continent during the Pliocene era and spread to and across Eurasia beginning around 2.5 million years ago. They disappeared from the Western Hemisphere during the megafauna extinction event at the end of the Pleistocene and the last glacial period. The return of equids to the Americas through the introduction of the domestic horse (Equus caballus) is documented in the historical literature but is not explored fully either archaeologically or genetically. Historical documents suggest that the first domestic horses were brought from the Iberian Peninsula to the Caribbean in...

The poetic story of the taming of a herd of wild mountain horses lead by "the colt from old Regret" is an iconic piece of Australian heritage made in to the Kirk Douglas movie "The Man From Snowy River". But in the Socialist Left state of Victoria it is possible that these intelligent wild animals are being treated even worse that the human citizens. They are being slaughtered, often left to die horrible deaths alone in the bush where no one can see what is happening. Decent loving country people like Tanya Prior protested this yesterday on the steps of...

ALPINE, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) – The US Forest Services will be collecting ‘feral’ horses in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in Alpine starting Mar. 21st. The removal of the horses comes after the Center for Biological Diversity, a nonprofit group based out of Tucson, filed a lawsuit against the Forest Service for violating the Endangered Species Act. The group claims the Forest Service fails to control feral animals’ damage to the meadows and streams, which are the New Mexico Jumping Mouse’s federally protected habitat. “Since the early 2000s, feral horses have been causing severe damage to the habitat of threatened and...

We’re thrilled to report that the herds of wild horses that roam North Carolina’s Outer Banks have emerged from Hurricane Florence unscathed. Cape Hatteras National Seashore and Corolla Wild Horse Fund both confirmed on social media over the weekend that their equine populations are safe and sound following Hurricane Florence’s lashing last week. Corolla Wild Horse Fund herd manager Meg Puckett told The News & Observer that the wild herd found higher ground and grouped together against the wind and rain. People on the island also kept an eye on them.

For many vacationers on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, a trip there is not complete without at least catching a glimpse of the majestic wild horses that roam the islands. As Hurricane Florence approaches, many are expressing concern about how the horses will fare during the powerful Category 4 storm. The Facebook page of the Corolla Wild Horse Fund was peppered with comments from worried tourists and residents. “Thinking of all of the horses as Florence approaches. ... Praying for their safety,” wrote one concerned woman. “Prayers for protection from the storm for these beautiful animals & the young foals,” wrote...

A wild mustang charging across an open plain is a symbol of the untamed majesty of nature. But the predators chasing these horses are anything but natural. Controversy has broken out over the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) practice of using helicopters to herd horses off public lands and sometimes permanently put them into holding facilities in an effort to control their population. "Sometimes these horses get stampeded for miles and miles," said Simone Netherlands, an animal rights activist and a spokesperson for the American Wild Horse Campaign. Now the government is considering culling these animals for the first...

The critical issue is whether or not the horses are “destroying their natural habitat and thereby starving for food. Pictures published by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) of the wild horses show healthy, well-fed horses capable of winning a national jumping completion. https://cbsnews3.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2017/09/27/db9d4fb1-6dde-45f7-b7a7-1f14b9866c8d/resize/620x/771dc9e69e24fe30c9354f38c0c35744/horse-smash.png In September of 2016 BLM categorically stated that it would not euthanize wild horses. Its solution was to round up all the horses and sell for slaughter those it deemed “unadoptable”. government estimates that each one of the 45,000 wild horses will cost taxpayers $50,000 over its lifetime. That would mean $2 billion dollars, which is...

An unpalatable and indefensible initiative that cannot end well. Republican lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives recently took the politically questionable – and morally objectionable – step of voting to allow horses to once again be slaughtered on American soil for human consumption. It’s a massive power grab by the beef lobby, which would prefer to cull wild horses and burros so public lands can be devoted to livestock-grazing. No one else will rejoice in the heartland at the prospect of being able to chow down on a horse steak or a horse-burger. Most Americans are opposed to hippophagy,...

If you're lucky enough, you'll catch a glimpse of them while traveling along the Salt River or visiting Saguaro Lake. The Salt River wild horses offer visitors an awe inspiring view, one that's in danger of being erased. The beloved Salt River wild horses are being removed from the place they have called home for decades and may even face death, according to a notice from the Tonto National Forest. The forest service says it will begin removal of the more than 100 horses on Aug. 7, stating they are "unauthorized livestock" and therefore cannot be there. The removal will...

The Bureau of Land Management is clearly having an image problem. As the outrage over its intimidating show of force during last week’s showdown at the Bundy Ranch in Nevada proved, the federal agency is now caught up in a controversy originating in Wyoming. According to recent reports, agents herded a large group of wild horses in the state before ceding control of the majestic animals to state authorities. At that point, Wyoming officials sold them off to a slaughterhouse in Canada. Obviously, this development outraged countless advocates already incensed by accusations that BLM officers gunned down multiple cows at...

Enterprise, UT (Reuters) - A Utah county, angry over the destruction of federal rangeland that ranchers use to graze cattle, has started a bid to round up federally protected wild horses it blames for the problem in the latest dustup over land management in the U.S. :snip: Wild horse preservation groups say any attempt to remove the horses would be a federal crime. On Thursday county workers, accompanied by a Bureau of Land Management staffer, set up the first in a series of metal corrals designed to trap and hold the horses on private land abutting the federal range until...

WASHINGTON – The U.S. West is on the verge of a serious horse crisis, says a new paper in Science, which argues that the wild horse population is growing so fast that the government could soon be unable to manage the herds. There are currently some 33,000 wild horses roaming freely on public lands in the western United States, descendants of horses brought by Spanish conquistadors. Under a 1971 law, the Bureau of Land Management is supposed to protect these horses and make sure their numbers don’t get out of hand so they are not destroying the ecosystem or dying...

RENO, Nev. - A new federal proposal to manage wild horses is rekindling debate over another fixture of the Western range: cattle. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar last week proposed moving thousands of mustangs to preserves in the Midwest and East to protect horse herds and the rangelands that support them. ~snip~ Many horse defenders and others who had been working to save the romantic symbols of the American West and might have been expected to welcome Salazar's solution instead stampeded the other way. They want Salazar to remove livestock to make room for the mustangs and argue that cows are...

More often than not I worry that our elected representatives in Washington DC have completely lost touch with the common man. They spend money like there is no limit to the amount that can be provided by the American taxpayer and when we complain, they treat us like we are idiots. They talk down to us and with a smile and a pat on the back tell us not to worry they are looking out for our best interest. So far I have had to exempt Lynn Westmoreland from this criticism. Maybe he hasn't been inside the Beltway long enough...

Wild horses are icons of the West, but growing herds have become a costly problem. Tribes say the horses damage their land and need to be managed — maybe by bringing back slaughterhouses.WARM SPRINGS INDIAN RESERVATION —Here on this reservation in north-central Oregon, horses are woven deeply into daily life. They are traditionally used by tribal members in their work and their culture, whether it be for rodeos or horse parades. Gathering, breaking and selling wild horses has long been part of the tribe's economy. Horses that don't make the grade are sold for slaughter. But the nation's final three...

Mustangs that were running wild less than two years ago will be part of next month’s inaugural parade for Barack Obama. The formerly wild horses are part of the U.S. Border Patrol’s mounted unit, which operates out of Colville, Metaline Falls and other Inland Northwest locations. The unit received an invitation to bring eight of its mustangs to Washington, D.C., next month to march in the parade with the agency’s honor guard and bagpipe and drum team. For the unit, the invitation represents a chance to show off a successful program that blends environmentally friendly practices and criminal rehabilitation. For...

FORT WORTH — One of Fort Worth’s hottest tickets was to Saturday’s finals of the Extreme Mustang Makeover at the Will Rogers Memorial Center. Then and in the previous three days, about 300 wild horses recently gathered from the open range (and their trainers) competed for $70,000 in prizes. Audiences were charmed.But this week, darker undercurrents have shrouded the wild horse celebration. While about 33,000 mustangs still roam free on public lands in Western states, an equal number have been gathered up to prevent overgrazing and are currently held in corrals and pastures run by the federal government. This June,...