Eagle 2011, the last winter roundup in the area, was the deadliest operation we have ever witnessed.  The political game has truly dragged us back in time and the era of massive roundups begins.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has announced a roundup of 1,700 wild horses to begin on Monday. With 4 days notice the largest roundup of wild horses we have seen in a long time begins.

From BLM press release sent January 9, at 12:30pm, exactly 2 hours after WHE left the area:

The BLM will gather up to 1,700 excess wild horses and remove up to 1,600 excess horses. The BLM will treat up to 50 mares with the fertility control vaccine GonaCon-Equine and release the mares with an equal number of stud horses.

BLM claims there are 2,484 wild horses (including foals). BLM states (in the old Land Use Plan) that 139-265 is the “appropriate” stocking level for 743,042 acres (1161 square miles).

From BLM: The BLM is conducting the gather under the DOI-BLM-NV-L030-2018-0004-EA Eagle HMA Gather Plan Environmental Assessment decision signed on August 27, 2018.  Access the Decision Record and determination of National Environmental Policy Act adequacy at https://go.usa.gov/xpVZr.

BLM gutted the notification and NEP process for wild horses over the last two years and plans on gutting it some more: no input, tier AML to old documents and give as little notice as possible.

Yes, we sent a letter with legal citations today. We know a lot of orgs did. However, we expect BLM to move forward.

EDIT: Eagle will begin January 16th. BLM has pushed the date back 3 days. Please note the delay is not because of requests. The delay is due to wind expected in the area. 

On the First day of 2020 operations BLM captured 80 wild horses. We will set a roundup report page shortly and link it here. 

Video of Eagle 2011 

BLM is more than confident that the $21 million of additional funding will be released by Congress for fiscal 2020. They are bringing the program back in time ten years to the days of massive, non-stop, roundups.

That’s the plan for that funding; massive roundups and token fertility control with no changes to actual “management.” The expensive PR machines with CEO’s, that make 300-500K a year as they steer “non-profit” organizations, have been sending out mailers that say “success!” This type of roundup, without a single fix to management, is what they bought for you, us and the wild horses.

Learn more about HSUS, ASPCA and Return to Freedom’s deal with Cattlemen HERE. 

Take ACTION HERE to help slow this corporate agenda down! 

Little black colt stumbled and fell multiple times during the drive. We never saw him again and it is presumed he is one of the deaths behind the closed doors of Broken Arrow (Indian Lakes) where hundreds died of respiratory illness after capture, or broken limbs.

The type of roundup we are going to see at Eagle? we have not seen in years.

If you see any of the orgs that created this obscenity talk about the numbers at the roundup? remind them of their culpability.

If you see any of them talk about the deaths? Not one of those that betrayed the wild horses spent one dime, one day in court, one mile on the winter roundup road, fighting abuse.

If you see any of them complain that BLM no longer shares facility reports online or obstructs viewing at the trap? Not one of them spent one dime on the fight for transparency.

First Amendment and gaining a welfare policy were the two tasks WHE took on and won. Other orgs undercut us in the halls of Congress and at the table with BLM (every single time).

They had the “big money,” and were making more money, taking selfies as they strolled the halls of Congress. Each death coming in the next six weeks? they helped pay for it.

The horse an obligate nasal breather. That is, air cannot enter the mouth to reach the trachea because the soft palate blocks the airflow. In frigid weather, with extended periods hard exercise, they are extremely vulnerable to respiratory infection. Particularly if “run hard and put away wet.” a common practice during roundups. Expect larger numbers of wild horses to become ill and die after the roundup.

personal note, LLeigh: 

I just left this area (Eagle) yesterday. When I opened my email later that night I saw the notification for the roundup. This “3 day notification” is something we are going to see a lot of as BLM uses the new policy. WHE will head back out, we just have a few really important items to take care of in the “big fight.” 

It begins again. I remember the days of two crews flying and one “over 1000” removed at each roundup that ran non-stop. I lived on the road back then and logged over 100,000 road miles in one year. We have been dragged back a decade.

I remember the last winter roundup at Eagle. It was so cold BLM public affairs made excuses to sit in their truck and left me with one Ranger sitting in 2 feet of snow… day after day, after day. WHE was the only org there in 2011 and 2016 and 2018. 

That little black colt? His death is what I always think of when I remember “big winter roundups.”

I’m sitting here sick and angry. So many betrayals. So many of them from those claiming to be “on our side.” Show up a day, or two, and then spend time online trying to “co-opt a market” was there strategy for the better part of the last decade. 

Not one of those salaried CEO’s has ever sat day after day and watched the consequences of their high stakes political poker games. They wont be at trap in the coming years either. 

At the last roundup at Eagle we saw a mare run as she aborted. We were the only org there that time as well.

Those of us that have “run that road” are now left with the task of cleaning up the mess they made in Congress. That is the repetitive cycle and it is more than infuriating. 

We are just getting in from a 10 day range loop to get ready for the next round of the fight. The next  round? it is all about trying as hard as we can to turn the destruction bought and sold by the cash cows. 

That next big battle will hit during the 6 week, intense, extreme, roundup at Eagle and overlap the one at Reveille. The big battle is the release of funding. There is still time to throw some water on the sheer glee of the livestock community that advocacy was so easy to buy off. 

Did BLM time this intentionally to draw focus? probably not. They are simply happy to have the cash to hit the roundups hard and satisfy local politics. When that $21 million drops? hang on… and remember to send a “thank you note” to those that betrayed the fight for the wild and packaged it with expensive bows. 

I will. 

At the last Eagle roundup we documented a mare run as she aborted. The “cash cows” actually had the audacity to talk about it and then tell you to “donate” to them and they were not there. We were the only observers for the entire roundup.  

Why are we throwing $21 million more down this hole without fixing one single element in actual management? Betrayal. 

I am so sick, tired, more than angry. However, I know where this fight needs to go now. We will take it there… 

Action item coming Monday… be ready. Our wild ones need your voice, heart and mind more than ever. 

Onward.

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BEFORE the action item comes on Monday… please read this: https://wildhorseeducation.org/2020/01/07/new-to-wild-horses-the-basics-of-the-fight-part-one/

Help us stay in the fight.