Temporary Holding Corral, Red Desert Roundup

You can view reports from our trained CAWP team observer from the Red Desert roundup HERE. 78 captured on Oct 15 bringing the total captured to date to 349.

WHE keeps a data base that includes trap configurations.

Our observer took a few photos of the trap before leaving the observation location. She was told by law enforcement onsite that she could not take pictures without contractor consent. Yes, that was actually said.

We have the right to take the photo and to publish the photo. We will gladly send the agency a copy of the law, and court rulings, that state just that. The days capture was done, loading was not in process and the vehicles were cleared to move.

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At the Red Desert operation BLM has allowed temporary holding to be placed on private property. Observers could pull down a (public) road and have a clear view, even though it is some distance, of the facility. Instead the BLM is prohibiting the ability to observe any processing and sorting. Observers can sit behind a barrier, or come back, hours after the last horse is captured and take pictures after any ability to assess handling methods has ended for a sanitized “walk around the pen.”

BLM is responsible for ensuring the publics right to access, not the contractor. BLM either needs to place temporary corrals on public lands or secure an observation area.

We are unsure at this time if BLM will move temporary after releasing wild horses back to Stewart Creek as they move into other HMAs in the complex.

Why is blood dripping from this horses face? We can not tell you.

The agency is still busy rewriting reality.

In Cody Wyoming William Perry Pendley, Deputy Director of BLM (formerly acting with the authority of the Director) spoke at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West at the Free Roaming Equids and Ecosystem Sustainability Network conference.

After taking on the acting director role at the BLM, Pendley said he was upset by the reports he received on the species. “Frankly, I was shocked,” he said. “And I’ll tell you the part that shocked me the most was I got to the section where it said some of our lands are so degraded, that they will never recover. And that blew me away.” (Powell Tribune)

Any first year law student would note that Pendley uses the words “after taking on the acting director role” calling into question any input Pendley has on the wild horse program in light of the recent court ruling; the ruling Pendley is trying to rewrite.

Click to view PEER interactive LIVESTOCK rangeland health standards map

Pendley has been busy, after obtaining acting director status, moving forward the agenda of his former law clients, like the Wyoming Stock Growers Association that he represented in a programmatic challenge in the state of Wyoming to remove wild horses. The case lost; programmatic challenges are routinely thrown out by the courts.  Busy fast tracking more cows, sheep and mining, Pendley has continued the blame “the horse tagline” of the clients on his 17-page recusal list. 

Is it a surprise that under Pendley BLM has found the funding to do the largest removal in history of wild horses in Wyoming? Perhaps a way to “overturn the courts” in the case that he lost in Wyoming? (Pendley is not the only “Deputy” to use his position to help livestock overturn the courts; John Ruhs did the same thing at Fish Creek).

At the “equine meeting” Pendley also passed out a 4-page diatribe that essentially was a “Pendley opinion” trying to overturn the ruling of U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris.

Morris wrote in his ruling in (Gov.) Steve Bullock v. U.S. Bureau of Land Management that “The Court Declares that William Perry Pendley served unlawfully as the Acting BLM Director for 424 days; the Court enjoins William Perry Pendley from exercising authority of BLM Director; the Court enjoins Interior Secretary David Bernhardt from unlawfully delegating the authority of the BLM Director….”

You can read “law by Pendley” yourself. In an unprecedented move Pendley  had the BLM post his comments on active litigation on their website.

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Pendley is not simply satisfied passing out his “legal brief” at the conference in Wyoming, he has taken it on  the road like a candidate running for office. He handed out his brief in Idaho yesterday saying he is still in the driver’s seat as director of policy and programs.

It should be noted that Bullock v BLM is still active in the courts; the government saying they will appeal. But it is not the only case in the courts, PEER also has an active case against Pendleys illegal tenure. In addition, documents have been filed to undo multiple policy changes and projects approved by Pendley; some listed here.

The massive roundup in Wyoming continues. The fight against spaying has now moved into the necessity for legal action in Utah. The BLM still refuses to answer relevant Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Our right to simply observe handling of our wild horses is once again being limited to unacceptable levels. The new roundup schedule is being formed and it reads like a “wish list” of dirty deals (we will bring you more on that subject soon, area by area).

The law means nothing to BLM. Our ranges continue to be turned into wastelands; not by wild horses, by rampant abuses of power for industry. BLM just blames the horses they were charged to protect and preserve as they decimate herd after herd. The picture is not pretty.

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What you can do

Please take action to demand Congress defund any roundups where the BLM has failed to create open and transparent management planning.  Click HERE.

Call the Senate switchboard and ask for your rep. Demand that all actions against wild horses and burros halt until William Perry Pendley leaves the BLM. His tenure was ruled illegal and BLM is still moving an agenda forward for Pendley’s former law clients.  Switchboard (202) 224-3121

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Our teams are in field and working hard. Our legal team is finalizing our legal action against spaying in Utah and working on more cases against mining, oil and gas. Without you none of our work is possible.

Help us stay in the fight.