The emergency roundup of wild horses at Jackson Mountain continues to trudge on toward the target goal of removing 600 wild horses from the south of the HMA.
To date, 392 have been captured and 18 have died (a list of the deaths appear at the bottom of this page).
The last two days our observer has been the only member of the public on-site.
On September 25, 37 were captured and 6 died. On the 26th, two runs captured 9.
No apparent dust control was done either day. The chopper wash engulfed horses and humans alike, including what appears to be two children at trap.
Observation of trapping at Jackson has been a struggle since the operation began. Jackson is an area BLM has neglected addressing serious issues of rangeland health with livestock, approved big mining, etc. They manage the area through the “create havoc, roundup through emergency” strategy. (more here)
An inexperienced contractor (and staff) makes observation/oversight even more critical. We have not been able to bring you any true assessment of conduct during capture at the operation. The only thing we can truly note is the inexperienced patterns we see the chopper fly.
Last week a member of a livestock group (film-maker) was out and only put one picture up without identifying where the image was taken. It appears it was taken at Stone Cabin. We mention it here because it is relevant to all HMAs in the West.
The absurd narrative of blaming wild horse advocates for “skinny horses” because of litigation has begun, again. Do you know how many legal appeals, letters from lawyers, federal civil filings, are launched by livestock permittees each year? The number is countless. Complaining that wild horse advocates somehow control the actions of an agency that prioritizes livestock and mining is absurd.
We have sent BLM an inquiry as to why a pro-livestock advocacy group is given selective access, but we were denied. Controlling the narrative through selective access was an issue already addressed in the courts. (We also understand the permittee in the area submitted a proposal for a grant to do trapping/fertility control/etc. in the HMA earlier this year and the agency was not going to take any other proposal seriously.)
We know you are frustrated with the selective way the agency treats one interest over another. So are we. The irony of an image, presented unidentified, from Stone Cabin is also not lost on us. We were at a roundup in Stone Cabin, being restricted from observing capture, when the Ninth Circuit decision was published in 2012 that chastised the agency for exactly the type of conduct they exhibit so flagrantly today.
Wild horses at the temporary corral at Jackson on September 26, above.
Every wild horse has a story to tell of mismanagement by the agency. The well-known herds that are easier to travel to have larger followings and tell different stories. The mare struggling to feed her foal out at Jackson has a deep story tied to the land and over 100 years of industrial expansion, exploitation and coddling of livestock and mining by the agency. Each story is critical to understand, each life caught in the game of public lands equally valid.
A list of the 18 lives lost at the Jackson operation, most of them “just a bay” no one on social media has ever seen due to the game of selective access, but matter no less to the public, below:
4-year-old bay mare had an abscess (we do not know where it was or what it looked like); 5-year-old Bay mare BLM said had a hernia; 2-year-old Bay mare BLM said had hernia; Foal Bay filly BLM stated “chronic injury (orphaned/abandoned) with poor prognosis for recovery;” 20-year-old bay poor condition was put down; 4-year-old mare for “poor body score;” 6-year-old Bay stud (hernia: developmental); 20+ year old Bay mare BLM said due to chronic injury (poor body condition: starvation/malnourished); 4-year-old Bay mare BLM said was due to chronic injury (poor body condition: starvation/malnourished); 20+ year old Bay mare due to chronic injury (poor body condition: starvation/malnourished); 2-year-old Bay mare was euthanized due to hernia; Foal Brown colt was euthanized in due to hernia; 3 year old Bay mare was euthanized BLM stated due to chronic injury (poor body condition: starvation/malnourished) with poor prognosis for recovery; Foal Bay filly was euthanized BLM stated due to chronic injury (hernia: developmental); 4 year old Bay mare was euthanized BLM stated due to chronic injury (Blind in one eye); 20+ year old Black mare was euthanized BLM stated to chronic injury (poor body condition: starvation/malnourished) with poor prognosis for recovery; Foal Bay colt was euthanized BLM stated due to chronic injury (poor body condition: starvation/malnourished) with poor prognosis for recovery; 20+ year old Bay stud was euthanized BLM stated due to chronic injury (poor body condition: starvation/malnourished) with poor prognosis for recovery.
We do not know how many have died after transport to the facility. BLM no longer posts facility reports online.
We have sent in a request for information.
More info on the agencies “Guidance for Euthanasia” here: https://wildhorseeducation.org/2021/09/09/guidance-for-euthanasia-policy-change/
An action item in the context of the budget debate here: https://wildhorseeducation.org/2021/09/20/appropriations-2022-and-beginning-the-2023-discussion/
September Roundups
Barren Valley Roundup Reports (ongoing)
Help keep us in the field and in the courts.
Thank you.
Categories: Wild Horse Education
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