Asana On The Range (an entry from Tammi Adams, WHE NEPA team)

What does asana mean? And why do I go to the range to find it?  First, I need to explain that asana is defined in the yoga sutras as a “steady and comfortable posture.”  Far beyond the stretches and poses performed on a yoga mat, asana is spiritually rooted in “stillness, stability, and harmony.”   

Since I can remember, nature and wildlife provided a steady and comfortable place to posture my spirit with the stillness, stability, and harmony that “real life” seemed to lack.  I began my adventures with nature and photography in earnest when I received my first 35mm camera almost 50 years ago.  Since that time, I have been blessed with living amongst the most rugged and wild country in the US, and photographed places that I felt no one had ever traveled before.  My asana was found through my photography and need for grounding in nature.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Life is no picnic; troubles and sadness afflict us all.  Worries about money, partners, children, parents, the economy, war, etc., impact us all.  We must find respite from all the turmoil and discover how to instill asana into our minds with regular practice.

No matter what life is dishing out, for me my spiritual and grounding asana has always been realized in nature with wildlife.  By far, the best self-preserving action that I can take is to provide myself respite and asana by spending time with and photographing our free-roaming wild horses and burros on our public lands.

I must confess, the sheer beauty and regalness of wild horses and burros takes my breath away over and over again.  Like the moment you see a mare with her foal.  There is no greater love than that between a mother and child.

Our wild ones show us how they feel about family.  They demonstrate behaviors of stability and harmony within their multigenerational family band and with other bands.

They find safety and security with the parents and elders of their bands.

Yes, it can be noisy at family gatherings when greeting each other.

Regardless of some noisy greetings and arguments over the opposite sex, love can be seen in their eyes, even between fathers and sons.

Being on the range can bring surprises and clarity of issues you were not intent on addressing.  Such as observing a wild horse family band waiting patiently for over three-hours to drink at the only water source seen on the HMA, a livestock tank, which was encircled by about 30 lazing cattle disinclined to cede their watering hole.  Regardless of claims made by some, the wild horse family was never observed to be aggressive nor push the livestock off of this lone water source detected in the entire valley.  Even with a new foal, the family band remained patient and waited for hours until it was safe for the foal before they approached the life sustaining water source.  (Asana Range Myth buster – wild horses do NOT push livestock off water resources.)

As with any range asana, unexpected situations may arise on the range that give clarity and enlighten your mind to unveil circumstances unbeknownst to you.  Being at the right place and the right time without intent can reveal truths and disclose secrets – I call it karma.  Such as randomly observing and documenting a helicopter harassing wild horses during peak foaling season.

After a bit of sleuthing, you determine that the HMAs you are trying to protect (under an ongoing NEPA HMAP EA) are under attack from another undisclosed BLM multiple use proposed project on the HMA – lithium mining, which shall certainly go unmitigated for impacts to the wild horses and range.

Wild horses and burros can only legally occupy about 12% of public lands.  Where hardrock mining is concerned, like for lithium and gold, opening up adjoining herd area (HA) land for repopulation to mitigate for the loss of wild horse and burro range, habitat, and resources is something BLM has not (and seemingly will not) even considered.

Yes, as consumers we all have gold jewelry and use and throw away products containing toxic lithium.  Yet the public fails to understand the significant and irreparable environmental harms and impacts from lithium and other hardrock mining.   Irrevocable environmental impacts include surface and ground water depletion, habitat destruction, forage contamination, and high potential for water and air pollution.  These significant environmental impacts irreparably harm our wild horses and burros, all wildlife, entire ecosystems, and humans.

Lithium mining also harms humans by contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and requires large quantities of water, which can strain public and private water resources.   We need to realize and remember that there is no such thing as “green” (environmentally friendly) mining, and no such thing as endless clean water supplies.

Needless to say, after witnessing the chaos created by the helicopter on the wild horses and us humans, breath and stillness were needed and one more asana range run was required.

THIS is why we must to continue the integral fight for our wild ones and our public lands.  Or we shall forever lose the ability to provide ourselves with respite and asana on the range with our wild horses and burros.

Be the voice for the voiceless, and understand that knowledge is power.  Time spent on the range with our wild horses and burros provides us with a steady and comfortable breath while experiencing the stillness and harmony of nature.  Do it for yourself, do it for them.

Asana on the range, it is an American’s right, your right.  The esthetic value of our public lands is a protected value under law. 

Please continue to be the eyes and ears with a voice and bring truth to the fight for our wild horses and burros and our public lands.  This is a hard fight, and worth every step and tear.  They are counting on us.  We are the change. The responsibility lies with our generation to speak now for all future generations.

“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.” ~ Daniel Patrick Moynihan

As debates rage in Congress that include selling off our public lands, the very lands our wild ones live on, and slashing budget that could lead to disposal of our wild ones in holding, you can take a simple action. 

Making a call might not seem like much. However, aides keep track of the number of calls that come in and the related subject matter. With so much going on, simply registering the words “protect wild horses and burros” informs your lawmakers that this issue is one that is important and will impact your votes in 2 years during the next round of Congressional elections.

Call the Congressional Switchboard at: (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to your representatives. Tell them: Public lands must be left in the public domain and not given away or sold. Wild horses and burros on the range and in holding must not be killed or sold to slaughter.

WHE will keep up the legal battle. Can you please make sure Congress does not forget that our wild horses and burros matter to the American people?

Onward.

All of our work is only possible with your support. 

We thank you for being a vital part of the work of WHE at this critical time. You support keeps our teams in the field, our investigations running and our litigation alive. Together, we will take a strong stand for our wild ones.