Dubya/BLM Removing Wild Animals instead of Cows in Wyoming

[JoseCuervo]

What will Dubya do next, order the removal of Deer and Elk from Forest Service Lands???

WYOMING WILD HORSE HERD ON BRINK OF STARVATION
Emergency Removal of Horses But Not Cattle
Inspector General Report on Grazing Enforcement Stalled


Washington, DC — Citing the threat of imminent starvation, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has announced an emergency removal of all wild horses from northwest Wyoming, according to documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).

Between August 5 and 8, BLM will permanently remove approximately 140 wild horses from the 83,000-acre Fifteenmile Wild Horse Herd Management Area (located between Casper and Cody) because range conditions have deteriorated to the point where the current 210-horse herd can no longer be sustained.

"Responsible range management has been utterly abandoned by BLM in Wyoming," stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch whose organization nearly a year ago requested an investigation by the Interior Office of Inspector General into obstruction of BLM-Wyoming's enforcement against overgrazing violations. "Things are pretty pathetic when an 83,000-acre refuge can no longer support 200 head of horses."

A continuing drought is the principal cause of the poor forage but BLM has contributed to the problem by catering to cattle ranchers while ignoring deteriorating range conditions. Keeping the maximum number of cows on the range despite a continuing drought overtaxes the land and can lead to permanent damage Consequently, BLM is making a bad problem much worse by –

· Allowing cattle to graze in the Wild Horse Herd Management Area. BLM has refused to pursue grazing trespass reports;

· Permitting the maximum amount of cattle allowed in surrounding grazing allotments while admitting "there is competition for forage and water between livestock and wild horses"; and

· Refusing to assess the carrying capacity of its rangelands, thus leaving BLM in a passive position where it waits until emergencies to occur before it acts.

This is the same region where a local environmental group, Western Watersheds Project, is suing BLM for mismanagement of its range program. In addition, the investigation by the Office of Inspector General into PEER's complaint of enforcement obstruction ended months ago but the report is still under wraps.

"Parts of the public range in Wyoming resemble the most devastated stretches of the Sahel in Africa," Ruch continued. "As long as ranchers can use political chits to keep the maximum number of cattle on the range even in drought-stricken areas, the downward spiral in Wyoming will continue."

 

[Ithaca 37]

""Parts of the public range in Wyoming resemble the most devastated stretches of the Sahel in Africa," "

We have the same problem in SW Idaho. I blame it on the BLM and the Bush administration.

 

[JoseCuervo]

Pretty amazing that 200 horses can starve to death on 80,000 acres...

 

[1_pointer]

'Gunner I have to question the use of 'Wild' as pertains to horses. I think feral is a better description.

 

[Calif. Hunter]

All this has happened in the last 3 years, including the devastation in Idaho?

 

[Muledeer4me]

"These horses are truly a great story of institutional resistance," says former Bureau of Land Management Director Pat Shea, who struggled under the Clinton administration to control and manage the wild herds. "No one has the gumption to actually deal with them."]




http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2004/0716/life/stories/01life.htm


http://roguepundit.typepad.com/roguepundit/2004/07/wild_and_unnatu.html

 

[1_pointer]

"No one has the gumption to actually deal with them."

I agree. I'm actually suprised that the horses have had anything done with them. Their management/laws are based solely on emotion and not on science. IMO, there are WAY too many of them. Lethal means of population control aren't usually even entertained. The big thing now is 'birth control' for them.

 

[Ten Bears]

In the eyes of EG, Bush seems to be damned if he makes a decision that may harm rangeland, and damned if he tries to help rangeland.

 

[Calif. Hunter]

Quote: "Their management/laws are based solely on emotion and not on science. IMO, there are WAY too many of them. Lethal means of population control aren't usually even entertained. The big thing now is 'birth control' for them."

1-pointer: I feel the same way about Democrats. I'm just kidding, folks!!!

 

[Wapiti Slayer]

Originally posted by ElkGunner:
[QB] What will Dubya do next, order the removal of Deer and Elk from Forest Service Lands???

That should make you happy! More free grazing and trails to follow yer Cattle around with yer Polluting ATV!