Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

Potentially some fantastic news! After I received an email yesterday (Feb. 18) from artist Karen Keene Day, I became aware of legislation introduced last week by House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick J. Rahall (D-WV) and Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Chairman Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ). You might remember these men from the letter they authored last year after the BLM announced it had to start killing wild horses in holding facilities because it had neither the capacity nor the funding to care for them. (Follow this link to read that letter: http://wildhorsepreservation.com/pdf/EuthanasiaBLM_letter.pdf .)

The legislation, called – appropriately – ROAM, the Restore Our American Mustangs Act, “would amend the landmark 1971 (Wild Free-Roaming Wild Horse and Burro) Act to implement changes suggested by GAO (Government Accountability Office).” Among other things, it would “prohibit the killing of healthy wild horses and burros.” Rock on!

The GAO report came out last fall. The first link below is to a BLM Web page summarizing the GAO’s findings. The second link is to the GAO report.

http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/info/newsroom/2008/november/NR_10_11_2008.html

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0977.pdf

Now, ROAM was just introduced last Thursday, Feb. 12. But as I find out more, I will post it here. (I am cautiously STOKED!!!) Follow the below link to the press release from the Committee on Natural Resources. When I followed the link in Karen’s email to resourcescommittee.house.gov, this story was front and center on the home page.

http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=504&Itemid=27

Humane Society Web site:

http://www.humanesociety.org/press_and_publications/press_releases/wild_horse_and_burro_act_introduced_021209.html