Wild horses in the news | Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

Sand Wash Basin advocates get ’er done

20 09 2016

091816swbgreystallionmoon1

This handsome hunky stallion is Star, and he lives with his family in Sand Wash Basin, in northwestern Colorado. He posed extremely considerately Sunday morning with the setting full moon.

This past weekend, Michelle Sander, Aleta Wolf, Stella Trueblood and others with Great Escape Mustang Sanctuary and Sand Wash Advocate Team, along with Gina Robison with BLM’s Little Snake Field Office in Craig, hosted about 50 people who came from near and far (including Texas, Missouri and Toronto, Canada) to help with work projects that directly and indirectly benefit those gorgeous mustangs.

SWAT members are directly responsible for the successful PZP program in Sand Wash Basin. In place for just about three years now, it’s having a direct impact on slowing the population growth of this popular herd. BLM plans a bait-trapping operation there later this fall, with which SWAT and GEMS will be intimately involved. BLM plans to remove 50 horses. They’ll go to Cañon City for “processing” (brands, vaccinations, gelding, etc.), then to GEMS, in northeastern Colorado, to be gentled and offered for adoption through GEMS’ partnership with BLM as a TIP storefront.

Read more about the great weekend of camaraderie, work projects and MUSTANGS in this Craig Daily Press article.

SWAT and GEMS and all the folks associated with these groups are doing phenomenal work for this beautiful herd. Any chance you get, please send out your thanks to these ladies and gents. They are compassionate and passionate, considerate, caring and vastly knowledgeable.

In short: They rock. 🙂

Comments : 4 Comments »

Categories : Advocacy, Education, Fence work, Fertility control, Mustangs, Partnership, PZP, PZP-22, Sand Wash Basin, Wild horses in the news, Work projects

Raise your voices

15 09 2016

Cassidy Rain

For those of you waiting for a way to tell BLM that you won’t stand for the mass slaughter of wild horses and burros in holding, please visit the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign’s website: http://act.wildhorsepreservation.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=23589

*****

Right after I sent my own comments, this popped up in my emaill from a friend: http://news.trust.org/item/20160914201301-s43hn

Thankful. 🙂

But we need to continue to tell BLM – and the U.S. government – that the threat of slaughtering and/or sterilizing our wild horses and burros is not acceptable. Humane solutions exist – including PZP and reopening ranges that BLM has zeroed out, enabling horses in holding to return to the dignity of life on the range.

Comments : 7 Comments »

Categories : Advocacy, Education, Mustangs, Partnership, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Wild horses in the news

Black is beauty

17 08 2016

Raven

Pretty Raven in the secret forest.

Many readers know that Raven was born and raised in Sand Wash Basin and came here in 2008 with Mona and Kootenai to help boost our genetics. Because Spring Creek Basin’s appropriate management level currently is just 35 to 65 adult horses, BLM periodically introduces horses in order to help keep our herd’s genetics viable, per a recommendation by equine geneticist Dr. Gus Cothran (at my alma mater, Texas A&M University).

An EA has recently been released for a bait-trapping operation in Sand Wash Basin. Information about where to send your comments by the Sept. 4 deadline may be found here, in a news brief in the Craig Daily Press.

“The BLM seeks comment on the Environmental Assessment of this gather plan, available at the Little Snake Field Office at 455 Emerson St., Craig, CO 81625 and online at: 1.usa.gov/23gjg6w. Public comments will be most helpful to the BLM if received by Sept. 4. Written comments can be mailed to the Little Snake Field Office or submitted via email to blm_co_sandwash_hma@blm.gov.”

(Note that the website indicated in the press release leads to an error page.)

Of note in the very positive category, Great Escape Mustang Sanctuary and Sand Wash Advocate Team are specifically mentioned for their partnership with BLM in managing this herd: “Our partnership with SWAT and GEMS has been vital to meeting our goal of maintaining the health of the Sand Wash wild horses and the lands they depend upon,” BLM Northwest District Manager Joe Meyer said in a news release.

Also: “While confined in a corral, BLM employees and Sand Wash Advocacy Team members would identify mares, that would be treated with a contraceptive called PZP, which delays fertilization, before being released back to the range. Up to 50 young wild horses would be removed for placement in the Great Escape Mustang Sanctuary training and adoption program.”

Please take a look at the EA and send comments. SWAT volunteers are currently using fertility control in Sand Wash Basin, and they need support in order to continue their efforts to manage this herd well.

Comments : 5 Comments »

Categories : Adoption, Advocacy, Education, Fertility control, Mustangs, Partnership, PZP, PZP-22, Roundup, Sand Wash Basin, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Wild horses in the news

Some gold

30 07 2016

Chromesrainbow

A few days ago, American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign alerted wild horse and burro advocates to some good news: BLM Colorado doing good things for our wild horses.

“Please sign the petition below to THANK BLM Colorado for leading the way in humane management that Keeps Wild Horses Wild! Your signatures will be hand delivered by our friends and wonderful wild horse advocates TJ Holmes and Kat Wilder, along with a thank-you card to the BLM.

“Let’s give credit where credit is due and support the BLM when it takes important steps in the right direction! Hopefully, the ongoing success of the humane management programs in Colorado will encourage other BLM districts across the West to implement similar programs.”

Also:

“On Aug. 4, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Colorado will hold its annual public hearing on the use of motorized vehicles in wild horse management. While we are usually critical of the BLM’s wild horse policies, this hearing provides a rare opportunity for us to SUPPORT the progress that the BLM in Colorado has made toward implementing humane management of wild horses in that state.”

Please consider signing the petition – click here to go to AWHPC’s site – to let BLM Colorado know that you’re aware of the good things happening with mustang management in our state, and that you’d like to see these good things continue – and spread to other states and other herd management areas. At that meeting, Kat Wilder and I will present BLM with the thank-you card that honors all that BLM has done and all that BLM is doing to support our wild horses staying wild on their home ranges.

We have come a long way with BLM managers who are willing and committed to working with volunteers to ensure “thriving natural ecological balance” on the rangelands our Colorado mustangs call home. We will always work to ensure the best management for our wild ones.

Comments : 5 Comments »

Categories : Advocacy, Education, Fertility control, Mustangs, Partnership, PZP, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Wild horses in the news

Mudder mare

17 04 2016

Reya, La Sal Mountains

Jaunty, shaggy, feisty, muddy pinto pony! Some of the horses seem nearly fully shed out; others still are long-haired. All in good time.

Disappointment Valley and Spring Creek Basin got an awesome soaker of a rain system Friday and a little more Saturday evening, so presumably the ponies are even muddier – and the seeps and springs and ponds are even fuller! We are relieved and grateful that the “omega block” brought much-needed moisture to our corner of the world!

******************************

Also in the grateful category, thanks to Kat Wilder and to Suzanne Roy of American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign for posting the first in Kat’s series of “Mustang Tales: Bringing the Reader to the Range”! This first post records our meeting with Jen Maramonte and Suzanne last summer in Spring Creek Basin, where we were privileged to introduce them to the range and to several bands of our amazing mustangs. 🙂

Suzanne and the AWHPC team work tirelessly to keep advocates informed about threats to our wild horses and burros, as well as highlighting the good work being done by countless volunteers across the West (and elsewhere). Kat is working on a variety of “tales,” in a variety of formats, to highlight challenges faced by – and successes made by – advocates and BLM managers on behalf of the now-wild equines whose ancestors were instrumental in developing this country.

Join Kat on the (digital) range with the mesteños!

Comments : 4 Comments »

Categories : Advocacy, Disappointment Valley, Education, La Sal Mountains, Partnership, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Wild horses in the news

‘PZP: Where hope, science and mustangs meet’

6 01 2016

Thanks to Kat Wilder for her Writers on the Range op-ed in High Country News. 🙂

It’s getting harder and harder to deny PZP and its success!

This is Houdini, who, at best guess, is somewhere north of 25 years old. She shows her age but otherwise looks great. She has contributed her genetics to Spring Creek Basin and has daughters and granddaughters and grandsons (at least) still wild in Spring Creek Basin.

I’ve known at least two elder mares that have had foals in the spring and died that fall, leaving their weanlings as orphans. Houdini has contributed her genetics and deserves a long, healthy life as the wild, wise mustang mare she is, adding her knowledge to the whole herd.

PZP makes that possible.

Comments : 7 Comments »

Categories : Advocacy, Disappointment Valley, Dr. Jay Kirkpatrick, Education, Fertility control, Mustangs, Partnership, PZP, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Wild horses in the news

National Academy of Sciences report on BLM’s management of wild horses and burros

7 06 2013

It’s out. The National Academy of Sciences has completed its report about wild horses and burros, and BLM’s management of them.

Some links to reports about the study:

“New report offers science-based strategies for management of Western free-ranging horses and burros; ‘business-as-usual’ practices will be increasingly expensive and unproductive for BLM”: http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=13511

Th National Academy of Sciences link (above) includes a link to the brief summary of the report: http://dels.nas.edu/resources/static-assets/materials-based-on-reports/reports-in-brief/wild-horses-report-brief-final.pdf

*** Updated to add this link, by the always-thought-provoking Andrew Cohen of The Atlantic: http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/06/after-wild-horse-report-jewell-faces-first-moment-of-truth-at-interior/276545/

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/independent-panel-readies-review-blm-mustangs

http://www.returntofreedom.org/national-coalition-calls-on-interior-secretary-to-halt-wild-horse-roundups-in-wake-of-scathing-independent-report/

http://m.sltrib.com/sltrib/mobile3/56416617-219/horse-report-wild-horses.html.csp

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/06/05/horse-burro-blm-nrc/2388947/

http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/2013/06/nrc-gets-it-right-in-panning-blm-wild-horse-program.html

Practically speaking, what will it mean? Time will tell.

Comments : 7 Comments »

Categories : Advocacy, Apollo, Education, Fertility control, Killian, Mustangs, Partnership, PZP, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Tenaz, Wild horses in the news

Facing national scrutiny …

17 05 2013

These articles/news segment are musts to read/watch.

WARNING: Some photos/clips are extremely graphic of horses badly injured during roundups.

Facing national scrutiny, BLM struggles to explain wild horse and burro program

Cruel or necessary? The true cost of wild horse roundups

In the grand scheme of things and in wide comparison, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area and its mustangs are in a fairly enviable position.

Our range condition is not great. Our water sources are widely spaced (ensuring grazing dispersal) but of poor (salty, at least) quality. But, because of recent roundups and a dedicated group of local advocates, our current population ensures both healthy horses and decent, if not great, forage, even in these drought conditions.

A fertility control program using native (one-year) PZP was implemented with the 2011 roundup. This is the first year we’ll start to see results.

There has been no cattle grazing in Spring Creek Basin for two seasons (permitted through BLM for dormant-season only: Dec. 1 through Feb. 28). That likely will continue for at least the next two seasons until drought and/or regulations necessitate a change (for continued grazing or continued lack thereof).

I certainly don’t have large-scale answers, but in this little corner of the wild world, our mustangs seem to be doing pretty well. I hope we can find solutions for all our mustangs.

Comments : 2 Comments »

Categories : Advocacy, Education, Mustangs, Wild horses in the news

‘Unbranded’

15 01 2013

With all the craziness surrounding the wild horse “issue,” here’s something that looks pretty cool:

http://www.unbrandedthefilm.com/

From the email that alerted me to this endeavor:

Backcountry Horsemen,

This is Ben Masters. Myself and three friends are training 11 mustangs and riding them 3,000 miles from Mexico to Canada starting in March. Our route will take six months through Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. We’re making a documentary: Unbranded that aims to promote conservation of open spaces, inspire mustang adoptions and get people outside horseback.

We’re trying to promote our journey and documentary. We need your help by pledging your support and sending the information to others who like horses, the backcountry and conservation. Here is the video, it’ll put a smile on your face:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1978488989/unbranded?ref=live

For more info, our website is http://www.unbrandedthefilm.com/

Western Horseman’s blog over our trip: http://blogs.westernhorseman.com/unbranded/

Thank you,

Ben Masters

benmasters@unbrandedthefilm.com

Check out their story; I’m sure you’ll follow them as I will! Have I ever mentioned I’m an Aggie? Gig ’em, Ags. What a ride it will be!

Comments : 2 Comments »

Categories : Adoption, Advocacy, Education, Mustangs, Partnership, Wild horses in the news

Mustang art in Ridgway (CO)

11 09 2012

If you’re in Southwest Colorado, consider stopping by the Ridgway library on Saturday to see a show by Ouray/South Carolina artist Karen Keene Day and Ridgway artist Alice Billings.

The top painting, by Karen, features Steeldust. The lower painting features Liberty, adopted by Alice.

The art opening will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday at the library in Ridgway. The art will hanging in the library until Nov. 9. (I’m not sure this side of the card is legible, but I don’t have it in high resolution.)

This local art show featuring the work of local artists of our Spring Creek Basin mustangs aims to raise awareness of our local wild horses. The artistic tribute paid to our horses by these special women is best seen in person. If you’re in the area, stop in and say hello!

Comments : Leave a Comment »

Categories : Advocacy, Education, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Wild horses in the news

Spring Creek Basin Mustangs