Friday July 4, 2008, 1:03 am
PBS NATURE DID THE DOCUMENTARY & VIDEO'S OF CLOUD AND THE WILD HORSES--THEIR TIME IS UP THIS MONTH, SO PLEASE SEND COMMENTS TO MR. KAUFMAN--IF ENOUGH OF US COMMENT--THERE IS A SLIM CHANCE HE MIGHT CAN HELP!
MY COMMENT:

#15 7/04/2008 :: 03:21:29 AM
Brenda Says:

If you can help Cloud & his band of mares-now is the time!Save Cloud and His Wild Herd:Petition
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-cloud-and-his-wild-herd
THE DEADLINE FOR CLOUD AND HIS HERD/FAMILY IS 7/11/08
SLATED TO BE “REMOVED” (DESTROYED) BY
THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR’S
BUREAU OF LAND MANGEMENT

Wild horses older than 11 years. (Cloud and Velvet and most of the band stallions and lead mares fall in this category.)

Friday July 4, 2008, 1:20 am
Brenda anything and everything one can think of is worth a shot.
We won't even talk about the stunts I've pulled:) We don't know till we try.

Friday July 4, 2008, 1:27 am
I'm with you Brenda:) maybe we should go park our happy butts in between the horses and BLM.

Friday July 4, 2008, 1:33 am
I WISH WE COULD KATHY, ANYTHING IS WORTH A TRY--TIME IS RUNNING OUT!

Friday July 4, 2008, 1:41 am
http://www.indymedia.org/en/index.shtml

I'll write them and you write them, my opinion is they are a great place for telling what others refuse to put into the news.

Friday July 4, 2008, 1:57 am
ik kathy i signed and will forward comments do you ework with major horse orgs in the us? to send this around to?

Friday July 4, 2008, 2:08 am
Hi Sophia
www.awionline.org.
Is the biggest one I know of, I'm a member of many but I work as AR activist. Most all of these orgs. Are sending us the message & asking us to get it to the people.

http://www.awionline.org/news/2008/blm_kills_horses.htm
Animal Welfare Institute Condemns BLM Proposal to Kill Thousands of Wild Horses in Holding Facilities



WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 2, 2008) – For the first time in the history of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)—the federal agency charged with protecting and managing wild horses in the United States—officials now claim that up to 30,000 horses currently in confinement may have to be “euthanized” to balance the agency’s budget.
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) vehemently opposes any proposal that would sanction the mass killing of our nation’s wild horses. “To set the record straight, euthanasia is mercy killing. That’s certainly not what’s being proposed here by any stretch of the imagination,” said Chris Heyde, deputy director of government and legal affairs for AWI. “It’s killing pure and simple to balance the books for an agency whose reckless management has caused immeasurable harm to a national treasure at considerable cost to the American taxpayer.”

In the last few years, the BLM’s national wild horse and burro program has changed leadership and direction—and tragically, wild horses have paid the price. To placate the demands of livestock interests and despite protests from wild horse advocates, the agency began rounding up animals from the wild at an unprecedented rate, leaving many herds with so few animals that their long-term health and viability are now in serious jeopardy.

Adoption demand could not keep pace with such drastic removals, requiring the BLM to contract for more and more private long-term holding facilities. Today, this misguided policy has shockingly resulted in more animals being held in confinement than run free in the wild. Now, BLM officials are seeking a magic bullet for the problem that they have irresponsibly created – adding a whole new subtext to the expression “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?”

The 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act was passed unanimously by Congress to stop the mass slaughter and commercial exploitation of these magnificent animals. “Americans were outraged to learn what was happening then, and they will be even more irate to learn what the BLM is proposing today,” Heyde said. “Public support for the original Act is considered one of the largest grassroots campaigns on animal welfare issues in US history. It is time to reignite this passion if we are to save these magnificent animals from extinction on the range and in the wild.”

The proposal to resume killing the public’s wild horses will be discussed at the next National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board meeting scheduled for September 2008. AWI encourages the public and the US Congress to act swiftly to protect our horses, whose lives are at risk at the hands of the very agency tasked with the responsibility to care for them.

##30##

For More Information:
Managing for Extinction: Shortcomings of the Bureau of Land Management's National Wild Horse and Burro Program

Contact:
Chris Heyde, (703) 836-4300

For over 57 years, the Animal Welfare Institute has been the leading voice for animals across the country and on Capitol Hill to reduce the sum total of pain and fear inflicted on animals by humans. To learn more about us, please visit www.awionline.org.

Friday July 4, 2008, 2:58 am
ANOTHER COMMENT TO MR. KAUFMAN:
07/04/2008 :: 05:51:15 AM
BRENDA H. Says:

Mr. Kaufman,
YOU ASK: Do you have an idea for a NATURE documentary? Pass it along.
Yes, PLEASE do a documentary on the slaughter of our American Icons-the wild horses by the BLM-they are planning on thousands more being destroyed and it is just WRONG! The wild horses belong to the American people-not the BLM! Please sir, look at this site and see what the BLM is planning:
http://www.awionline.org/news/2008/blm_kills_horses.htm
Animal Welfare Institute Condemns BLM Proposal to Kill Thousands of Wild Horses in Holding Facilities

The proposal to resume killing the public’s wild horses will be discussed at the next National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board meeting scheduled for September 2008. AWI encourages the public and the US Congress to act swiftly to protect our horses, whose lives are at risk at the hands of the very agency tasked with the responsibility to care for them.
For More Information:
Managing for Extinction: Shortcomings of the Bureau of Land Management’s National Wild Horse and Burro Program

Contact:
Chris Heyde, (703) 836-4300

Friday July 4, 2008, 3:47 am
comment submitted
Thanks Brenda and thanks Kathy

Friday July 4, 2008, 4:11 am
Noted & Signed 1,858 thanks Brenda.

Friday July 4, 2008, 4:17 am
Good idea Brenda!!! Comment left.

Friday July 4, 2008, 4:27 am
I went back & did a comment, plus put the petition on again. no 22# Above me was Alflv??? mentioned 'About making a documentry about the horses.'

Friday July 4, 2008, 4:51 am
TY Brenda, this action was taken. I commented & signed petition, TY noted.

All horses and wildlife need to be in there natural environment. Set them free!
One love, One heart.
FreeSpiritRunning...

Friday July 4, 2008, 5:35 am
Noted and signed. Thanks Brenda.

I don´t really know what to say... just feel sad that so many animals are "destroyed", or whichever other way you want to call the same thing: euthanised, culled, killed, murdered... it´s all the same thing after all. We have no shame, the human species; we just kill left right and centre. We have created laws against the murder of humans, just to protect ourselves, then ignore the rest of the planet's creatures (the other species can go to hell as far as humans are concerned)... DISGUSTING. And then, if a creature of another species harms or kills a human, there's no trial for them, it´s automatic murder of the other species, no matter what. I am truly sickened of the human species. We have so much to be ashamed of, so much.......

Friday July 4, 2008, 5:41 am
And comment left.

Friday July 4, 2008, 6:09 am
Noted this urgent story and signed petition. Will call them on Monday and get a fax number to share. Thank you so much, Brenda!

Friday July 4, 2008, 6:10 am
Brenda and Kathy, message left and all petitons have previoulsy been signed and I have also contacted my sentors -several times.Thanks you Ladies for all you are doing to try to save these beauties. Here is my comment on Nature/PBS:

Debbie Low Says:

Mr. Kaufman, Please run the special about Cloud and his family. We need all the public awareness we can get if we are to save these majestic creatures. BLM has given them until 7-11-08, then their time is up. Please help get the word out about their plight, if we can’t change BLM’s minds set on this herd cull-one day possibly very soon there will no longer be such a thing as Wild Mustangs… and that would be a horrible tragedy.Time is short.. please act now everyone reading this: sign the petition, contact your senate reps either by phone or email, speak out against this inhuman slaughter of our Wild Horses.

Friday July 4, 2008, 8:48 am
These wild horses NEED to be SAVED!!! Signed petion with below comment! Also left comment on the Nature/PBS page.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We have wild horses on the outer banks..near where I live. The govt has taken over the island and is *MANAGING* the herd. A few years back....that meant taking some of them off of the island (Because they were diseased and were a threat to other animals in the county??? They have NO contact with other animals in the county!!) and euthanized. This was done *SECRETLY* and didn't become known until AFTER the fact! If it had of been known....people in the county would NOT have stood for it....and they knew that! These horses have been there for years! Now they keep the numbers at a certain amount....taking foals off the island and selling them. I think it is an outrage! I have watched these magnificent animals all my life. I think they should be left alone. They did very well....by themself....for years....with NO HELP FROM MAN!!! That goes for ALL wild horses in America! I think Cloud and his herd should be left alone to *RUN FREE* for the rest of their lives!!! Please help save the wild horses....not just in MONTANA but everywhere in the USA!!!! But right now....PLEASE HELP SAVE CLOUD and his herd!!!! They are in dire need of help!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you Brenda, for this story....and everyone who supports it!

Friday July 4, 2008, 9:19 am
Noted and signed!

Friday July 4, 2008, 11:05 am
WHOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO--LOOK EVERYBODY:

Nature: Cloud: Wild Stallion of the Rockies
Sunday, July 6, 7:00pm
"Cloud: Wild Stallion of the Rockies."

Nature: Cloud: Wild Stallion of the Rockies
Tuesday, July 8, 4:00am
"Cloud: Wild Stallion of the Rockies."

Friday July 4, 2008, 1:22 pm
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/cloud-iii/the-cloud-blog/the-blm-grandkids-mountain-lions/942/

Friday July 4, 2008, 1:22 pm
The Cloud Blog: The BLM, Grandkids, Mountain Lions
Ever since we finished Cloud’s Legacy, the sequel to Cloud: Wild Stallion of the Rockies, over five years ago, I continued to document Cloud’s life. We’re still in the field filming more remarkable events in the life of this powerful stallion. The new show is being referred to as Cloud III right now. . . until a better title comes to us.

Cloud has captured more mares and now commands the largest band on the Arrowhead Mountains of Montana (a.k.a. Pryor Mountains). The past five years of filming will reveal a story as unpredictable as the earlier programs. This time we’re focusing not just on Cloud and his family but the young stallions you met in Legacy — his birth son, Bolder, and his step-son, Flint, and their attempts to start their families in unusual and even reckless ways.

During this time period, I grew more concerned about the ability of the herd to survive the very agency that manages them — the Bureau of Land Management. The BLM has been darting the mares with infertility drugs and bait trapping the horses which resulted in the untimely death of Cloud’s little son in 2006. Now the BLM is threatening to remove nearly half the herd, which would render them genetically non-viable.
The reason the BLM gives for such a drastic removal is lack of forage, but the agency does not count the many thousands of acres that the horses use in the adjacent Custer National Forest. This historic range of the wild horses was not included when the range was designated and so the horses are regarded as “trespassers” in their own home.

In an attempt to preserve the herd we started a non-profit in 2005, The Cloud Foundation, which is dedicated to educating the public about wild horses and why they deserve a place on our wide Western landscapes. Our mission to preserve the herd is becoming quite a tall order as you will see by visiting our Web site, where you can learn what you can do to help keep Cloud and his family forever free.

There are solutions to preservation which certainly don’t seem like brain surgery to me. Legally expanding the range is the best solution for allowing a truly viable herd of at least 200 to 300 wild horses to roam. This could be done by the Custer National Forest Service at the request of the BLM or it could be done legislatively. We are and we have been expressing our concerns to the BLM and Forest Service that they are in violation of the Wild Horse and Burro Act (a 1971 Congressional Act that governs wild horse management) by not recognizing the legal right of the wild horses to occupy the forest service lands, which were clearly areas they were using when the Act passed in 1971 (and for over 150 years before that — before there was a Forest Service!).

The Cloud Foundation is also supporting wilderness designation for the area, most of which is now a Wilderness Study Area. We know that the very popular mustangs would help in getting the area permanently protected.

Bottom line, we are working to keep the horses on the range where they are the safest and where nature has a chance to regulate horse numbers, not humans.

Case in point: On June 30, 2008, the BLM announced plans to euthanize the mustangs because it was costing too much to feed the thousands they have so unfairly rounded up and continue to round up in the West. This is a pretty scary thought because the BLM wants to remove horses later this summer from the Pryors.

In the meantime, the wild horses seem oblivious to these dangers. Cloud’s range is really looking gorgeous after a tough winter and lots of snow right into May. I know the mustangs were looking forward to spring and looked a bit thinner than usual, but are beefing up nicely. There are lots of new foals. Cloud is a grandfather this year, three times over!

Friday July 4, 2008, 1:24 pm
So far the grandkids, “Image,” “Sage,” and “Summer” are thriving, although “Summer” had a huge claw rake on her shoulder which was healing nicely when we left the mountain last week. She had obviously been attacked by a cougar, but perhaps it was a juvenile as she likely would have been killed quickly by an adult. These big cats are incredible hunters. Three foals and two yearlings are missing so far this year, so the mountain lions may be making a comeback in the area after intensive hunting the past few winters.

Mountain lion predation is good for health of the herd. Regardless, it is hard to get to know the new foals and then realize they are gone. As you know, there are no guarantees in the wild, and this is a wild, spectacular place.

I’ll let you know how everyone is doing after our next filming trip late this month.

- Ginger Kathrens

Please give a comment at this blog as well

Friday July 4, 2008, 2:49 pm
Thanx Brenda for this post. Noted/Signed/forwarding. Love & Light

Friday July 4, 2008, 3:08 pm
Brenda, I have signed petition, left message on PBS site and called the BLM (tried so hard to be polite my cheeks hurt). I will call the BLM again on Monday and will now go to their website and send in an email directly on my own.

Friday July 4, 2008, 3:23 pm
If you write directly to BLM website you have to be patient--apparently it is crashing from time to time--too many emails??? GOOD!!!!!!!!!

Friday July 4, 2008, 5:10 pm
GOOD NEWS MORGAN--I HOPE BLM CRASHES COMPLETELY AND GOOD RIDDENCE!

Friday July 4, 2008, 11:32 pm
We need too come together on saving Cloud along with his herd,Lets bypass the red tape with gov, and blm, I;m ready too go the only way is too PROTECT,I my self have put my life on the line too PROTECT HRDS,Saved quite a few, payed many fines,went too jail, its worth it;If all horse lovers, owners,ranchers, breeders,got together at Clouds location and protected the herd would have a better chance, I:m Ready too go:Run CLOUD LIKE YOU NEVER RAN BEFORE;HIDE YOUR HEARD FROM THE AIR, GROUND,FIGHT WITH EVRYTHING YOU HAVE,CURSE THOSE WHO INTEND TOO HARM

Saturday July 5, 2008, 1:36 am
I can't understand why neutering & releasing of selected animals is not used to control the population of wild animals if the need is great.....as opposed to recurring culling programmes!