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Saturday, September 10, 2016
Wild Horse Science vs Feral Horse $cience in the American West
If you're interested in decisions being made with your money for your wild horses, Elko, isn't a convenient venue. Not to worry, says BLM. Meetings are (sorta) streamed online and the Wild Horse Advisory board includes folks to speak for all "...from advocacy groups, wild horse and burro research institutions, veterinarians, natural resource organizations, humane advocacy groups, wildlife associations, and livestock organizations." I'd assume by his email address that "cowdoc75" represents veterinary or livestock interests, but no. He's the Natural Resources expert. This board is clearly skewed toward cash cows and what they can do for ranchers, not what they can do to the environment. For that, they blame wild horses. The vote to kill mustangs was 7-1. Ginger Kathrens, Humane representative, was the lone vote for life. These horses belong to all Americans and this vote doesn't represent them. My letter to the Board and BLM follows. Please use the email addresses to convey your opinions.
TO: drfred@gmail.com,
cowdoc75@infowest.com
, mustangs@infowest.com
, jweileldvm@yahoo.com,
suemcd@vet.upenn.edu,
Jen.sall@gmail.com , benmasters88@gmail.com
, Steven.leslieyardley@yahoo.com
CC: dbolstad@blm.gov, nkornze@blm.gov, whbadvisoryboard@blm.gov
Advisory Board Members:
BLM was once so valuable
to me as a writer that I included staffers in dedications to my PHANTOM
STALLION book series. I even named a main character after BLM's Bryan Fuell of
Elko because he was so helpful.
BLM employees used to meet advocates at Bruno's for coffee before round-ups. We often disagreed, but we asked and answered questions and listened to each other. Now, advocates are met in the same Gerlach parking lot by armed rangers. And, when I asked questions for my non-fiction book on wild horses, BLM stonewalled for over 13 months, until my publisher finally sent the book to press without updated comments from the Interior Department. After 20 years of observing BLM, I thought I was beyond shock over wild horse mismanagement.
I was wrong. The
advisory board's choice of wild horse slaughter, based on willful ignorance of
science and finances, sucker-punched me.
BLM has wasted millions of dollars on rounding up and warehousing wild horses despite the availability of cheap on-range solutions to man-made problems. In fact, the Humane Society of the United States' analysis of BLM's budget documents indicated that the more money Congress appropriated to BLM's "reform," the more expensive the wild horse programs became. Only one thing changes from year to year: money going to independent contractors. BLM’s job is to protect and manage wild horses and the range, but BLM's Don Glen and Dean Bolstad made it clear at 2009 Wild Horse Advisory Board meetings that another priority was "keeping our contractors happy." And have they ever, with ever-increasing amounts of tax dollars. As an author for young readers, I know many students use the Interior Department's websites to search for factual information. The dissemination of '70s era science skewed toward merchandisers of Western resources amounts to malpractice of the sleaziest kind -- lying to kids for political gain. Board members, I urge you to retract this emotional response to BLM's cry for more money for further mismanagement. Instead, listen to non-vested scientists who've proven the environment's been turned upside down by man's replacement of native species (including equines; check the fossil record) with livestock. Listen to those with no financial stake in destroying the range. Years from now, will you have helped save the last wild places? Or will every book and Google search list you as an accomplice to the death of West?
Sincerely,
Terri Farley Labels: BLM, BLM adoption, BLM Advisory Board, BLM round ups, Bruno's, cattle, contractors, Dean Bolstad, Elko, Gerlach, Ginger Kathrens, long-term holding, mustangs, Neil Kornze, Nevada, slaughter, wild horses Permalink to this blog post Posted by Terri Farley @ 11:47 PM 1 comments  
Sunday, May 15, 2016 Book Kids are Wild at Heart Q&A with Terri Farley Meghan Goel of BOOK PEOPLE, an independent bookstore in Austin, Texas, interviewed Terri Farley about her new book Wild at Heart and the fired-up kids that inspired her. Meghan Goel: Why did you write this book for kids now? Terri Farley: I had to write Wild at Heart before it was too late. I’d been writing The Phantom Stallion fiction series since 2002 and young readers fell in love with the West’s wild horses. In my stories, I could write happy endings for mustangs, but if round-ups continue at the current hectic pace, my readers might never see mustangs running free. And oh, do they want to! Kids from all over the world write to me, vowing to come West just to see them. Like most adults, kids don’t know that mustangs and the lands they roam actually belong to them — the American public. Wild horses captured by the government are not going from homes on the range to greener pastures. Often, they go to Mexican slaughter houses. and they want to know how they can help. My book got its sub-title – Mustangs and the Young People Fighting to Save Them — because I want to empower kids – not crush their hopes. Kids are relieved to learn the young people I interviewed for Wild at Heart are not perfect. Some of the featured young people were able to turn their own pain from abuse and bullying to empathy and action for the mustangs. Other kids in the book use their skills – singing, social media skills, and understanding of animals – to make a difference. No matter how much these kids may struggle in other aspects of their lives, when they stand up for wild horses, their courage is contagious.
MG: What do you hope kids will take away from Wild at Heart? TF: I hope I show them they’re worth having the author of a book come to talk with them. That may sound strange, but just today, in Austin, two little girls asked me why I was so dressed up. When I told them it was because I was coming to see them, they were giddy. Kids don’t live in the past, so I search for up-to- the-minute facts on everything to do with wild horses. The scientists I interview admit they’re generous with their time because they want to give young readers access to non- politicized facts. To read the complete Q&A and more about WILD HORSES click here Labels: Austin, BLM round ups, BookPeople, books, children's books, HMH books, horse slaughter, independent bookstores, Meghan Goel, mustangs, phantom stallion, public lands, school visits, Texas, Wild at Heart, wild horses Permalink to this blog post Posted by Terri Farley @ 11:43 AM 0 comments
Monday, April 11, 2016 Still Studiously Ignorant of Modern Science: BLM on Wild Horses
Research for Wild at Heart took me into the issue of wild horse birth control. It's a rarely needed "solution" to a man-made problem that had to be explored. Instead of accepting remote darting (like you've seen on wildlife TV specials), BLM and Oregon State University want to experiment with spaying, shown in this video. Here is my letter to BLM, Oregon State University and Wild Horse Advisory Board members. Greetings: In a 2013 report, NAS recommended birth control darting for wild horse herds which demonstrated a need for management. The Humane Society of the United States concurred.
“Bureaucracy Interrupted,” HSUS’s
analysis of BLM’s budget documents indicated, “…the more
money Congress appropriates in response to the Bureau’s plans for reform, the
more the program costs (and animals in long-term holding) increase instead of
the other way around.”
Despite consensus from
all credible agencies that it’s cheaper and more humane to manage wild horses
on the range, BLM remains stubbornly opposed to modern management techniques.
Instead, the Bureau offered $10
million to anyone who found a new means of birth control, as they paid
independent contractors to chase, trap and corral the West’s remaining wild
horses.
Now, Oregon State University and
BLM are fired-up to experiment on mustangs with spaying surgery. “Let’s see
what happens” is a bad strategy when test subjects are alive and answers are at
hand. At least 10% of spayed mares died at the Sheldon Refuge. Many others were
released and not tracked. Another example? BLM facilities have a high mortality
rate in gelded stallions (a procedure considered safe and routine for domestic
horses). But these are wild animals.
They are not unconscious and are traumatized. If they don’t go into shock and
die, they often succumb to a lack of post-op care.
This crosses the line
from experimentation to molestation. Can you really believe sterilization will
be different for wild mares? Can you ethically substitute hope for
experience?
Sincerely,
Terri Farley
Labels: BLM, BLM round ups, gelding, mares, mortality rate, mustangs, Oregon State University, spaying, sterilization, wild horses Permalink to this blog post Posted by Terri Farley @ 12:28 PM 0 comments
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