Please read about Bill H.R. 5058. If passed it will mean disaster for all Wild Horses and Burros. From Karen Sussman ****************URGENT************************* Clarification of 5058 - please read CLARIFICATION ON THE STAND AGAINST H.R. 5058 This bill will put the management of wild horses/burros into the states hands. It was Wild Horse Annie who knew if states managed wild horses and burros it would mean the eradication of the herds. The law suit that tested this premise in the Wild Horses and Burros Act was Kleppe vs NM in 1976 in which the Supreme Court verified the authority to manage AMERICAs wild horses and burros belongs to the federal government and not the states. Now the states are crying again to manage wild horses and burros because the BLM is not doing a good job according to the cattlemen. It puts a terrible onus on all the humane groups who have also advocated that the BLM is not doing a good job. Multiple court cases by wild horse advocates can now be actually used against humane groups putting the horses/burros between a rock and hard place. Who is or can be the better manager-States or the BLM? Giving states and tribal government sovereignty is a critical issue now. ISPMB has worked hard to take BLM to task when needed and to assist where we can. Our contributions for the horses/burros to the BLM have been numerous including the concept of the adoption program, the increased fees for crimes against wild horses and burros, a gold standard burro management program in the Black Mts., a national volunteer compliance program for adopted animals and now currently creating a model for managing wild horses in our country. I am asking those people in the states where the Committee members are to please write (e-mail) a letter following the main theme of my letter below. This will take extra time where you just cant click on a letter and send. There is a purpose. Form letters are not regarded as highly as ones written in your own words. This takes extra time but it is critical for your wild horses/burros. Please take the time to write to the people on the committee if they are in your state. We will notify you when there is action on this bill. WORDING OF THE BILL: State and tribal management and protection (a) In general Except as provided by subsection (b), at the request of the legislature or Governor of a State or the governing body of a federally recognized Indian tribe, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall allow the State or federally recognized Indian tribe to assume all management and protection functions under this Act regarding wild free-roaming horses and burros on land within the boundaries of the State or federally recognized Indian tribe. After a State or federally recognized Indian tribe assumes such functions, wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be managed by the State or federally recognized Indian tribe in accordance with this Act and in the same manner as any other non-federally regulated species regarding functions not specified in this Act. Will we as citizens still have a voice if states take control? Will federal laws like NEPA, FLPMA, PRIA be affected as they do not apply to the states but to the federal government. On July 10th, 2014, Representative, Chris Stewart (UT-R), introduced a bill to the Committee on Natural Resources which could ultimately spell doom for Americas Wild Horses and Burros. The bill is co-sponsored by Representatives Bob Bishop (UT-R) and Tom McClintock (CA-R). On July 15th, the bill was referred to the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation and is titled Wild Horse Oversight Act. There are 26 members on this committee of which 14 are Republicans and 12 are Democrats. To find out if your Representative is on this committee please click here: naturalresources.house.gov/subcommittees/subcommittee/?SubcommitteeID=5064 Act now and write your Representative if they are on the Committee and state the following in your own words: The Wild Horses and Burros Act (PL 92-195) became a federal law to protect Americas wild horses and burros for all Americans and future generations to enjoy. Left to the states control in 1971, we would have no wild horses or burros left in our country. The same holds true for today if states take control of management. Please let us remind you that wild horses and burros can ONLY be removed if they are causing damage to their habitat and that can only be proven through monitoring of their habitat by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). This means that setting a permanent AML (appropriate management level), as BLM currently does, is arbitrary and capricious. In other words, it is illegal. BLM MUST determine who is causing damage. Those special interests, who have wanted for years to eliminate wild horses, live in and are in control in the 10 western states in which the wild herds reside. It is precisely these states that would be in control of management. In 1974 when the first counts were done on population of wild horses and burros, there were approximately 60,000 animals at which time the law stated that the animals were fast disappearing from the American scene. Now we have only half that number existing on public lands. What should be required of the BLM is monitoring of the public lands to determine who is causing damage to the lands. Since BLM is comprised of the same culture of people who have advocated for the removal of wild horses and burros, a new independent agency should be developed whose only job would be monitoring public lands with the ultimate goal of restoring the health of the land and who would have the power to remove those animals causing damage. Read more about these representatives. Chris Stewart ballotpedia.org/Chris_Stewart (Utah) Rob Bishop ballotpedia.org/Rob_Bishop (Utah) Tom McClintock ballotpedia.org/Tom_McClintock (California)
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 05:56:47 +0000
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