Thread: Madeleine Pickens’ Eco-RESORT?

Madeleine Pickens’ Eco-RESORT?

September 12, 2012 by ppjg

Debbie Coffey (c) Copyright 2012 All Rights Reserved
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When you read Madeleine Pickens letter to friends and supporters yesterday (9/11/2012), did any of you catch the fact that she called her planned Mustang Monument a “Wild Horse Eco-resort?” So when did this plan go from being a wild horse eco-sanctuary to an eco-resort?
(Not to even mention that the word “monument” can mean something erected as a memorial or as a marker at a grave or tombstone.)
Mrs. Pickens’ explains that her eco-resort plan will supposedly reduce the numbers of wild horses held in short term holding pens. Let’s do the math. If you take 900 horses out of short term holding to put in this eco-resort, but then you round up all of the horses off of the 3 HMAs, and they are then sent to short term holding, then haven’t you just added about the same amount of horses TO short term holding as you took out? Maybe you’ve even added more.
Mrs. Pickens wants us to believe this eco-resort “serves the greater good for our wild horses.” Let’s see, they’ve all had their “nuts” chopped off and will live with the same sex for the rest of their lives, without any children around them. Is this good? It’s certainly not natural.
In this letter Mrs. Pickens states “Already there are many people on both sides of this issue making assumptions and concluding the worst possible scenarios based on ‘proposed’ alternatives in the scoping documents.” (Doesn’t this sound dismissive of REAL concerns?) Well, yes, to some of us, removing horses from 3 Herd Management Areas and knowing that these 3 Herd Management Areas will then most likely be zeroed out and NOT Herd Management Areas anymore, and replaced with an eco-RESORT, is an assumption. But we see a pattern to what the BLM is doing. We can foresee that the BLM is removing ALL of the wild horses and slowly replacing them with non-reproducing herds.
Maybe the BLM and Mrs. Pickens would assume we wouldn’t think ahead and assume anything about Mrs. Pickens eco-resort plan and BLM’s other eco-sanctuary plans. Maybe they, and the BLM, didn’t assume anyone would care enough to spend many hours poring over Dr. Gus Cothran’s genetic analysis reports (thank you Bonnie Kohleriter, who is almost blind by now because she prepared spreadsheets that will soon be available to the public) and realize that the herds that are left are either not viable or at risk of losing viability. But we do. We see what the BLM is doing. When we look at the facts, we see that the worst case scenario IS happening.
Mrs. Pickens also claims “I will never accept any proposed plan that threatens the life of a wild horse. We will do everything we can to hold all the existing horses harmless” But, the BLM’s eco-sanctuary plans DO threaten the lives of wild horses when they plan to remove more horses off of their federally protected HMAs. When the BLM removes horses from the HMAs, it DOES threaten the lives of horses during roundups and in holding facilities. We see this in person with our own eyes at roundups and when we look at the BLM’s own facility reports. Most importantly, the eco-sanctuaries could be on public lands that are NOT HMAs. And they should be, so that other wild horses won’t have to be removed from HMAs.
Mrs. Pickens’ letter states: “If any horses are required to moved, they will have a permanent home at Mustang Monument.” Really? Even those wild horses that will be removed from the 3 HMAs after your eco-resort is up and running? Will they also be left in their family bands?
Mrs. Pickens states “I hope you will continue to put your trust and faith in me and Saving Americas Mustangs to find the best way to do this… I pledge to do this in the most benign way possible, always bearing in mind that the ultimate goal is free-roaming wild horses but so many that will never have that experience again without the creation of Mustang Monument.”
This isn’t about putting trust and faith in you, it’s about holding the BLM accountable for the details and asking for their transparency.
It is NOT benign is that the public is not yet aware of all the details, which by BLM’s own admission are not even formulated yet. This is like buying a car without taking a test drive.
Is Mrs. Pickens going to make the trust, which will detail what will happen to the eco-resort in the future, available to the public, so that we can read it? Otherwise, this is asking you to go along with and support something you know little about. Would you sign any legal document without reading it?
Mrs. Pickens says that the “Mustang Monument is going to seem like a “dream come true” to the wild horses who go there. Will it be a dream come true when the remaining wild horses on these 3 HMAs are rounded up? Or will it be the usual nightmare that roundups are, and be a part of a BLM plan to whitewash the fact that it’s removing all of the wild horses off of their HMAs.
Mrs. Pickens states “we must work with the BLM to reach a conclusion that involves compromise.” Why do we have to compromise? This is all paid for with tax dollars (including BLM’s salaries, lest they forget), and we’ve already had to compromise way too much.
Madeleine Pickens states that “the ultimate goal is free-roaming wild horses” but the millions of dollars spent for this eco-resort would have gone a long way in legally stopping the BLM from removing the wild horses off of their HMAs. Otherwise, this is just a shell game.




Madeleine Pickens

Equine Welfare Groups Join in Asking Obama to Stop the Roundups

September 12, 2012 by ppjg

For Immediate Release: September 12, 2012
Contact: R.T. Fitch, President WHFF, 800-974-3684
Jerry Finch, President Habitat for Horses, 866-434-5737

Wild Horse Letters to the President Swell in Support

Equine Welfare Groups Join in Asking Obama to Stop the Roundups

HOUSTON, (WHFF) – Wild Horse Freedom Federation’s letter writing campaign to President Obama asking him to declare a moratorium on the accelerated Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) roundups of federally protected wild horses and burros on public land has been joined and now supported by Habitat for Horses (HfH) and the Cloud Foundation (TCF).
Last month volunteer president of WHFF, R.T. Fitch, challenged the American public to write letters to the President asking him to stop the roundups so that an accurate accounting of horses on the range could take place and alternative management techniques could be applied. In return Fitch and his wife Terry agreed that they would, personally, hand carry the letters to D.C. and ensure that they reached President Obama.
Virginia Congressman Jim Moran offered to facilitate the delivery of the letters to the White House upon their receipt in D.C. and with his office’s backing the momentum for the campaign has blossomed to include the support and letters from HfH, TCF and thousands of Americans.
“This started out as a campaign where an average American couple would bring the letters of other outraged tax payers to the President for review,” says Fitch,“but over the last month it has taken on a life of it’s own and shows exactly how upset and troubled the American public is over the destruction of the last, few remaining herds of wild horses and burros on their rightful lands.”
“Postcards, petitions and letters have been coming to the Cloud Foundation addressed to President Obama and pleading with him to stop the roundup of the last of the mustangs,” states Ginger Kathrens, Director of the Cloud Foundation, “We’re so grateful that Congressman Moran will bring the plight of our freedom-loving wild horses and burros to the President through these simple, heartfelt messages from adults and children around the country.”
“With slaughter seen as the ‘final solution’ for America’s wild horses,” added Jerry Finch, president of Habitat for Horses, “the need to place a stop on the roundups has become vital. We support everything R.T. has done and added the voice of our supporters to this trip. I will personally join in the delivery of the letters.”
The Fitch’s, along with Jerry Finch, will be keeping their promise to the public and to the supporting organizations by traveling to Washington D.C., at their own expense, Thursday, September 13^th where they will deliver the letters to Rep. Moran who will then facilitate their delivery to the White House.
“We certainly appreciate the support of HfH, TCF, the office of Congressman Moran and all of the great people who took a stand and wrote letters to President Obama,” Fitch added. “We are proud to be affiliated with such a great group of true Americans who, like us, hope and pray that the President listens to our pleas.”
Fitch estimates that they will be delivering no less than 12,000 letters and petitions to Washington D.C.

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Wild Horse Freedom Federation (WHFF) is a registered, Texas non-profit corporation with federal 501(c)3 status. WHFF puts people between America’s wild equids and extinction through targeted litigation against governmental agencies whose documented agendas include the eradication of wild horse and burros from public, federal and state lands. www.wildhorsefreedomfederation.org
Habitat for Horses (HfH)is a registered, Texas non-profit corporation with federal 501(c)3 status. HfH rescues equines from starvation, neglect and abuse. HfH provides equine rescue services to law enforcement, physical and mental rehabilitation, education services to horse owners and potential adopters, and provide opportunities to the public for fostering and adoption. www.habitatforhorses.org
The Cloud Foundation (TCF)is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of wild horses and burros on our western public lands with a focus on Cloud’s herd in the Arrowhead Mountains of Montana. www.thecloudfoundation.org

http://ppjg.me/2012/09/12/equine-wel...-the-roundups/