Ep #8: Wild Horse Holding Facilities
May 15, 2023
Ep #10: A Tribute to Chiron: The Consequences of Winter’s End
June 12, 2023
I am absolutely delighted to have Suzanne Roy, the executive director of American Wild Horse Campaign, here today. We’re talking about the lawsuit that the American Wild Horse Campaign filed just a few days ago against the BLM. The government agency has plans for a massive land grab in Wyoming, as well as plans to zero out the wild herds living there and reduce another to a much smaller size.
Suzanne is 25-year animal welfare professional. During her career, she worked to improve the plight of elephants, chimpanzees, marine mammals, and other animals, both in captivity and in the wild. In 2009, she turned her attention to the fight to save America’s wild horses and burros.
Listen in to find out why this lawsuit could be one of the most important cases for the wild horses, the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, and all wild horse protected land in America. Donations for the lawsuit are very, very necessary for us to be able to continue, especially if we end up having to go to appeals court. The American Wild Horse Campaign needs your support.
I want to encourage people to follow the American Wild Horse Campaign. Sign up for their newsletter so you can get alerts and find out what you can do to help. And please, donate to their legal fund. This is going to be a really significant fight and we could use all the help that we can get with this lawsuit.
What You’ll Learn from this Episode:
- Why the American Wild Horse Campaign lawsuit may be the most important lawsuit ever.
- Why the Rock Springs Grazing Association sued the BLM Wyoming, and the resulting agreement.
- Why the wild horses in Wyoming stand to lose 40% of their land.
- How the federal Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act has been altered by special interest groups.
- Why an adverse decision in this case would have really significant, long-term impacts for wild horses across the West.
Listen to the Full Episode:
Featured on the Show:
- Living Images by Carol Walker
- Wild Hoofbeats Blog
- Wild Hoofbeats: America’s Vanishing Wild Horses by Carol Walker
- Books: Blue Zeus, Galloping to Freedom, Wild Hoofbeats
- American Wild Horse Campaign | Instagram | Facebook
- William “Bill” Eubanks II
- Chad Hanson | Wyoming Mustang Institute
- Lynn and Chad Hanson Instagram
- In a Land of Awe by Chad Hanson
- Animal Welfare Institute
- Western Watersheds Project
- Kimerlee Curyl
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10 Comments
Private citizens and interested NGOs could just as ‘logically’ request that Grazing Associations remove all private livestock from public lands where current trends (including climate change trend projections) demonstrate ecological balance is vulnerable. REDUCE or ELIMINATE privately held livestock on public lands via their permits–much easier to accomplish than to fence checkerboard acreages. Grazing associations are way too big for their current economic britches: their contributions are minimal, and in an era where people are seeking less meat to lower their personal carbon footprints, producing meat on these desert lands is fairly ludicrous from a social standpoint. Public stakeholders are not responsible for maintaining rancher livelihoods in these less tenable ecosystems.
So much great info in this podcast–as both speakers say, “somehow logic is missing” in the scapegoating of wild horses.
Wild horses should be appreciated and respected. They have earned the right to live on the plains.
Amazing and beautiful
Why don’t they remove most of the cattle and the sheep as they overgraze all the land. We can love the horses and they keep the land ecologically whole. As they graze they are constantly moving so the grass lands never get over grazed . So please leave our wonderful wild ones alone !!!
Please remove cattle as they damage the land
Wild horses have to be protected, if you destroy them you destroy all the wild life , they are the symbol of this country, they are necessary for the ecosystem, they livestock will destroy the land , but unfortunately money make human greedy without any empathy, you have to think the earth and her being live doesn’t belong to the human, but we belong to her
I feel laws were set up for these horses long ago and should fall true to day . Do harass or attempt to feed.
I’m so grateful for your efforts in this fight for wild horses and public lands. Great job and informative podcast. Thank you 🙏🏼🐴❤️
GREAT presentation!!
So many legal issues involved.
Why is the grazing association even allowed to lease PUBLIC land? !! How far back does that precedent go? I am sure the BLM does it for $$ but that seems to give the grazing association some sort of entitlement and makes the land only quasi-public.
Is the wild horse tourist group filing an amicus brief?
Why isn’t the grazing association held to the old range law of fencing out what they do not want on their property with an easement for the horses to go to the next public land checkerboard space. Easement required because of land- locked grazing area created by governnental action.
Do the environmental impact statements (and don’t even get me going in how dishonestly they are done) include all the damage sheep do to grazing lands — probably why the grazing association wants more and more land.
Retired at just above minimum wage so no donation.
Wish I could help legally as I have a passion for environmental issues (filed a case to the Environnental Appeals Board in Washington, DC) but I have a brain injury that is causing cognitive impairment which is progressive.
Wishing you all the best in protecting those beautiful horses and their lands.
The members of the grazing association have grazing leases on public land. Fence out does not work in the Checkerboard because 1 mile squares of public and private land alternate. EISs never include damage to the land by cattle and sheep.
Spreading the word to people you know is as valuable as a donation.