Colorado Governor Calls for Freeze on Wild Horse Roundups
Despite nearly 9,000 individual emails generated by TCF's action alert on behalf of the Sand Wash horses - and thousands of phone calls from concerned citizens - the agency has forged ahead with this roundup.
Yesterday, operations concluded with 65 horses removed. BLM intends to remove a total of 783 and return only 50 to the range.
Read our Press Release and the letters from Governor Polis, Congressman Neguse and conservation groups below - then take action for Sand Wash Wild Horses!
PLEASE CALL RIGHT NOW!
Tell them to STOP this roundup - that Americans want wild horses, not livestock, on our public lands.
Secretary Deb Haaland: (202)-208-3100
Acting BLM Director Nada Culver: (202)-208-3801
BLM Colorado State Director Jamie Connell: (970) 673-7768 and (303) 239-3700 and (303) 239-3600
Wild Horse Advocates Applaud Colorado Governor Calling for Halt to Wild Horse Roundups
For Immediate Release:
August 31, 2021
Contact:
Lisa Friday • (804) 389-8218
lisa@thecloudfoundation.org
The Cloud Foundation Applauds Governor Polis and Calls on the Bureau of Land Management to Stop Roundup in Sand Wash Basin Herd Management Area
Denver, Colorado – Today, in a formal letter to Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Acting BLM Director Nada Culver, Governor Jared Polis of Colorado took a stand against on behalf of the state’s wild horses. Polis challenged the BLM’s claim that a roundup was necessary, citing “legitimate concerns about the fate of gathered horses” and doubt about the accuracy of BLM population counts and their “Appropriate Management Level” for wild horses.
The Cloud Foundation, a Colorado-based nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and protection of wild horses and burros on America’s public lands, has long supported humane management of these national icons. “We applaud Governor Polis for his precedent-setting example,” stated Lisa Friday, Director of Communications for The Cloud Foundation. “We urge the BLM to be responsive to the governor and the thousands of wild horse enthusiasts who called and wrote to state and local officials. Stop this roundup! Manage these horses humanely with PZP.”
The Sand Wash Basin wild horses are Colorado’s most well-known herd and are beloved by people all over the world. Tourists and photographers travel great distances to stand in their presence. “Nothing could be worse for a wild horse than to be rounded up by helicopter, separated from their families and incarcerated in cramped holding facilities,” stated Ginger Kathrens, founder and Board President of The Cloud Foundation. “In my three decades of documenting wild horses in their natural environment I’ve learned that they cherish freedom and family above all else. These animals are protected by federal law. They represent the pioneer spirit of this nation and they deserve to be treated humanely.”
Despite the extreme drought reported in Colorado this year, the BLM continued to allow private livestock to graze in the Sand Wash Basin HMA. The Cloud Foundation joins Governor Polis in calling for a freeze on wild horse roundups in the state, and the use of humane fertility control in conjunction with small bait-and-trap removals to reduce the wild horse numbers in Sand Wash Basin.
The Cloud Foundation (TCF), a 501(c)3 non-profit, has been at the forefront of wild horse advocacy since its inception in 2005. TCF was founded by Emmy award-winning filmmaker Ginger Kathrens, creator of three acclaimed PBS Nature series documentaries that followed the wild stallion Cloud throughout the seasons of his life. Dedicated to the protection and preservation of wild horses and burros on our public lands, The Cloud Foundation advocates for protecting natural wild equid behaviors, repatriation of wild horses to zeroed-out Herd Areas, and equal allocation of forage within Congressionally-designated Herd Areas.
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