THIS WEEK IN WILD BEAUTY: November 19th, 2022
The Wild Beauty Foundation welcomes you to the twenty seventh edition of our weekly newsletter!
Read the newest wild horse and burro focused headlines for the week of November 19th, 2022
PEER Issues Report Citing that Commercial Livestock Grazing is Destroying Public Lands
The Bureau of Land Management has come under fire after leading environmental advocacy organization, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) issued an indictment of their mishandling of public rangelands.
The indictment proves that commercial livestock grazing is at the forefront of the issue, with cattle outnumbering wild horses more than 30 to 1 on public lands. Additionally, PEER has put pressure on the BLM for prioritizing roundups and scapegoating wild horses in an attempt to cover up the increasing damages that livestock is putting on the land. Overgrazing on public lands will continue to be a concern if we do not hold the BLM accountable for their mismanagement of western rangeland.
Data directly from the Bureau of Land Management indicates that destruction due to livestock grazing is the most significant cause of land allotments failing to meet Land Health Standards. Despite this being cited directly from the BLM, they continue to prioritize and increase wild horse roundups in order to “maintain land conditions” destroyed by commercial livestock. In order for the BLM to commit to its data findings, the first step in land management should be to reduce livestock grazing numbers and reevaluate their private grazing allowances.
You can read the full report from PEER, here. We thank them for bringing the truth of the Bureau of Land Management’s mishandling of wild horse and burro management to light.
A Still from Wild Beauty: Mustang Spirit of the West
Press Continues for Wild Beauty
Last week, the beauty of wild horses was brought to the TV screens of Tampa, Florida. Longtime journalist and advocate, Cynthia Smoot, did a beautiful story on our documentary, Wild Beauty: Mustang Spirit of the West as it made its debut at Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.
Director and WBF founder, Ashley Avis, was interviewed by Smoot, speaking on the importance of sharing this documentary to audiences across the United States and abroad.
We thank everyone involved in Wild Beauty’s journey for standing with wild horses. The film continues on the festival circuit through 2023, and will be available to stream next year. Be sure to subscribe to our weekly newsletter and follow our social media channels, as announcements on when you can watch will come as soon as we can share!
You can watch the full interview, here.
Removed Alpine Wild Horses Continue to Find Safe Homes
We are extremely glad to report that according to Salt River Wild Horse Management Group, a nonprofit working closely with the Alpine wild horse herd of the Apache-Sitgreaves Forest, a total of 91 horses have found a soft landing.
These horses were unnecessarily rounded up by the Forest Service this summer under the false pretense that the animals were “unauthorized livestock” and their presence was destroying the national forest, despite having resided within the forest for hundreds of years. Now, the removed wild horses are being put up for public sale via online auction. SRWHMG has paid for adoption and transport of 45 Alpine wild horses so far, with the help of generous donors and families willing to give them a safe home outside of the auction pens.
Several weeks ago a well known Alpine stallion, Apache, was adopted by Simone Netherlands of SRWHMG. Since then, she has reported that Apache appears shaken and distraught by the separation of his family. One of the mares he was closest with was found shot to death during the recent massacre that this herd faced in October, and his other mares were unable to be located within the auction. Thankfully, a mare he had been seen interacting with in the wild became available through the online auction and SRWHMG was able to pay her bail and pick her up in hopes of reuniting her with Apache.
We at WBF are happy to see these horses, struck by such tragedy, finding secure homes and safe hands to help them heal.
This Week’s Call to Action
Continue Writing your Members of Congress Urging them to Support H.R. 5203
We want to remind everyone to stand with these wild burros, so if you have not done so already, we encourage you to send a letter to your Members of Congress urging them to support H.R. 5203, also known as “The Ejiao Act”.
The Ejiao industry is threatening our global donkey population, and our American wild burros are being put at risk. Contact your local members of Congress and encourage them to support The Ejiao Act and the protection of donkeys and wild burros.
You can send a letter directly through our Call to Action below. This form will send a pre-written email to your local lawmakers educating them on the importance of shutting down the trade of Ejiao and urging them to support that the bill is passed into law. To make each letter personal, we recommend adding your own comments on the protection of wild burros and donkeys before sending.
BLM to Release 35 Horses Back into the Twin Peaks HMA
The Bureau of Land Management announced Tuesday, November 15th that 35 mares would be released back into the Twin Peaks Herd Management Area. The release occurred the following day, November 16th. Mares released this week were treated with fertility control drugs that the BLM claims last for two or more years.
The number of released horses is quite low considering there were approximately 1,200 wild horses removed during the summer roundup. We at WBF believe that the BLM’s Appropriate Management Level of 448-758 horses assigned to this HMA favors the private interests that profit off of the public lands dedicated to the protection of America’s wild horses.
Despite the BLM’s failure to protect the freedom of the Twin Peaks herd, we are encouraged to see that 35 mares have regained their freedom on once familiar land.
A Still from Wild Beauty: Mustang Spirit of the West
Wild Beauty: Mustang Spirit of the West is Coming to Minnesota
We are delighted to share that our documentary Wild Beauty will be coming to Minnesota in February as an official selection of the Frozen River Film Festival!
The Frozen River Film Festival runs from February 5-12, 2023 in Winona, Minnesota. While Wild Beauty’s official screening date and time have not yet been released, be sure to check our social media often for updates. We are also adding additional locations and screening dates as we are able to share them. For those living in a state where Wild Beauty has yet to premiere, hold tight; we might be coming to you soon!
Those interested in attending should purchase tickets to the screening at www.frff.org . We can’t wait for you to see the beauty of wild horses on the silver screen!
WBF’s 2nd Annual Short Story Contest’s Equine-Loving Celebrity Reader: Jack Graham
We would like to introduce you to our final Equine-Loving Celebrity Reader joining us this year for our Second Annual Short Story Contest, young actor Jack Graham!
Jack played Harry in Black Beauty for Disney+, and we are delighted to have him join us for the first time this year by reading one of our winning stories. We at WBF thank him for standing with wild horses.
The submission period has now closed for short stories, but keep your eye out on our social media as we bring you updates and winners in the coming months!
To learn more about our annual short story contest, visit our website!
A Still from Wild Beauty: Mustang Spirit of the West
We at WBF are Thankful for You
As America celebrates the Thanksgiving holiday, we at WBF want to thank everyone who has joined the fight for our wild horses and tirelessly supported the cause. With the support of passionate individuals like you, Members of Congress are becoming more aware of the increasing threats that our wild horses are facing. Forward momentum of this cause is allowing more people to learn about and advocate for our beautiful wild ones, and this is only the beginning. Wonderful changes are occurring, and we can only hope that this continues to advance with more publicity of their plight.
We also want to thank those supporting Wild Beauty: Mustang Spirit of the West through its film festival run. The feedback we have received from audiences has been overwhelmingly positive, and we are so thankful that the film has been so well-received. We hope that the film continues to inspire children and adults to protect our greater wild world.
We at WBF are appreciative of everyone advocating for the protection and freedom of wild horses. This Thanksgiving, we are thankful for you.
#IStandWithWildHorses
– The Wild Beauty Foundation Team
Glimpse of Wild Beauty
Carol Walker captures an image of serenity as a pinto stallion overlooks his wild world in the Little Bookcliffs HMA of Colorado.
A Quote to Graze On
“Gratitude is the sign of noble souls”
-Aesop
When we begin to appreciate the little things, the confusing moments, the events that don’t go quite as planned and every instance in between, we find growth in the wildness of life.
Thank you for being a supporter of wild horses, and protecting the wild beauty of our world.
– The WBF Team
#istandwithwildhorses #wildbeautyspirit
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