As I stand in the snowy dirt of the 2-track, watching a herd of wild horses on the horizon, one of the water holes just down the hill, a barrier blocks me from getting any closer to the horses..... why?
The barrier is not there to protect the horses from unwanted visitors or me from a tricky road.... no, the barrier is there because BLM staff do not want anyone near their bait trap where they hope to capture as many as 35+ wild horses and remove them from this wild place.
Barrier on a well known 2-track in McCullough Peaks
As many of you already know, there is an ongoing bait trap and removal of wild horses from the McCullough Peaks HMA near Cody WY, it was scheduled to start in mid-November and run through the end of March, or until they get as many horses as they want removed out of the HMA where the wild horses live.
To date (01/23/24) of this blog, since setting their traps in late November, they have been unsuccessful in capturing any of the wild horses.... for several weeks much of this herd headed north into the badlands, snows came in, and up until the last few days there were cows wandering across the entire HMA.
Cows in the northern end of the HMA on 01/20/24
Warning sign of restricted access to public lands.
I did not go past the barriers and warning signs.... I simply took photographs of them, the trap, and the horses on the ridge above - BLM staff have game-cams in various places of their roundup and removal operations, so they likely have record of me being there... being an obnoxiously observant member of the public on public lands.
Barrier across another 2-track leading to bait trap.
Many of the wild horses of the McCullough Peaks have moved back south into the pasture where one of the bait traps is set and waiting for them to partake of the tasty alfalfa hay put out for temptation.
Bait trap at the water hole with a herd of wild horses resting on the ridge above it.
Zoomed in photo of trap with alfalfa hay waiting for horses.
And the BLM staff has now chained and padlocked the gates that would normally allow the wild horse herd to move about foraging more freely..... why?
I don't normally lay bets, but I am willing to bet that right now they are annoyed it is taking so long to trap these wild horses, horses proving to be more recalcitrant than hoped, and when offered a choice they went wandering about in different far away areas to graze.... and not as inclined to lazily hang out and eat on the hay provided as BLM staff had assumed they would be.
And BLM staff are convinced - and some people in Cody are falsely spreading rumors - that 'certain activists' will open the gates and lead the horses through them.... as I personally know some of these activists, especially the ones most vilified, there is no way in a cold frozen over hell day they would do such a thing, they are heart-broken and soul shattered with this attempted removal of their wild loves, and yet they have more character than the gossiping fools ever will have in their lifetime.
Padlocked gates - keeping at least one group of the McCullough Peaks herd conveniently close to this particular baited BLM trap.
Blocked 2-track and wild horses on ridge.
BLM continues to fail to provide proof of range degradation by the horses in the McCullough Peaks as requests for the range monitoring data go unanswered, I personally have requested it via email (twice) as well as comments submitted for the proposed (now published) EA for this roundup and removal of wild horses, I was told verbally that it had been done and they had the information, but at this point I really have to question if that is true.... because if they do have it then why is it so very difficult to provide it!?!
As per BLM Wild Horse and Management Handbook, 7.1.2 Gather/Removal Decisions on page 47: "In making the determination that excess WH&B are present and require immediate removal, the authorized officer will analyze current information including grazing utilization ......, actual use, ......... current population inventory..... ..... Justifying a removal based on nothing more than the established AML is not acceptable."
Show us the proof.... show us that you did your due diligence [BLM] and have done the range monitoring and have the data, proving beyond the shadow of a doubt, that it is the wild horses damaging the land, and not excess cattle grazing.
Here is a link to the handbook of the above reference:
Screenshot of BLM Handbook
The Cody office BLM could also offer a day for public observation and questions, take those with questions and curiosity out to the trap, allow them to see it up close and show them how it works - the trapping, the transport to temp holding, answer questions... and give locations where the public may safely sit and observe the bait traps if they are so inclined.
Even if they do not want to do a day with the public they could do a simple video sharing info.... it really is not that hard to share information!
It never fails that government agencies treat the public as the enemy and fail to disclose information that is not in any way the kind of information that needs to be kept secret, and in return the public become suspicious and angry, and all that gets lost in that is a possible working relationship that would benefit everyone involved - with the wild horses being the ones that lose the most.
Final thoughts ...... we have been sending protective energy to the wild horses in the Peaks for a couple of months now - and we have invited you and everyone we know to do the same.
The use of energy is seen as a laughable woo-woo thing by many, but the more we practice using it, the more we see just how very real it is - and if you believe in the power of prayer then you also believe in the power of energy!
It is absurdly ridiculous to even me that this is the last thing we can do in this moment.... but with the BLM throwing out the window their own written policies and none willing to do a lawsuit challenging the failure to follow written policy, this is all that we know to do in this moment.
We hope you continue to join us in sending protective and positive energy for these wild ones as the days draw on and the alfalfa becomes more attractive and more a habit.... we cannot guarantee anything, we do not know the details of the future, but we trust that the more of us that come together in this unseen realm, joining our energies together, that whatever may come it will be at the least slightly better than if we just throw our hands up in defeat and turn away.
And so we step into the light of positive energy and hope, and we hold space for those wild ones of the McCullough Peaks, because somewhere there is a miracle that may yet happen for us and for them.
Wild Horse of McCullough Peaks - Wyoming