Article: Plaintiff in Lawsuit Shunned by the BLM- Told She’s Not Welcome
Plaintiff in Lawsuit Shunned by BLM – Told She’s Not Welcome
By Vicki Tobin, Special to Horseback Magazine
July 18, 2010
Published with permission of Horseback Magazine
CHICAGO, - Despite Judge Hick’s order on Friday, July 16, equine advocate, Laura Leigh, was denied access to the trap site for the Owyhee round up, one of three herd areas comprising the Tuscarora round-up. When questioned, the authorities responded that she was not on the list.
Reno federal Judge Larry Hicks entered an order stating; “As to Leigh’s First Amendment challenge to the closure of public lands during the gather, the court shall grant Leigh’s temporary restraining order. Leigh argues that a blanket closure of 27,000 acres of public land on which the Tuscarora Gather is going to take place is a prior restraint on her First Amendment rights because she will be unable to observe and report on the health of the horses and the BLM’s management of the gather. The court agrees [and]… finds that the blanket closure … is unconstitutional”.
The BLM can, however, draft a “more reasonable closure.”
“The court’s order in no way [a]ffects the BLM’s closure of the airspace above the 27,000 acres of public land. The court finds the closure of airspace to be constitutional and necessary.”
Ms. Leigh also noted and photographed water holes that are fenced off by livestock ranchers, denying access to the horses. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) claims the horses are being removed because of lack of water. Only horses are being removed and not other wildlife or livestock.
This is not the first time the BLM has ignored a judge or the intent of the law of the 1971 Wild Horse and Burro Act. As reported by American Herds, the BLM is moving forward with a round-up despite federal judge, Rosemary Collyer’s ruling that the BLM overstepped their authority by issuing a zero number of horses as the management level for the West Douglas herd in Colorado. During the Calico law suit, Judge Friedman indicated that holding horses off the range is likely illegal. The BLM moved forward with the Calico round-up that resulted in over 150 deaths and over 1,800 horses that have lost their freedom on the ranges granted to them by law.
Wildlife ecologists and researchers estimate there are at best, 20,000 horses that remain free roaming. Advocates continue to ask if the ranges cannot sustain 20,000 horses how they can sustain millions of privately owned livestock. A complaint was recently filed by The Center for Biological Diversity and several other groups asking that the tax payer subsidized livestock be removed from public lands. Government
Accountability Office (GAO) reports have shown the damage to our public lands is a result of over grazing of livestock, not horses.
Laura Leigh possesses press credentials for Horseback Magazine and is also representing Equine Welfare Alliance (EWA), Grass Roots Horse, Herd Watch, a Cloud Foundation program and author RT Fitch that provides a daily blog of wild horse and burro information and information on efforts to end the slaughter of American horses.
Field updates are being communicated through RT Fitch and EWA.
