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Regional,
Monthly All-Breed Horse Magazine • Since 1993 |
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Copyright 2011 Rocky Mountain Rider. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Reproduction of any editorial material, artwork and photos is strictly forbidden without express written permission of the publisher. For information about reprint rights, please contact the editor; editor@rockymountainrider.com.
Before seeing “Wild Horses & Renegades” at the International Wildlife Film Festival during May
2011 in
Personally, when it comes to wild horses, I favor the small, isolated
bands of wild horses that have been DNA tested to prove that they are
descendents of Spanish conquistador horses, such as the Pryor, Kiger and
Filmmaker James Anaquad-Kleinert examines the Machiavellian politics
behind the BLM’s controversial policies on public land, and their affect on
wild horses. Uranium, natural gas, and other extraction interests seek
exclusive, and very private, access to our national lands.
The film asks how would wild horses be in the way of corporate oil, gas,
water, and mineral extraction? Before a big corporation begins extraction on
public land leased to them by the BLM, an Environmental Impact Statement is
made. If wild horses are in the area, advocates fight to protect their
environment and the public could opt to visit the area to see the horses. This
could become a problem for the extractive industry, which doesn’t want the
public to see environmental destruction or any violations of safety and
environmental pollution laws.
Kleinert shows that in order to accomplish secrecy, those interests put a
large amount of pressure on the BLM (read money, lobbyists and corrupt
politicians) to remove entire populations of wild horses from millions of acres
of land they had been guaranteed to be able to live on under the Wild Horse and
Burro Act.
Kleinert focuses on one wild horse band, led by a charismatic gray
stallion named Traveler by local wild horse advocates. The band lives in the
incredibly photogenic
In the film, the BLM conducts a helicopter roundup of the 127-member wild
horse herd living in the more than 20,000 acre Herd Management area, and
two-thirds of the horses are permanently removed for adoption and long-term
holding. The day after the horses are gone, uranium mining claims are filed, and
claiming stakes are driven into the ground where wild horses had grazed.
Traveler is separated from his band of mares and is injured defending one of his
mares after she is mistakenly put into the stallion holding pen. Wild horse
advocates work through a jumble of red tape, lies and ineptitude to ensure he is
released instead of being sent to a long-term holding facility.
Kleinert shows damning evidence of lies and corruption within the
Department of the Interior and the BLM, and explains how the 2009 “Burns
Bill” gutted the Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act of 1971.
Printed evidence of BLM secret policies against wild horses is gathered
by the filmmaker under the Freedom of Information Act and is shown on-screen.
Interviews with experts corroborate the problems. These include former
Director of the BLM, Jim Baca; Arizona U.S. Congressman Raul M. Grijalva
(Chairman of the National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Committee), from
In the end I forgave the clichés, was struck by the beauty, and angry at
the lies. I came away believing that there is a climate of greed and corruption
that is intentionally exterminating wild horse herds, including the rare Spanish
mustangs. For more information, visit www.theamericanwildhorse.com. Copyright 2011 Rocky Mountain Rider. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Reproduction of any editorial material, artwork and photos is strictly forbidden without express written permission of the publisher. For information about reprint rights, please contact the editor; editor@rockymountainrider.com.
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Rocky
Mountain Rider Magazine • Montana Owned & Operated |
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