NATIONAL
March 6, 2013 | By John M. Glionna
LAS VEGAS - A national animal advocacy group excoriated the federal government, saying it misled the public about last week's removal of 11 wild mustangs that had coexisted for years with residents of a populated area outside Carson City, Nev. The Humane Society of the United States has called for the Bureau of Land Management to return the animals to the wild, rather than following through on plans to put them up for adoption. “The Humane Society of the United States denounces the Bureau of Land Management's decision to remove a small band of wild horses located just east of Carson City, Nev., in the Pine Nut Herd Management Area,” according to a statement released by the group Tuesday.
NATIONAL
March 3, 2013 | By John M. Glionna
LAS VEGAS -- Federal officials say they have finished rounding up 11 “problem” wild mustangs in northern Nevada and that the horses will now be offered for adoption. The last of a band that once numbered 50 mustangs were enticed into a trap last week, as concerned residents of the Carson City neighborhood watched in dismay, questioning why the Bureau of Land Management insisted on removing animals that had peacefully coexisted with surrounding homeowners for years. In a news release Friday, the day the last horse was lured into a trap with offerings of alfalfa and barley, the BLM repeated past claims that people had complained about the animals crossing busy roadways and damaging property to graze in a small public park.
NATIONAL
February 28, 2013 | By John M. Glionna
LAS VEGAS - A grass-roots community group in northern Nevada watched helplessly Wednesday as federal officials removed most of what remained of a band of wild mustangs with which residents say they have peacefully coexisted for years. About two dozen residents of a subdivision called Deer Run outside Carson City say they have tried unsuccessfully to negotiate the fate of 11 mustangs with the Bureau of Land Management, which governs public lands in Nevada and elsewhere and has purview over the wild horses.
NEWS
December 25, 2012 | By Anne Harnagel, Los Angeles Times staff writer
The Wild Horse Sanctuary , in Northern California near Lassen Volcanic National Park, is introducing three special trail rides for next year. On April 27 and 28, Laird R. Blackwell will join riders and discuss wildflowers seen along the trails through the sanctuary's oak woodland and chaparral. The cost is $455 per person; participants will receive a signed copy of Blackwell's book, “Wildflowers of California: A Month-by Month Guide.” Those looking for a more rough-and-ready vacation can join a work ride May 31-June 3 and help clear brush and prepare new trail routes.
NATIONAL
December 22, 2012 | By John M. Glionna, Los Angeles Times
Rick de los Santos wants to reopen an animal slaughter business that's been banned in the U.S. for years. Along the way, he's also opened a can of worms. The Roswell, N.M., meat company owner sued the federal government last week, alleging that officials ignored his application to resume domestic horse slaughter for food because the practice had become an emotional political issue throughout the West. After waiting a year for permits, De los Santos, 52, says he's using the courts to force the U.S. Department of Agriculture to resume inspections necessary to open what would be the nation's first new horse slaughterhouse since 2007.
NATIONAL
November 14, 2012 | By John M. Glionna
An investigative journalist who has reported on the federal government's alleged sale of hundreds of wild horses to a known kill-buyer has released a video of a face-off in which Interior Secretary Ken Salazar threatens to punch him during an impromptu interview. Dave Philipps, now a reporter for the Colorado Springs Gazette, conducted a two-minute interview with the cowboy-hat-wearing Salazar, a Democrat, at an event taking place at an Obama campaign office in Fountain, Colo., on Election Day. In September, Philipps' article for the online ProPublica investigative group claimed the Bureau of Land Management, which manages hundreds of millions of acres of public land in 11 states, was knowingly selling wild horses to a middleman who is thought to have taken them to Mexico for eventual slaughter.