PUBLIC CONCERNS TO BE ADDRESSED BY THE BLM ADVISORY BOARD

Biannual BLM Advisory Board Meeting: Columbus, Ohio. April 22, 201

Hello, my name is Libby Nowicki. Ive traveled here today from a far distance in Michigan in order to

have my concerns brought to the BLM. I d like to thank the advisory board for including public opinion

and trust it will be a pertinent part of the Wild Horse and Burro departments decision-making.

I stand with a large majority of Americans who value the wild horse as an irreplaceable part of our

culture, and call attention to the dire situation in which theyre placed, falling victim to habitat decrease

due to livestock priority, and torturous, unsustainable, and all too-often lethal conditions within helicopter

roundups and holding facilities.

As were citizens with a right to know the truth, I ask that the BLM present accurately and forwardly all

information and statistics pertaining to the following:

1. Equitability of public land distribution between federally protected wild horses and private

livestock

2. Complete death tolls and causes of death to wild horses as a result of helicopter roundups and

holding facility conditions

3. Honestly and factually determined population figures and Appropriate Management Levels

4. Transparency in the fact that there are currently more horses in holding pens than in the wild

Secondly, a need for safer and more practical population control must replace the unsafe, expensive, and

widely disapproved of helicopter roundups, on-range gelding and spaying procedures, and use of

treacherous holding pens. I trust that you will follow the plan of action set forth by the NAS, calling for

the use of humane PZP Birth control to improve the management of wild horses.

Cost effective for population control

Safe alternative to current methods

Previously successfully used to manage other herds

I strongly encourage you to keep wild horses wild and treat them as the public values them, rather

than as varmint.

Lastly, I have a few direct questions to ask:

1. Can you please explain the reasoning that a meager 1% of funding is spent on fertility control,

even though this is officially recommended as the safe and effective solution to population

control by the NAS?

2. How can we possibly trust that on-site spaying and gelding will be safe, as in just the Wyoming

Checkerboard Roundup, 12 out of 75 horses DIED due to complications in the gelding process?

3. At what point will the BLM stop sacrificing the already scarce amount of land to favor private

livestock grazing over federally protected wild horses?

Thank you for your time and serious consideration. I look forward to seeing improvement in the situation

of Americas wild horses and burros and the federal land ecosystem as a whole.