Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/45485
8B Daily News – Monday, October 24, 2011 Critics say new wild horse panel is pro-livestock RENO, Nev. (AP) — A panel of experts chosen to spend two years generating the definitive study on wild horse management in the West is kicking up controversy before it even gets out of the chute. Mustang pro- tection advocates contend the committee charged with solving a conundrum that has eluded consensus for decades is stacked with allies of the livestock industry who won't give the horses a fair shake. The panel's 14 members were picked by the National Academy of Sciences, an inde- pendent organization chartered by Congress to advise the government on science. Their first meeting is set for Thursday in Reno. The American Wild Horse Protection Campaign, Cloud Foundation and others say several of the appointees are outspoken defenders of the U.S. Bureau of Land Man- agement's current management strategy that relies on ''mass wild horse roundups and removals at the expense of on-the-range management strategies.''' ''The heart of the controversy surround- ing the wild horse issue is the conflict between private livestock and wild horses on the 11 percent of BLM land that is designat- ed as wild horse habitat,'' said Suzanne Roy, director of the American Wild Horse Protec- tion Campaign, a coalition of environmental, public interest and animal rights organiza- tions. HURRY! Deadline Extended Attention Teachers of Tehama County Through a Child's Eyes This year pre-promoted and published as a stand- alone section Wednesday, November 30th, 2011 Deadline to enter your students: Monday, Nov. 24th An Entry Form and Contest Rules will be faxed to the Tehama County Schools by: Thursday, October 13th Please check your inboxes. For the students: 6 Cash Prizes for 1st (Grand Prize) & 2nd prize winners, will be awarded. Two in each of the 3 grade groups: • 2nd – 3rd Grades • 4th – 5th Grades • 6th, 7th & 8th Grades Contact Nadine Souza @ 527-2151 ext 132 if you have any questions. D NEWSAILY 527-2151 RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY OC O C O S C nsouza@redbluffdailynews.com The public's need for an accurate, objec- tive review of the government's controver- sial wild-horse management program will not be served unless the National Academy of Sciences corrects the panel's ''imbal- ances,'' Roy said. Academy spokesman Bill Kearney said the organization's staff and legal counsel will investigate any concerns about conflicts and consider disqualifying members or adding new ones to provide additional expertise. The BLM asked the academy earlier this year to assemble the panel of wildlife biolo- gists, rangeland ecologists and others to review the program at an estimated cost of $1.2 million, after prodding from members of Congress critical of the roundups. The agency, which plans to round up another 6,000 horses in the coming months, argues the gathers are necessary to ease ecological damage on the range. Opponents maintain the horse numbers are much lower than historical highs and that the roundups are intended to appease ranch- ers who don't want the mustangs competing with their cattle and sheep for limited forage on arid rangeland. The committee is tasked with producing a comprehensive study that addresses, among other things, total herd populations, genetic diversity, appropriate management levels, and population control options including immunocontraception and ''man- aging a portion of a population as non-repro- ducing,'' according to the academy's web- site. Committee members under fire include Dr. David Thain, former Nevada state vet- erinarian who is an assistant professor in the Department of Agriculture, Nutrition and Veterinary Sciences at the University of Nevada Reno. Thain is a member of the Nevada Live- stock Association — a ''clear conflict of interest,'' said Ginger Kathrens, executive director of the Colorado-based Cloud Foun- dation. Thain also has published research on two drugs used to control horse fertility that some horse advocates dislike for fear of side effects, Roy said. He has a ''vested academ- ic interest in promoting specific fertility con- trol agents'' and therefore is not an objective committee member, she said. Thain told The Associated Press he was familiar with the criticisms but felt it was best not to respond. Other panel members targeted by critics include Erik Beever, a research landscape ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey's Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center in Bozeman, Mont., and Paul Krausman, a wildlife biologist in the University of Mon- tana's College of Forestry and Conservation in Missoula.