BLM to kill desert tortoises!

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced it will kill hundreds of threatened desert tortoises it's been caring for at a Nevada conservation facility. The slaughter is being blamed on a lack of funds by the agency.

kingsnake.com/blog/archives…

Principal Deputy Director: Neil Kornze

BLM Washington Office
1849 C Street NW, Rm. 5665
Washington DC 20240
Phone: 202-208-3801
Fax: 202-208-5242
director@blm.gov

Maybe a few emails to Neil might help....

Devils advocate here.

If they are killing the ones too weak to survive on their own and they are losing their facility, what do we do with all those sick tortoises?

I don't like it either, I just don't see many options aside from a large cash infusion.

Maybe they could make some soup for a homeless kitchen? They could use the shells for bowls and save some cash...

This post violated Rule #1. It has been removed by Mountain Project.

kidslife.XVX wrote:disregarding guideline number one joe stark and nice legs you guys are pieces of shit. bureau of land mismanagement.

Okay then...let's put them back in the wild instead of killing them. Because, you know, they won't die in the wild.

Things die. Sometimes, we can prolong life, and that's a good thing. When we can't (for whatever reason), nature runs its course.

Kidmolester.XVX

Why am I a piece of shit? Because I pointed out that the BLM has lost their funding and have no options? They can either euthanize the animals or set them free, where they will soon die.

I only pointed this out. I even said that I don't like it either.

I don't personally have the money to save these tortoises. Do you?

So what can be done? What are you going to do? And what will be the likely outcome?

If anything, I do think that the tortoises should all be released. They are a lot tougher animal than we give them credit for. Maybe they'll survive. Who knows, maybe they're sick because they're in captivity. I don't know. If the worst case scenario is the same (a bunch of dead turtles), I'd rather give them a chance.

They are endangered but losing a couple hundred sick ones of the 100,000 that exist isn't going to cause an extinction. We have to be realistic.

let's start taking them home as pets; save them from the evils of BLM management.

nicelegs wrote:Kidmolester.XVX Why am I a piece of shit? Because I pointed out that the BLM has lost their funding and have no options? They can either euthanize the animals or set them free, where they will soon die. I only pointed this out. I even said that I don't like it either. I don't personally have the money to save these tortoises. Do you? So what can be done? What are you going to do? And what will be the likely outcome? If anything, I do think that the tortoises should all be released. They are a lot tougher animal than we give them credit for. Maybe they'll survive. Who knows, maybe they're sick because they're in captivity. I don't know. If the worst case scenario is the same (a bunch of dead turtles), I'd rather give them a chance. They are endangered but losing a couple hundred sick ones of the 100,000 that exist isn't going to cause an extinction. We have to be realistic.

nicewords, nicelegs

You folks need to calm down and actually look at what is happening. Especially the someone with "Administrator" beside their name who frankly is making MP look like knee-jerk morons, and especially those casting aspersions at John "nicelegs", who seems to be one of the few to actually read what is going on.

They are releasing the animals that aren't diseased or incapacitated into habitat. The others will be euthanized.

I spent almost 2 years working desert tortoise habitat projects among other things. The last thing you want is diseased animals introduced into the native population to then spread those diseases. Not exactly rocket science. But knee jerking is much easier than taking 2 mintues to read about the actual situation and consider the consequences of your so-called "solutions". Just let them free...to infect the natives and potentially decimate the remaining population. Genius.

classic MP thread. Reminds me why I haven't posted on here in a while.

youtube.com/watch?v=CMNry4P…

BLM does not need to rent land from themselves. tortoises need just land to roam. I don't know how $290,000 could not afford this.

Some are infected with disease, was this due to the "habitat" they were living in or is this just natural phenomenon that takes place? Immunity?

Until someone can explain the last question to me, I state the following:

Let them free. If they die in the wild, so be it. Think of all the food it ends up being for the vultures.

Disclaimer: I have faith that they are doing what is right and I don't know shit about this other than the few pages I read about it. Which is prolly the case.

I want to mention that there was sarcasm contained in my "release them into the wild" comment above.

I could take care of a few of the ones that shouldn't be let back into the wild at my place.

NickinCO wrote:classic MP thread. Reminds me why I haven't posted on here in a while.

Good lookin' out, yo!

Head's up- keep it reeler MP

Will S wrote: Especially the someone with "Administrator" beside their name who frankly is making MP look like knee-jerk morons,

So by posting the contact info for the BLM for people on the forum to write to and submit comments and questions, I am making the site look like "knee-jerk morons"? Notice how I didn't take stance or interject my opinion on the topic but simply posted BLM contact info?

Sorry I don't follow your line of reasoning Will and usually your posts are spot on but, I respectfully disagree with you and take offence to your post calling me a moron. Promoting communication between our community and those that govern it (ie. BML) is a positive thing in my book. If you don't think so, well you're entitled to your opinion, but that's how a democracy should work.

reviewjournal.com/news/wate…

More information.

wild. i understand that the death of tortoises is why the primm solar facility has had troubles operating. i also understand that the petroleum companies are the ones working to make sure the primm solar facility is constantly bogged down w/ such things because they have found a way to make solar work efficiently 24 hours a day by turning salt cores into plasma. if blm is destroying so many turtles it seems like contradiction... hard to believe the tortoise can't survive back in the wild. even if they did get eaten from domestication their bio mass would still go back into the ecosystem they belong in. destroying is, literally, a waste of good food for a slough of predators at the very least...

The conservation center for desert tortoises was created back when the BLM sold off tax-payer owned land to developers. This was a requirement that when developers bulldozed the landscape, any tortoises found would be transferred to the center. This BLM policy has been a total disaster. Not only have the tortoises contracted contagious respiratory infections due to being held in high density holding pens, but this was done so that developers could build the worst homes imaginable thus contributing to the destruction of the housing market in Las Vegas. Here in the Las Vegas Valley there are whole neighborhoods of mostly vacant tract homes that will likely never become occupied. These zombie homes will stand as a testament to the lost desert tortoise.

The BLM is the worst manager of public lands and they have no business in Red Rock Canyon. Just like they allow elsewhere in the American Southwest the denuding of vegetation by grazing and the poisoning of the water supply by mining, here in Southern Nevada they have destroyed the housing market at the expense of an endangered species. Nor is the plight of the tortoise an isolated event. Take a look at the terrible management of wild horses here in Nevada. This is another case of brutal treatment of our natural heritage to the benefit of special interests.

Get the BLM out of Red Rock.

Mojave Max
So long, Mojave Max. Uh, thanks for all the cheap houses!