Wild Horse Warriors' June 2018 Report to the BLM

WHW June 2018 Report to the

BLM 

By

Cindy Wright

Most of June was spent checking on the water or repairing water sources. I spent a lot of time in areas where there were no wild horses or other people. My camper is in the Basin and I am spending more nights in the basin cutting down on my driving time from Hayden. I have also received permission to leave my camper on 48 and to use it as an emergency first aid station in the event we do get permission to haul water. In anticipation of being allowed to haul water, We have spent time developing an Operating Plan, which included a private Facebook Page that only the people directly involved with water hauling will be able to use. They will be able to see a calendar and add their information on their available dates to haul water. 

Wild Horse Warriors spent several days working on and completing the installation of the temporary tanks at Lake Draw. We have purchased 4 tanks that have been delivered to the Basin and will be moved to new locations over the 4th, in preparation for water hauling. WHW submitted a memo to the BLM concerning the water.

June 1st

We repaired the troughs at Lake Draw

2 Hours

June 5th Wild Horse Warriors started a GoFundMe page in preparation for hauling water.

Wild Horse Warriors also prepared a FaceBook post addressing the number of acres needed to support each horse in Sand Wash Basin, showing that the BLM’s figure of 363 is correct.

Aletha spent the day with the BLM in the Basin discussing the water and areas where it would be acceptable to place water tanks if we needed to haul water.

, Eagle and Vegas were put down due to known injuries and they found a dead foal at Lake Draw.

10 hours

June 6, 2018 we went to Lake Draw to measure the spring pipe for fittings for the new tanks.

4 wild horses on Monument Hill

32 wild horses at Lake Pond

10 wild horses at Lake Draw

6 wild horses on 126

4 wild horses on Lookout Mountian

56 Total Wild Horses

1 vehicle at Lake Pond 7 Total hours

There was a group of us that had been working in Lake Draw and this was one of the first wild horses to visit the new tanks. He was a new colt in Pico’s band. It was suggested that we name him Santa Fe to honor the victims of the Santa Fe shooting. When we posted the name and the reason for the name, another follower who knew a family member of a victim of the shooting, showed this person the photo of Santa Fe. There is a plaque now being designed honoring the victims, using a photo of this colt, Santa Fe that will hang in the Santa Fe School.

June 8, 2018 Delivered new tanks for s

I spent the day with several others installing the new tanks at Lake Draw. On the way out, I took 67 horse loop, to check the ponds there.

15 wild horses at Lake Draw

9 wild horses at 8 x 8

9 wild horses at Twin Buttes

33 Total Wild Horses 

7 vehicles at Lake Draw 

Total Hours were included in the Lake Draw Water Project Report

June 9, 2018 

Got a report of wild horses on 318. Spent the day finishing up Lake Draw.

There were lots of horses that came and watched and waited until we were done, then came in for water. SWAT posted that the proceeds from the sale of a T-Shirt they had created would go towards the water projects. They later donated 450.00

The GoFundMe Fund has raised 12,280.00

CoffeePot was reported as being dry.

Total Hours were included in the Lake Draw Water Project Report

June 10, 2018 

Today was supposed to be a day off duty from the wild horses and just taking photos and having a Birthday party for a Wild Horse friend visiting. Didn’t work out that way. While we were at Lake Draw we ran into the BLM and took him to CoffeePot and we repaired the water system. We tried to turn the well on at the Corrals and it was not working. We reported it to the BLM.

15 Wild Horses were seen on 318.

27 Horses on 48

19 Horses at Lake Draw

22 Horses at CoffeePot

68 Total Wild Horses

2 vehicles on 2084

4 vehicles on 66N

6 Total Vehicles

7 Total Hours

June 11, 2018

BLM meeting to discuss how soon we could start hauling water. Aletha and I also meet with County Commissioners . We also visited with the Water District about water rights in the Basin. There were phone calls made to determine where we would be able to get water for the basin once we were allowed to start hauling water.

I came into the basin late afternoon to camp. I drove from 67 to Copper Pond. There were so many wild horses there and a couple of cars so I stopped and stayed there, then returned to my camper on 48.

115 wild horses came into Copper Pond in an hour

20 wild horses at Lake Draw

7 wild horses 126E

142 Total Wild Horses

2 vehicles at Lake Pond

1 jeep on 67

1 car at Copper Pond, this couple was from Fort Collins and she works with CSU

4 Total Vehicles 4 Hours

GoFundMe has received 15,000

Wild Horse Warriors has also started a Wild Horse Warriors Auction page and we are auctioning off items for donations for the repairs in the Basin.

2 people Total 15 hours

June 12, 2018

We were told we could not start hauling water.

Delivered the three big round tanks to the basin

We held an Emergency Water Hauling Meeting in Craig at Loudy Simpson Park.  We also set up a Facebook Private Group page for the people volunteering to haul water. They can schedule the times they are available how much they can haul and where they will deliver the water.

Elk at CoffeePot

1 wild horse on 75 by the river

15 Wild Horses at CoffeePot

12 Wild Horses on 67

10 Wild Horses at Sheepherders

48 Total Wild Horses

I truck on 48

Total 8 Hours 

June 13, 2018

June 14, 2018 

We meet the BLM to  check the water in the basin.

One person walked from Lake Draw to CoffeePot checking the vegetation. We then sent to Spence/Lang Spring and down to the private land with a spring in the bottom of Sand Wash Draw.

7 Hours

June 15, 2018 BLM meeting Bruce

June 16th Whittle of the Woods Booth in Craig, 

June 17th Rain Storm in the Basin 

June 18 ,2018

I spend the day checking the water sources, after a rain storm the day before.

8 hours

June 19, 2018

GoFunMe has raised 25,000

June 20, 2018

WHW  invited SWAT to join us in a meeting with the BLM at the BLM office 4 hours

I came into the basin late to spend a couple of days.

2 wild horses on 67 by Kiosk

4 wild horses on 126

4 cars leaving the basin

June 21, 2018

24 wild horses on 52

June 24, 2018

I came in late in the evening and found our welcoming party of three wild horses at the base of Monument Hill.

4 vehicles on 67

June 25, 2018 

Avocet pond dry except for a crescent on the edges

2 wild horses at Two Bar

6 wild horses at Middle Spring

27 wild horses on 2051 southeast side

10 wild horses on 126

45 Wild Horses

Total 7 hours

June 26, 2018

June 27, 2018 I was headed to the Basin when I got a call that the BLM wanted to meet in the morning. I spent the night in the Basin and left early for a meeting with the BLM 

June 28, 2018 

Met with the BLM to discuss the water situation in Sand Wash Basin. 

June 29, 2018

June 30, 2018

WHW worked on the troughs at Sheepherds.

10 wild horses on 48

1 wild horse on 2041

12 wild horses on 2052

2 wild horses at the 52/80 junction

24 Total Wild Horses

5 vehicles on 67

I tent on 48 with dirt-bikes

July 2018

Wild Horse Warriors Report to the

BLM 

By Cindy Wright

Nimbus and Duncan

I spent a lot of nights in the Basin during July. My normal routine for the summer became, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in the Basin. I would not spend the night over the weekend but was often there hauling water on either Saturday or Sunday and sometimes both days.

Most days I started by driving the 48/46/52 loop and up to Copper Pond to check on the water. I would then either haul water or I would let Bethell know which tanks were low and how low. They then planned their delivery around the tanks that needed the most water and then it was decided if they needed to make two trips.

While we were monitoring the water daily, we were also trying to educate the public on the plans for hauling water and the criteria that the Basin needed to meet for the BLM to allow us to haul water. WHW posted frequently about the vegetation, scoring conditioning chart for the wild horses, gave frequent interviews, trying to make sure the interviewer understood that although we were not always happy with the answers we received from the BLM, that we supported the decisions and would not go against the BLM. That WHW’s values the working relationship with the BLM.

July 2, 2018 

23 wild horses by CoffeePot

7 wild horses by Sheepherders

2 Vehicles 

5 Total Hours

July 3, 2018 

We were told we could haul water 

July 5, 2018 WHW set the tanks Hours are included in the water hauling report

We set the tank at Two Bar and had some out of town visitors help us. They knew we were setting them, and they came from WY to help.

We set 3 water tanks, one on 48 one at the junction of 46/52 and one on 80.

July 7, 2018 Was spent hauling water from Maybell to the new tanks Hours are reported in the water hauling report.

Ribs showing was common before we started hauling water. It was amazing how fast the condition of the wild horses changed once they had plenty of water.

July 8, 2018

8 wild horses on 67

25 wild horses on 48

10 wild horses by Bitter Pond

4 wild horses on 52

47 Total Wild Horses

1 Vehicle on 67 Total 7 Hours

July 10, 2018

30 wild horses on 48

5 wild horses on 2041

15 wild horses on 52

20 wild horses on 126

43 wild horses at Copper Pond

9 wild horses at Sheepherders

132 Total Wild Horse

8 Total hours

July 12, 2018

We spent the day checking for wild horses on the two tracks and found none. It was a short day as we had a meeting in Craig.

WHW meeting to discuss the water hauling and how to make it work with the volunteers and how to prepare for next year.

8 wild horses at the Kiosk

23 wild horses on 48

9 wild horses on 126

40 Total Wild Horses

6 Total hours 

July 13th, 2018

I took a woman into the basin today that was here with her husband who is a Wild Fire Air Support person. She had attendee our meeting last night to hear what the concerns were with the Wild Horses after reading some articles about the water hauling. 

4 wild horses on Monument Hill

2 on 52

32 on 126

54 on 66N 

22 by CoffeePot

14 by Bitter Pond on 67

104 Total Wild Horses

8 Total Hours

6 total Vehicles

July 14, 2018

17 wild horse by Bitter Pond

19 wild horses on 126

35 wild horses on 52

7 wild horses on 2041

10 wild horses at Ranger Pond

88 Total Wild Horses

2 Total Vehicles 7 Total Hours

July 15, 2018

11 wild horses by the Kiosk

25 wild horses on 48

3 wild horses by 2047

16 wild horses on 52

52 Total Wild Horses 8 Total Hours

July 17, 2018

41 wild horses on 48

6 wild horses on 52 at Rock Cut

20 wild horses on 2052

22 wild horses by Bitter Pond

17 wild horses on 67

106 Total wild horses

I BLM Truck on 48

1 camper on 2041

1 truck on 48

3 Total Vehicles 8 Total Hours

July 18, 2018 

A 1100 gallon tank was delivered to Copper Pond. There was a visitor there from Denver when we arrived with the tank. He said that early in the morning there had been several wild horses standing around the pond.

I had gone home and did not arrive back in the Basin until 3PM. After the tank was delivered and filled, I drove the 52/48 loop to check the other tanks. The tanks at Two Bar had been filled and were fine, the other tanks do not appear to be being used yet.

24 wild horses on 48

36 wild horses at the junction of 52/126

8 wild horses on Monument Hill

68 Total Wild Horses

1 vehicles on 48

6 vehicles on 67/126

7 total vehicles 5 total hours

July 26, 2018 

Chamber Taste of Craig Business Expo

July 28, 2018 

We took two young men into the Basin. One was working on a doctorate on climate change and how it affects wild horses. I appear to have lost my notes, but we saw a lot of wild horses and several vehicles.

He showed us Cryptobiotic Soils. Every time we take someone to the Basin we learn something new.

They were very interested in a skeleton of a wild horse that we found. 

There were several bands of wild horses at Copper Pond and we found 5 vehicles there with a group of women who were planning to camp in the basin.

 Total of 14 hours/ 7 each

July 29, 2018

We started adding water to the pond at Two Bar and the wild horses loved rolling in it

When I arrived at the Basin the CPW was on 318 cleaning up wire along the fence line.

7 wild horses on 48

15 wild horses on 80

5 wild horses on 52

18 wild horses on 126

9 wild horses on 67 by Copper Pond

20 wild horses on 66N

10 wild horse on 67 Lake Draw

84 Total Wild Horses 

5 vehicles on 67, one was the BLM crew doing the archaeology inventory.

1 truck on 48

6 Total Vehicles 8 total hours

July 31, 2018

22 wild horses on 67 by Bitter Pond

31 wild horses on 48

11 wild horses on 52

19 wild horses at Copper Pond

83 Total Wild Horses 6 Total hours

I’m not sure how to count my hours for meetings that we attend or hold. When I camp in the Basin I do not count the whole day, just a portion of the day. When Aletha and another volunteer/ WHW member is with me do I also Count their hours? In the scheme of things do the hours really matter? I do not count the time it takes me to ID the wild horses or write the reports. Not sure if I should be? 

August 1, 2018

38 wild horses on 48

5 wild horses on 80

6 wild horses on 126

23 wild horses at Copper Pond

11 wild horses on 67 

83 Total Wild Horses

3 vehicles on 52

3 Total Vehicles 8 total hours

August 2, 2018

We found this beautiful Tiger Moth laying eggs on Lookout Mountain. 

31 wild horses on 318

26 wild horses on 52

28 wild horses on 66N

85 Total Wild Horses 

2 Total Vehicles on 67 7 Total Hours

August 3, 2018

When we reached CoffeePot there was a whole herd of bull elk leaving.

42 Total Wild Horses on 48

I Truck

1 ATV at Kiosk

2 campers at Kiosk

4 Total Vehicles 5 Total Hours

August 4, 2018

I spent the day in the Basin with a couple from Austria. They are freelance writers and are hoping to do an article on Sand Wash and the wild horses. We made it to Lake Draw before it started to rain, they were not too excited about spending the night in the Basin, so we headed south. The roads got just a little slick, not bad at all, but they were holding on for dear life. I asked them if they went mudding in Austria and they had no idea what I was talking about. After I explained it they assured me they did not do that in Austria.

Rabbit Bush 

20 wild horses on 67

43 wild horses on 48

6 wild horses at Sheepherders

15 wild horses at Lake Draw

84 Total Wild Horses

3 cars on 67

4 campers at Kiosk

7 Total Vehicles 6 Total Hours

We hear from many people who visit, that Sand Wash Basin 

has the most dramatic colors of any of the HMA’s. Skip is a beautiful example 

of one of our dark Palominos.

August 5, 2018

11 wild horses on 75

4 wild horses on 67

40 wild horses on 52

5 wild horses on 80

24 wild horses on 126

84 Total Wild Horses

3 vehicles on 67

3 Total Vehicles 8 Total Hours

For the first of August the vegetation is looking pretty sparse.

August 6, 2018

20 wild horses on 48

25 wild horses on 46

22 wild horses on 52

9 wild horses at Copper Pond

8 wild horses on 75

72 wild horses at Surprise Pond (Sand Wash Draw)

156 Total Wild Horses

4 Total Vehicles 8 total Hours

Last year Kokomo was seriously injured, and SWAT had asked that he be put down.

That did not happen, and he survived the winter and looks great.

Kokomo has once again disappeared, and we fear he has died. He had an injury to his eye area that looked bad the last time he was seen.

August 9, 2018

52 wild horse on 48

2 wild horses on 2048

30 wild horses on 52

84 Total Wild Horses

2 Total Vehicles 8 Total Hours

August 10, 2017

Aletha and I spent the morning with Grace a Public Radio reporter in the Basin and the evening was spent at the Zinke Rally.

4 wild horses on 67

32 wild horses on 48

45 wild horses on 52

81 Total Wild Horses 4 Total Hours

3 Total Vehicles

4 Total Horses Zinke Rally

August 14, 2018

Fence line showing very little difference within the basin and north of the fence

MJK delivered a 1400 gallon tank to an area at Lake Draw. WHW had it delivered to help with the panic about the water being shut off while the BLM was working on the new water tire at Lake Draw. Then Bethell filled it. 

Skid was repairing Sheepherders.

5 wild horses on 48

57 wild horses on 52

8 wild horses on 126

28 wild horses on 66N

25 wild horses by 8 x 8 on 67

123 Total Wild Horses

2 cars on 48

1 car on 66N

1 truck on 67

2 delivery trucks

6 Total Vehicles 8 Total Hours

August 15. 2018

Volunteers also helped me fill Rock Cut. The wild horses prefer using the known water sources to the tanks.

33 wild horses on 48

23 wild horses on 52

9 wild horses on 75

65 Total Wild Horses

3 Total Vehicles on 52  7 Total Hours

August 18, 2018

36 wild horse on 48

4 wild horses on 2048

28 wild horses on 80

8 wild horses on 126

41 wild horses on 46

117 Total Wild Horses

2 Vehicles on 48

2 vehicles on 46

4 Total Vehicles 8 Total Hours 

August 19, 2018

Once we started filling Bitter Pond the wild horses returned to drink from it. It took 10,000 gallons to get the bottom sealed to hold water, so we could add water that the wild horses could drink.

August 23, 2018

Copper Pond, we had a rain storm that put some water in Copper Pond. It was only on the surface.

Ghost, Bernie Rose, Mingo and MoonShadow coming into RockCut

August 28, 2018

15 wild horses on 67

4 wild horses on 52

8 wild horses on 126

27 Total Wild Horses 3 Total Hours

6 cars on 67 / dirtbikes

6 Total Vehicles

September 2018

WHW  Report to the BLM

By Cindy Wright

Sept 1, 2018

This morning we learned that Tecate had been hit and killed on 318

I drove out to the accident site and gathered some DNA from Tecate. I also talked to several people about the accident. The family that hit Tecate sat with him for almost 5 hours before the sheriff’s department arrived to put him down. Very few people know this, as it was not something that we wanted the public to be aware of. 318 is a remote road and after dark there is not as much traffic, but that is also one of the reasons we are so determined to get the fence up. What if it had been an injured family waiting for 5 hours for help. 3 Hours

Sept 4, 2018

. 

They were still in the same area.

I came out to the Basin to haul water and to camp a few days. I was surprised when I topped the hill on 48 and saw several campers in the area that I camped. There was a family group with friends, they were in the Basin to practice for the Trans Mexico Dirt Bike competition. This included night time racing. They were driving their dirt-bikes after dark in the basin to practice. I cautioned them on the wild horses on the roads after dark. They had been there a few days. I also found out that one of the dirt-bikers had taken a bad fall and had been knocked unconscious. The concerns they voiced were that they did not know an emergency route out of the basin if it had been more serious or who to call, if they had cell service, which they did not have at the site of the accident.

7 wild horses on 67 by kiosk

2 wild horses at Two Bar

9 Total Wild Horses 

7 campers with dirt-bikes on 67

8 campers on 48 with dirt-bikes

15 total vehicles   3 total hours

Sept 5, 2018

19 wild horses on 48

23 wild horse by Two Bar

200 + by Ranger pond the 46/52 Junction 

242 + Total Wild Horses

4 Total vehicles  4 Total Hours

Sept 7, 2018

6 wild horses on 67

86 wild horses on 52

7 wild horses by 8 x 8 pond on 67 Horse Loop

99 Total Wild Horses

4 Total Vehicles on 46 8 Total Hours

Sept 9, 2018

Bobby and his band using the old sheep trough at Two Bat that 

Wild Horse Warriors was filling

We filled the pond, this tank and another 700 gallon tank in the same area.

I spent the day with a couple of friends from Grand Junction. 

Our friend has a hard time traveling and uses up to three tanks of oxygen in a single day in the basin and travels with a nurse. We spent most of the day at Ranger Pond watching the numerous bands come in to drink.

150 + wild horses came into Ranger Pond

5 total vehicles on 52 6 Total Hours

Sept 10, 2018

8 wild horses at Two Bar on 48

21 wild horses on 52

5 wild horses at Lake Draw

34 Total Wild Horses 6 Total Hours

Sept 11, 2018

I got a phone call alerting me to the death of one of our Wild Horses. I went to meet with followers who had found the body of the wild horse. We IDed him as Strider and collected DNA, and alerted the BLM. There were no obvious reasons for his death, he was behind the corral area, but not close to a well-traveled road. They had spotted unusual bird activity and followed the birds to Strider. Strider was an 8 year old bachelor in good health. 

31 wild horse in the area around the corrals

4 total hours 4 Total Vehicles on 67

This photo was taken the day Boone Creek Fire started. I was on 75 headed north. As you can see from where I was I could see both fires on 318. I had a young girl with me from England. Her rental car with her passport and ID were at the Kiosk. We made a flying trip down to her car to retrieve her car. We then returned to Cty Rd 4 to return to Craig. At that point we were not sure 318 was open either way. We had several communications with the different people at the BLM while we were in the Basin. I was also notifying anyone I knew was in the Basin and those that I passes, that the BLM was asking everyone to leave the Basin. We had another car follow us out on Cty Rd 4 They were in the center of the Basin and even with the map they had they were not sure how to get to Cty Rd 4.

Sept 13,2018

WHW had been invited to talk to the Steamboat Springs High School in Sand Wash Basin

Sept 15, 2018

We entered the Basin on 75 and crossed over to 126 on 66N. From there we drove to Copper Pond, where we were to meet the High School Group. Due to the fire and miscommunication, and different travel routes, the High School ended up on 67/75 at LookOut Mountain with a road closed sign blocking their trip south to Copper Pond. With poor cell service and a flat tire, it was an hour after our scheduled meeting time that we heard from them. We left Copper Pond and went North and met them on Lookout Mountain. They were thrilled though as they had seen several bands of wild horses while they were waiting for us

.They invited us to follow along as they traveled down the back side of LookOut to the Buffalo Trap. Later we were asked to talk to the class about Wild Horse Warriors and the Water Hauling. 

We came across a vehicle camped above Lake Draw. She and I also went down to Lake Draw and cleaned out the pipes connecting the tanks. They were plugged with moss.

19 wild horses on 75

8 wild horses on 66N

23 wild horses at 67/75 junction

50 Total Wild Horses

6 Total Vehicles on 75 8 Total Hours

Sept 18, 2018

Most of the roads were reopened and we were allowed to haul water. What we did not see was many wild horses in the areas they had been in. The fire had moved most of them to different areas. This was good, due to the fact that the vegetation was getting very low around the water tanks. The fire fighters told us that lots of the wild horses had come to Two Bar for water.

4 wild horses on 318

12 wild horses by the corrals

27 wild horses on 48

6 wild horses on 126

15 wild horse by Copper Pond

2 wild horses on 52

12 wild horses on 2041 by Middle Spring

78 Total Wild Horses

3 Total Vehicles on 52 7 Total Hours

https://youtu.be/PxD0qcGCmqM

Sept 19, 2018

Today was my first official tour. My guests were visiting from New York. They had taken the summer off and were traveling across the US doing hands-on home schooling. They were thrilled with the different terrains in the basin. Although they loved the wild horses the highlights for them were the vast views from Lookout Mountain and the stromatolites. 

Sept 22, 2018

Following the fire was an eerie sight.

It was truly an eye opener as to how sandy the basin really is.

Sept 24, 2018

Most of our foals look great, though some of the nursing mares are ribby

Sept 28, 2018

I have never counted my hours for compiling the reports. On average it takes a full day to do each month’s report. 

64 Total Hours for Reports for a year. Oct – Oct.

Documenting the Wild Horse band change and Iding the Wild Horses. Recording births and deaths. For every day I have spent in the Basin there is a minimum of an hour recording changes. I have spent 132 days in the basin from Jan 1 2018 to Oct 31, 2018, 

132 hours recording wild horse changes

Wild Horse Warriors

Water Hauling Report

Sept 2018

By

Cindy Wright

June 5th Wild Horse Warriors started a GoFundMe page in preparation for hauling water. 2 Hour

Wild Horse Warriors also prepared a FaceBook post addressing the number of acres needed to support each horse in Sand Wash Basin, showing that the BLM’s figure of 363 is correct.

Aletha has been working on GSP locations for the water sources and creating a map that shows all the known water sources 36 hours

Aletha spent the day with the BLM in the Basin discussing the water and areas where it would be acceptable to place water tanks if we needed to haul water. 6 hours

, Eagle and Vegas  were put down and the BLM also found a dead foal at Lake Draw.

Aletha has been looking for places that we could purchase water from for hauling, or other options such as getting it donated. 4 Hours

Maybell Fire Department is on board with letting us fill up at the fire house. 

We could also use water from the city park or the cemetery, in Maybell. We also found a couple of people that had ponds that if we had a pump we could pump water from their ponds.

We also talked to the BLM about any water rights they had on the Little Snake or in the area that we could possibly use.

We also started pricing stock tanks and water hauling tanks. 6 Hours

June 6, 2018 Nadja and I went to Lake Draw to measure the spring pipe for fittings for the new tanks. 3 Hours

June 8, 2018 Delivered new tanks for Lake Draw 3 Hours

June 9, 2018 

The GoFundMe Fund has raised $12,280.00

CoffeePot was reported as being dry.

June 11, 2018

· BLM meeting to discuss how soon we could start hauling water. Aletha and I also meet with a County Commissioners. We also visited with the Water District about water rights in the Basin. There were phone calls made to determine where we would be able to get water for the basin once we were allowed to start hauling water. 6 hours

GoFundMe has received $15,000

Wild Horse Warriors has also started a Wild Horse Warriors Auction page and we are auctioning off items for donations for the repairs in the Basin.

June 12, 2018

We were told we could not start hauling water.

Delivered the three big round tanks to the basin

We held an Emergency Water Hauling Meeting in Craig at Loudy Simpson Park.  We also set up a Facebook Private Group page for the people volunteering to haul water. They can schedule the times they are available how much they can haul and where they will deliver the water. 4 Hours

WE met the BLM to check the water in the basin.

One BLM employee walked from Lake Draw to CoffeePot checking the vegetation. We then sent to Spence/Lang Spring and down to the private land with a spring in the bottom of Sand Wash Draw. 16 Hours 

June 15, 2018 BLM meeting Bruce 2 Hours

June 16th Whittle of the Woods Booth in Craig.  Proceeds are going towards the water hauling project 30 hours

June 17th Rain Storm in the Basin 

June 18, 2018

I spend the day checking the water sources, after a rain storm the day before. 8 Hours

June 19, 2018

GoFunMe has raised $25,000

June 20, 2018

WHW and SWAT met with the BLM.  4 Hours

June 25, 2018 

Avocet pond dry except for a crescent on the edges 5 Hours

June 27, 2018 I was headed to the Basin when I got a call that the BLM wanted to meet in the morning. I spent the night in the Basin and left early for a meeting with the BLM 

June 28, 2018 

Met with the BLM to discuss the water situation in Sand Wash Basin.  2 Hours

June 30, 2018

WHW worked on the troughs at Sheepherders. 8 hours

July 3, 2018 we received permission to haul water.

July 5th we hauled our first load. 4 hours

July 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23 we had volunteers hauling water. By then it became apparent that unless I spent every day all day hauling water we did not have enough volunteers and or equipment to continue hauling water every day. 44 Hours

On July 23th we called the Maybell Fire Department to have them fill our tanks for us. We had been getting our water from them. We were told that the County Commissioners had shut them down and they were no longer allowed to help us. We do understand but a phone call from the County Commissioners would have been nice. We ended up bringing the truck and trailer to Craig and filling up at the City Water Supply source. 5 Hours

July 25th Bethell hauled their first load of water. They started out filling every other day and either I or a volunteer hauled water on the weekends.

August 12, 2018 Bethell started hauling water every weekday. WHW was still hauling water every weekend. 

August 14, 2018 WHW bought a new tank and had it delivered to Lake Draw and Bethell filled it, so that there was a separate water source while the BLM was working on Lake Draw. 6 hours

Sept 2 - 3, 2018 I hauled water, Bethell was closed for Labor Day. From my camper in the basin, to each of the water sources is 2 hours round trip. 16 hours

Sept 14, 2018 Bethell had just left the basin after filling all the water tanks and adding an extra 3400 gallons to the pond at Two Bar. The fire was reported shortly after he filled the tanks. 

Sept 15, 2018 We were not allowed in to water. We talked to several people about our fear that the wild horses would be without water. The Fire Fighters said they would keep Two Bar full, but because Bethell had added 3400 gallons the day the fire started, Two Bar had water the whole time we were not allowed to haul. By Sept 19th when we were once again allowed to haul water, Two Bar was done to almost just mud. It may have lasted another day. 4 Hours

Since the fire the wild horses have not been using the water tanks as often as they were. We know that more have moved south and are on the highway. There is water in the pond at the corrals they are also using.

They have found two of the tanks that they had not used in the past and they are now using. 

Before the fire I had talked to the BLM about moving the tanks because the vegetation was getting depleted around the tanks. I had been looking for areas that the water truck could get to and where there was more vegetation. We also had discussed leaving the tanks and letting the wild horses move farther out for vegetation, but they would know where to come for the water.

We know that there are now two ponds on 75 in the south that have water, there is also more vegetation on 75. We are seeing pockets that have better vegetation. We also know that there are a few drainage areas that have pockets of water, just don’t know how much.

Bethell will only be delivering Mon, Wed and Friday this week, unless the consumption returns to the previous usage. The weather is cooler so that may be reducing the usage, and maybe more are using Rock Cut and Two Bar pond which are harder to judge the usage of. 

Most days that I am in the Basin I start the day by making the rounds to all the water tanks to check levels. I then call Bethell to tell them which tanks are the lowest which determines where he starts his delivery.

My husband had volunteered the use of our truck and trailer. He and my sons spent two days picking up two 625 gallons tanks and mounting them on the trailer. We replaced the brakes on the truck and fixed wiring on the trailer. 20 hours

My camper was parked and has been left on 48 as a headquarters for the water hauling project. Our truck is also is sitting there, along with a trailer that we use to move the water tanks.

There are tools to repair any of the water sources in the truck and or camper.

There is also extra fuel in the camper.

Because it is our personal equipment we have been reluctant to let just anyone drive them and deliver water. There are two men, Aletha, and my husband and I, that will be hauling water on the weekends.

Bethell started by hauling three times a week and by the middle of August it became necessary to have them fill the tanks every week day, with Wild Horse Warriors filling them on the weekends.

We also started filling, Bitter Pond on 67, Rock Cut on 52 and Two Bar Pond on 48. The hope was that by starting to fill the ponds it would seal the bottoms so that if, and when it does rain they will hold more water, while providing a more natural water source for the wild horses. If we have to haul until it freezes it also will provide places that the wild horses can chip ice for water.

It took 10,000 gallons to get Bitter Pond to a point that there was usable water for the wild horses. We lost the usage of Bitter Pond during the fire and do not have the funds to start refilling it.

We have seen that when we do get rain that the wild horses are not using the water tanks when there is water available in the washes or other natural water sources.

It has taken about 10 days for the wild horses to start using a tank once we have set it out or changed its location.

We have had trail cameras at the water tanks several different times. We have seen lots of wild horses, but we also have photos of elk, deer, bobcat, birds and have seen pronghorns and grouse at the water tanks.

We placed logs as wildlife ladders in each of the water tanks. We have also had people report that the removed the debris from the tanks. We laugh explain the purpose and replace it. Everyone wants to help.

We have had several people call us or message us when they see that the tanks are low.

Wild Horse Warriors has raised;

7,000 for the fence project

36,500 on GoFundMe for the water, some of that amount is from the auctions that we hold

3000 that has come in as checks I need to total those from the Bank Statements

5,000 that was material donations, a donor paid the total amount for the water tanks at Lake Draw They paid MJK directly

Oct 31. 2018

All of the tanks have now been removed from the pond areas and are in storage by the corrals. Our truck and trailers are also out of the basin.

Bethell has removed their large storage container. 

Total Hours for final clean up 40 hours

Final Hours = 284 This does not include Bethell’s delivery hours. I have tried to separate out my hours from my normal “ volunteer hours”. I have added hours for multiple people into one total hour for some days when there is more than one person on a delivery or helping on a project.

Total Number of gallons of water = 170,000

Start Date July 5, 2018 

Wild Horse Warriors had 532 donors on our GoFundMe Page.

https://www.gofundme.com/cm625-water

As a final thank you we sent each of them this message and a link to a video that we had produced. They had also each received a thank you from us and one from the Foundation, at the time of their donation.

Thank you, thanks to all the donors the water hauling project was a huge success. We could not have done it without your donation and support As a token of Wild Horse Warriors appreciation of your donation, we are sending you a link to a Sand Wash Basin video that was created for us. We hope that you enjoy it. https://youtu.be/wnh9CQn9iYc