CANA Foundation Marks the National Day of the Horse with Rewilding News & Initiatives

EAST NORWICH, N.Y., Dec. 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In advance of National Day of the Horse designated by Congress on December 13, 2021, CANA Foundation announces a new scientific study by McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, revealing ancient DNA found in soil samples that reveals mammoths and Yukon wild horses surviving thousands of years longer than believed as published in a new paper by the journal Nature Communications.

CANA Foundation's mission is dedicated to the crucial and timely importance of rewilding U.S. horses, American's native species, on the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) public land to rebuild biodiversity, preserve  endangered species and ultimately prevent climate breakdown. The nonprofit's four pillars of "Reform, Innovation, Science and Education" or "RISE," underpins legislative action, practical initiatives, science backed research, and education for children.

"The issue of rewilding horses has traditionally been viewed as a simple animal rights issue and oftentimes dismissed without the understanding that it is a national priority that ultimately impacts our planet," said Manda Kalimian, Founder of CANA Foundation. "Rewilding contributes to rebuilding biodiversity, preserving endangered species, and supporting crucial conservation efforts to combat ozone depletion and rapid climate breakdown. Rewilding America's wild horses as large herbivores play an integral role as a keystone species in grassland ecology and help to recreate novel ecosystems."

In the early 1900s, roughly 2 million wild horses roamed the U.S. freely. Today, there are around 67,000, with another 70,000 in BLM government holding facilities. Nearly $120 million of U.S. federal tax dollars each year goes to a program that rounds up wild horses by helicopter and keeps them in brutal warehouse conditions – all using U.S. federal tax dollars.

CANA Foundation's Founder Manda Kalimian's also recently published her first book, Born To Rewild, which is now available this holiday season for purchase online and for shipping across the U.S., where proceeds will go towards rewilding.

In Born To Rewild, Kalimian's personal story highlights her start as a young equestrian in Long Island and her dedicated, lifelong mission to contribute to rewilding efforts. She navigates the thick red tape of local and national government, speaking with key elected officials from New York to Washington D.C., presenting at international forums including The Cambridge Conservation Forum Rewilding Symposium at Cambridge University, and playing a major role to implement rewilding language for managing America's wild horses in the FY2020 Interior Appropriations budget bill.

Here are additional facts about rewilding:

• Congress passed the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 with the stated goal to protect iconic creatures as "living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West."
• However, previous policies ever since have focused on capturing, warehousing, and sterilizing animals while blaming them for deteriorating landscape which is due to climate change and unwillingness to invest in protection, restoration, and sustainable management of public lands.
• In the early 1900s, roughly 2 million wild horses roamed the U.S. freely. Today, an estimated 67,000 wild horses populate the BLM's public lands, with another 70,000 in BLM holding facilities.
• Nearly $120 million of U.S. Federal Tax Dollars each year are going into the BLM program that rounds up wild horses by helicopter and warehouses them – sometimes for three years or the remainder of their lives – all on the U.S. federal tax dollar.
• In 2020, the BLM spent over $65 million for off-range holding facilities, about 65 percent of the overall budget for the wild horses and burros' program. The program's budget has more than doubled over the past ten years, with no end to the increases in sight.
• Native animals, including horses, are frequently being taken from their original habitat on the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) public land, which are currently being transformed due to mining, agricultural farming, oil drilling logging camps, road building, and beyond.
• Currently, there is bi-partisan effort of U.S. Reps. Mike Quigley, D-Illinois, and Fred Upton, R-Michigan, who at the start of 2021 have reintroduced the Preventing Future Pandemics Act, bill, H.R. 8433 in the 116^th Congress. It would instruct the U.S. Department of State to work with international partners to close commercial wildlife markets, end the trade of live wildlife, end the import, export, and sale of live wildlife for human consumption in the United States, and phase out demand for wildlife as a food source. In the coming weeks, a Senate companion bill is also set to be reintroduced by U.S. Senators Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, and John Cornyn, R-Texas.

For more information, visit https://canafoundation.org. Follow CANA Foundation on Facebook @CanaFoundation, Instagram @CanaFoundation, and Twitter @CANAFoundation.

About Manda Kalimian
As an award-winning author and founder of CANA Foundation, Manda Kalimian has spent over two decades advocating for science-backed education and research to create legislation to effectuate rewilding initiatives for horses and the environment. Through CANA Foundation, Kalimian has played a major role in implementing rewilding language for managing America's wild horses in the FY2020 Interior Appropriations budget bill. Kalimian is also a founding member of the Institute of Politics and Global Affairs at Cornell University, a nonpartisan institute that seeks to elevate discourse and deepen understanding of political and global events. Kalimian is based in Long Island, where she has worked to rewild her 16-acre horse farm working with horses, bees, and other animals in their natural habitat. The farm is used for salon-style events with authors, people of interest, and rewilding symposiums.

SOURCE CANA Foundation