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The Bureau of Land Management announced today that the Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture have made selections for three open positions on its nine-member National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board.  June Sewing of Cedar City, Utah, has been re-appointed for the category of wild horse and burro advocacy; Jennifer Sall of Lander, Wyoming, has been appointed for the category of public interest (with special knowledge about protection of wild horses and burros, management of wildlife, animal husbandry, or natural resource management); and Dr. Julie M. Weikel, DVM, of Princeton, Oregon, has been appointed for the category of veterinary medicine.  Each individual will serve a three-year term on the Advisory Board.

Ms. Sewing is the Executive Director and Secretary for the National Mustang Association, for which she has worked since 1985 carrying out various responsibilities, including managing the association’s wild horse sanctuary.  Ms. Sewing has also served as the president of local charitable organizations – as trustee on the Cedar City hospital board for 20 years, and on a committee dealing with the endangered Utah prairie dog.  Ms. Sewing has received a Citizen Volunteer award from the Chamber of Commerce, Board of Realtors, and Southern Utah University.  She was first appointed to the Advisory Board in 2012 and will be serving a second term.

Ms. Sall has 25 years of experience caring for and training horses, including as manager of the National Outdoor Leadership School's (NOLS) Three Peaks Ranch.  There she managed a herd of 75 horses and trained halter-broken mustangs to become dependable working mountain horses.  Ms. Sall is currently the Program Manager for the Rocky Mountain Branch of the National Outdoor Leadership School.  Previously as a NOLS instructor, Ms. Sall logged more than 100 weeks in the field on public lands teaching leadership, outdoor skills (including leading horse-packing trips), and environmental studies. She has a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.

Dr. Weikel earned her Master of Veterinary Science and DVM from Washington State University and has practiced as a large animal veterinarian for 42 years with an equine and bovine focus.  As a Professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Washington State University, she taught advanced large animal medicine, radiology, and large animal clinics.  Dr. Weikel has served on the Southeast Oregon Advisory Committee (in the wild horse and burro position).  She has also served as a member of the Oregon Natural Desert Association; on the Morrow County School Board; and as a court-appointed special advocate volunteer.

The National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board advises the BLM, an agency of the Interior Department, and the U.S. Forest Service, part of the Agriculture Department, on the management and protection of wild free-roaming horses and burros on public lands and national forests administered by those agencies, as mandated by the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act.  Members of the board, who represent various categories of interests, must have a demonstrated ability to analyze information, evaluate programs, identify problems, work collaboratively, and develop corrective actions.  Information about the board can be found at: http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/whbprogram/Advisory_Board.html