Wild horses sitting in government funded warehousing… possibly waiting to die.
The budget battle that put tens of thousands of wild horses at risk of taking a bullet in the head to continue “business as usual” has gotten a reprieve. An interim budget bill was passed to keep the government operational through December 8th. Disaster relief, hurricanes and fires, has placed an incredible burden on citizens of country. However that does not stop debate on the issues, it just buys a few months to stop the madness.
While the budget battle raged WHE kept silent about some of the activity behind the scenes. A public confused about the bills and amendments did not need the additional burden of trying to sort through the muck and mire of the “devils in the details.” We did considerable outreach to try to help with the confusion including creating EMagazines for the general public. (You can access one by clicking HERE and using password WHEWEB91).
Before we give you an action item to take we need to take you back a moment in time. We do know how confusing all of this can be and how helpless you can feel. You are not alone. (Taking action when you feel helpless, a volunteer story)
Our wild ones are continually placed at risk. The budget bill was simply an indicator of just how bad this has become. Our public land, all that lives and breathes, has been the focal point of big business since day one. Resentment of federal jurisdiction over public resource has existed since day one.
The Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act, passed in 1971, is one more symbol of a “profit driven interest restricted by the federal government.” Since day one efforts have been made to remove restrictions.
Wild horses are a key to unlocking the system, corrupted, that actually assists in damaging it’s own efforts to uphold “management for the public good.” Defined in the Federal Land Policy Management Act (FLPMA) as representing every interest, not just those that reap a profit. and where the term “multiple use” comes from. Prior to the passage of FLMPA in 1976 we had no “multiple use” mission.
People need to become keenly aware of the resentment, across the board. As wild horse advocates the focal point tends to be the roundup, and the horse after the roundup. That is not the “wild” wild horse. Creating a depth of understanding is a challenge for us here at WHE, our focus is the “wild” through the loss of that legal status; adoption or sale. The legal realm is defined by politics, not the reality. (We have thousands of articles for you to look through by entering key words using the search bar).
Today we want you to take an action to help break the wheel that keeps placing our wild horses, and all of public land, at risk.
At the beginning of August the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) opened a preliminary investigation into threats made by Secretary of the Interior (DOI) Ryan Zinke, to Senator Murkowski, over the health care vote; “Vote our way or you wont get help with drilling the coast of Alaska.” The preliminary investigation was dropped because Murkowski simply refused to cooperate. Essentially making her threat “to go public” very effective without consequence.
However the Government Accounting Office (GAO) has now picked up the investigation. (You can click here for more).
All of this is being spearheaded by some very courageous representatives in Congress, Reps. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., and Frank Pallone, D-N.J.
That investigation deals with the “top of the food chain” of public land and those under oath to protect the Constitution and public process. However those tactics stem from top to bottom. When we are dealing with public land, we are dealing with the Department of Interior. The investigation needs to extend to the ground, where actual management of our public resources is run with the exact same illegal tactics demonstrated at the top.
A similar investigation was begun at the OIG, into these same tactics of intimidation, focused on a little charge called “conspiracy to violate the Codes of Federal Regulations” in the state of Nevada. Yes, it involved wild horses. That investigation has appeared to hit a similar snag, and was literally turned over to the very people that were subjects of the investigation to “investigate” themselves. It appears the “nothing wrong here” line was used in a similar fashion to the way Murkowski used it; I got what I wanted so now I’ll shut up.
We can not allow any change in protocol or policy on public land to continue to threaten the very things we hold dear to move forward without a complete and thorough probe. If our wild places and wild things are under threat because federal managers threatened, intimidated and violate law to forward policy change, it is illegal and needs to be punished. Our wild things should not face a death sentence, literally, for a corrupt system that faces no consequence.
Below is a place for you to add your name and comments, not a “click and send” our words, in support of the actions of Raul Grijalva and Frank Pallone. Let them know you support the actions they are taking at the top and remind them not to forget the bottom of the picture. The GAO needs to take both investigations to full disclosure; the public has a right to know.
While we have this brief window in the budget debate take a moment to support this action, (reference material beneath the submission form).
If you live in either Grijalva or Pallones district you can send them a direct “thank you.” http://govtrack.us
For background on just some of the issues at hand you can read “All the Pretty Horses Must Die” by Cristopher Ketcham HERE.
Part of the “set up” can be read about here. Testimony in a Congressional hearing on wild horses last year was filled with fiction, that was allowed to stand as fact. Why didn’t all the BLM employees, that knew the truth, simply amend the record? If this is a factual conversation toward problem solving why base it on fiction? Instead of being the “adult in the room” BLM actually has encouraged and fostered the climate of derision. Why?
Additional reading:
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Categories: Wild Horse Education
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