UPDATE: This update is intended to inform.

We want to take a moment to thank all of you that have signed, called and otherwise supported our effort to address the underlying issues in public land management that encompass our wild horses and burros. Those issues are deep, complex and are rooted in manipulation and corruption. They create what we call the “hamster wheel of advocacy,” a non stop cycle of a perpetuation of propaganda that benefits those that see dollar signs, not appropriate action, as the goal.

That is the reality that threatens our wild horses more than any other factor; all sides are  responsible. Each entity in management is made up of individuals; the good, bad and the ugly. The lack of integrity in many individuals perpetuates the lack of integrity in practice.

Water haul for livestock in the Diamond Complex prior to grazing restrictions being implemented. It’s not wild horses. We have been documenting, quietly, for years.

A lot of our work happens quietly, it has to be done that way. We have done things like provide testimony for reports from the Government Accounting Office (GAO), investigations by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG).

Back in April we began working with the OIG and a House investigative team on issues surrounding public land and wild horse management. We asked for you to sign a support letter in August, we have asked that you include vocal support for the investigation as you make your calls on the Appropriations bill. Those efforts are an important part of bringing accountability where it needs to fall; into the hands of the responsible individuals. Only when individuals accountable for their actions can we bring back integrity in action; either through empowering those that have it in the first place or creating consequence for those that don’t.

In May we filed litigation that points to some of the factors in Nevada and wild horses. The issues litigation focused on have been turned over to the House investigative team, and some of them are being worked on collectively with environmental groups. The litigation packaged that portion of the larger picture simply. It was the beginning of the conversation with the OIG and investigative team. We are working to get a full hearing.

High Country News has published a piece about some of the issues involving Ryan Zinke, Secretary of the Interior. A number of organizations are “in the mix” requesting accountability to ethical standards. “Ethical standards” in government speak are covered by law, not opinion. There is movement and we need to see it go deeper.

If you really want to get a sense for the work we are doing you need to read the articles at this link: https://wildhorseeducation.org/wild-wild-horses-and-the-public-land-seizure-movement/

Your signatures on the support letter have been part of the package we have presented. The package has assisted in getting this from OIG to the House and we need to push past the big politics now.  The signatures and comments total over 15,000. If you have not commented please do by clicking HERE.

Our work continues.

In addition to the ongoing push for full disclosure for serious ethical conduct issues, we face the Appropriations vote that may very well determine the fate of tens of thousands of wild horses resulting in a mass destruction, “killing fields.”

The date for this vote is still not “set in stone.” The clock is ticking and deadlines are arising. However the issues involving health care, immigration and disaster relief stil require priority. We do expect a vote on the Department of Interior portion of the spending bill no later than next week.

In addition removal operations are going to happen regardless of the outcome of the vote. Wild Horse Education is the only organization in history to take inappropriate handling of our wild horses into a courtroom. We did that over and over until we gained a humane handling policy.

That policy has begun to change the reality on the ground regardless of the messaging you receive from organizations that use roundup photos not  to litigate, but to fundraise. Prior to the policy a roundup could produce multiple transgressions each and every day; run through barbed wire, foals hotshot in the face, no water in holding, horses hit with a helicopter. Since the implementation of a policy those actions have become fewer.

However that policy must have appropriate engagement to tighten up some of the provisions and become the tool it can be to protect our wild ones from harm.

We need your support to get to the roundups and engage. If the roundups include protocol for killing wild horses we must be on the ground to force transparency and address issues the moment they arise.

 In addition our work created a landmark win on transparency, the First Amendment. That case has been cited in civil rights cases nationwide and has been used as a basis by other organizations to stop things like hidden experiments on our wild horses, including spaying.

In addition there are management practices that can be litigated. Archaic practices, new legislation and political deals are moving profit driven practices forward at an alarming rate. If we can create the teams, we can fight back.

AND kids can get involved. Learn more HERE.

If we can not get there, we can’t fight.

Your contributions allow us to continue to provide information to support the inclusion of the corruption in wild horse management into the “big picture.” They help us to stay on the ground, where this battle originates, to protect our wild ones from abuse; abusive handling and management practices.