Wild Horse Education

#WHBFactCheck (if you need to hear another side, a bit of “our side”)

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Wild horses recently captured in one of the most hidden roundups in recent memory out of the Ely district. The same district that fired Craig Hoover, a career BLM employee, for reporting trespass livestock. (more HERE)

Many advocates will tune in to hear the BLM Wild Horse And Burro Advisory Board live at: blm.gov/live. The meeting will be streamed Oct. 30-31.

WHE will be running a live fact check on Twitter and our website. (more info HERE)

For years many of us at Wild Horse Education attended the board meetings. We have even given one of those private presentations you see listed on their agenda (that are not viewed by the public). Even though the board is not a legal authority (it has no legal authority), we felt it was a place to try fact based conversation. What we found is that the board is made up of those primarily with an anti-wild horse, pro-livestock industry, bent. This was not a board advocating for the best outcome of the wild horse or burro, it advocated for any plan, protocol or agenda that maximized public resources for private livestock.

The board serves a function if you take the time to watch. In reality that function is simply to foreshadow where political pressure from the private sector (ie. livestock) wants the federal program to go.

If you attend you can give public comment in writing and at the mic. You will have 2-3 minutes to rapidly express your views as a taxpayer. Your views will be placed into record as required and then discounted.

Many of you will feel frustration as you hear the board members speak.

For the last several months Wild Horse Education, while continuing field work and roundup documentation, has amped up our public education campaigns. We have spoken at events, in classrooms, to those running for political office and those holding a seat in our legislatures (state and federal).

We will not be at the meeting in DC. We will post our 2 minute comment to the board, in video, as we run a “fact check” on statements made by board members. In our statement to the board we will address things the board wont talk about: habitat loss from industry, unanswered and blacked out FOIA requests, NEPA, etc. Below is a public info session, not a rebuttal to the board.

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Leigh has been speaking to multiple audiences including this one at DouglasDems. So many people are tired of hearing “one side” and are hungry for info from advocates.

The videos below are provided courtesy of DouglasDems.org  These videos are posted as a counter to much of what you will hear. They also serve an example of one of our outreach meetings. Many have asked for video and DouglasDems was generous in providing one. You can also see them posted on their website.

Please remember our talks are geared to the audience and each one is different. We wish you could see the audience as WHE speaks. That is what drives each conversation. We wish you could hear  the groans, laughter and chatter in the room.

At this meeting our founder, Laura Leigh, is speaking to the room at the Democratic office in Douglas county, Nevada. She said the room was full and she ran through the slideshow fast, so she could answer questions from people that came. She had only 1 hour and was nervous that she would not get to answer all the questions and different subjects, she admits she talks too fast. We never know what people are going to be interested in and each talk takes different directions.

Our readers might find these videos a bit of “breathing space” as you listen to the BLM Advisory board for two days, 12 hours.

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Categories: Wild Horse Education